Chile postpones decision on border-straddling mine

Chilean environmental authorities are postponing their final decision on Canadian company Barrick Gold’s plans for a gold, silver and copper mining project that would straddle the Chilean-Argentine border high in the Andes. Environmental officials overseeing Chile’s Third Region, 800 miles north of Santiago, had been expected to make a final ruling on Barrick’s environmental-impact statement by Dec. 9, just two days before the country’s presidential elections. But the regional director of Conama, Chile’s lead environmental agency, told reporters on Dec. 5 that his staff would extend for 60 days—until February—its evaluation of the revised impact study, which was filed Nov. 10. The director, Plácido Avila, said Conama needs more time to “make a definitive judgment.” The 20-year, US$1.4 billion... [Log in to read more]

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