Shareholder class action against Barrick attracts 5 whistleblowers!
Court documents filed by Labaton Sucharow LLP on August 2, 2013 related to a class action lawsuit on behalf of Barrick shareholders reveal the testimonies of five former Barrick employees. These confidential witnesses confirm that Barrick top management knew that construction at the Pascua Lama Project was contaminating nearby water sources and breaching environmental conditions that led to the suspension of the project. These witnesses also testify that at a time when the company was estimating that the Project’s cost would be between $2.8 and $3 billion, Barrick already had in its possession an engineering report estimating costs for the Project at nearly twice that figure. The law firm alleges that Barrick made false and misleading statements, and concealed material information relating to the cost and time-to-production projections of the Pascua Lama project, causing the shares of the company to trade at artificially high rates.
See http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0c3fa26036c3f54323123c8cf&id=0e607bdbcb.
Chile indigenous group to appeal Barrick ruling
A group of indigenous Chileans asked the Supreme Court to revoke the environmental license of Barrick Gold Corp’s Pascua-Lama gold mine because it seeks a total re-evaluation of the project, a lawyer representing the group told Reuters on Monday. The Copiapo Court of Appeals has ordered a freeze on construction of the project, which straddles the Chile-Argentine border high in the Andes, until the company builds infrastructure to prevent water pollution. However, it did not terminate the project. “Given the harm caused, this environmental permit has proved itself to be illegal and illegitimate,” said Lorenzo Soto, who represents the group of Diaguitas. “The project has to remain suspended until it is completely re-evaluated.”
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12398.
Barrick Gold’s US$8.5 Pascua-Lama mine formally suspended by Chilean court until pollution standards met
Three weeks ago, a Chilean appeals court formally suspended Barrick Gold Corp’s controversial US$8.5 billion Pascua-Lama gold mine until the company builds infrastructure that will prevent water pollution. In April, the Copiapo Court of Appeals temporarily and preventively froze construction of the project, which straddles the Chile-Argentine border high in the Andes, while it examined claims by indigenous communities that it has damaged pristine glaciers and harmed water supplies.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12384.