SANTIAGO – A top Pakistani court has frozen a $3.3 billion copper and gold exploration concession owned by Antofagasta Minerals and Barrick Gold while it probes past irregularities, a Chilean newspaper reported on Friday. The Supreme Court is investigating the handover of the concession to its previous owner BHP Billiton by the local government and could issue a ruling in a month, Santiagio-based Diario Financiera reported, citing media and the country’s ambassador in Chile.
The Pakistani ambassador’s office in Santiago, as well as an Antofagasta official in Chile were not immediately available for comments. The joint-venture is waiting for Pakistani authorities to approve the project, which holds an estimated mineral resource of 5.9 billion tonnes with an average copper grade of 0.41 percent and an average gold grade of 0.22 grams per tonne.
