Environment : Displaying 61-80 of 315
| Water Depletion Water depletion is a major negative consequence of gold mining. The large amount of water required to run a gold mining operation exacerbates its impact on local communities, many of which are already experiencing drought. |
| Acid Mine Drainage Open pit mining creates great waste for a small yield. On average, it takes 79 tons of waste to extract one ounce of gold, according to a conservative estimate by the No Dirty Gold campaign, a project of EarthWorks and Oxfam. The process involves grinding up ore, and then exposing it to cyanide in order to extract the gold. Sulfides in the crushed rocks interact with air and water to create sulfuric acid, which in turn creates acid mine drainage (AMD). In and of itself, AMD is harmful to ecosystems because it makes water too acidic to support life. Additionally, the sulfuric acid in AMD leaches out other substances from the waste ore, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, which can have disastrous health effects, and can contaminate both air and water. Gold mining has been linked to 96 percent of the world�s arsenic emissions. |
| Cyanide Cyanide is the chemical-of-choice for mining companies to extract gold from crushed ore, despite the fact that leaks or spills of this chemical are extremely toxic to fish, plant life and human beings. Cyanide is a deadly chemical, used in the gas chambers of the Second World War and on death row in the United States between 1930-1980. The chemical has caused havoc in water systems across the world with over 30 spills in the last five years. |
| 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. |
| Chile court suspends Barrick's Pascua Lama mine by LUIS ANDRES HENAO, Associated Press April 10th, 2013 A Chilean court on Wednesday suspended Barrick Gold Corp's Pascua Lama mine after indigenous communities complained that the project is threatening their water supply and polluting glaciers. |
| Beyond the Headlines: Porgera in Crisis by Sakura Saunders, from report "Debunking Barrick" In May 2009, Jethro Tulin was interviewed on the CBC�s As it Happens, reporting about the fact that over 300 houses were burnt down by police next to Barrick�s Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The news hit the front page of newspapers in PNG, citing the Jethro�s interviews from North America. Even the Sydney Morning Herald � the largest newspaper in Australia � ran an entire series of feature articles on the Porgera situation, while Amnesty International and the Coalition on Housing Rights and Evictions both made public statements condemning the house burnings. |
| Agro leaders to protest Barrick Gold contract on Friday Dominican Today April 9th, 2013 The country�s agro producers grouped in CONFENAGRO on Tuesday called for a series of protests on Friday April 12, in rebuke of Barrick Gold�s contract, which calls for only 3% of the profits from the gold mined at Cotu�, in Dominican Republic�s northeast. |
| PASCUA LAMA: Charges filed against the controversial project for failing to meet the environmental standards, conditions, and measures. by SEBASTIAN MARCHANT, 24 Horas The Environmental Superintendent of Chile filed charges on Wednesday against Nevada Mining SpA, who is the owner of Pasca Lama project in Chile, because the project fails to meet the conditions, rules and measures established by the Environmental Qualification Resolution delivered in 2006. Chilean authorities also found Barrick's self-reporting did not meet the requirements of Article 41 of the Organic Superintendency Law, which requires the provision of accurate, truthful and verifiable facts by the holder. |
| Fury over alleged toxic leaks in Barrick mine; Tarime residents want probe, amends by Beldina Nyakeke , The Citizen (Tanzania) March 26th, 2013 The Tarime District Council chairman, Mr Amos Sagara, has asked the government to form a task force to investigate challenges facing villages surrounding the Barrick North Mara Gold Mine and come up with a lasting solution. |
| Economic Displacement + Water Depletion + Long-Term Pollution ≠ Sustainable Development ProtestBarrick editor Sakura Saunders distributed this fact sheet at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto on March 5, 2013. It is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Barrick's abuses, but enough points to prove a point that Barrick does not promote sustainable development at their mine sites. The fact sheet was distributed after Saunders spoke during the question period of the CEO panel which featured Barrick CEO, Jamie Sokalsky. |
| Gold Mine Planned for Southwest Alaska Threatens Environment and Local Communities http://ecowatch.com/2013/gold-mine-alaska/ February 27th, 2013 The Kuskokwim region is at a crossroads. A massive gold mine is planned at Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kuskokwim. With an estimated 27 year production run churning out more than one million ounces of gold per year, the Donlin Gold mine would require an open pit two miles long, one mile wide and 1,800 feet deep, plus the largest pipeline built in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.While it promises jobs in a region with few employment opportunities, the mine as currently proposed could have serious consequences for subsistence livelihoods. |
| Gold Mine Planned for Southwest Alaska Threatens Environment and Local Communities by Rebecca Siegel, Alaskans For Responsible Mining February 27th, 2013 The Kuskokwim region is at a crossroads. A massive gold mine is planned at Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kuskokwim. With an estimated 27 year production run churning out more than one million ounces of gold per year, the Donlin Gold mine would require an open pit two miles long, one mile wide and 1,800 feet deep, plus the largest pipeline built in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.While it promises jobs in a region with few employment opportunities, the mine as currently proposed could have serious consequences for subsistence livelihoods. |
 | The Globe and Mail as Corporate Apologists by Sakura Saunders, protestbarrick.net February 15th, 2013 Last week, a remediation program proposed by Barrick Gold was criticized by Mining Watch Canada and other human rights organizations for forcing victims of gang rape to sign away their rights to sue the company in exchange for receiving redress. Barrick's offer came two years after a 2011 Human Rights Watch report exposed a "pattern of violent abuses, including horrifying acts of gang rape". Mining Watch's report also criticized the fact that Barrick was offering no compensation to women who were gang raped by PNG Police, despite the fact that the police were housed, supplied and fed by Barrick during their time in Porgera. |
| EPA fines Barrick Gold for Nevada mine record violations by Jennifer Robison, Las Vegas Review Journal February 6th, 2013 A big Nevada mining company will pay federal fines following a ruling from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA found that three subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corp. failed to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste management activities at the company's Cortez, Ruby Hill and Bald Mountain mines in Northern Nevada between 2005 and 2008. |
| Nemc�s order to Barrick: SHUT DOWN THE TOXIC TAILINGS POND by Beldina Nyakeke, The Citizen (Tanzania) January 26th, 2013 Mining giant African Barrick Gold was yesterday ordered to close a pit refuse facility at North Mara due to toxic leakages that are contaminating local water sources. |
| Clean capitalism gets mixed results in the Andes Montreal Gazette CSR has become controversial because, observers said, it does not necessarily make the mining more responsible � it makes it easier to sell.Rod Jimenez, the vice-president of corporate affairs for Barrick South America, said the company has done a lot to build trust in the community, likening the battle for hearts and minds around Pascua-Lama to a marriage. |
| Chileans divided over value of Barrick�s water fund by Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.com December 18th, 2012 2012 was not a great year for Canada�s Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX: ABX) when it comes to its $8.5 billion Pascua Lama project, straddling the border of Argentina and Chile. There has been recent legal actions filed against the company for allegedly not having all the rights to proceed with the development of the mine. And now locals, divided over the merits of a water fund created by Barrick, threaten the fragile status quo in northern Chile. |
| Glaciers, protests and court cases slow Barrick in Pascua-Lama by CATHERINE SOLYOM, Montreal 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 Solyom, Postmedia 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. |
| Protests against toxic gold mining in the Caribbean
by Anne Sewell, Digital Journal November 27th, 2012 �I�m too old for this. I�m not going to be driven off of my land again,� says Juliana Guzman, a farmer from La Cerca in Dominican Republic. The walls of her house are riddled with cracks from the explosions that shake the ground every day. |
| Dominican Republic: Barrick set to open giant gold mine World War 4 report August 7th, 2012 The project has stirred up protests in the past, because of what activists said were irregularities in the government�s contract with the Canadian companies, and because of potential damage to the environment and to archeological sites. Barrick plans to use 24 tons of cyanide a day, Virginia Rodr�guez, a coordinator for the local nongovernmental organization SalvaTierra (�Save the Earth�), told the Associated Press wire service. �There is a very high risk, especially with an island like ours with a very fragile ecosystem,� she said. The mine is located in a mountainous region, the source of some of the country�s most important rivers. |
| Accumulation by Dispossession: Barrick & Goldcorp�s Pueblo Viejo Gold Mine in the Dominican Republic by James Rodriguez, MiMundo July 30th, 2012 Barrick and Goldcorp�s Pueblo Viejo gold mining project, the �biggest single foreign direct investment ever done in the Dominican Republic estimated at US $3.5 billion�, should begin full operations in July 2012. While the economic sectors deem it an economic blessing, the local population, environmentalists, and progressive groups strongly oppose it due to numerous social problems already underway and the potential to cause an irreversible environmental disaster in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. |
