Barrick had previously announced on April 10 that it had suspended construc-tion on the Chilean side of Pascua-Lama while it addressed environmental and other regulatory requirements to the satisfaction of Chilean authorities (E&MJ, May 2013, p. 14). The SMA resolution does not apply to project development activity on the Argentinian side of the border.

Wastewater management, downstream water contamination and environmental reporting were key issues in the SMA resolution. Construction at the project can-not resume until Barrick has built a waste-water management system to the specifications of its permit.

The May 24 SMA announcement cited five specific violations of environmental re-quirements at Pascua-Lama. The announce-ment also stated that Barrick had reported some of its environmental failures but that investigation by the agency’s inspectors found that Barrick’s disclosures were not entirely correct, truthful or verifiable.

Barrick acknowledged receipt of the SMA resolution, reported that it was review-ing the resolution in detail, and said it was fully committed to complying with all aspects of the resolution and to operating at the highest environmental standards.