-->Barrick Gold Corp. And J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Accused
by Blanchard And Company Of $2 Billion Illegal Gold
Market Manipulation
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA--An anti-trust lawsuit filed today accuses
Barrick Gold Corp., Toronto, and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., New
York City, of"unlawfully combining to actively manipulate the
price of gold" and making (US)$2 billion in short-selling profits
by suppressing the price of gold at the expense of individual
investors.

The suit was filed by Blanchard and Company, Inc., New Orleans,
the largest retail dealer in physical gold in the United States,
and by Blanchard clients who bought gold bullion. Blanchard
(www.blanchardonline.com) is paying the costs of the suit, which
asks the Federal Court to terminate the trading agreements
between Barrick and J.P. Morgan Chase and other, as yet unnamed,
bullion banks. It also seeks the payment of treble damages to
Blanchard's clients for the losses they have suffered as a result
of Barrick's and J.P. Morgan Chase's unlawful price manipulation,
anti-trust violations and unfair trade practices.

"Since the end of 1987, when the collaboration between Barrick
and J.P. Morgan began, the growth of global income and wealth
would have lifted the gold price to approximately $740 if the
price had been able to respond to the normal laws of supply and
demand," stated Blanchard's Chief Executive Officer, Donald W.
Doyle, Jr."If gold had kept pace with inflation, the price today
would be approximately $760."

The lawsuit claims that in the past five years Barrick and J.P.
Morgan Chase injected millions of additional ounces of gold into
the market - additions that were several times as great as the
annual production of every gold mine in South Africa, the largest
gold producing nation in the world. By using privately negotiated
derivative contracts and concealing the addition of billions of
dollars worth of (physical) gold with off-balance sheet
accounting, Barrick was able to make it virtually impossible for
gold analysts and investors to determine the size and the market
impact of its trading positions.

"The same type of accounting maze that hid Enron's debts made it
possible for Barrick to manipulate the price of gold without the
checks and balances that come from public scrutiny. As a
percentage of Barrick's total assets, its off-balance sheet
assets make Enron look like a champion of full disclosure," said
Doyle."Is Barrick a gold mining company, or is it a hedge fund
with a mine out back?"

The suit alleges that J.P. Morgan Chase financed Barrick's
repeated short selling with remarkably advantageous terms not
available to others, including deferred repayments and no margin
calls. Doyle said the short-sales scheme between the bank and
Barrick appears to be the proverbial"money for nothing."

"Over the past five years, J.P. Morgan Chase loaned gold to
Barrick at approximately 1.5 percent; sold the gold into the
market and invested the dollar proceeds at approximately 6.5
percent; then paid both the proceeds from the sales and the 5
percent interest differential to Barrick whenever it repaid any
of the borrowed gold. During a period when the price of gold
dropped by more than 25%, Barrick's annual operating cash flow
increased by more than 400%."

"In 1983, Barrick was a start-up with a single mine in Canada, a
founder with no experience in the gold business, and principal
investors from Saudi Arabia. Today, through a combination of
market manipulation and a 1992 transaction that the U.S.
Secretary of the Interior described as `the biggest gold heist
since the days of Butch Cassidy,' Barrick has amassed off-balance
sheet assets that are worth more than the market capitalizations
of the next five biggest gold mining companies in the world
combined," said Doyle.

Doyle explained that"Blanchard and Company was founded on the
belief that gold and other tangible assets are essential to
proper portfolio diversification. However, because of the illegal
manipulation of its price, we advised our clients to avoid gold
like the plague until such time as the free market laws of supply
and demand were allowed to dictate the price. We believe that the
anti-trust lawsuit filed today will stop the illegal suppression
of the price of gold and other hard assets and return them to
their roles as stores of value and financial insurance."

The suit was filed by the law firm of Jones, Verras & Freiberg,
LLC of New Orleans in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana. It is document number 02-3721 Section C,
Blanchard and Company, Inc. V. Barrick Gold Corporation; J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co.; and ABC Companies. A web site is being set up
to provide ongoing information, www.savegold.com.

-30-

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Blanchard and Company, Inc. and Save Gold
Neal R. Ryan
888/531-4653