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Bloomberg
Barrick Gold Corp. will pay $140 million to shareholders who sued the world’s biggest gold miner over its handling of the Pascua-Lama project on the Chile-Argentina border.
The Toronto-based company settled the class action lawsuit that was filed in a New York court, Motley Rice LLC, the firm representing holders, said in a statement Tuesday. It alleges Barrick misrepresented environmental compliance and the adequacy of its internal controls in the now stalled project.
“Barrick continues to believe that the claims alleged by the lead plaintiffs in the litigation are unfounded, and under the terms of the settlement agreement, the company has not accepted any charges of wrongdoing or liability,†the miner said Tuesday in a statement. The value of the settlement is insured, it said.
The giant project in the Andes has been shuttered since 2013, when a Chilean court accepted an injunction filed by indigenous groups over environmental concerns.
In a February interview, Executive Chairman John Thornton said Zijin Mining Group Co., with which Barrick created a joint venture at a mine in Papua New Guinea, may help turn Pascua-Lama into a success by spreading the financial and political risk.