Barrick Gold sells Highland stake

The world’s largest gold miner, Barrick Gold Corporation, has sold its 20.4 percent stake in Russian Highland Gold Mining, Ltd., for $130 million.

The 66.2 million shares of Highland were sold as Barrick seeks to unload its non-core business. Barrick decided in February that its Highland assets qualified as “non-core to its business operations and strategy”, according to IBTimes.com.

The stake was sold at $1.96 per share to both new and existing institutional investors. The selling price was well below Highland’s closing value on Wednesday of $2.14.

Barrick originally paid $3.97 per share in October of 2003, for a 10 percent stake in Highland, and raised its stake again in 2006 to 34 percent. The company dropped its holdings to 20.4 percent in 2007, when Russian Tycoon Roman Abramovich paid $400 million for a 40 percent stake.

Barrick recently reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.17 per share, up from $1.02 in the previous year. In last minute trading, shares of Barrick were down 20 cents on Thursday evening, IBTimes.com reports.

Barrick is the word’s largest gold mining company.