UPDATE 1-Barrick Gold looking at M&A, sees cheap assets

(Adds details, in U.S. dollars unless noted)

TORONTO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is looking at making acquisitions but will take a cautious approach, the company's chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an investment conference, CFO Jamie Sokalsky said valuations for both companies and projects have become exceptionally cheap.

"I think we're going to be looking at just about everything in the marketplace," he said in response to an audience question about the company's view on acquisitions.

Tight credit markets, falling stock prices, and shaky commodity prices have cooled what had been a hot mining M&A market coming into this year.

But with a cash position of more than $1.7 billion as of Sept. 30 and recent success in obtaining credit -- the company did a $1.25 billion bond offering in September -- Barrick is in a stronger position than most to take advantage of beaten-down asset prices.

Some have speculated Barrick could emerge as a potential buyer for cash-strapped NovaGold (NG.TO), or for its share in the massive Donlin Creek gold project in Alaska. Barrick and NovaGold are 50/50 partners on the venture. Barrick also unsuccessfully tried to acquire Novagold in 2006.

Asked about the status of Barrick's Pascua Lama project, which straddles the border of Argentina and Chile and has been held up in a tax dispute, Sokalsky said the company has been making slow progress.

"We're still not there yet, but we're a lot further along than we were a few months ago," he said.

The company's shares were up C$1.82, or 5.6 percent at C$34.47 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, moving roughly in line with a 6.3 percent rise in global gold stocks. (Reporting by Cameron French; Editing by Frank McGurty)