Barrick Gold

Infobox Company
company_name = Barrick Gold
company_
company_type = Public
(tsx|ABX)
(nyse|ABX)
genre =
foundation = 1983
founder = Peter Munk
location_city = Toronto
location_country = flagicon|CAN Canada
key_people = Peter Munk, Founder & Chairman
Gregory Wilkins, President & CEO
Peter J. Kinver, COO
Jamie C. Sokalsky, CFO
industry = Mining
products = Gold
Silver
Copper
revenue = $6,332 million (2007)
net_income = $1,119 million (2007)
num_employees = 20,000 (2008)cite web |url=http://zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=ABX&page=quotesearch|title=Company Profile for Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) |accessdate=2008-10-07]
divisions = Africa
Australia-Pacific
North America
South America
homepage = [http://www.barrick.com www.barrick.com]

Barrick Gold Corporation (tsx|ABX, nyse|ABX) is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units (RBU's) located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America. Barrick is currently undertaking mining and exploration projects in Papua New Guinea, the United States, Canada, Australia, Peru, Chile, Russia, South Africa, Pakistan, Argentina and Tanzania. For 2006, it produced 8.64 million troy ounces of gold at a cash cost of US $282/ounce. As of December 31, 2004 its proven and probable gold mineral reserves stand at 123 million troy ounces.

On January 20, 2006, Barrick acquired a majority share of Placer Dome. The production of the combined organisation moved Barrick to its current position as the largest gold producer, ahead of Newmont Mining Corporation.

Criticisms

Barrick Gold has been accused of a number of environmentally unsound practices by environmental groups. [ [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14381 CorpWatch : Barrick Gold Mine Transforms Pacific Island ] ] [ [http://www.jantziresearch.com/index.asp?section=9&level_2=26&level_3=0&a_id=13 Jantzi Research - Alerts ] ] These include the proposed use of cyanide leach tailing dams for its gold mine project at Lake Cowal, and the alleged release of approximately seven tons of mercury during 2004-2005 at the Super Pit gold mine (a 50/50 joint venture with Newmont Mining Corporation) near the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia.

Barrick has also been sued by Blanchard and Co. of New Orleans for allegedly manipulating the price of gold in an anti-competitive way. The case was settled out of court on November 18, 2005 with no payment of damages by Barrick. Barrick had counter-sued Blanchard for libel. This case also settled out of court, with damages paid by Blanchard to Barrick. In settlement, Blanchard issued the following statement "We regret having made the statements that gave rise to the libel action filed by Barrick in Canada and any embarrassment those statements may have caused Barrick or its officers or directors."

Environmental Record

Accusations of environmental malpractise have been and continue to be directed at Barrick, and the company maintains that its record speaks for itself. Barrick operates the Henty Gold Mine in Tasmania, which is located inside a Recommended Area for Protection (RAP), immediately adjacent to a World Heritage Area. In over ten years of operation, the Henty Gold Mine has never exceeded the discharge or operating parameters of its operating license, and is kept under close scrutiny by legislative and governing bodies. Many innovative and pioneering methods of preventing discharges into the environment have been emplaced at Henty, in particular a High Density Paste Fill (HDPF) plant, which returns waste rock and tailings generated by the mine back into the underground voids, the INCO cyanide destruction process, a geo-membrane encapsulating the pipeline to the tailings storage facility and a wetlands water management system which removes silt, fines and trace heavy metals from non-process water prior to discharge from the site. The water quality at the discharge point from the wetlands system is of a higher quality than the river it discharges into, and a family of platypus monotremes have made the wetlands water treatment system their home for the last eight years.

Barrick has committed to a multi-million dollar project to pioneer a method whereby tailings products and erodible waste can be encapsulated within the coarser waste rock stockpiles. This method will ensure that the water quality of the local river systems is not compromised, without the construction of a 'normal' tailings dam, which in the rugged topography of the Porgera valley would be prone to eventual failure.

Whilst not the cause of the devastating Marcopper Mining Disaster in the Philippines, when Barrick Gold took over Placer Dome, Inc. it inherited a law suit initiated by provincial authorities on the Philippine island of Marinduque, where 27 years of irresponsible mining by Placer Dome (1969-1996) had caused immense damage to the island of Marinduque and its people. Currently Barrick is part of an ongoing case to not pay compensation for the Marcopper Mining Disaster despite knowing in the first place that it would inherit all ongoing legal battles brought on by the purchase of Placer Dome, inc.

Pascua Lama project

Pascua Lama is a mining project at a large and complex poly-metallic orebody in the high mountains south of Atacama on the border between Chile and Argentina. Its main product will be gold.

Barrick Gold has planned on investing US$1.5 billion in this project, which had a planned lifetime of at least 20 years. Barrick intended to commence construction on September 2006 with extraction operations beginning in 2009.Fact|date=April 2007 The Chilean government and local stakeholders are yet to provide final approvals.

The ore body lies partially under two small glaciers (or more correctly, glaciettes) which eventually feed into the rivers of the Huasco Province. Mine exploration has already been linked to a 56 to 70 % depletion in the three glaciers nearest to the mine site. Access to the ore body will require relocation of some of this ice to permit ore extraction, with accompanying waste rock and low grade ore stockpiles. Barrick Gold maintains that 5 hectares of "ice reserves" will be relocated by their operations and that another 10 hectares will melt as a consequence.

Extensive water management infrastructure is incorporated into the mine design to mitigate the effects of surface and sub-surface water migration across the operation.

Low levels of residual ore processing waste products, such as sodium cyanide and sulphuric acid will be treated and neutralised on site, then discharged into the local water systems, providing the residual levels meet the legislative requirements of the Chilean governing bodies.Fact|date=April 2007 A strict regime of monitoring is included in the operating license.

The mine’s opponents in Chile include the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous group and Alto del Carmen councilperson Luís Faura Cortes, who fear that the mine will damage the agriculture industry in the Huasco Valley.

NovaGold and Pioneer plays

On July 24, 2006, Barrick announced their intent to purchase NovaGold Resources and Pioneer Metals. The unsolicited bid for NovaGold Resources was at US $1.29 billion or US $14.50 per share, and the solicited bid for Pioneer Metals was at US $53 million or US $.88 per share. NovaGold management quickly characterized Barrick's bid for their company as undervalued. Pioneer management however quickly endorsed Barrick's bid for their company. Previously on June 19, 2006, NovaGold made an unsolicited bid for Pioneer Metals at US $31 million. NovaGold and Pioneer are currently in litigation over the Grace project in British Columbia, Canada. That project is adjacent to NovaGold's Galore Creek project and 75 kilometers away from Barrick's Eskay Creek mine. NovaGold and Barrick also cross paths at the Donlin Creek project in Alaska where NovaGold is 70% owner and Barrick is 30% owner, however Barrick has the right to earn in a 70% share as a result of their takeover of Placer Dome in January 2006.

On August 14, 2006, NovaGold filed a lawsuit in British Columbia, Canada alleging that Barrick misused confidential information to make its bid for Pioneer metals. [http://www.novagold.net/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=147210&_Type=News-Releases&_Title=NovaGold-Commences-Litigation-Against-Barrick-For-Misuse-Of-Confidential-In...] As part of the suit, NovaGold is asking that any shares tendered to Barrick under the Pioneer bid be held in a trust for NovaGold. On August 25, 2006, NovaGold filed a second lawsuit against Barrick [http://www.novagold.net/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=148386&_Type=News-Releases&_Title=NovaGold-Files-Lawsuit-Claiming-Barrick-Has-Violated-U.S.-Securities-Laws] - this time in the District of Alaska court alleging that Barrick violated U.S. security laws by misrepresenting its position by repeatedly stating it is on-track to earn a 70% interest in the Donlin Creek mine. The suit seeks a temporary suspension of Barrick's hostile bid for NovaGold.

On December 16, 2006, after extending the bid for NovaGold 6 times, increasing the offer once, and lowering the threshold for takeup of tendered shares from 75% to 50%, and then to no minimum, Barrick finally let the bid expire [http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061207:MTFH36172_2006-12-07_16-59-54_N07172758&type=comktNews&rpc=44] . The net result for Barrick was a takeup of 12.7% of the outstanding NovaGold shares. Barrick's Chief Executive Greg Wilkins indicated that the company would look elsewhere for acquisition opportunities. More recently, the company is reported to be eyeing Aurelian Resources [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d1889a48-7bfa-11dc-be7e-0000779fd2ac.html] in Ecuador.

References

ee also

* Gold as an investment
* Silver as an investment
* Gold mining in Alaska

External links

* [http://www.barrick.com/ Official company website]
* [http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:ABX Company Information] — Google Finance
* [http://protestbarrick.net/ ProtestBarrick.net Network of groups fighting Barrick Gold]
* [http://www.corpwatch.org/ CorpWatch]
* [http://savelakecowal.org/ Campaign to Save Lake Cowal, the "Sacred Heartland of the Wiradjuri Nation"]