Intermediate gold producer Detour Gold said on Wednesday that it did not have a sale process in place and that it had not received any offers to purchase its shares, rejecting a news release by institutional investor Paulson & Co suggesting otherwise as “highly misleading”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Paulson & Co said that a major gold mining company had approached the Ontario miner about potentially acquiring the firm, citing an “unsolicited written communication” by Detour Gold interim CEO Michael Kenyon, in which he reportedly “selectively disclosed non-public information” about the potential transaction.

The news sent Detour Gold’s stock up 14% on the TSX to trade at C$13.90 by 15:00 in Toronto.

However, Detour Gold later in the afternoon denied the information that Paulson & Co distributed and said that it had notified the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) of “concerning and unlawful behaviour” by the investment firm.

“Paulson, in a desperate attempt to resuscitate its flailing reputation in the mining industry, has once again misinformed the investment community. This is not the first time, unfortunately, that Paulson has done so.  Over the past several weeks, Paulson has run an aggressive and self-serving agitation campaign against Detour Gold with the sole objective of bullying the company into an ill-timed fire sale,” Detour Gold stated.

The company added that Paulson’s “own actions had led them to come into possession of material non-public information from another party. These actions are part of Detour Gold’s complaint to the OSC.”

In its press release, Paulson has confirmed that it would go ahead with plans to replace the majority of Detour Gold’s board of directors. The firm is pushing Detour Gold for a strategic review, arguing that the board had failed to recruit and oversee a management team capable of operating the Detour Lake mine in a manner that delivers returns to shareholders.

Last month, Detour Gold chairperson Alex Morrison expressed his confidence in the company’s team, led by Kenyon and new COO Frazer Bourchier. The board said, at the time, that it was confident that the implementation of a new mine plan, following a six-month review by the new COO, was the best value-maximising alternative and that it would position Detour Lake as “a leading intermediate gold producer”.

Detour Gold traded at C$13.70 each at 16:00 in Toronto.