Barrick Gold sticks to its claim over limestone shipment

Santo Domingo.- Barrick Gold Corp. on Friday said the shipping manifest filed with the Customs Agency on the six tanks retained for nearly a month are in fact, limestone originally from Portugal worth only 50 dollars.

But Customs technicians said the cargo was shipped from the mine at Pueblo Viejo, Cotuí, a week after Barrick Gold and the Government signed the new agreement

An elnacional.com.do sources revealed that the mining company sought to ship the cargo to Canada, this time with a courier not the usual commercial carrier.

It said the company roused suspicions when it transported the six tanks to Punta Caucedo freight terminal’s Warehouse 10, instead of the customary Warehouse 3.

Another attitude which the source says spurred suspicion is that the company at no time demanded that Customs return the tanks which allegedly contain limestone.

They said the shipment would’ve been sent one week after signing the new contract, "the company still used tricks in the extraction of gold and silver, seeking to circumvent the payment of taxes."

Barrick Gold reportedly set the value of the limestone at 50 dollars, even though a shipping company would’ve charged more than $7,000 to ship it to Canada.