Much of the production drop wasn't unexpected, and the company said it remains on track to meet full-year guidance of 5.3-5.6 million ounces production.

"We expect higher production and lower costs in the fourth quarter," said Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky.

Production totaled 1.24Moz during the quarter, down from 1.38Moz a year before. In terms of overall decline, the largest drops were at the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican public and the Cortez and Goldstrike properties in Nevada.

Production missed RBC Capital Markets' estimate of 1.32Moz, due in part to weaker than expected grades at Pueblo Viejo. On the other hand, copper production of 115 million pounds was a bit better than RBC had been looking for. Overall, analyst Stephen Walker called it a "neutral" quarter.

"A slightly weaker production result was expected by the market," he said.

However, the wild card is the Tanzanian operation, which produced 7% less than a year earlier, though that was actually ahead of estimates. But sales dropped by 35% due to the Tanzania concentrate export ban.

While a secondary item on the production results, that sales drop will certainly show up on the company's September-quarter financials due on October 25.