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Argentina



Barrick Gold spills Cyanide in 5 Argentine Rivers
TeleSUR
February 23rd, 2016
Argentina's Federal Police confirmed that Barrick Gold could be probed over environmental crimes in the country, concludes that there had been a �definite case of law infringement� of the country's legislation on the proper handling of hazardous substances.

Barrick Gold Mine Spill �Contaminated Five Rivers with Cyanide�
by Azzura LalaniThe Argentina Independent
February 23rd, 2016
Last September�s cyanide spill at the Veladero mine owned by Barrick Gold contaminated five rivers in the region, according to a federal court commissioned report.

Million-Liter Cyanide Spill in Argentina Highlights Canadian Mining Crimes
by Deirdre FultonCommon Dreams
October 25th, 2015
Highlighting how corporate extractivism and lack of accountability is driving the destruction of Latin American communities, a Canadian mining company has now confirmed that more than one million liters of cyanide solution spilled from the Barrick Gold Veladero mine in San Juan, Argentina this month�making the spill more than four times larger than originally estimated.

Several injured in break-up of anti-mining protest in Argentina
EFE
October 23rd, 2015
Several people were injured and more than a score were arrested when police broke up an anti-mining protest near a Barrick Gold-operated mine in the northwestern Argentine province of San Juan, where a cyanide spill occurred last month, demonstrators said Friday.

�Barrick Spill Poisoned the Water of San Juan� Says Study
by Azzura LalaniThe Argentina Independent
The J�chal river basin, near to where Barrick Gold spilled 1m litres of cyanide solution last month, is contaminated with heavy metals up to 1,400% above safe levels, a study by the National University of Cuyo found.

UN experts analyze water samples in San Juan after cyanide spill
Buenos Aires Herald
September 20th, 2015
A group of United Nations (UN) experts started to analyze water samples of the rivers Jachal, Las Taguas and Blanco in San Juan to see if they have been polluted with cyanide, following an industrial malfunction at the Veladero mine that caused a pipe carrying the lethal substance to fracture.

Leak poisons Barrick Gold�s reputation
by Michael Lerner Blouin News Business
September 18th, 2015
An Argentine judge on Wednesday ordered a five-day suspension of the gold leaching process at Barrick Gold Corp.�s Veladero mine in San Juan province. The purpose is to check if there was any environmental damage from a 15,000 liter cyanide leak on Sunday caused by a faulty valve. Local residents of J�chal, outraged and fearful of their water supply being contaminated, began protesting as soon as they found out, and spurred the governments of the province and the nation to action.

CEDHA offers expert testimony against Barrick Gold in Chilean Tribunals
CEDHA
April 27th, 2014
On the one year anniversary of the suspension of Pascua Lama due to impacts to glaciers and other water resources, Jorge Daniel Taillant, Director of the Center for Human Rights and Environment (in Argentina) spoke for two hours today before Chile�s Environmental Tribunal to answer questions regarding reports CEDHA has produced to draw attention to Barrick Gold�s Pascua Lama project impacts to hitherto ignored but extremely relevant swaths of land called Periglacial Environments. These frozen hydrological resources help glaciated areas store and regulate water flow to downstream water basins for millions of people.

Behind Barrick's meltdown in the Atacama desert
by STEPHANIE NOLENGlobe and Mail
April 24th, 2014
In Chile today, you could spend a very long time trying to find anyone with a good word to say about Pascua-Lama.

Five whistleblowers speak out against Barrick, court documents reveal
Court documents filed by Labaton Sucharow LLP on August 2, 2013 related to a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders of Barrick Gold reveal the testimonies of five former Barrick employees. These confidential witnesses confirm that Barrick top management knew that construction at the Pascua Lama Project was contaminating nearby water sources and breaching environmental conditions that led to the suspension of the project. These witnesses also testify that at a time when the company was estimating that the Project's cost would be between $2.8 and $3 billion, Barrick already had in its possession an engineering report estimating costs for the Project at nearly twice that figure.

Confidential Witness reports related to class action against Barrick Gold
by compiled by Sakura Saunders (with protestbarrick.net)filer: Labaton Sucharow
August 3rd, 2013
The following is excerpts from court documents filed by Labaton Sucharow LLP on August 2, 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. These documents were related to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of persons or entities who purchased the publicly-traded common stock of Barrick Gold Corporation on the New York Stock Exchange between May 7, 2009 and May 23, 2013. The excerpts focus on information related to the testimony of former employees of Barrick Gold acting as confidential witnesses (CW1 - CW5) in the case.

Chile court rules for Indians against Barrick Gold
by EVA VERGARAAssociated Press
July 14th, 2013
A Chilean appeals court ruled against the world's largest gold mining company on Monday, favoring Chilean Indians who accuse Barrick Gold Corp. of contaminating their water downstream and creating more doubts about the future of the world's highest gold mine. The judges in the northern city of Copiapo unanimously ruled that Barrick must keep all its environmental promises before moving forward with construction of the Pascua-Lama mine at the very top of Chile's mountainous border with Argentina. They also said Barrick must monitor the condition of three glaciers next to the mine project.

Barrick's Pascua-Lama Should Be Shelved: Pollitt & Co.
by KitcoForbes
July 4th, 2013
Barrick Gold disclosed Friday that it would take a $5.5 billion impairment charge on its Pascua-Lama project, located along the border of Chile and Argentina, fueling talks of the need to shelve the project.

VIDEO: Diaguita Sing Against Barrick Gold
A video and song by Pedro Martinez, a member of the ethnic Diaguita who are opposed to Barrick Gold on their lands.

Barrick�s mea culpa
by Christian PenaNow Magazine
May 2nd, 2013
If spirits were low inside the venue, outside the mood was buoyant. Activists cheerfully propped up a monster puppet of Munk with a Pinocchio nose to illustrate their view of the company�s claims to social responsibility and drew attention to Barrick�s incursions on indigenous land and its reaction to alleged gang rapes and abuses by company security in Papua New Guinea.

Barrick�s environmental foes jump on wobbly miner
by  MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT Globe and Mail
April 25th, 2013
The long term outlook for Barrick shares hinges on many factors: the gold price is obviously the biggest driver, but the company also faces vociferous opposition from environmentalists and many residents around its mine sites, which should be a long term worry for shareholders.

Barrick AGM Protest in pictures
protestbarrick.net
April 24th, 2013
Protesters braved the rain to send a message to shareholders of Barrick Gold: "Barrick is a toxic asset, invest in life!" (all photos Allan.Lissner.net)

Chile rejects Barrick�s appeal to resume work at Pascua Lama
by Cecilia JamasmieMining.com
April 23rd, 2013
Chilean appeals court rejected Canadian Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX: ABX) subsidiary Minera Nevada's plea to reverse the order to suspend construction on the troubled Pascua Lama gold and silver project.

New Report! "Debunking Barrick"
by multiple authorsProtestBarrick
April 23rd, 2013
As Protest Barrick completes its sixth year of working with communities impacted by Barrick Gold, we are publishing a different kind of alternative annual report. We have noticed over the years that despite some of Barrick`s major abuses coming into light, the company has been able to maintain � within select circles � a reputation for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Meanwhile, around the world, Barrick�s name is still associated with corruption, abuse and environmental harms.

2012-13: Un mal a�o para Barrick
April 19th, 2013
Extracto de "Debunking Barrick", un informe anual alternativo sobre Barrick Gold.

2012-13: A bad year for Barrick
excerpt of "Debunking Barrick", an alternative annual report on Barrick Gold
April 18th, 2013
Before you think about investing in Barrick, check out this timeline of actions against Barrick's operations around the world since last July.

Barrick Gold: Is Pascua-Lama A Mine That Should Not Be Built?
Seeking Alpha
April 16th, 2013
The uphill struggle for Barrick Gold (ABX) to finally bring the Pascua-Lama mine into production hit another snag last week when a Chilean court ordered all works on the Chilean side of the project to cease pending a decision on a complaint filed by a group of native indigenous people. Court sources quoted by Reuters anticipate the dispute to go to the Chilean Supreme Court, which could mean delays to the order of several months. The suspension is the latest in a series of setbacks to the Pascua-Lama project. Target dates for initial production have been delayed, and cost estimates had to be corrected at least twice.

CONFRONT BARRICK: 2013 AGM Protest and Alternative Annual Report!
Once a year, the board of Directors of the world�s most powerful gold mining corporation converge in downtown Toronto. This year, we're releasing a report that chronicles Barrick's lies and highlights the true stories behind their false CSR spin. Help us ensure that these stories don't get ignored.

Glaciers, protests and court cases slow Barrick in Pascua-Lama
by CATHERINE SOLYOMMontreal Gazette
December 15th, 2012
A number of obstacles remaining on the bumpy road to Pascua-Lama, to the delight of some and the dismay of others, from legal wrangling in Chile over the deeds to the vast, frigid territory, to a Supreme Court of Argentina decision over whether any mining can take place there at all, given the presence of glaciers so close to the mine pit.

More than just costs are a concern at Barrick Gold�s $8.5B Pascua-Lama megamine
by Catherine SolyomPostmedia News
December 14th, 2012
what happens up here in Pascua-Lama, where Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold is developing the first open-pit gold mine to straddle two countries, will have a huge impact on the people living in the valleys below on both sides of the border � for better or for worse.

A chronology of Canadian Government (in)action on mining abuses
by Sakura Saunders, editor protestbarrick.net
November 1st, 2012
A summary of the regulatory context of international mining in Canada, where 75% of the world's mining and exploration companies are based.

Ethics controversy deepens around PM's chief of staff over gold giant's lobbying
by Joan BrydenThe Tyee
August 29th, 2012
The ethics controversy swirling around Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff deepened Wednesday with news that Nigel Wright was lobbied on three separate occasions by a company with which he had deep personal connections.

Pascua Lama mine: What Barrick didn't say
Halifax Initiative / MiningWatch Canada / OLCA statement
August 7th, 2012
Recent developments have angered shareholders, have caused internal shifts, including the dismissal of CEO Aaron Regent, and have strengthened the position of local communities, who have insisted on the project's infeasibility for more than ten years.

Argentine high court denies Barrick Gold injunction blocking law against mining near glaciers
by APWashington Post
July 3rd, 2012
The Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold suffered a legal reversal Tuesday as the Supreme Court reversed preliminary injunctions that have blocked key parts of a glacier protection law.

Barrick Gold Suffers Legal Defeat in Argentine Supreme Court
by Jorge TalliantCEDHA
July 3rd, 2012
Barrick Gold, the company that had proposed dynamiting glaciers and hauling them off in dump trucks so they could get at gold reserves at their Pascua Lama project, suffered a major setback today in the Argentine National Supreme Court. An injunction order originally granted to Barrick by a local federal circuit court Cuadro de texto: Glacier Destroyed by Barrick� Veladero Mining Roadjudge suspending the recently approved National Glacier Act, was terminally revoked. The glacier law is now back in full force for Barrick and other mining companies operating in Argentina.

US Export-Import Bank (Exim) and EDC of Canada will not finance Barrick�s Pascua Lama Gold Mining Project
by Jorge Daniel TaillantCEDHA
March 2nd, 2012
US Export-Import Bank (Exim) and Export Development Canada (EDC), two of the world�s largest publicly funded development finance institutions, will not be contributing to the highly controversial Pascua Lama gold mining project straddling the border between Argentina and Chile. The project has already and will further destroy glaciers to get at gold mineral deposits if it gets underway, affecting the water supply for indigenous communities and small agriculture in Chile as well as an internationally protected biosphere reserve in Argentina.

CEDHA Files Equator Principles Due Diligence Review to US EXIM Bank and EDC of Canada on Barrick�s Pascua Lama Project
CEDHA
November 25th, 2011
The Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), along with several local and international groups presented today an Equator Principles Due Diligence Review to two export credit agencies considering financing Barrick Gold�s highly controversial Pascua Lama gold project, straddling the border between Chile and Argentina.

Barrick�s Billions Echo in Argentina
November 24th, 2011
Local opposition politicians have decried illegalities in the granting of water permits to Barrick gold. They note that Jorge Eduardo Mill�n took consulting contracts to design the hydrological model used by Barrick at Veladero and proposed at Pascua Lama, and later, in his capacity at the Department of Hydrology for the state of San Juan, Mill�n granted Barrick the right to use over 500 litres per second of water. Barrick has also been fighting federal legislation introduced in Argentina to prevent the disturbance of glaciers. The company claims the law is unconstitutional, and enjoys the full backing of that state of San Juan. �The strong opposition to the Law adopted in the National Congress demonstrates that there are mining projects that are already affecting the areas that the new norms aim to protect, and that�s why there are strong pressures on the senate from political-economic entities to stop the law,� said Juan Carlos Villalonga, Greenpeace�s campaign director in Argentina, in a statement last fall.

Pay Dirt?
by Michelle SlaterCastlemaine Independent
July 27th, 2011
Can gold ever be ethical?

Is Barrick Gold Shrinking Chilean Glaciers?
Weekly News Update on the Americas
In a report published on July 19, the Argentine branch of the environmental group Greenpeace charged that operations by the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation in the Andes at the border with Chile had already significantly damaged three small glaciers.

Barrick Contaminates Water Resources
Latin American Press
June 16th, 2011
High levels of heavy metals have been detected in water resources near the Veladero and Pascua Lama gold projects, both owned by Canadian giant Barrick Gold, according to a recently published study by the Center for Human Rights and Environment, an Argentina-based nongovernmental organization.

Barrick Accused by Governor�s Brother of Mingling in Argentine Election Politics
Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA)
May 4, 2011 � In a highly unusual interview[1] with a national radio station, the brother and would be gubernatorial candidate of the incumbent Governor of San Juan Province attacked his brother (Governor Jos� Luis Gioja) and Barrick Gold of maintaining a lucrative and economically abusive relationship for the province. It seems Barrick�s profits are causing a stir in local politics that has miners and ruling family members at odds with one another.

Barrick Threatens Legal Action Against NGO � Over Publication of Contamination of Gold Mining Projects in Argentina
May 16th 2011 � Argentina. Barrick Gold threatened to file legal actions against the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), for publishing a report that uses Barrick�s own water monitoring data and concludes that the Veladero and Pascua Lama projects are contaminating San Juan�s rivers and streams.

Request to the Supreme Court of Argentina - immediate cessation of activities in Pascua-Lama
No a Pascua-Lama [Spanish]
Buenos Aires, May 13, 2011 : Barrick Gold violates the law

Solicitan a la Corte Suprema Argentina el Inmediato Cese de Actividades de Pascua-Lama
No a Pascua-Lama
Buenos Aires, 13 de mayo de 2011: El emprendimiento de la empresa Barrick Gold incumple la Ley de Glaciares

Informe narrativo: Manifestaci�n contra reuni�n de accionistas de la Barrick, movilizando en apoyo a comunidades afectadas
El equipo ProtestBarrick.net est� actualmente en Toronto, Canad�, para la reuni�n anual general de la Barrick Gold y nuestra quinta gira con comunidades afectadas. Este a�o participan representantes de comunidades de Papua Nueva Guinea, y esperamos (si logren sus visas) que se sumar�n desde Tanzania y las Filipinas tambi�n.

Barrrick Gold confronted by angry protesters
For the fifth year in a row, Sakura Saunders shows up for the Barrick annual shareholders� meeting in Toronto. But once again, she is turned back by police and Barrick�s head of security despite the fact that she�s a shareholder.

REPORT BACK: Barrick shareholder protest, mobilising in support of impacted communities
The ProtestBarrick.net team is currently in Toronto, Canada for the Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting (AGM) and our 5th speaking tour with Barrick mining impacted communities. This year we are joined by Papua New Guinean community and hopefully (visas permitting) community from Tanzania and the Philippines.

PHOTOS: Activist Protest Against Barrick Gold
On Wednesday, over 100 activists protested against Barrick Gold outside the Metro Convention Centre, where Barrick Gold was holding its annual shareholders' meeting.

[Espanol] AMIGOS DE LA TIERRA INTERNACIONAL SE SUMA A PROTESTAS CONTRA BARRICK GOLD '�Barrick Gold limpien el desastre! Derecho a la vida por encima de las ganancias del oro'
TORONTO [CANAD�], 27 de abril, 2011 � Hoy, durante la asamblea general anual (AGM) de la empresa minera Barrick Gold en Toronto (Canad�), Amigos de la Tierra Internacional apoya un fuerte llamado de las comunidades del mundo a detener la miner�a de oro y las pr�cticas destructivas de Barrick Gold. Campa�istas est�n presentes en la asamblea y se sumaron a una manifestaci�n frente al lugar. Barrick Gold, la minera de oro m�s grande del mundo, ha sido objeto de muchos estudios que documentan violaciones a los derechos humanos y devastaci�n ambiental a nivel mundial, en pa�ses como Filipinas, Tanzania y Australia.

Communities in Argentina and Chile protest while Barrick Gold�s shareholders meet in Toronto
Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OLCA) Coordinator Anti-Pascua Lama Santiago Northern Chile Environmental Network Huasco Valley Defense Council
April 27th, 2011
Protests against Barrick gold�s massive Pascua Lama project are taking place in the southern cone in time with Barrick Gold�s Annual General Meeting in Toronto. In Buenos Aires, Santiago, San Juan and Vallenar, communities are demonstrating against Barrick�s impacts on nature, people and democracy. They have released the following open letter written to the attention of Barrick Gold�s shareholders.

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL JOINS PROTESTS AGAINST BARRICK GOLD 'Barrick Gold Clean Up Your Act! Right to Life Over Gold Profits'
TORONTO [CANADA], April 27, 2011 � Today, during the annual general meeting (AGM) of mining company Barrick Gold in Toronto (Canada), Friends of the Earth International is supporting a loud call from communities around the world for a halt to gold mining and Barrick Gold's destructive practices. Campaigners are present at the meeting and join a protest rally outside the meeting venue. Barrick Gold, the largest gold miner in the world, has been the subject of many documented studies of human rights abuses and environmental devastation globally, including in the Philippines, Tanzania and Australia.

Workers strike at Barrick's mine in Chile
The trade union representing miners at REDPATH CHILENA S.A. have gone on strike at the Pascua Lama mine in Chile for better salaries.

Munk�s dubious mining morality
by John McKay, Liberal MP, OttawaThe Star.com: CANADIAN PRESS
Re: Lack of support for mining bill, Letter Oct. 31 Barrick Gold Corp.�s Peter Munk raises three very dubious moral arguments in his triumphalist celebration of the defeat of C-300. The first is that mining is important to our economy. True. Apparently as long as it is generating wealth for Canada, abuse of basic human rights, degradation of the host country�s environment, and criminal code offences are okay. Interesting moral equation.

RPT-Argentine judge bars some glacier-protection rules
Rueters
November 2nd, 2010
An Argentine judge has ruled that key articles of a glacier protection law cannot be applied in San Juan province, where Barrick Gold Corp is building a large mine, an official news agency said on Tuesday.

Analysis: Argentine glacier protection bill could shut mines
by Luis Andres HenaoReuters
An Argentine bill to protect glaciers by banning mining in ice zones could hinder a new multibillion-dollar gold mine, shutter some projects and slow investment, although some mining provinces seeking to circumvent the measure are passing their own laws.

Argentine lower house passes glacier bill
by Luis Andres HenaoReuters Africa
Argentine lawmakers on Wednesday approved a glacier-protection bill that would ban mining and oil drilling in the country's Andean ice fields.

Testimony before Canadian Parliament re Barrick & Porgera JV (Papua New Guinea)
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
In October & November 2009, the Canadian House of Commons' Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs & Intl. Development held hearings on "Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability". The following statements were made regarding issues including allegations of killings, rape & other security problems involving personnel at the Porgera Joint Venture in Papua New Guinea, as well as the Porgera mine's environmental impacts. (Barrick Gold holds a large majority stake of the Porgera Joint Venture.)

DECLARATION OF BINATIONAL MEETING CHILE AND ARGENTINA:"LOS ANDES MINING WITHOUT BORDER"
July 15th, 2010

Deputies demand investigations over Barrick-government ties, Argentina
National Deputies Elisa Carri�, Miguel Bonasso and Fernanda Reyes demanded an investigations over possible traffic of influence in favour of Barrick Gold, and direct economic links between the gold miner and San Juan province Governor Jos� Luis Gioja.

Deputies demand investigations over Barrick-government ties, Argentina
National Deputies Elisa Carri�, Miguel Bonasso and Fernanda Reyes demanded an investigation over possible traffic of influence in favour of Barrick Gold, and direct economic links between the gold miner and San Juan province Governor Jos� Luis Gioja.

Acusan a Cristina por �tr�fico de influencias� en favor de una minera
by Juan Cruz Sanz Clarin.com
ESPANOL: Siete d�as antes de la fecha prevista para que la C�mara baja vuelva a tratar la ley de proteci�n de glaciares que Cristina vet� en el 2008, tres diputados opositores presentaron ayer a la Justicia una denuncia para que se investigue el posible �tr�fico de influencias� de la Presidenta para favorecer inversiones de la minera canadiense Barrick Gold en la frontera sanjuanina con Chile.

A la Justicia por Pascua Lama
by Federico PoorePagina 12
ESPANOL: Diputados opositores pidieron ayer a la Justicia que investigara posibles v�nculos entre funcionarios y la empresa minera Barrick Gold. Los legisladores Miguel Bonasso (Di�logo por Buenos Aires), Elisa Carri� y Fernanda Reyes (Coalici�n C�vica) presentaron nuevas pruebas para ampliar la investigaci�n que lleva adelante el juez Marcelo Mart�nez de Giorgi y reclamaron al Gobierno que diera a conocer el acuerdo tributario que firm� con la compa��a canadiense. La empresa asegur� en un comunicado que sus actividades �se de-sarrollan en el m�s estricto apego a la legislaci�n vigente�.

Denuncian lazos de Mayoral con la minera canadiense Barrick
by Leonardo NicosiaPerfil
Mientras el Congreso se prepara para debatir otra vez una ley de protecci�n de glaciares, la oposici�n solicit� esta semana a la ESPANOL: Justicia que investigue las ventajas impositivas extraordinarias que el Estado le habr�a otorgado a la Barrick Gold en el proyecto Pascua-Lama, en San Juan. Los diputados Elisa Carri�, Fernanda Reyes (CC)y Miguel Bonasso (DpBA) denunciaron, adem�s, que existen llamativos v�nculos entre la compan�a y el secretario de Miner�a, Jorge Mayoral.

San Juan province governor accused of 'economic ties' with Barrick Gold
Buenos Aires Herald
Deputies Elisa Carri� and Miguel Bonasso filed a complaint against San Juan province Governor Jos� Luis Gioja and Barrick Gold mining company for alleged "economic links" between the two. They also accused President Cristina Fern�ndez de Kirchner of vetoeing the Glaciers Law in order to favour the company.

Campaign to Ban Cyanide in Latin America launched
Mines and Communitiesq
Civil society organisations, trade organisations and unions, communities, academics and governments are being called on to strive for the banning of the use of cyanide in mining activities throughout Latin America, based on the information that accompanies this campaign launch.

Barrick Gold year in Review: One Company, 9 Countries, Countless abuses
by Sakura Saunders, editor protestbarrick.net
April 26th, 2010
From mass poisonings and mass mobilizations in the Dominican Republic, to damning reports in PNG and Tanzania to lawsuits in Chile and the US, Barrick has had its hands full this year in dealing with mounting opposition to its mines. In this Year in Review, you'll find out the ways that Barrick has damaged communities around the world and the many ways that communities are fighting back and demanding justice.

Ban Barrick: Organizations demand to stop construction of Pascua Lama
Radio Mundo
Feminist, religious and environmental organizations in Chile issued a declaration on the extractive project Pascua Lama, carried out by Canadian mining transnational corporation Barrick Gold in Huasco province, Chile and San Juan province, Argentina.

Urgent Appeal: Write to Barrick Gold to Protest Refusal to Reinstate Union Leader
Mining Watch/USW
UPDATE: After 2-day strike in the Veladero mine (December 17-18, 2009) OSMA-CTA (Organizaci�n Sindical de Mineros Argentinos) and Barrick Gold in Argentina signed a historic agreement on Jan. 12, 2010. In solidarity with the mineworkers' union at Barrick Gold's Veladero mine in Argentina, the United Steelworkers (USW) is asking that people write to Barrick Gold and the Canadian Ambassador in Argentina to let them know we are aware of the situation and urging Barrick to negotiate with the union (OSMA-CTA) and to reinstate Jose Vicente Leiva, the union's General-Secretary, to his job.

Miner accused of 'aggressive' tactics
by Les Whittington and Brett PopplewellToronto Star
November 25th, 2009
Testifying by video hookup at hearings of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, Romina Picolotti singled out Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. as one of the multinationals that used political and economic clout to block government intervention in the firm's mining ventures in Argentina.

Romina Picolotti, former Secretary of the Environment of Argentina
by Romina PicolottiStanding Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development testimony
November 24th, 2009
I speak before you today in two capacities: first, as the former Secretary of the Environment of Argentina, serving under the previous and present administrations, and secondly, as the President of the Center for Human Rights and the Environment, a globally prized organization over which I now preside, based in C�rdoba, Argentina. You are obviously aware of the very large mining ventures run by the Canadian company Barrick Gold in Argentina and Chile. Perhaps you know that Barrick�s Argentina gold mining venture is one of the largest mining projects in the world. Unfortunately, I must say, that far from being the beacon and model of sustainable mining that we would hope for in the 21st century, Barrick Gold is a modern example of how powerful economic giants can unscrupulously manipulate local politics and skirt environmental and social controls to maximize profit, minimize investment risk, and ignore local culture and communities to the detriment of greater global objectives of sustainable development.

Illegal transit of trucks to Pascua Lama:
by Huasco Valley communities and organizations that defend life and water
October 28th, 2009
The undersigned organizations denounce new abuses of the mining company Barrick Gold against Huasco Valley community, abuse involving breach of the law but are made in collusion with police and other state institutions.

PEOPLE & POWER: The People Vs. Barrick Gold
by Rodrigo VasquezAl Jazeera
July 22nd, 2009
Canadian mining giant, the Barrick Gold Company, has been forced out by local pressure, led by women who are concerned about what will be left of their mountains, their environment and their communities once the miners have gone. Filmmaker Rodrigo Vasquez followed the "Esquel crusaders" as they confronted Barrick Gold.

** BARRICK MINING DISASTERS - Emergency Funds Needed **
May 21st, 2009
This has been a crazy past few weeks to be watchdogging Barrick Gold. Within the first week of starting our annual ProtestBarrick tour in Toronto, a Barrick-recommended military force in PNG started to torch hundreds of houses, allegedly to clear way for mine expansion. SO... we changed plans a bit, MiningWatch Canada sent an Urgent Appeal to several United Nations Special Rapporteurs and now we are now attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York! Amnesty International has also made a public statement on the recent events at Porgera.

Barrick's Pascua Lama project denounced as illegal
May 7th, 2009
Barrick Gold Corporation announced today that its Pascua-Lama project, situated on the border of Chile and Argentina, is proceeding to construction. Community leaders and legal experts from Chile and Argentina � currently in Canada as part of an international delegation � responded to Barrick's announcement today by denouncing this project as illegal and lacking the social license to operate.

Barrick and Argentine Officials Violently Assault Women at Famatina Roadblock
by translated by David ModersbachCuidadanos por la vida
Argentine government officials from the Secretary of Mining and Secretary of Environment, along with personnel from the Barrick Gold Corporation today attempted to ascend to the mining camp located in the reaches of the Famatina mountain range.

Corporate Social Responsibility Rules for Mining Industry Blasted: Barrick Gold Implicated
by Lee BerthiaumeEmbassy Magazine
April 1st, 2009
The Conservative government has rejected joint civil society-private sector calls to tie diplomatic and economic support for Canadian oil, gas and mining companies operating in developing countries to socially responsible conduct abroad. As a result, there are charges the government�allegedly influenced by mining giant Barrick Gold and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce�has given the green light for misbehaviour abroad, and killed the temporary peace between NGOs and mining companies.

UN to tackle mercury menace
by MICHAEL RICHARDSONThe Canberra Times
March 3rd, 2009
Fear sparked by global recession, strains on banks and volatile paper currencies has brought the glitter back to gold. Its value has been rising rapidly in recent months, as investors seek a safe-haven from the economic and financial storm.

Middle East & Africa: Mining � Tarnishing Canada�s name
Ethical Corporation
February 10th, 2009
With many African mining firms about to face bankruptcy, foreign investors� ability to creating sustainable mining communities will be tested. Shielded from public view by their giant rivals BHP Billiton and AngloAmerican, a cluster of small Canadian firms has quietly revolutionised African mining.

The Real Price of Gold
by Brook LarmerNational Geographic
February 10th, 2009
Like many of his Inca ancestors, Juan Apaza is possessed by gold. Descending into an icy tunnel 17,000 feet up in the Peruvian Andes, the 44-year-old miner stuffs a wad of coca leaves into his mouth to brace himself for the inevitable hunger and fatigue. For 30 days each month Apaza toils, without pay, deep inside this mine dug down under a glacier above the world's highest town, La Rinconada. For 30 days he faces the dangers that have killed many of his fellow miners�explosives, toxic gases, tunnel collapses�to extract the gold that the world demands.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund drops yet another mining investment; this time it's Barrick
by Dorothy KosichMineweb
February 2nd, 2009
A dispute over the riverine disposal methods utilized by Barrick's Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea has prompted Norway's Ministry of Finance to drop Barrick from Norway's Government Pension Fund-Global investments, valued at $188.3 million.

Is Gold the duddest of dud investments?
Commodity Online
February 2nd, 2009
Everyone is buying gold. The frantic pace with which people are buying gold have prompted some to comment that gold has lost value as a commodity. According to Merrill Lynch, gold is "the duddest of dud investments." Ever since the U.S. dollar went off the gold standard, gold has had no special value as a commodity, with only 280 tons going to industrial uses per year.

Worst Companies in the World: US, Monsanto, Peabody and Barrick
by Brenda NorrellThe Narcosphere
The United States was voted the Worst Company in the World, followed by Monsanto, Peabody Energy Corp. and Barrick Gold

ARGENTINA: Frustration Over Veto of Glacier Protection Law
by Marcela Valentehttp://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44898
November 29th, 2008
The decision by the administration of Cristina Fern�ndez to veto a law to protect Argentina's glaciers -- important reserves of freshwater -- has caused deep concern among scientists and environmentalists who participated in writing the legislation.

Don't cry for me Argentina's glaciers
The Great Beyond
November 17th, 2008
Argentina�s president, Cristina Fernandez, has just vetoed a bill to protect the country�s glaciers, reports Reuters. The bill was passed only a month ago by Argentina�s congress.

Environmentalists Decry Argentina Presidential Veto of Bill That Halted $2.4 Billion Mine with Chile
Latin American Herald Tribune
November 15th, 2008
Environmental groups expressed their displeasure with the decision by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to veto a glacier-protection bill that would have restricted mining and oil drilling.

Argentina vetoes glacier law that curbed mining
Reuters
November 14th, 2008
Argentina's president has vetoed a law protecting the country's glaciers that would have restricted mining and oil drilling, officials and environmental campaigners said on Friday.

PASCUA LAMA UPDATE: Project mired in conflict
olca.cl
September 4th, 2008
Construction of the Pascua Lama mine, which straddles the border between Chile and Argentina, was scheduled to begin two years ago. But the lucrative project remains on hold while a dispute continues between the governments of Chile and Argentina regarding taxation.

Mining Prohibition Repealed in La Rioja, Argentina
by Assembly of Citizens for Life, La Riojawww.ciudadanosporlavida.com.ar
August 11th, 2008
Legislators have repealed a year-old law which had prohibited open-pit metals mining in the province of La Rioja, Argentina. Provincial laws N� 8137, 8138 were passed in March of 2007 in a widespread struggle carried out in La Rioja against a Barrick project in the Famatina mountain range in this arid agricultural province.

US and Canada Found Guilty of Racism
by Haider RizvinInter Press Service
August 8th, 2008
UNITED NATIONS - The international community now fully recognises the native peoples' right to protect their lands and live distinct lifestyles. Yet, most of the world's 370 million indigenous peoples continue to face abuse and injustices at the hands of state authorities and commercial concerns.

Paul York with Students Against Climate Change defends his recent action against Barrick chairman, Peter Munk

ACTION ALERT: Protesters Demand Accountability Outside Barrick Gold's AGM
May 6th, 2008
On 6 May protesters gathered outside Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting to protest the companies destructive mining operations around the world.

The Gold Link
A visual story of water, landscape, and people at the source of virgin gold on the border of Argentina and Chile

No a Pascua Lama
www.paola-monti.blogspot.com
A wonderful montage on Barrick Gold by Paola Monti

Barrick skeptical on Pascua-Lama project
by Reporting by Robert Melnbardis; editing by Matthew LewisREUTERS
Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) is not convinced there will be a resolution soon of tax and permit issues delaying its proposed $2.4 billion Pascua-Lama mine in Argentina, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Barrick Gold Secretly Building Roads to Attack Mt. Famatina in La Rioja, Argentina
by David Modersbach, Rosario, Argentina
On the one-year anniversary of the road blockade in Pe�a Negra and "ouster" of Barrick Gold from the Famatina mountain range, it has been confirmed that Barrick Gold, with the complicity of the national and provincial government, has been secretly constructing a new entry road into the backside of the mountain. This new road enters through Potrero Grande near Vinchina, avoiding the widespread public resistance on the east side of the range, and links Barrick Gold�s Famatina project with the uranium projects under exploration along the southern border of the neighboring province of Catamarca.

CHILE-ARGENTINA: Pascua Lama Mining Project on Hold
by Daniela EstradaInter Press Service
January 17th, 2008
Nearly two years after winning environmental approval from the Chilean government, the controversial Pascua Lama gold mining project of the transnational Barrick Gold Corporation remains without a launch date.

We reaffirm once more, that FAMATINA CANNOT BE TOUCHED.
Many voices have been heard from this group of informed citizens, who, worried and committed to the defense of life and of our natural resources, initiated a struggle against all odds to prevent the open-pit mining exploitation of the Famatina Range.

Statement from La Rioja, Argentina in Struggle Against Barrick Gold
8 June, 2007 Today June 8, 2007, the road blockage in Pe�as Negras celebrates three months of constant and tenuous struggle against the transnational criminal Barrick Gold Corporation and all of the similar mining firms who are operating their plunder and death throughout the world with the complicity of corrupt and sell-out officials.

Update: La Rioja, Argentina vs. Barrick Gold
by Written by David Modersbach dmoders (at) yahoo.com, Rosario, Argentina
Here in Argentina, we are anxiously awaiting the final resolution of Barrick Gold's announced withdrawal from the province of La Rioja. As you may know, in March 2007, due to overwhelming community rejection of Barrick's mining project on the Famatina Range, the corrupt provincial governor �ngel Maza was ousted, as neighbors began a blockade of the road leading to Barrick's mining camps, shutting down their operations. A regional referendum to prohibit open-pit mining is scheduled for July 29, 2007. The new acting Governor of La Rioja signed a bill calling for the prohibition of open-pit mining with cyanide (http://www.protestbarrick.net/article.php@id=120). On May 18, Barrick Gold announced their definitive withdrawal from the Famatina Project via telephone with a judge in Chilecito.

Protestors in Argentina Continue Their Protest Against Barrick's Famatina Gold Mining Project
http://www.noalamina.org/index.php@module=announce&ANN_id=625&ANN_user_op=view
Local groups in Argentina protesting Barrick's Famatina gold project, have decided not to rely on the recent reports that Barrick is abandoning the project.

Barrick bids Famatina project goodbye - Argentina
by Business News Americas staff reportershttp://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=7&idioma=I¬icia=392957
Canadian miner Barrick Gold announced in a statement that it has decided to definitively abandon the Famatina gold project in northwest Argentina's La Rioja province.

Open letter to Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and Directors of Barrick Gold in Toronto - May 2, 2007
Open letter to Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and Directors of Barrick Gold in Toronto - May 2, 2007

Barrick halts gold project after Argentines protest
Bloomberg
Barrick Gold Corp., the world's biggest gold producer, suspended exploration at a site in northwestern Argentina last month following local protests. Barrick will wait while residents near the Famatina site, in the province of La Rioja, prepare to vote on whether to allow mining companies to use cyanide, company spokesperson Vince Borg said yesterday.

Famatina Says NO to Barrick Gold: Famatina Cannot Be Touched
by David ModersbachMines and Communities
In the Argentine province of La Rioja, an astonishing series of events have lead to the ouster of a corrupt pro-mining provincial governor and the apparent withdrawal of gold mining giant Barrick Gold from operations on the Famatina range. Who was responsible for these events? A small group of dedicated neighbors who are fighting tooth and nail to save their mountain range from open-pit mining exploitation.

Barrick�s Gold: Canadian Mine Threatens a Chileean Watershed
by Ricardo Acu�a Canadian Dimension

 

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