Barrick Gold Corp. announced that it will not immediately begin full-scale construction on the Pascua-Lama Project in Chile and Argentina. The company also announced that it has submitted the design for the tailings facility, the last component in the permitting process, and continues to complete and optimize the development plan for the Project.
"By taking a disciplined approach to the development of Pascua-Lama, we will retain complete flexibility and continue to strengthen our financial position," said Randall Oliphant, president and chief executive officer of Barrick. "We view Pascua-Lama as a long-life, quality asset that should be a significant contributor to Barrick's production, earnings and cash flow for at least 20 years."
As a result of this decision, the Barrick no longer expects Pascua-Lama to contribute a full year's production of 800,000 ounces of gold in 2003, which was part of Barrick's earlier production target of 5 million ounces of gold.
