San Juan, Argentina: Barrick Plans Phase 10 and 11 Expansion at Veladero Mine

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Barrick Mining is planning a new round of expansion at the Veladero mine in San Juan, with Phases 10 and 11 of the leach pad now under evaluation. The company is advancing committed investments under the framework of the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), and if the expansion goes ahead, the mine's service life could be extended once again.

Marcelo Álvarez, Barrick Mining's Vice President of Government Affairs for Latin America, said in a recent interview on the program Código Minero that Phase 8 is essentially complete and will wrap up in early October, while Phase 9 is scheduled to begin construction this year. The program is broadcast on Tiempo Streaming, the streaming platform of Tiempo de San Juan.

Once these two phases are completed, Barrick expects to fulfill the US$400 million investment committed for Veladero under the RIGI framework within the established construction timeline. Álvarez said the company has already begun preparing a new round of expansion under the same RIGI project, with plans to build Phases 10 and 11, representing yet another expansion of Veladero's capacity.

If the new expansion is implemented, the project's life-of-mine schedule could be adjusted once again. Veladero was originally scheduled to cease mining in 2022, with leaching operations continuing until 2024; subsequent rounds of expansion pushed the mining life to 2032 and leaching operations to 2034. Phases 8 and 9 currently correspond to an operating period of approximately 2033 to 2034.

Barrick has not yet provided an answer on how many additional years Phases 10 and 11 could add. The company plans to complete the necessary planning by the end of September to determine feasibility and to study how to incorporate the new investment into the RIGI framework. Álvarez said the number of additional years of service life for the mine will be announced at the appropriate time.

Whether the expansion can proceed depends on two factors. Álvarez explained that current price levels have allowed the company to re-examine ore that was previously uneconomic, making formerly unprofitable ore viable for extraction. At the same time, Barrick is also conducting exploration around the mine site to find new resources.

The Lama area also falls within this strategic scope. The mining company has assembled an internal team to study the region's potential and is preparing to carry out a round of exploration that Álvarez described as "very aggressive," to determine whether the resource volume is sufficient to support investment in the remaining infrastructure and to advance the historic "Lama-Veladero mining district" concept.

While the expansion plan moves forward, Veladero has just emerged from an exceptionally harsh winter. Normally, weather affects the mine for 15 to 20 days each year; but this year it experienced one of the heaviest snowfalls in decades, resulting in a cumulative loss of 42 mining operation days. Even so, the leach pad remained operational, and production was not completely interrupted.

At the time of the interview, Veladero's capacity had recovered to approximately 80%, with all personnel having returned to the mine. Barrick hopes to restore 100% production by September 15, weather conditions permitting.

If Phases 10 and 11 proceed to construction, it would mean the mine enters yet another life-extension cycle. If feasibility and exploration results provide support, Veladero could gain several additional years of operation, and the mining potential of the Lama-Veladero district would be re-examined.