The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition Moody's has downgraded Barrick Gold's credit to the lowest investment grade rating. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai writes Barrick ($10.55) is rapidly selling mines to reduce its $13-billion debt load, but Moody's said Barrick's debt remains too high given the weak gold price. Moody's changed the miner's outlook to "stable" from "negative" and downgraded Barrick's debt to one notch above junk status, a risky rating that will increase borrowing costs. A spokesman for Barrick said the company had made significant progress in reducing debt this year and plans further cost reductions. Barrick incurred much of its debt from an ill-timed copper acquisition in 2011 and a bungled attempt to build a gold and silver mine on an Andean mountain. The copper deal was written down and the Andean project suspended. With the precious metal price trading around $1,100 an ounce, down 40 per cent over four years, Barrick finds itself in a crunch. Moody's praised Barrick's financial strength and said the company had the ability to "manoeuvre through" the weak gold price environment, but it also said Barrick was dependent on gold prices improving.