MW As gold prices soar, this billionaire investor now has a big stake in an Alaskan gold mine

By Barbara Kollmeyer

Upping his exposure to one of the hottest investments this year, billionaire investor John Paulson is teaming up with Canada's NovaGold Resources Inc. to purchase a stake in an Alaskan gold-mining project.

NovaGold (CA:NG) (NG) announced Tuesday that it has entered into a deal with Paulson Advisers LLC, which is a hedge fund under the investment company Paulson & Co., to buy Barrick Gold Corp.'s (CA:ABX) $(GOLD)$ 50% stake in Donlin Gold LLC, which runs an Alaskan gold-mining project of the same name, for $1 billion in cash.

NovaGold will take a 20% stake in Donlin, and Paulson an 80% stake. NovaGold also has an option to buy outstanding debt owed to Barrick linked to the Donlin project for $90 million if that is done before closing of the deal, which is expected in the second or early third quarter of 2025. The debt will remain outstanding if that option isn't exercised.

"Donlin Gold is one of the most attractive development gold projects in the world. With 39 million ounces of gold at double the industry average grade, and an optimal location in the prime jurisdiction of Alaska - already the second largest gold-producing state in the United States - we believe that the project could create value for decades to come," Paulson said in a statement.

The billionaire has long been a gold fan and has exposure to several gold-mining companies through his family office, Paulson & Co. Those include stakes in NovaGold, as well as Seabridge Gold Inc. (CA:SEA) (SA), Equinox Gold Corp. $(EQX)$ (CA:EQX) and Iamgold Corp. (CA:IMG) $(IAG)$, all according to WhaleWisdom data as of the end of 2024.

Paulson's stake in the Donlin project comes as the price of gold has soared nearly 30% on investor concerns over the economy linked to President Donald Trump's global tariff plans. More recently, concerns over the independence of the Federal Reserve have driven investors into gold and out of the dollar. Gold (GC00) was headed to a new high above $3,430 on Tuesday.

Read: Silver could finally be a better investment opportunity than gold, some analysts say

Paulson, known for his bets during the subprime-mortgage bubble, said ahead of the presidential election last year that he would pull his money from the market if former Vice President Kamala Harris were elected president.

"I'd go into cash and I'd go into gold, because I think the uncertainty regarding the plans they outlined would create a lot of uncertainty in the markets and likely lower markets," he told Fox Business at the time.

According to Forbes, Paulson was worth $3.8 billion as of April 22. And Paulson has likely reaped benefits from his bets on mining companies this year. U.S.-listed shares of NovaGold have climbed 12% over the last 12 months.

But the S&P 500 SPX has lost 11% in 2025 as investor concerns have increased over economic fallout from Trump's tariff plans.

Barrick Gold shares were slightly lower in early trading on Tuesday. Those shares have gained 21% in 2025.

-Barbara Kollmeyer

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April 22, 2025 11:01 ET (15:01 GMT)

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