Court orders Barrick to suspend operations at the $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama mine

SANTIAGO (Scrap Monster) : The Chilean Court has ordered the Canadian mining major Barrick to formally suspend all operations at the controversial Pascua Lama mines. The court ordered that the company should not proceed with any activity at the mine site without building the water management systems. The company has to ensure that the water supply of indigenous communities is not contaminated, before taking up any further operation at the mine.

Earlier in April, the court had ordered temporary halt on all operations and had imposed a huge fine of $16 billion dollars on the company on charges of breaching environmental standards.

Meantime, reports say that Barrick Gold Corp is seriously considering suspension of mine development at $8.5 bn Pascua Lama gold mines.

Pascua-Lama is an open pit mining project of gold, silver, copper and other minerals. Pascua-Lama is located in the Andes Mountains, in the southern reaches of Atacama Desert, straddling the border between Chile and Argentina at an altitude of over 4,500 metres. Due to its proximity to glaciers, Pascua-Lama has caused controversy and public protest in Chile, including demonstrations and petitions presented to the Chilean government. Pascua-Lama contains estimated deposits of 18 million ounces of gold and 676 million ounces of silver, with 75 percent of the deposits in Chile and 25 percent in Argentina.

Pascua-Lama was expected to start production by 2014-end. As per company officials, there are chances that the project may get delayed by another year. Once operational, Pascua Lama would be one of the largest gold and silver mines of the world.