i had read many many pages on this case over the past months, hence concur, one would easily understand why the judge sided with Barrick.

as you can see the BLM has thousands of pages worth of analysis on this issue and sides with Barrick. much of the time, BLM is a roadblock instead of siding with miners so this tells you something.

it was probably some payoff play.

i am glad this does not happen as much as it does in Mexico and many south and central American countries. this is not to say they were extorting but in the other countries there are paid protesters and rioters that ship around to sites to try and shut them down, then if paid they go away.