Un problema menos para Barrick Gold. A través de un acuerdo extrajudicial logró arreglar la demanda de los accionistas de la compañía impulsada por abogados de Norteamérica.
Barrick Gold Corporation confirms that the company has reached a $140 million settlement in a class action lawsuit pending before the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. The value of the settlement is insured.
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.
$140 million settlement for Barrick Gold shareholders: Settlement to resolve claims regarding a Barrick Gold Corp.’s South American mine project.
Motley Rice LLC, sole lead counsel in In re Barrick Gold Securities Litigation, has reached a $140 million preliminary settlement with the leading gold mining company Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX), on behalf of shareholders who purchased or acquired Barrick common stock on the New York Stock Exchange between May 7, 2009 and Nov. 1, 2013.
Today, plaintiffs filed an application for preliminary settlement approval with U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. Lead plaintiffs in the case are Union Asset Management Holding AG and LRI Invest S.A.
Un problema menos para Barrick
Lead plaintiffs alleged that Barrick and certain current and former executives misrepresented the company’s compliance with environmental regulations and the adequacy of the company’s internal controls related to the company’s Pascua-Lama mine located along the border of Chile and Argentina. On April 1, 2015, the court denied in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss the 197-page Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint and on March 23, 2016, granted the lead plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.
“I am pleased we were able to reach this resolution for investors,” said Motley Rice lead attorney for the plaintiffs, James M. Hughes.
Barrick purchased the Pascua-Lama gold mine in 1994 and from 2000 to 2006 worked to obtain environmental approval from the Chilean and Argentine governments. Among one of the contingencies for approval was that Barrick would follow 400 environmental conditions as set forth by Chilean regulators.
On May 7, 2009, Barrick announced that it would start construction at the Pascua-Lama site, claiming it would be one of the lowest-cost gold mines in the world and yield double-digit returns for investors. Despite significant environmental compliance issues throughout the class period, which resulted in the issuance of an injunction that suspended construction, lead plaintiffs asserted Barrick released statements to investors that it was in compliance with environmental regulations and had adequate internal controls. On Oct. 31, 2013, Barrick indefinitely halted the project, having spent more than $5 billion on the project.
Motley Rice attorneys James Hughes, William Narwold, Christopher Moriarty, Meredith Miller, Robert Haefele and Michael Pendell led the litigation as sole lead counsel, working with liaison counsel Labaton Sucharow LLP and additional counsel Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.
The case is In re Barrick Gold Securities Litigation, case number 1:13-CV-03851 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
MINING PRESS/REUTERS
Barrick Gold Corp acordó pagar 140 millones de dólares para solucionar una demanda en Estados Unidos, en la que se acusa a la minera de oro de ocultar problemas en una mina en América del Sur e inflar fraudulentamente el valor de mercado de la empresa, mostraron el martes documentos judiciales.
El arreglo judicial, que se conoció por documentos presentados a una corte federal en Manhattan, resolvería una demanda colectiva en que se acusa a Barrick de engañar a los inversores por los problemas ambientales del proyecto Pascua-Lama en la frontera entre Argentina y Chile.
"Estoy complacido de que hayamos podido alcanzar esta solución para nuestros inversores", dijo James Hughes, uno de los abogados del despacho Motley Rice que representa a parte de los demandantes, en un comunicado.
Barrick confirmó en otro comunicado el acuerdo por 140 millones de dólares y dijo que el valor de la conciliación está asegurado.
"Barrick sigue creyendo que los reclamos de los principales demandantes en el litigio son infundados y, bajo los términos del arreglo conciliatorio, la compañía no ha aceptado ningún cargo de ilícitos o culpabilidad", dijo la minera.
El acuerdo, que requiere de la aprobación de la corte, se conoce dos meses después de que un jurado federal permitió que los accionistas que compraron títulos de Barrick entre el 7 de mayo del 2009 y el 1 de noviembre del 2013 presenten una demanda colectiva.
Barrick compró el proyecto Pascua-Lama en 1994 y contaba con él para generar un gran porcentaje de su producción total de oro.
Sin embargo, costos excesivos, temas ambientales, problemas laborales, la oposición política y la caída del precio del lingote contribuyeron a la decisión de la minera en octubre del 2013 de detener por tiempo indefinido el proyecto, después de que ya había gastado más de 5.000 millones de dólares.
