RE: Pascua LamaImagine the amount of stuff that would hit the fan if Barrick does not in fact have title for Pascua-Lama in Chile.
This is an excerpt from Barrick's Q3 report that came out yesterday:
At the Pascua-Lama project on the border of Chile and Argentina, detailed engineering and procurement is nearly 90% complete and the project is on track to enter production in the first quarter of 2013. The project remains in line with its pre-production capital budget of about $3.0 billion with over 40% of the capital committed. Earthworks have commenced with about 6.8 million cubic meters moved to date and major earthworks for the mill and Merrill Crowe platforms are expected to be completed in November. In Chile, the Barriales camp is substantially complete, allowing the work-force to be increased to the permitted capacity, and initial occupancy of the Los Amarillos camp in Argentina is expected in Q4 2010. Average annual gold production from Pascua-Lama is expected to be 750,000-800,000 ounces in the first full five years of operation at total cash costs of $20-$50 per ounce(9).