The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition Barrick hopes it can find a way forward with its Pascua Lama gold mine, which would likely cost $4-billion (U.S.) to complete. A Reuters dispatch to the Post quotes Edmundo Flores, senior vice-president, Pascua Lama, as telling a Chilean newspaper: "The company has made significant changes. We hope to be able to find a way ... definitely there is an opportunity, it's small, but it exists." Finishing the project would probably cost around $4-billion (U.S.) more investment, he said, adding that construction costs had improved in the last couple of years.
Barrick is committed to completing the building of a water management system and is also sitting down with the local communities who have opposed the project to try to work out an agreement.
A technical report will be ready in December or January, Mr. Flores said.
If completed, Pascua-Lama is expected to produce up to 850,000 ounces of gold annually in its first five years, which would contribute a large share of Barrick's future production.
As well as permitting issues, cost overruns and a sharp drop in bullion prices, it faced the strong and organized opposition of the local indigenous communities.
© 2024 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.