Flooding Mine Could Doom Homestake Plan.

Physicists hoping to convert a South Dakota gold mine into the world's deepest underground laboratory may soon see their dream sink without a trace. Barrick Gold Corp. of Toronto, Ontario announced that it will soon turn off pumps that keep water out of its Homestake mine near Lead, South Dacota. Barrick and South Dakota officials said the mine could be drained again if the lab proposal, which has been stalled by legal concerns over liability for possible pollution at the mine, ever moves ahead.