The latest major gold miner to suffer the indignity of its credit rating being downgraded is Barrick Gold (ABX) – the world’s largest gold miner. Moody’s has downgraded its debt to Baa3 (but with a stable outlook), only one notch above what is reckoned to be ‘junk’ bond status.

In announcing the downgrade, Moody’s VP and Senior Credit Officer, Darren Kirk, stated, “Barrick has been downgraded because its leverage will remain elevated even after announced asset sales, material organic debt reduction is unlikely, and production will start declining in the next several years.”