Mr. Kelvin Dushnisky of Barrick Gold reports

BARRICK AND NOVAGOLD ANNOUNCE THE APPOINTMENT OF ANDY COLE AS GENERAL MANAGER OF THE DONLIN GOLD PROJECT IN ALASKA

Barrick Gold Corp. and Novagold Resources Inc., the owners of Donlin Gold LLC, have appointed Andy Cole as general manager of the Donlin gold project in Alaska. The owners express their sincere gratitude to Stan Foo, the outgoing general manager, for his service and dedication to Donlin Gold during his 12-year tenure at the project.

Mr. Cole has more than 20 years of experience in permitting, building and operating major gold mines in North America. He comes to Donlin Gold from Barrick, where he was most recently executive director for the United States, responsible for permitting, energy, communications, community relations and corporate social responsibility. Prior to that position, he served in a variety of senior operating roles, including general manager of both the Goldstrike mine, one of Barrick's largest operations, and the Ruby Hill mine, both located in Nevada. Mr. Cole is well known for his active involvement in local campus and mining education programs, and serves on the advisory boards of a number of university engineering and mining programs. Mr. Cole has an engineering degree and a master of business administration. As general manager of Donlin Gold, he will be relocating to Anchorage, Alaska, and will report directly to the board of Donlin Gold, equally represented by the owners, Barrick and Novagold.

"Advancing through permitting and preparing for the development of a unique asset like Donlin Gold is a rare opportunity, and I'm excited to take on this role," said Mr. Cole. "The project has a track record of engineering excellence, and a strong culture of safety, environmental stewardship and community engagement, all values that will remain constant. We believe Donlin Gold can be a model of responsible mine development with the potential to generate meaningful benefits for our native corporation partners, Calista Corp. and the Kuskokwim Corp., and communities throughout Alaska for many decades to come."

"Andy's extensive experience and expertise make him an ideal candidate to take this project forward, building on the progress we have made under Stan Foo's strong leadership at Donlin Gold," said Kelvin Dushnisky, president of Barrick. "As we advance through the permitting process, we look forward to working with Novagold and Andy's team to optimize Donlin Gold, with a focus on maximizing the long-term value of the project for all stakeholders."

"Congratulations to Andy Cole on his new appointment and a heartfelt thanks to Stan Foo for the direction he provided in building a solid foundation on which to advance a model project," said Greg Lang, Novagold's president and chief executive officer. "As we move through permitting, Donlin Gold's path up the value chain will shift toward engineering and, potentially, the development of what is arguably the most important gold project in the world today. My team and I have known and worked with Andy for years, and we can't think of a better person to take this project through the next phases of value maximization. Andy's breadth and depth of experience and talent is well suited to unlock the potential of Donlin Gold for its owners, and continue to build on the strong partnerships we enjoy with the native corporations and other stakeholders."

The path forward

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Donlin Gold's lead federal permitting agency, is now reviewing the comment submittals received during the Donlin Gold public comment period for the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) in preparation for completing the final EIS. Concurrent with these and other permitting activities, the owners are studying ways to further enhance the project's value and lessen initial capital, such as modular construction techniques, more selective mining methods, automation of certain mining activities and additional value-accretive scenarios. These studies have identified opportunities that, in combination with changes in prices of most major input costs, have the potential to increase the overall value of Donlin Gold as the owners consider updates to the project feasibility study completed in 2011.

About the Donlin gold project

Donlin Gold is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in the world with an estimated mine life of 27 years and an average gold grade per tonne that is more than double the gold industry average. The project's existing gold resources sit on a three-kilometre portion of an eight-kilometre belt of known mineralization, with additional gold targets and exploration upside. As designed to its feasibility study specifications, or in the staged development scenarios being studied by the owners, Donlin Gold has the potential to be one of the largest gold-producing mines in the industry. The project is located in Alaska, the second-largest gold-producing state in the U.S., and enjoys strong support from its native corporation partners, as well as from the state government and its representatives.

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