Barrick Gold Corporation Pascua-Lama Securities Class Action
The Case
Anas Nseir has obtained authorization to bring a class action against Barrick Gold Corporation and two of its former directors. He represents the following class of persons:
All natural persons and legal persons who reside in Quebec and acquired securities of Barrick Gold Corporation between July 26, 2012, and October 31, 2013, except the defendants, all officers and directors of Barrick Gold Corporation during the class period, members of their immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, and any entity in which the excluded persons have a controlling interest now or during the class period.
The class action seeks compensation for the losses suffered by Barrick shareholders who purchased shares between July 26th, 2012 and October 31st, 2013. The plaintiff alleges that throughout that period, Barrick and the defendant former officers made major misrepresentations regarding compliance with environmental regulations at the company’s Pascua-Lama mine project, which straddled the border between Chile and Argentina. More specifically, Barrick had the obligation to complete a sophisticated water management system before initiating a major phase of mine construction called “pre-stripping” – the plaintiff alleges that Barrick started pre-stripping before having completed this system, despite having stated publicly that it had completed it. He alleges that these misrepresentations artificially inflated the price of Barrick’s shares during the class period. In fact, Barrick’s share price fell by nearly 30% after a Chilean court issued an injunction ordering construction of the project be suspended.
Case Progress
On March 12th, 2020, the Superior Court dismissed the motion for authorization to bring a class action. However, on December 19th, 2022, the Court of Appeal overturned this decision in part and authorized the class action to proceed. The plaintiff will thus proceed with the class action on behalf of class members.