Argentina Looks to Discuss Pascua Lama Mining Project with New Chilean President

Argentina wants to have talks with Chile’s new government on the stalled binational Pascua Lama mining project, Mining Secretary Jorge Mayoral said.

The project is on hold on the Chilean side due to concerns raised by environmental officials.

Buenos Aires wants to hold talks to “try to understand what the dynamics are in Chile and, as a result, understand what the future timeframe for the project will be in Argentina,” Mayoral said.

The gold and silver mine, which is being developed by Canada’s Barrick Gold, sprawls across the Argentine-Chilean border in the Andes.

The halt to construction in Chile has affected work on the Argentine side of the border.

“The project on the Chilean side, in November of 2012, had difficulties with the environmental authorities in that country,” Mayoral said.

Lama Pascua holds natural resources on both sides of the border, with three-quarters of the reserves in Chile, but the treatment and marketing will be done in Argentina, Mayoral said.

“Even so, construction continues at Lama (on the Argentine side of the border). At this time, there are more than 3,000 people involved in the project. There are 1,000 more up in the high mountains,” Mayoral said.

Published in Latino Daily News