More than just costs are a concern at Barrick Gold’s $8.5B Pascua-Lama megamine

Standing on a precipice 5,200 metres above sea level, the air is thin and the vistas are long. Just breathing is difficult at this altitude, with a howling wind disturbing the utter, majestic silence of the snow-capped Andes mountains, threatening to blow you over the edge. You’d think you were alone at the top of the world.