Ontario court dismisses human rights claims against Barrick

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) said the Ontario provincial court dismissed claims by Tanzanian residents alleging human rights abuses near the company’s North Mara mine in Tanzania.

In 2022, a group of Tanzanian nationals filed a lawsuit in Canada alleging that Barrick was complicit in killings by police tasked with protecting the North Mara Gold Mine.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, police guarding the mine were linked to the killing of a number of people and injuring several others. The police had accused those killed and injured of invading the mine and conducting small-scale mining inside the mine’s premises illegally.

Ottawa-based MiningWatch Canada also contends thousands of Indigenous Kuria people were driven from their homes in December 2022 and in August and September 2023. The group initially published a report on its claims in October 2022 and say that the abuses continue.

According to Barrick, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the case, ruling that Ontario wasn’t the appropriate forum to consider the claims.

The company acquired the mine near Lake Victoria and the border with Kenya in 2019. It began commercial operation in 2002, and has faced allegations of police brutality for years. The latest batch arrived within days of Barrick being named Tanzania’s employer of the year by a country-wide business group. The mine was run by a London-based subsidiary of Barrick, Acacia Mining, before Barrick acquired it. It’s now run in partnership with the government, which holds 16%.

Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow said the company has repeatedly refuted what it regards as baseless claims by a small number of activist NGOs.

“We are proud of what we have achieved in Tanzania through our Twiga partnership with the country’s government. Our mines’ revenue contribution is having a transformative effect on the country’s economy while our investment in the socio-economic development of our host communities, coupled with our holistic sustainability strategy, has improved the quality of their lives materially,” he said.

Shares of Barrick were up 0.2% by 11:10 a.m. EDT. The miner has a market capitalization of C$43.15 billion ($30.79 billion).