By Daily Crux Editor Justin Brill:

Barrick Gold Corp., the world's largest gold miner and producer, is rushing to unwind its fixed-price bullion contracts, a strategy that will give the company increased exposure to gold’s potential upside, but also its potential downside.

The company is selling 94.8 million shares to finance the move, which is 17% more than the original number of shares announced just yesterday. The offering will raise a total of approximately $3.5 billion, the largest stock offering in Canadian history.

The fixed-price contracts were put in place to protect the company from falling bullion prices, but they have become a burden on profits as gold has gained this year. By reducing these contracts, Barrick will be able to take advantage of further gold price increases on their projected 2009 output of over 7.2 million ounces.

On its surface, this move appears quite bullish for the gold market, yet contrarians may see it as an extreme in positive sentiment and look for a short-term pullback in gold prices. 

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