Loading ...The verdict is in, and it does not look good for miners in Argentina.
In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, Argentina’s Supreme Court rejected a challenge to an environmental law banning mining in glacial areas that was brought by Barrick Gold. The Canadian miner had attempted to subvert Argentina’s controversial Glacier Protection Law prohibiting mining in glacier and permafrost areas.
Barrick owns the Veladero gold mine in Argentina and the Pascua-Lama project on the Argentine-Chile border.
“Miners have long marked this region for its rich gold, silver and copper deposits, and have been on standby for nearly a decade awaiting a judicial decision from Argentina’s top tribunal as to whether or not they could mine in glacier terrain,” said Jorge Daniel Taillant, executive director, Center for Human Rights and Environment in a media statement.
McEwen Mining’s Los Azules, Stillwater’s El Altar, and Meryllion Gold’s Cerro Amarillo are a few other mining projects that stalled when Argentina passed the world’s first Glacier Protection Law, prohibiting any industrial activity that could harm glaciers and periglacial areas.
cont. http://www.mining.com/argentina-supreme-court-rejects-barricks-challenge-glacier-protection-law/