LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Canada's Barrick Gold ( GOLD )

must pay British dealmaker Ian Hannam's firm $2 million

plus expenses for his work on the acquisition of gold miner

Randgold Resources, London's High Court ruled on Wednesday.

Hannam was formerly one of JPMorgan's ( JPM ) top rainmakers and

nicknamed the "king of mining" for his record of brokering deals

in the resources sector, including the merger that created BHP

Billiton in 2001 and the 2012 merger of Glencore ( GLCNF ) and Xstrata.

His advisory boutique Hannam & Partners sued over an

agreement he says was reached shortly before Barrick's 2018

acquisition of Randgold.

Hannam & Partners said it was promised a minimum of $10

million, with the figure to increase if the deal was worth more

than $10 billion.

After Barrick and Randgold agreed a deal ultimately worth

some $18 billion, Hannam asked for $18 million and was rebuffed.

Randgold's lawyers said there was no written evidence of the

alleged agreement and that Hannam & Partners was not due any

payment.

Judge Simon Gleeson said in a written ruling that "no

contract to provide investment advisory services was ever made".

But he added: "The claimant's (Hannam & Partners') early

work in promoting the transaction conferred a valuable benefit

on both Randgold and Barrick.

"Both Randgold and Barrick recognised this, and intended to

make some payment to the claimant in respect of the value which

they felt that they had received. They estimated this as being

an amount of $2 million."

Gleeson said that Hannam & Partners was therefore entitled

to $2 million plus its expenses.

Hannam & Partners' CEO Neil Passmore said the decision was

"a seminal judgment for the investment banking industry with a

substantial award of fees for work undertaken on a handshake,

despite the fact there was no written contract".

Barrick also claimed the ruling as a victory, saying Hannam

& Partners had been awarded "the amount Randgold proposed to pay

(Hannam & Partners) in September 2018 for its limited

involvement in the transaction".