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Is Barrick trying to depress NovaGold's price before new bid?

Section: Daily Dispatches

12:40p ET Saturday, April 7, 2007

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The headline on GATA's dispatch last Thursday, "NovaGold Beats Barrick" -- http://www.gata.org/node/4968 -- may have been premature.

For Barrick Gold announced only that it "intends to explore opportunities to dispose of all or a portion" of its 15 percent of NovaGold, not that it already had sold any of its shares in the company.

Barrick was under no obligation to announce its sale of NovaGold shares in advance, so Barrick's announcement may be fairly suspected as a scheme to spook the market for NovaGold shares and push NovaGold's share price down in anticipation of another attempt by Barrick to acquire it.

At least such an announcement would be unusual if it was made by a seller who wanted to maximize the price he was to receive.

GATA continues to urge NovaGold shareholders to be wary of any offer from Barrick while Barrick maintains a huge short position in gold, a position depressing the gold price and thus depressing the price of all shares in gold-mining companies. That also goes for the shareholders of any other company Barrick might seek to acquire.

Let Barrick get the gold it needs by covering its short position first, rather than by acquiring companies at prices already suppressed by Barrick itself.

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

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