Barrick Gold Denies Alleged Links to Political Unrest in Papua New Guinea

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Barrick Gold subsidiary Barrick Niugini Limited has responded to false and misleading claims in social media alleging links to the political turmoil in the country.

The company stated that it will take civil and criminal action against circulation of irresponsible and false statements attempting to link Barrick CEO’s recent visit to Papua New Guinea with the ouster of Prime Minister James Marape.

According to company press release, Bristow and his team had travelled to the country in good faith under a joint agreement with the Prime Minister on discussing terms related to restart of the Porgera gold mine. It noted that Bristow had visited PNG several times in the past two years. He and his team had not met anyone other than Prime Minister Marape during the recent visit, it clarified.

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Barrick Gold noted that the Prime Minister himself has acknowledged in a recent interview that investor partners have not involved themselves in the nation’s internal political affairs.

The company said that the false statements on social media were intentionally done by certain known individuals. The defamatory and false posts have already been reported to PNG government and Facebook authorities.