Barrick faces US$23.2M fine for error in Dominican gold shipment

Santo Domingo.- The Customs Agency on Monday affirmed that Barrick Gold Corp. faces a fine as high as US$23.2 millon for errors found in the shipping manifest for the gold and silver ore called doré, or twice as much as the cargo’s worth.

“In principle there was a mistake in the registry of origin, from there we will determine if there was another error,” Customs said in relation to Barrick Gold’s description that the doré was from the U.S.

It said the penalty is double the value of the merchandise declared.

Although gold mining exports say the total value of the eight crates inspected was of US$17.0 million, but Customs deputy director Gregorio Lora didn’t confirm or deny the figure.

He said the Customs Law will be “strictly enforced.”