TORONTO, March 11, 2026 /CNW/ - On March 4, 2026, Justice Leiper of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a securities misrepresentation class action against Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") and certain of its officers and directors (Aaron W. Regent, Jamie Sokalsky, and Ammar Al-Joundi). The action, brought on behalf of Barrick investors, seeks damages arising from Barrick's alleged misrepresentations concerning the Pasqua Lama mine project located in the high Andes region of Chile and Argentina.

Justice Belobaba and Justice Akbarali had previously granted the Plaintiffs leave under Part XXIII.1 of the Ontario Securities Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.5. ("OSA"), to pursue certain secondary market misrepresentation claims relating to Barrick's compliance with its environmental permit – which required completion of the project's water management system before the commencement of pre-stripping – and the project's capital expenditure (CAPEX) estimates and schedule to first gold. The Plaintiffs allege that when these misrepresentations were corrected through a series of corrective disclosures, shareholders suffered losses amounting to billions of dollars.

Justice Leiper certified the Plaintiffs' secondary market claims and related negligence misrepresentation claims pursuant to s. 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 6. S. 5. The certified class definition reads as follows:

The CAPEX Class: All individuals and entities, wherever they may reside or are domiciled, other than residents of Quebec and the Excluded Persons, who acquired common shares of Barrick on the TSX or other secondary market in Canada from and including February 16, 2012 to and including May 2, 2012 or July 26, 2012, and held some or all of those shares through May 2, 2012 or July 26, 2012;

The Environmental Class: All individuals and entities, wherever they may reside or are domiciled, other than residents of Quebec and the Excluded Persons, who acquired common shares of Barrick on the TSX or other secondary market in Canada from and including July 26, 2012 to and including November 1, 2012, April 10, 2013 or June 28, 2013 and held some or all of those shares through November 1, 2012, April 10, 2013 or June 28, 2013. The Court declined to certify the Plaintiffs' primary market claims under s. 130.1 of the OSA.

Justice Leiper also awarded Plaintiffs' Counsel costs of the leave motions totaling $2.75 million, inclusive of fees, disbursements, and taxes. This is the largest costs award, on an OSA leave motion, to date.

The Defendants deny the Plaintiffs' allegations and the Court has not yet ruled on the merits of the class action.

A copy of Justice Leiper's decision can be found here.

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SOURCE Rochon Genova