SANTIAGO, Chile – Chile's Supreme Court has confirmed a suspension of Barrick Gold Corp.'s Pascua-Lama gold mine straddling the border with Argentina.
An indigenous community living below the mine had asked the Supreme Court to revoke Barrick's license and require the world's largest gold-mining company to prepare a new environmental impact study.
But the top court on Wednesday stopped short of ordering a re-evaluation of the environmental permit for the $8.5 billion project high in the Andes.
The Diaguita Indians earlier won an appellate ruling that ordered a freeze on construction of the project until Barrick builds infrastructure to prevent water pollution.
They had appealed that ruling in hopes of forcing Barrick to apply for a new permit that takes into account their anthropological and cultural claims to the watershed below the mine.
