Barrick Gold to pay $24 million to settle 2003 shareholder suit

Barrick Gold Corp., the world's largest gold mining company, will pay $24 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the company misled investors on the company's performance in 2002.

Vince Borg, spokesman for the Toronto-based company, said Barrick denies any liability in the stipulated agreement.

"We always denied the allegations, and they weren't proven in court," Borg told the Elko Daily Free Press on Tuesday.

The case was scheduled to go to trial in federal court in New York this month, before the company decided to settle.

"We reached the settlement in principle and are putting the final touches on it now to put it before the court," Borg said. The settlement will be presented to a U.S. District Judge Richard Berman on March 31.

Borg said insurers likely cover most of the settlement.

Investors filed the lawsuit against Barrick in 2003, accusing the company of false and misleading statements the previous fall over its expected earnings before Barrick announced sharp reductions in its guidance for the year, Borg said.

The revised guidance came just 10 days after an optimistic project update, and Barrick shares fell more than 10 percent.

"The issue was that the mines weren't operating as expected," Borg said.

Investors added concerns about Barrick's then-practice of hedging gold as another segment of the complaint, he said. The company had entered into contracts to sell some gold at a fixed rate to guard against a decline in prices. Shares fell when prices for bullion instead rose.

The company has since discontinued the practice.

The suit named Barrick Chief Financial Officer Jamie Sokalsky, former CEO Randall Oliphant and former Chief Operating Officer John Carrington as defendants.

___

Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com