“Chilean authorities have fined the world's largest gold mining
company, Barrick Gold Corp, more than $16m for environmental offences.” – bbc.co.uk
Construction at the Pascua-Lama mine, on the border with
Argentina, has been suspended until a system to contain contaminated water is
put in place.The news led to share trading in the Canadian-owned company being
halted in New York and Toronto after a sell-off. But activists complained that
the fine was only 0.1% of the total operation. "The resolution is
convenient to the offender, a derisive fine for a company such as Barrick
Gold," Greenpeace said on a statement. Despite criticism, the government
said the fine was the highest possible under Chilean law.
'No environmental damage'
The environmental authorities said the mining company
committed four "serious" and one "very serious" offences. The
latter was a commitment made by Barrick Gold to put in place water treatment
systems to contain contaminated waste water and to prevent rainwater
contamination. The company itself reported its shortcomings to the
environmental authorities, which led to an investigation. Barrick Gold Corp
acknowledged the failures and promised to work on solutions.
The fines are related to building and regulatory
shortcomings, a company executive said. "We have not been charged with any
environmental damage," the president of Barrick South America, Eduardo
Flores Zelaya, told Chilean news website La Tercera. But the investigation
found further problems. "We found that the acts described weren't correct,
truthful or provable. And there were other failures of Pascua-Lama's
environmental licence as well," Juan Carlos Monckeberg, Chile's
Environment superintendent, told AP news agency.
Among the violations, there was an "unjustified
discharge coming from the acid treatment plant to the Estecho river",
according to the authorities. Until all of the government requirements have
been fulfilled, the mine will not be allowed to operate, they say. Barrick's
shares have reportedly lost more than half their value in the last year, mostly
because of Pascua-Lama's problems.
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