Barrick: global protests accompany annual general meeting - Protestas globales contra Barrick Gold
Published by MAC on 2008-05-19Chilean Protesters Unhappy With Barrick Gold Pascua Lama Project Christian Peña
12th May 2008
Fifty environmental activists protested Barrick Gold's controversial Pascua Lama gold mine on Tuesday, May 8th. The event went "unnoticed" by Chile's mainline media - La Tercera and El Mercurio - but was reported in La Nacion, the state-owned daily. The demonstration coincided with Barrick's shareholders meeting in Toronto, Canada, and with Barrick's 25th anniversary as a company officially traded on the Toronto stock market. The Santiago demonstrators celebrated the company's anniversary with a birthday cake of their own, and large bags of ice to represent the glaciers that will allegedly be destroyed by the project. Several of the demonstrators also dressed in black plastic bags to give homage to the 15 individuals related to the project who have died since it first was proposed almost 20 years ago.
Fourteen of those killed were Chilean, while one was a Canadian pilot who died in a helicopter crash on Feb. 8. The activists spray painted the sidewalk in front of Barrick's office at 222 Ricardo Lyon with the names of the dead workers. Police did not intervene until the protesters began spray painting the company's floors.
Two of the most outspoken demonstrators were Luis Faura, from Alto Del Carmen, and Enrique Gaytan, from El Transito. The two communities are in the valley below the Pascua Lama mine and both men are elected city counselors.
Gaytan said he was concerned about the glacier contamination the will result from the mine and noted that no rainfall has occurred in the valley for the last the 6 years, meaning his community is completely dependent on glacier melt for its water supply. Gaytan said the government had failed to properly monitor Barrick's activity and said that the mountain glaciers near the mine site are now mostly destroyed. "I am not just shooting my mouth off," said Gaytan. "I have seen what they have done with my own eyes."
Faura spoke briefly about Barrick's January, 2008, celebration of the fact that 1,000 days had passed at the mining site without an accident. "Then they had a helicopter crash in February, but the event got little or no coverage in the national media.," said Faura. "The newspapers and TV channels are all controlled in Chile."
Barrick's Pascua Lama gold mine project was approved by Chilean environmental officials in 2006, but has not advanced due to unresolved tax issues on the Argentine side of the project.
The company's original plan to remove two mountain glacial ice fields to allow construction of an open pit gold mine was strongly opposed by Chilean environmentalists, forcing the company to opt for tunnel excavation to mine the gold. Still, witnesses like Gaytan report that the glacial fields are already largely destroyed due to preliminary road and development activity carried out by Barrick and unchecked by environmental authorities.
The Pascua Lama gold mine straddles the border between Chile and Argentina, and its development required a special international mining treaty between the two countries. Although 80 percent of the gold deposit lies on the Chilean side of the border, Argentina has been unhappy with the prospect of receiving only 20 percent of the tax revenues the project will create.
During the Toronto shareholders meeting Barrick's president Greg Wilkins called the mine's progress disappointing. "We are increasing our efforts to push this one over the goal line," said Wilkens. During a conference call to shareholders they again made a promise to begin construction in September of this year.
Communication company Extend, contracted by Barrick to manage its corporate image in Chile, was asked to comment on Tuesday's demonstration, but did not respond. Extend is partially owned by two well connected sisters, daughters of one of Chile's most important Christian Democratic Party politicians - Belisario Velasco, a former Interior Minister to President Michelle Bachelet and a top political operator for the past 20 years.
MEDIA RELEASE
Canadá, 7 May 2008
Barrick Gold censors Indigenous Leaders' opposition to gold mining on their lands
A delegation of Indigenous leaders travelled around the world to attend the Barrick Gold Annual General Meeting in Toronto today. They came to vent their opposition to Barrick Gold's mining practices on their lands.
The Barrick Gold AGM was beamed around the world via a live webcast but when the Indigenous delegates checked the internet they found the webcast ends with the speech by Peter Munk, the Chairman, and their powerful statements and questions have been censored.
Peter Munk was clearly uncomfortable at question time and only allowed three voices from the network of dissent to be heard. They were:
* Jethro Tulin, CEO, Akale Tange, concerning the Porgera mine, Enga Province, Papua Niugini; * Neville Chappy Williams, Lake Cowal, Central New South Wales, Australia; and * Larsen Bill, Western Shoshone Defense Project, Nevada, USA
Barrick Gold is under pressure because the alleged gross violations of human rights perpetrated by Barrick Gold employees are gaining increasing exposure as the communities affected by Barrick Gold's operations are using the digital age to communicate around the world through email, websites, and skype . Also, a week ago, at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues delegates, whose communities are severely impacted by mining, could network and develop recommendations and strategies to make rogue mining companies more accountable.
The network of communities impacted by Barrick Gold are calling on all investors to divest their shares and no longer support a transnational corporation that perpetrates gross violations of human rights, such as alleged killings, rapes, poisoned waters, poisoned rivers, poisoned soil, and forced migration.
See today's photo by Reuters at http://www.daylife.com/photo/0bgu7pq6aH87r/barrick%2Bgold
CHILE INDIGENOUS POLICY REPORT SLAMS CELCO AND PASCUA LAMA PROJECTS
Matt Malinowski
30th April 2008
Authors Say Recent Government-Backed Policy Reforms Fall Short
The Chilean government’s approval of large-scale business projects — including forestry company CELCO’s waste duct to the Pacific Ocean and mining company Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama gold mine in the Andes mountains — now represent the most severe threat to the country's indigenous communities, according to a report filed last week by Chile's Observatory for Indigenous Rights (ODPI).
The finding, authored by co-directors José Aylwin and Nancy Yáñez, was part an ODPI-led probe into Chilean government indigenous policies. Speaking at a Friday press conference, Aylwin and Yáñez identified native communities' lack of legal representation, absence in both private and government-led initiatives and, above all, lack of territorial rights as the three most serious deficiencies in Chilean indigenous legislation.
ODPI, one of Chile's leading authorities on indigenous rights, said that Chilean laws do not sufficiently incorporate indigenous communities' opinions in government programs which directly involve them. Aylwin said Chilean policies do not respect indigenous communities' political autonomy, arguing that “government policy should recognize and accept that these diverse populations have the right to define their own plans for community development, and that these plans should not be superimposed by other entities.”
Still, Aylwin and Yáñez directed their most acerbic criticisms towards what they described as the growing tendency to exploit natural resources found on indigenous lands. They named the mining, energy, and forestry industries as three of the most flagrant violators of indigenous rights, saying that they often usurp indigenous lands against the will of community members.
Speaking alongside Aylwin and Yáñez, members of the Diaguita indigenous community lambasted Barrick Gold for disrupting the local indigenous way of life in order to develop its Pascua Lama mine. That project, which is slated for construction on the border between Chile's Region III and Argentina, received Chilean government backing in 2006, but tax disputes with Argentine officials have prevented construction from beginning.
“Barrick has put up barriers which prevent us from moving freely and also prevent our animals from grazing,” said Diaguita member Angelina Espinoza. “This limits our community's development... and if we get close to that barrier, they (Barrick employees) threaten us even though the only thing we are doing is defending our rights. We are the legitimate owners of these lands; we have papers from 1903 which corroborate this. But, here in Chile, we neither receive the help nor the (government) response that we need.”
“Barrick has contaminated our drinking water, just like all the multinational companies which have begun to operate in the region,” she added. “These are companies which have robbed us of our lands. Still, nothing is said about it... they have crossed into our ancestral territory.”
Yáñez echoed Espinoza's remarks, saying that when native communities organize themselves to defend their lands, companies turn to business-friendly Chilean regulations so that “the leaders of the affected (indigenous) communities end up being persecuted and for making legitimate demands.”
She also criticized cellulose manufacturer CELCO for violating the way of life of Mapuche indigenous communities located near the Region XIV town of Mehuin. Violent incidents have occurred in recent weeks between fishermen (including some of Mapuche descent) who oppose CELCO’s waste duct line through their community by CELCO, and neighboring fishermen who have accepted a cash payoff for acquiescing to the company’s ocean duct proposal. In response to the violence, a lawsuit has been brought against pro-CELCO fishermen (ST, April 9).
Aylwin and Yáñez argued that the government should solve these problems by assuring its indigenous communities are recognized in the country's constitution. Additionally, they said Chilean authorities should adopt the original version of the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Convention 169 on Indigenous Rights, arguing that two of the document points define standards concerning indigenous communities' political participation and land protection.
In early March, Chile’s Senate approved a version of the ILO's “Convention 169” on indigenous rights with a clause allowing the government to “interpret” the declaration’s main points (ST, March 6). The decision has provoked outrage from Chile's leading indigenous and human rights advocates, who have publicly urged Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to veto the altered document. The ODPI report comes weeks after President Bachelet unveiled several new measures that will define government indigenous policies for her final two years in office.
As part of the reforms, Bachelet said that the government will create a new under-secretariat for indigenous affairs, which will be controlled by the nation’s planning ministry. Bachelet promised to introduce a proposal to guarantee indigenous community members seats in Chilean political organizations, as well as recognize indigenous control over natural resources that lie within their territories.
She also announced that the government-run National Corporation for Indigenous Development (CONADI) will distribute plots of land to 115 different native groups by 2010 and respond to land requests from 308 other communities. Still, Bachelet’s announcement drew heated criticism from Aylwin and Yáñez, who criticized the initiative for not doing enough to return land to indigenous communities.
“Most of the lands which have been transferred to indigenous populations are government lands. Therefore, the government is only doing now what it should have done years ago,” Aylwin said. “The government is not making any additional efforts to turn over lands to their legitimate owners.”
Barrick's Porgera mine under fire: Joint Media release
8 May 2008
Barrick Gold's Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea linked to grave human rights abuses, environmental impacts: Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea travel to Canada to speak out about mine-related killings and severe impacts on their rivers, food security, and health.
(Ottawa) Indigenous leaders from Porgera in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have traveled to Canada to speak out about devastating impacts in their mountainous community from a Barrick Gold-operated mine. Joining the indigenous leaders are researchers with the International Human Rights Clinic at the Harvard Law School and MiningWatch Canada.
Concerns about killings by security guards at the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) mine, as well as about serious public health, environmental and socio-cultural impacts of the mine have continued since Barrick's purchase of the mine two years ago. Neither the PNG government nor Barrick have responded effectively to these concerns.
For more than a year, MiningWatch Canada and the International Human Rights Clinic at the Harvard Law School, together with the Mineral Policy Institute in Australia, have been documenting allegations of abuses, as well as concerns about the lack of adequate information on human rights abuses and on mining-related sources of contamination.
Since the 1990s, primary concerns surrounding the mine have included: killings and rapes of local community members by PJV security guards (a PNG government inquiry into these allegations has yet to be released); impacts on riverine ecosystems and downstream communities as a result of the dumping of toxic mine waste (tailings) directly into the river system; loss of agricultural land and food security through encroachment of the mine and its massive waste dumps; health and safety issues as the community lives on the edges of the mine and its waste dumps; lack of adequate information on human rights abuses and on mining-related sources of contamination in the community; lack of an equitable plan to relocate all of the affected indigenous communities.
"The mine has destroyed our way of life, our environment, our water, our gardens, which we need for food, and our security," says Jethro Tulin of the human rights organization Akali Tange Association. "We cannot stay here safely anymore, but Barrick is refusing to provide our people with a fair relocation plan."
"The mine has made it impossible to live here," says Mark Ekepa, of the Porgera Landowners Association. "Either we need to be moved immediately, or Barrick needs to leave this place."
"With residents, including children, running barefoot through tailings, there is a clear need for education and clarification about the types of chemicals-and their toxicity-surrounding the Porgera mine," said Tyler Giannini, Clinical Director of the International Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School. "Individuals and communities have a right to know what is flowing into their environment so that they can make informed decisions about their lives."
"Because of the constant threat of violence, the destruction of environmental resources, and major concerns about public health impacts, Porgera residents live in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty about their safety and well-being," said Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada. "We call on Barrick Gold to stop riverine disposal of mine waste, relocate all PVJ-affected people who want to be moved, and provide public reporting on all allegations of killings and rapes by its security forces. We also call on the government of Canada to implement the recommendations of the 2007 Advisory Report on the CSR Roundtables."
For more information contact:
Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada: catherine(at)miningwatch.ca 613-569-3439 Jethro Tulin, Mark Ekepa and Anga Atalu: in Canada 310-848-7543 Tyler Giannini, Clinical Director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School: 617-669-2340 Techa Beaumont, Mineral Policy Institute, Australia + 61 0409 318 406
Backgrounder: Issues Related to Barrick's Porgera Joint Venture Mine in Papua New Guinea
Violence perpetrated by Porgera Joint Venture's security forces:
Allegations of rapes, beatings and killings of community members by Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) security forces have been prevalent for at least a decade. In 2005, a human rights organization established by indigenous community members of Porgera, called Akali Tange Association Inc., issued a report called "The Shooting Fields of Porgera Joint Venture." This report documents incidents of killings (14, of which 11 were by shooting), torture, arbitrary arrest, and beatings by the mine's security forces. In a news article of 2005 then-mine operator Placer Dome admitted to 8 killings of community members by PJV security guards and police.[1] Early in 2006 Barrick Gold Corp. took over the mine when it acquired Placer Dome. There have been further allegations of killings by PJV security forces dated between December of 2007 and April of 2008.[2] A Papua New Guinea (PNG) government investigation established in 2006 heard witness reports that the mine's private security guards committed abuses but, to date, the government's findings have not been publicly released. The terms of reference for the PNG government's inquiry have been called prejudicial as they assume a link between the shootings and killings by Porgera's security forces and alleged unauthorized gold mining before such a link has been established in evidence.[3] On December 2, 2007, a complaint was filed with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions regarding killings of residents of Porgera by PJV's private security guards (tolerated by the government), PNG Police and Mobile Unit Police at the Porgera Mine.[4]
Extreme environmental degradation and concerns for human health impacts:
The Porgera Joint Venture Mine empties both millions of tons of tailings and mountains of waste rock directly into the nearby 800 km-long river system. The waste enters the Porgera River, which drains into the Lagaip River then into the Strickland River and eventually into the Fly River before reaching the Gulf of Papua, 800 km from the mine site. The upper reaches of the river system are fast flowing and steep while about 200 km downstream the river enters an extensive flat floodplain where it meanders. Dumping into this major river system began in 1992 and has continued unabated ever since.[5] The extreme damage this mine waste disposal method is causing, as well as concerns about likely environmental toxicity from metals in the mine waste, has been well-documented.[6] As early as 1996, the Australian consulting firm CSIRO noted that: 1) The impact of PJV's waste disposal on the river was significant; 2) PJV should urgently explore options to store tailings solids and waste rock on land; 3) PJV's approach to managing and monitoring the impacts on the river was inadequate. CSIRO noted the impact on biota in the river: "fish populations in the upper river system have been in decline since 1993."[7] CSIRO also noted the potential for human health impacts as a result of the metals in the river: "Much of the lower river is a depositional environment where exposure pathways potentially occur. The PJV has already identified the possibility of long-term low level effects of metal uptake on the human populationŠ."[8] and "It is possible to detect an effect of the mine in the enrichment of the TSS (total suspended solids) by the metals measured at the compliance point, SG3. Particulate metals (As, Pb, Ag, Cd, Hg, Ni, on a per gram TSS basis) are steadily increasing and may now exceed concentrations that have been shown elsewhere to have long term ecosystem effects, particularly when the river is at low flow."[9] Nonetheless, the disposal of metal laden tailings and waste rock into the region's major river system has continued unabated. Meanwhile, residents report getting little information from Barrick or the government on what chemicals are being released into waterways through mining waste, and their impact to the ecosystem and potential impact on human health.[10]
Mercury exposure:
Public health concerns from other contamination sources are also prevalent in Porgera. Many residents, including children, face exposure to mercury. Mercury is used by residents engaging in small-scale alluvial mining, which includes gold extraction from the waste streams of the mining operations. Many residents turn to this practice of mining as a means of supplementing their incomes. Residents can readily purchase mercury from stores and community members report that children as young as six years old handle raw mercury as they help their families with the small-scale mining. Residents report that their need to gain income from alluvial mining has increased as the mine's encroachment on their land has made it more difficult to grow subsistence foods. There is very little being done by the government or by PJV to raise public awareness of the dangers of exposure to mercury and to keep people way from the mine's waste streams.
Public safety concerns:
As the mine is expanding in the center of a mountainous inhabited area it is continuously encroaching on people's homes. There is little to keep people out of the mine, or away from the dangers of its mountainous waste dumps, and rivers of mine tailings. There are numerous documented and anecdotal cases of people, including children, falling into the open pit, being buried by rock slides on the waste dumps and drowning during flooding in tailings rivers. Although Barrick has recently installed a fence around the open pit itself the pit, waste dumps and river streams remain accessible. Loss of Food Security:
As the open pit has expanded and its massive waste rock dumps have grown, local residents have lost most of their spaces for "gardens," their word for plots to grow subsistence foods. As people have been relocating to steeper territory uphill from the mine they cannot farm the steep slopes. Relocation:
Given all of the issues set out above, many of the some 10,000 indigenous residents living within the mine lease area are seeking to be relocated. However, Barrick seems to be reluctant to undertake this task. While it is known that Barrick has hired consultants to review the relocation possibilities little information about the findings of these consultants is being shared by Barrick. The desire to be relocated has most recently been strongly put forward by representatives of the local human rights organization Akale Tange Association, as well as by leaders of the Porgera Landowners Association at Barrick's Annual General Meeting in Toronto on May 5, 2008.
"Mr. Munk, you have destroyed our land, our water, our safety and our ability to feed ourselves. We know that we can no longer live on our ancestral land. We know that we must leave our place so that our children can have a future. But now your company - Barrick - is refusing to offer us fair terms for our relocation. (...)
When will Barrick agree to move the more than 5,000 families who live within your mine lease in a way that is fair and will provide us an opportunity to be healthy, to feed our families, and to educate our children? "[11]
Jethro Tulin - Akale Tange Association
1. "Canadian Firm Admits to Killings at PNG Gold Mine" by Bob Burton. Nov. 18, 2005. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31074
2. Personal communication with Porgera community members; Postcourier, 12 Dec 07; The Age, January 2, 2008.
3. "Papua New Guinea Conducts Flawed Investigation of Killings at Barrick Mine" Press release. Monday July 10, 2006, http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/Porgera/Porgera_ToR
4. Complaint filed by MiningWatch Canada.
5. "Placer Dome Case Study: Porgera Joint Venture". Catherine Coumans, April 2002. http://www.miningwatch.ca/updir/PD_Case_Study_Porgera.pdf
6. Shearman, P. for Mineral Policy Institute, 1995. The Porgera File: A Legacy of Destruction.; CSIRO Australia. December 1996. Review of Riverine Impacts, Porgera Joint Venture.; Shearman, P. 2001. Giving Away Another River:Š in Mining in Papua New Guinea: Analysis and PolicyImplications. B.Y. Imbun and P.A. McGavin eds. p.177. ; "Placer Dome Case Study: Porgera Joint Venture". Catherine Coumans, April 2002. http://www.miningwatch.ca/updir/PD_Case_Study_Porgera.pdf
7. CSIRO 1996. p. ES-8
8. CSIRO 1996. p. ES-6
9. CSIRO 1996. p. ES-7
10. Intervention by Jethro Tulin on behalf of himself and Mark Ekepa and Anga Atalu of the Porgera Landowners Association at Barrick AGM 2008.
11. Intervention by Jethro Tulin on behalf of himself and Mark Ekepa and Anga Atalu of the Porgera Landowners Association at Barrick AGM 2008.
Lideres indigenas en visita en Montreal
8 de Mayo 2008
Líderes indígenas de Australia, de Chile y de Papúa-Nueva Guinea se encuentran en visita en Montreal para denunciar las actividades de la transnacional canadiense Barrick Gold Corporation Por Coalición sobre los impactos socio-ambientales de las trasnacionales en América Latina, Montreal
MONTRÉAL, 14 de mayo 2008- Líderes indígenas de Australia, Chile y Papúa-Nueva Guinea se encuentran actualmente en Canadá con la finalidad de participar en actividades paralelas a la asamblea general de accionistas de la compañía Barrick Gold Corporation. Los líderes indígenas han venido a presentar sus profundas inquietudes frente a los impactos de las actividades mineras de esta empresa y para denunciar la situación crítica actual frente a ese tipo de explotación en sus territorios. Barrick realiza diversos proyectos mineros en tierras ancestrales indígenas en esos países, sin respetar los derechos a la autodeterminación, a la autonomía y al consentimiento libre e informado de esas comunidades. Además, se hace notorio el desequilibrio de los ecosistemas por la contaminación del suelo, del aire y del agua, causado por la actividad minera. La calidad de vida, la salud, el derecho al agua, la accesibilidad a un agua de calidad y las actividades económicas locales se encuentran amenazadas. Estos representantes indígenas hacen un llamado al apoyo de la población canadiense para denunciar los daños causados por esta empresa y para poner en cuestión el apoyo que el gobierno canadiense le ha otorgado, a pesar de las denuncias públicas que provienen de las regiones y de los países donde Barrick está implantada, sobre los impactos negativos de sus prácticas. Por otra parte, los tratados de libre-comercio firmados por el gobierno canadiense contienen ciertas cláusulas que conceden, ventajas desproporcionadas a las compañías canadienses que operan en los países que son la contraparte firmante, en detrimento de las poblaciones locales. En virtud de estos tratados, por ejemplo, las comunidades locales que intentan detener las actividades que las afectan, realizadas por estas compañías, pueden ser objeto de persecución judicial. Barrick Gold constituye una fuente de conflictos en todos los lugares en donde se instala (Asia, Oceanía, África, Sudamérica, Norteamérica). La historia de esta empresa es en este sentido elocuente. También su huella se hace sentir en el Québec, con la persecución judicial como tentativa de amordazamiento de las editorial ÉcoSociété y de los autores del libro «Canadá negro: pillaje, corrupción y criminalidad» (Noir Canada: pillage, corruption et criminalité), el que denuncia con justeza las graves «irregularidades» cometidas por Barrick Gold en el continente africano, para poner en ejecución sus proyectos mineros. Los miembros de la delegación indígena estarán en Montreal el 15 y 16 de mayo próximo. Ellos son: • Sergio Campusano, Jefe de la comunidad indígena Diaguita Huascoaltina, Chile • Neville “Chappy” Williams, Jefe de la comunidad indígena Wiradjuri, Australia • Jethro Tulin, representante de la comunidad indígena Ipili, Papúa-Nueva Guinea
Organizaciones medioambientales protestaron contra Pascua-Lama
Santiago de Chile, Martes 6 de mayo de 2008 - http://www.lanacion.cl
Organizaciones ambientales acompañadas por los concejales de la comuna de Alto del Carmen, Santiago Faura y Enrique Gaytan, protestaron este martes en las afueras de las oficinas de la minera transnacional Barrik Gold para protestar por la realización del proyecto de Pascua Lama.
El proyecto Pascua- Lama es un proyecto binacional, llevado en Pascua situada en la provincia del Huasco, en Chile y Lama que está en la provincia de San Juan, Argentina. La iniciativa ha despertado una serie de críticas de organizaciones de protección ambiental, que acusan una serie de irregularidades en la concesión de permisos a la minera y deficientes estudios sobre el alcance de la contaminación que causará.
La manifestación se realizó con motivo del aniversario de la empresa que hoy cumple 25 años desde su formación, lo que fue calificado por muchos de los presentes como un "cumpleaños fatal".
En el acto, se entregó simbólicamente un glaciar, un poco de cordillera, algunos y animales que se encuentran en peligro de extinción. "Le hacemos entrega de las cosas que creemos que el gobierno ya les ha regalado", manifestó uno de los protestantes.
Durante la protesta se realizó la entrega de los presentes y además se reprodujo la idea de los 15 trabajadores muertos que supuestamente han sido victimas de las faenas en Pascua-Lama, y cuyo fallecimiento ha sido ocultado por la minera.
El concejal de la comuna de Alto del Carmen, Santiago Faura, quien se encontraba en el lugar apoyando el acto, denunció la poca voluntad del Gobierno para investigar el tema y detener finalmente las faenas en Pascua-Lama.
"Le solicitamos (a la cámara de diputados) que creara una comisión investigadora, que vayan a investigar allá a comprobar si lo que nosotros decimos es verdad o mentira, y ésta no se ha podido constituir", afirmó Faura.
Además, el edil agregó que "este es el único valle que va quedando con agua que va al mar, el único".
La empresa busca desarrollar una mina de oro, plata y cobre, a rajo abierto, que tendría una vida útil de 20 años, según las actuales reservas y a velocidad de extracción de unas cinco mil toneladas anuales. Además de Barrick Gold, las empresas involucradas son la Compañía Minera Nevada y Exploraciones Mineras Argentinas.