Barrick Gold reported that the Supreme Court of Chile has issued a ruling that upholds the environmental approval for the Pascua-Lama project in Chile. Consistent with an earlier decision by the Copiapo Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court ruling requires the company to complete Pascua-Lama’s water management system in compliance with the project’s environmental permit to the satisfaction of Chile’s Superintendence of the Environment (Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente or SMA) before resuming construction activities in Chile.
The Supreme Court, however, rejected a petition filed by the Diaguitas indigenous community seeking to rescind the project’s environment license, which would have likely permanently shut down the mine.
Barrick has submitted a plan to Chilean regulatory authorities that estimates completion of the water management system by the end of 2014. The estimated timeframe for completion of these works depends on regulatory approval of specific permit applications.
