Barrick Gold Project Gets Chile Environmental Okay
Published by MAC on 2006-06-13Source: Reuters
Barrick gold project gets Chile environmental okay
13th June 2006
SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Chilean environmental authorities have approved Barrick Gold's proposed $1.5 billion gold project in the Andes mountains despite the opposition of environmental groups concerned about water pollution, the company said on Tuesday.
The Pascua Lama gold project, straddling mountains between Chile and Argentina, had already received conditional approval but national authorities had been reviewing final complaints about the project.
"As with all of its other operations around the world, in Chile Barrick will maintain its philosophy of responsible mining," Barrick Chile Director Jose Antonio Urrutia said in a statement sent to media.
Barrick, the world's largest mining company, plans to begin building the mine this September, and to start producing by 2009. The Pascua-Lama project has reserves of 17.6 million ounces of gold.