BGD Barrick Gold

    FOR:  BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION

NYSE, TSX, Swiss SYMBOL:  ABX
LSE SYMBOL:  BGD

October 24, 2006

Barrick Announces US$16.00 Best and Final Offer for NovaGold

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Oct. 24, 2006) - Barrick Gold Corporation
(NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX)(LSE:BGD)(SWX:ABX) announced today that it has increased its all-cash offer to
acquire the outstanding common shares of NovaGold Resources Inc. to US$16.00 per common share and
extended its offer to 9:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on November 7, 2006. The increased price is Barrick's
best and final offer price for NovaGold.

The US$16.00 offer price represents a premium of approximately 37% over both the closing price of the
NovaGold common shares on the AMEX on July 21, 2006, the last trading day prior to Barrick's
announcement of its intention to make the offer, and the price at which shares were issued under
NovaGold's February 2006 equity offering.

"This revised offer represents our best and final offer price for NovaGold," said Greg Wilkins,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick. "We are confident that we have arrived at a price
which strikes a balance between NovaGold shareholder expectations of value and a price that is
acceptable to Barrick. We look forward to concluding this offer, advancing our pipeline of projects
and pursuing other business opportunities."

All Offer conditions remain unchanged including the minimum tender condition of 50.1%. At a price of
US$16.00, the acquisition of NovaGold is now valued at approximately US$1.7 billion, based on the
fully diluted shares disclosed by NovaGold on October 13, 2006. The Circular for Barrick's offer to
acquire all of the outstanding common shares of NovaGold is available on Barrick's website at
www.barrick.com, from the Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at
www.sedar.com or on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. For purposes of U.S. tender offer rules, Barrick
discloses that 167,679 NovaGold common shares have been validly tendered to date to the offer.

Barrick's vision is to be the world's best gold company by finding, acquiring, developing and
producing quality reserves in a safe, profitable and socially responsible manner.

Additional Information

On August 4, 2006, Barrick Gold Corporation filed a tender offer statement related to its tender offer
for the outstanding common shares of NovaGold Resources Inc. Investors and security holders of
NovaGold are urged to read the tender offer statement, because it contains important information.
Investors and security holders of NovaGold may obtain a free copy of the tender offer statement and
other documents filed by Barrick Gold Corporation with the SEC at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
The tender offer statement may also be obtained for free from Barrick Gold Corporation on its website
or by directing a request to Barrick Gold Corporation's investor relations department.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information included in this press release, including any information as to our future
financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or
estimates of future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements." The words "expect", "will",
"intend", "estimate" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered
reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive
uncertainties and contingencies. The Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual financial
results, performance or achievements of Barrick to be materially different from the Company's
estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking
statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These risks,
uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to: changes in the worldwide price of
gold or certain other commodities (such as copper, silver, fuel and electricity) and currencies;
charges in U.S. dollar interest rates or gold lease rates; risks arising from holding derivative
instruments; ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; legislative, political or economic
developments in the jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business; operating or technical
difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations; the speculative
nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of
reserves; adverse changes in our credit ration; contests over title to properties, particularly title
to undeveloped properties; and the risks involved in the exploration, development and mining business.
These factors are discussed in greater detail in the Company's most recent Form 40-F/Annual
Information Form on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian provincial
securities regulatory authorities.

The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable
law.


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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

INVESTOR CONTACTS:
Barrick Gold Corporation
James Mavor
Vice President, Investor Relations
(416) 307-7463
Email: jmavor@barrick.com

OR

Barrick Gold Corporation
Mary Ellen Thorburn
Director, Investor Relations
(416) 307-7363
Email: mthorburn@barrick.com

OR

MEDIA CONTACT:
Barrick Gold Corporation
Vincent Borg
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications
(416) 307-7477
Email: vborg@barrick.com

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Barrick Gold Corporation



                                                                

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