In the latest blow against the $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama project, Chile’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Barrick Gold Corp. over environmental penalties, the company announced. The judgment upholds a lower court ruling against the $8.5 billion Andean asset suspended in Q4 2013.
In Q2 2014, Chile’s national environmental officials fined Barrick $16 million over noncompliance with regulatory requirements. The massive copper-gold-silver project has been dogged by local opposition, labor unrest and cost overruns for years.
Following the latest ruling, environmental officials will now re-evaluate previously imposed fines, according to company representatives. Toronto-headquartered Barrick gave no indication of the possible size of the new penalty and a spokesman was unavailable for comment, according to a Reuters report.
