Barrick’s Veladero ops suspended after heap-leach breach
VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Operations at one of Argentina’s largest mines have been suspended following a tailings breach.
Barrick reported Thursday that the government of San Juan province temporarily suspended operations at its Veladero mine pending further inspections of the mine's heap-leach area, after a chunk of ice rolling down the heap-leach valley slope last week damaged a pipe carrying process solution, causing a “small quantity” of solution to spill.
The company said that, starting Thursday, it would work with provincial authorities to confirm the integrity and safety of the heap leach facility as quickly as possible.
Barrick advised that no solution from the damaged pipe reached any water diversion channels or watercourses, adding that the impacted area in the leach valley has now been restored. The incident did not pose any threat to the health of employees, communities or the environment.
The company has intensified environmental monitoring of surface and sub-surface water and no anomalies have been detected.
At this time, Barrick does not expect any material impact to Veladero's 2016 operating guidance. The mine produced 602 000 oz of gold in 2015 and is expected to produce between 580 000 oz and 640 000 oz this year, at all-in sustaining costs of $790/oz to $860/oz.
The mine holds an estimated 7.54-million ounces in proven and probable gold reserves.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation