12:19 PM EDT, 07/20/2018 (MT Newswires) -- Detour Gold's (DGC.TO) mystery suitor and the crux of a proxy battle between the Canadian miner and one of its largest shareholders may be Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), Bloomberg New reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The news service said Paulson & Co, which on Thursday said it would launch a proxy battle to replace Detour's board as it lobbies for the sale of the company, has met with Barrick to tout an acquisition to gain the Detour Lake mine in northern Ontario.

Bloomberg offered no other detail on Barrick's interest in the company.

The fight between the U.S. hedge fund and Detour went public Thursday, when Paulson said Michael Kenyon, Detour's interim chief executive, asked it to sign a standstill agreement because he had an potential offer from an undisclosed bidder. Kenyon disputed the allegation, saying the company intends to report Paulson to securities regulators.

Detour said earlier Friday it intends to soon replace two of its directors with persons with experience operating large open-pit mines.

Detour shares were down $0.26 to $13.09 at last look on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Price: 13.35, Change: 0.00, Percent Change: 0.00