Barrick won't extend offer for NovaGold past Dec. 6

Barrick Gold Press Release
via Market Wire
Wednesday, November 29, 2006

http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/061129/0189345.html

TORONTO -- Barrick Gold Corp. announced today that Wednesday, December 6, 2006, will be the final expiry date for its US$16 cash offer to acquire the common shares of NovaGold Resources Inc. There will be no further extensions of Barrick's offer.

Barrick's offer is now unconditional. Any and all shares tendered prior to 9 p.m. (Toronto time) on December 6, 2006 will be purchased by Barrick for cash. Payment will be made by December 8, 2006.

"We have fully evaluated NovaGold and determined that US$16 per share is a full and fair offer price," said Greg Wilkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick. "We are announcing that December 6 is the final expiry date so NovaGold shareholders will know in advance that this is their last opportunity to tender and receive US$16.00 cash per share under our best and final offer."

Barrick's US$16 offer price represents a premium of approximately 37 percent over both the closing price of the NovaGold common shares on the AMEX on July 21, 2006, the last trading day prior to Barrick's announcement of its intention to make the offer, and the price at which shares were issued in NovaGold's February 2006 equity offering. Barrick's offer represents approximately 1.6 times NovaGold's net asset value -- this is equivalent to the trading multiples of senior gold producers and is much higher than the typical multiples for development stage gold companies, particularly those with significant base metals exposure.

The circular for Barrick's offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of NovaGold is available on Barrick's website at www.barrick.com, from the Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at www.sedar.com, or on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Barrick's vision is to be the world's best gold company by finding, acquiring, developing and producing quality reserves in a safe, profitable and socially responsible manner.

On August 4, 2006, Barrick Gold Corp. filed a tender offer statement related to its tender offer for the outstanding common shares of NovaGold Resources Inc. Investors and security holders of NovaGold are urged to read the tender offer statement, because it contains important information. Investors and security holders of NovaGold may obtain a free copy of the tender offer statement and other documents filed by Barrick Gold Corp. with the SEC at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The tender offer statement may also be obtained for free from Barrick Gold Corp. on its website or by directing a request to Barrick's investor relations department.

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