Barrick's Plan

"In over forty years I have never put as much environmental protection into a project as I've put into this one."

Ron Kettles, Pascua Lama's director of operations, told us this as we sat down with him in his La Serena office. Kettles is a mining veteran and he has the stout, strong build and direct, no-nonsense demeanor to match. Ron believes in Pascua Lama and insists on its effectiveness. He says he came out of retirement to lead this project because of the dynamic challenges it posed due to its elevation and cross-border location. He also appreciates Barrick's committment to the environment and community, exemplified by their recent closure of the El Indio mine in a southerly valley.

For over an hour Ron walked us through Pascua Lama's plan according to a topographic map on his desk. The plan calls for five layers of protection in the waste pits and leaching pond. Surficial water from the glaciers surrounding the pit will be redirected via canals to join the free-flowing Estrecho River below the mine site. A water treatment facility will treat the naturally acidic water and recycled mine water for reuse in the operations. This water treatment process will, according to Ron, "stay in operation in perpetuity, if necessary." It must be noted that that perpetuity begins over 25 years from now, long after current Barrick officials have retired or moved on. The glaciers will not be touched, according to Ron, although he says their water studies show that the ice in the three glaciers accounts for less than .5% of the water supply. Glaciologists argue that such percentages are hard to rationalize since the ecosystems in these high-altitude environments are very complex and sensitively balanced.

"If anything's, there's probably a slight improvement to the water quality and quantity," Ron said.

He quotes some numbers of water usage. The mine will use only 45 liters/sec during peak operation though they have rights to 200 liters/sec in accordance with their "acciones" in the Junta de Vigilancia. Ron states that 5,800 liters/sec enters the Santa Juana Reservoir, the main body of water collected to fund the Huasco Valley. That number has been disputed by the Junta, however, who's director says there is a fluctuation of 1,000 to 2,000 liters/sec entering the reservoir and between 2,000 and 5,000 liters/sec leaving the reservoir. Only during the peak runoff months from September to December does the reservoir yield between 3,000-5,000 liters/sec. Most of the year it hovers at 2,000.

As for waste material, Ron says the mine will move 45,000 tons/day. Waste rock will be placed in stock piles with membrane linings to control leaching of dangerous material. Ron is especially proud of the tailings pond dam on the Argentina side of the mine where the cyanide treatment plant will live. Unlike similar dams, this one will be built of separate rock, not the tailings themselves. This, ideally, will act as yet another barrier to leaking. A nearby reclaimed water pond will be 1 km from the dam and all has been seismically tested to withstand catastrophic geologic events.

Ron emphasizes this importance, "There will be no possibility of contaminated material getting past the dam. There will be zero environmental impact effect."

The cyanide will arrive in trucks via the San Felix valley road that leaves out of Alto del Carmen. Truck spills are a major concern with mines, especially since the mountainous road is extremely curvy (see http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/gold/spills.htm for a recent timeline of spills in world mines). It also passes directly above the north shore of the Santa Juana Reservoir. Ron says two convoys of 20 trucks will travel the road each day during operation. That's 40 trucks a day every day for twenty years. Barrick's emergency response plan involves GPS satellite surveillance, though a cyanide spill into a river or, worse, the reservoir, spreads rapidly.

Ron's pride in this mine is obvious - it is far more advanced than any mine he or Barrick has done in the past, including the year-old Veladero mine 7 km south of Pascua Lama in Argentina.

So why such dramatic improvements with Pascua Lama; why has Barrick gone to such length on this one?

"The emotional opposition has motivated us," Ron said.

(Barrick has a very capable public relations team so further technical information on this and other mines can be found at www.barrick.com)