Mr. Mark Bristow reports

CHILEAN SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ENVIRONMENTAL COURT RULING IN PASCUA-LAMA CLOSURE REVIEW PROCESS

On Thursday, March 14, the Supreme Court of Chile annulled the October, 2018, administrative decision of the Antofagasta Environmental Court, which had rejected four of the five closure orders issued by Chile's environmental regulator (the Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente, or SMA) in January, 2018, against the Chilean subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corp. that holds the Chilean portion of the Pascua-Lama project. Barrick was not a party to this process. All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars.

The Supreme Court overturned the Antofagasta Environmental Court's decision on procedural grounds and remanded the case back to the environmental court for review by a different panel of judges, a process that could last several months. The Supreme Court did not review the merits of the SMA's January, 2018, closure orders which remain in effect and are subject to an appeal by Barrick.

Barrick's president and chief executive officer, Mark Bristow, said that although the Supreme Court's decision was not helpful in that it delayed a decision on the future of the Pascua-Lama project, the company remains focused on resolving the legal and environmental issues around the project and, in addition to the continuing remediation work, it had embarked on a technical review of the project parameters and potential. As part of this work, it has conducted extensive geochemical and geohydrological studies for a water management plan which it was confident would be acceptable to the environmental authority.

Mr. Bristow, who last month met with Chile's Minister of Mining Baldo Prokurica, said Barrick's Chilean assets were an important part of its global portfolio. These include the jointly owned Zaldivar copper mine and the Norte Abierto and Alturas gold projects. Over the past 10 years, the company has spent about $8-billion in the country on exploration and development as well as royalties and taxes, wages, and payments to local suppliers.

"Chile is an investor-friendly country, with a significant mineral endowment and which encourages the development of mining projects. We believe that despite the legacy challenges relating to the Pascua-Lama project there are exciting opportunities here, especially in the El Indio belt, and we will be pursuing this in line with our strategy of creating value for all our stakeholders, including the governments, and people, of our host countries," Mr. Bristow said.

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