Barrick Gold said it has ended its five-month-old takeover bid for NovaGold Resources Inc. after picking up just 14.8 per cent of the company's shares.

In a release issued before the opening of stock markets, Barrick said it had acquired 13.6 million shares of NovaGold, making it the company's largest shareholder.

"Barrick will continue its disciplined approach to acquisitions and other business opportunities," said Greg Wilkins, Barrick's president and CEO.

In November, Barrick said its offer to acquire NovaGold stock was no longer conditional on it getting a majority of the company's shares.

Before that, Barrick had been seeking a minimum of 50.1 per cent of NovaGold's shares. But as the weeks wore on, it became increasingly clear it would fall short.

Barrick Gold kept extending its takeover offer but NovaGold kept rebuffing it. Barrick's "best and final" offer expired Wednesday.

NovaGold called Barrick's bid of $16 US per share for the company a "low-ball" offer, even though Barrick had boosted it from the $14.50 US a share it had originally offered in July.

In a release Thursday, NovaGold said it could "once again focus 100 per cent of its efforts on advancing its projects" now that the hostile bid had expired.

"NovaGold received outstanding support from its shareholders throughout this prolonged takeover attempt," said NovaGold CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. "Our shareholders were the 'white knights' in this process."

Barrick's offer for the Vancouver-based company was worth about $1.7 billion.

Shares of NovaGold rose 30 cents to finish at $18.80 on the TSX, while Barrick closed with a gain of 47 cents at $35.37.