Barrick Gold confirms letter to Medina, regrets “leak”

Santo Domingo.- Barrick Gold Pueblo Viejo Corp. confirmed sending a letter to president Danilo Medina on March 4, in response to his Feb. 27 speech before Congress and on the specifics of the mining contract, and reaffirmed its confidence in the country’s climate for investment.

It says that the document doesn’t resort to denotative terms and much less challenging the nation’s highest authority.

Barrick Gold says it regrets that a TV program, which indicates that the letter was leaked to them by the Industry and Commerce Ministry, "referred to offensive adjectives and descriptions which haven’t been part of our conversation."

"If a TV commentator has misunderstood the nature of the letter, considering it a clash with President Medina and used words like" liar," this applies only to the journalist’s view, who’s entitled to form their own conclusions."

The mining company says it regret the comments correspond to parts of the document, without taking into account its reaffirmation of its willingness to dialogue, clearly stating the numerous occasions where the company has proposed solutions to the difficult fiscal deficit faced by the government.