Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit
Status	Closing / Closed
Commodities	Gold Silver Copper
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	Construction on the Pascua-Lama project began in October 2009. During the fourth quarter of 2013, Barrick announced the temporary suspension of construction, except for those activities required for environmental and regulatory compliance. On March 13, 2017, the Chilean Supreme Court vacated the temporary suspension plan, and ordering the Chilean mining authority to issue a new resolution on the plan after receiving additional information. On August 29, 2017, Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service issued a new resolution in which it reapproved the Temporary Closure Plan as originally issued. This approval was subsequently renewed and was valid through September 2022. The Temporary Closure Plan is no longer in effect as the project entered definitive closure on March 31, 2021.

Deposit type

• Epithermal

Summary:

The Pascua-Lama property is located in the high Andean Mountains, in what has been designated as the Eastern Belt of Hydrothermal Alteration. The gold, silver, and copper mineralization and alteration assemblages at Pascua-Lama are associated with a structurally controlled acid sulfate hydrothermal system hosted by intrusive and volcanic rock sequences of Upper Paleozoic and Middle Tertiary age.

Alteration and mineralization is of the high-sulfidation, epithermal type. As is typical with high-sulfidation epithermal deposits, the principal metal commodities at Pascua-Lama are gold and silver – the copper content is usually sub-economic.

Numerous breccias bodies occur in the Esperanza, Quebrada de Pascua and Lama areas. At the surface, these breccias vary in size from outcrops measured in centimeters up to hundreds of meters. Typically the breccias show a strong correlation to zones of intersection of two or more major structural zones. Breccia Central, the large inter mineral breccia pipe, occurs in the Quebrada de Pascua area. On the surface, this breccia body is about 650 meters long and up to 250 meters in width, while underground, between 200 and 400 meters below the surface, the composite body measures about 550 meters in length and up to 130 meters in width. It extends to at least 700 meters below surface. This well mineralized breccia pipe is evidence of an explosive hydrothermal event related to the formation of the Quebrada de Pascua ore deposit. Breccia Oeste and Breccia Sur are the two large post mineralization breccias pipe complexes located in the mine area. Oriented north/south along the Breccia Oeste fault zone in the Esperanza area, the Breccia Oeste pipe measures up to 500 meters long, up to 150 meters wide, and extends up to 300 meters below surface.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

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Production