The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Chile's environmental regulator has ruled that Barrick must shut down its above-ground operations on the Chilean side of the Pascua-Lama gold and silver project. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that the latest admonishment by Chile is not expected to affect Barrick's plans for Pascua-Lama, which sits at an elevation between 3,800 to 5,200 metres in the Andes, and straddles the border between Chile and Argentina. For some time now, Barrick has been exploring the possibility of restarting the suspended project by building an underground mine on the Argentinian side. On Thursday, Barrick said that the closing of affected operations in Chile was "consistent" with the company's plans to advance a prefeasibility study for an underground mine. "We would expect Barrick to seek to modify the Pascua-Lama development plan to access the higher-grade ore on the Chilean side of the project from Argentina," RBC analyst Stephen Walker said in a note. Seeing Pascua-Lama through to eventual production is one of the keys to addressing a long-term challenge that Barrick is facing -- declining production. Barrick's output fell 3.6 per cent last year to 5.3 million ounces of gold.