By Juliana Castilla
SAN JUAN, Argentina(Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp failed to complete improvements to the Veladero mine in Argentina that could have prevented the third spill of cyanide solution in 18 months, leading to eventual sanctions for the world's biggest gold miner, a judge told Reuters.
Barrick appears to have missed deadlines on three orders from local authorities, including replacing pipes, before the March 28 spill, said Pablo Oritja, the judge overseeing cases related to Veladero in the nearby town of Jachal, where “Barrick out" graffiti lines the streets.
"If they had changed pipes as ordered, the decoupling (of pipes) would not have occurred," Oritja told Reuters on Friday, the day after meeting the head of the mining police in western Argentina's San Juan province, where Veladero and Jachal are located.
The findings "will eventually end in sanctions against the company," said Oritja, judge at the Judicial Court of Jachal.
The investigation into past negligence, along with the provincial government's review of Barrick's mine improvement plan, could delay the Canadian company's goal of restoring one of its top five mines worldwide to normal production in June.
Barrick (ABX.TO) (ABX.N) has followed established regulatory procedures to comply with the requirements issued by San Juan authorities following the recent spills at Veladero, spokesman Andy Lloyd told Reuters in response to Oritja's comments.
Sanctions would come from the San Juan government and could include a fine and restrictions to operating Veladero. Oritja, who indicted nine current and former Barrick executives accused of negligence after Barrick's first spill in 2015, could also levy more charges if he determines cyanide posed harm to people or the environment.
San Juan's government suspended the addition of cyanide to Veladero's gold processing facility after the latest spill, and gave the mine an ultimatum to overhaul safety and environmental operations. Cyanide is used to separate the gold from ore.
In September, all operations at Veladero were temporarily shut down, adding to Barrick's troubles in South America, where its Pascua-Lama project on the Argentine-Chile border has been on hold since 2013 due to environmental issues, political opposition, labor unrest and development costs.
San Juan province Mining Minister Alberto Hensel says the repeated Veladero spills may result in a fine higher than the $9.8 million Barrick paid after the first spill, when a United Nations agency said 1 million liters of solution containing cyanide spilled into a river providing drinking water.