Pascua Lama is a bi-national mega gold mining project, originally slated to begin extraction in 2012, but which has been delayed due to financial and environmental problems, first to 2013, then to 2015, and now indefinitely as Barrick Gold (the project owner) is unable to secure the finance it needs to launch operations. The project is in a sensitive environmental highland mountain area and has already had in its exploratory and preparatory phase a large impact on the local environment and climate. The impacts to waterways, mountain wetlands, indigenous territories (the Diaguita indigenous community in Chile), and to a protected international biosphere reserve will be irreversible. Many glaciers in the project vicinity, which Barrick ignored in early environmental impact studies and later denied that they even existed, have already begun to melt from the great movement of soil (emitting dust into the atmosphere) and presumably from black carbon emission from heavy machinery operating in the area. Barrick Gold, in an incredible "Glacier Management Plan," devised to ease stakeholder concerns to their destruction of three glaciers in the project pit area, proposed to dynamite these glaciers and haul the ice off in dump trucks. Recent Chilean government inspections and audits have revealed and confirmed the extensive impacts to glaciers, rivers and vegas (wetland) systems and have subsequently ordered a TOTAL closure of Pascua Lama in Argentina until these impacts can be addressed and measures taken to reduce impact and risks. This closure came at a versy sensitive time for the project cycle, as Barrick had hoped to launch the project in 2012-2013. The project complications along with difficulties in securing subsidized project loans for the early phase of Pascua Lama have fully stalled the project. At first, Barrick Gold indicated it would address environmental risks to the project as demanded by Chilean authorities, but later fully suspended Pascua Lama due to the deepening financial difficulties in securing finance to launch operations. The cancelation of negotiations with EDC (Canada) and EXIM Bank (USA) for subsidized export credit loans, following the presentation of an Equator Principles Due Diligence Review at the end of 2011 (presented by CEDHA, FuCI, Int'l Accountability Project and Banktrack), complicated Barrick to launch Pascua Lama in 2012 as previously intended. The environmental fines and full closure of the project soon afterward was a nail in the coffin for Barrick as they have been unable to convince investors that Pascua Lama is a worthwhile investment. The project remains closed with no visible solution to the financial gap and to environmental problems found by the Chilean Environmental Authority (SMA). According to recent press, Barrick is now trying to woo Chinese investors to provide the necessary financing to launch Pascua Lama. As environmental complications escalate, project cost has also risen from an original US$3billion, to 5, then to 6 and now to over US$8.5 billion.  

Barrick Gold has shown throughout the exploration phase and into the preparatory phase of this project systematic disregard for the many social and environmental externalities that it is causing and that it will cause in the area. Barrick Gold barred entry to Diaguita indigenous community territory, with gates placed by Barrick on roads used by the community. On glacier impacts, Barrick has systematically denied the presence of glaciers at the project site and has repeatedly stated that it does not and will not impact glaciers. More recent company documents show however, at least 16 glaciers that are potentially impacted. New information derived from third party publicly available satellite imagery reveal hundreds in the project vicinity. The Argentine National Park Service has spoken out with concerns over Barrick's operations in the area, both due to the existing Veladero project (also by Barrick) but also due to upcoming Pascua Lama project. Barrick denies all impacts, rejects all criticism and writes off any critiques as unfounded or unprofessional. At one point, one of Barrick's top executives, repeatedly denied on a nationally broadcast program that there were any glaciers at all at Pascua Lama. Recently, a colossal landside accident was revealed in satellite imagery due to Barrick's design flaws at a waste pile site in the adjacent Veladero Project. A rock slide the size of a small town came crashing down nearly ½ a kilometer stopping short of Veladero's lixiviation valley. Barrick failed to report the accident to authorities. Communities today including small farmers, indigenous groups and environmental groups are avidly working to stop this project. The recent closure of Pascua Lama in Chile, due to a government order resulting from an environmental inspection has confirmed that Barrick Gold is in fact impacting glaciers, rivers and vegas systems in irreverible manner. Presently, the project is fully stalled, not only due to environmental problems, but for failure to convince investors that Pascua Lama will ever actually get underway.