BARRICK GOLD ALERTS AUTHORITIES AFTER FAKE PRESS RELEASE CLAIMS IT SOLD LUMWANA MINE TO NAPSA

JOHANNESBURG/LUSAKA, June 18 (Reuters) – Barrick Gold on Thursday said there is “absolutely no truth” in a press release circulated on social media in Zambia claiming the gold miner sold its Lumwana Copper Mine.

The fake press release, dated June 15, claimed Barrick had sold its Zambian copper mine to Metalinvest Capital Corporation and Zambia’s National Pension Scheme Authority for $895 million in cash.

“We don’t know who’s behind this and we have alerted the relevant securities regulators and law enforcement authorities ,” a Barrick spokeswoman told Reuters in a statement. (Reporting by Helen Reid and Chris Mfula; Editing by Franklin Paul)