Barrick fined, told to halt all operations in Pascua-Lama

SANTIAGO (Scrap Monster) : Chile has ordered Canadian mining major Barrick to halt all operations at the controversial Pasua-Lama and has imposed huge fines on the company for violating the terms of the environmental permit.

Chiles’s Superintendent for the Environment on Friday ordered on Friday that no construction activities should be undertaken at the mine site until the water management systems are in place as promised by the company. The supervisory body also stated that the company has violated the terms underlined in the environment permit and has imposed a heavy fine of $16 billion dollars. The indigenous communities had earlier filed petition against Barrick accusing the company was Barrick of breaching environmental standards.

Barrick officials responded saying the order is being studied and the company would take all necessary actions to abide by the order to meet the stipulated environmental standards.

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. Once operational, this would have been one of the largest gold and silver mines of the world.