Chile’s new mining minister, Aurora Williams, on 20 May said the Santiago government would continue to respect an environmental ruling blocking the development of the Pascua Lama gold mine.
The Pascua Lama gold and silver deposits straddle the border between Chile and Argentina in the Atacama region of the Andes. Canada’s Barrick Gold has a US$8.5bn development project for the mine, but it has been held up by environmental concerns on the Chilean side. Impatient with the delays, Argentina’s mining minister, Jorge Mayoral, has called on the Chilean government led by Michelle Bachelet to “put on its pants” and reach a decision over the mine’s future. Williams retorted that her government “has a very clear idea of how to act and react to projects like these”, and would respect environmental legislation.
The problem is that members of Chile’s Diaguita indigenous community have taken legal action against Barrick’s plans, arguing that it threatens their water supply and pollutes nearby glaciers. In May 2013, Chile’s environmental regulator ruled there were “very serious” violations of environmental regulations in the development plan presented by Barrick, which needed to be put right. In October, the company suspended work, partly because of the remedial work required to become compliant, and partly because of other issues such as rising costs and falling gold prices.
Barrick is reportedly back in talks with the Santiago government to get the project going again. This appears to have raised interest on the Argentine side, where Mayoral expressed his impatience for a decision. Rather undiplomatically, he also described Chilean and Peruvian mining policies as “failures” that Argentina would not copy, concentrating instead on a ‘national’ model, using domestic suppliers and technicians.
Chile’s refusal to be hurried may lead Argentina to decide to proceed alone with its side of the binational project (known as Lama), but this will be a smaller and more costly option.
- A delicate matter for Bachelet
In her 2013 election campaign President Bachelet signalled a tougher stance on environmental issues. She has also made a point of seeking to improve relations with Argentina. Her first official overseas trip as president was to Buenos Aires, where she met her opposite number, Cristina Fernández. So the Pascua Lama issue is a tricky one for Bachelet.
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