(Marketwire) - Barrick Gold Corporation has been ranked among the top 100 companies in the world for its sustainability reporting and performance by the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability Index. Barrick is the only Canadian mining company to make the semi-annual listing of leading companies.

"We are very pleased to be ranked as a global leader for our sustainability and self-reporting practices by the NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index," said Barrick President and CEO Aaron Regent. "At Barrick, corporate social responsibility is a company-wide priority and we welcome this important recognition, as we continue to strengthen our global performance."

The NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index is an equity index that serves as a benchmark of companies that are taking a leadership role in sustainability performance reporting and are traded on a major U.S. Stock Exchange. The Index is made up of companies that have taken a leadership role in disclosing their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, employee safety, workforce diversity, management composition and community investing. Companies must also voluntarily disclose their current environmental, social and governance risks and how they could affect performance.

"These rankings provide an objective tool for socially responsible investment (SRI) groups and investors to assess the social and environmental performance of companies. We are also reaching out directly to this growing segment of the investment community to increase dialogue and promote a greater understanding of our company and our industry," Regent added.

Regent was recently in London, England meeting with leading socially responsible investment organizations. At the meeting, Regent announced that Barrick has joined the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and two new corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the area of corporate governance. In 2011, Barrick plans to establish an external CSR Advisory Board and to also appoint an independent Director to its Board of Directors with experience in CSR.

Consistent with NASDAQ index criteria, Barrick produces an annual Responsibility Report that uses the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and is rated Level A+, the highest rating for self-reporting of sustainability activities. The company's Responsibility Report also undergoes a third-party assurance process based on International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) guidelines.

Additional Rankings

For the past three years, Barrick has been ranked as a world leader in social and environmental responsibility by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and has been part of the North America listing since 2007. Barrick was also recently named a climate disclosure leader in an annual global survey by the Carbon Disclosure Project for the company's reporting practices and climate change strategy. Going forward, Barrick will participate in the Water Disclosure Project to promote transparency and understanding of global industrial water use.

In addition, Barrick tied for third out of 100 companies benchmarked in a multi-industry study ranking the water reporting practices of publicly-traded companies and was singled out as having the most comprehensive water accounting of all companies assessed. The study was conducted by Ceres, a Boston-based coalition of investors, with analytical support from Bloomberg and UBS Limited.

For more information about the NASDAQ Sustainability Index and
eligibility criteria, visit: https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com.

Barrick Gold Corporation

Barrick Gold Corporation

Barrick is the gold industry leader. Based in Toronto, the company operates mines and advanced exploration and development projects on four continents. Shares are traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ABX.

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