Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions

CASE STUDY

Mining, glaciers and water supply: The controversy of the Pascua- Lama Gold Mine

The Pascua-Lama Gold Mine, located on the border between Chile and Argentina at about 5000 metres, has seen significant controversy since operations began in 2005. The mine is located within a biosphere reserve, which contains large glaciers that provide water needed by 8500 farmers in the Huasco Valley. Construction of the mine is thought to have affected glacial melting patterns and water quality, and has led to prolonged legal battles and petitions against the mine’s owners, Barrick Gold (ECC Platform, 2015). In 2013, the Chilean Court ordered the suspension of construction at the mine until adequate measures were put in place for water management, finding that the company had 23 violations of its environmental impact agreement (A/P, 2013). That same year, the farming communities in the Alto del Carmen region together with the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OLCA) filed a lawsuit against Barrick Gold, alleging that dust from the mine settled onto and

accelerated the melting of these glaciers. However, in 2015, Chile’s environmental court rejected claims that the mining project damaged the glaciers, although the NGO who filed the lawsuit in question accused the government of ignoring scientific documents produced by state scientists, in favour of scientists hired by Barrick Gold (GlacierHub, 2015; OLCA, 2015).

A wall painting referring to Pascua-Lama. Photo © Flickr/Amilcar

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