GOLD: Barrick, China’s Zijin Pascua-Lama talks

TORONTO – According to comments made by an Argentine government official, Barrick Gold is in talks with China's Zijin Mining Group hoping to create a partnership and restart work at the Pascua-Lama gold project. Barrick halted work on the US$8.5-billion project high in the Andes Mountains on the Argentina-Chile border a year ago.

Not only has the Pascua-Lama price continually risen since the official go-ahead was given in 2009, the project is attracting opposition on many fronts. Environmentalists want to protect the glaciers that cover part of the site. Human rights advocates complain about the treatment of indigenous peoples (despite Barrick have reached initial agreements with 13 of the 18 local Diaguita communities). The Chilean government has refused permits to continue work on the part of the site that lies within that country. Barrick employees remain at the site only doing environmental work.

Felipe Saavedra, mining minister for Argentina's San Juan province, spilled the beans about the meetings in a radio interview last week. He said that Barrick is indeed looking for a partner and that Zijin representatives have visited the site several times.

For the English translation of a portion of that interview, click here.