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Plunder for Profit: Canadian Mining Company Meridian Gold Pollutes Argentina?
Por quesevayantodos -
Saturday, Jul. 31, 2004 at 11:26 PM
Eighty-one percent of the population of Esquel voted to ban Meridian Gold's mining project. But a democratic vote doesn't seem to matter, either to the Candian mining company, or to the government of Argentina....
S. O. S. PATAGONIA ARGENTINA
GOLD MINE - cyanide
WE NEED YOUR HELP !
We are in the city of Esquel, located in Chubut province in the Argentinian Patagonia, where in spite of the opposition expressed by almost all of the 30,000 population, the provincial government (based on the national regulations and supported by the local government) goes forward with a polluting gold mining project of the Canadian company Meridian Gold, only 6km far from the city. This goes against the vote of 81% of the people that said NO TO THE MINE in a referendum held on March 23rd, 2003. In addition to this, there’s a new deposit distant only 4km from the Esquel entrance, with permits for exploration given to the company by the government 35 days after the people expressed their during the referendum.
..Only during the exploration stage, they have already polluted a local stream, cut down part of the forest and done 700 drills up on the mountain (the added depth of all of them reach 82,000 meters) introducing also chemicals for this purpose.
* ..They will use 1,5 million liters of water a day (one fourth of the total water use in Esquel).
* ..They will remove 45 million kg of rock with daily explosions along a period of 10 years. The products from the explosives are also polluting.
* .. To extract the gold they will use 6 tons of sodium cyanide every day, 400 kg of hydrochloric acid, 400 kg of caustic soda and 45 kg of litharge. These, among other elements that take hundreds of years to degrade.
* ..Open pit mining means making enormous pits on the ground.
* ..The biggest pit would have the size of 10 soccer stadiums, and a depth of200 meters.
* ..In 10 years the mining company will earn U$ 1,500 million, without paying any sort of national, provincial or local tax for 5 years.
* .. With this project only, argentinian people will have to pay U$ 22,3 million to a foreign company to take the gold, because the State earns only 2% in mining royalties but pays 5% of reimbursement on exports once the gold leaves from any Patagonic port.
* ..The owners of the land that have the minerals are obliged to sell their lands; if they don’t, the State expropriate them to give them to mining companies.
This type of mining has already been banned in several parts of the world, including in some areas of the US, due to the pollution of the land, the water and the air that they produce and that last for centuries.
Why does Argentina allow this?
THE PEOPLE OF ESQUEL WILL CONTINUE REASSERTING OUR “NO”, EVEN IF THE COMPANY DOES NOT WANT TO LEAVE AND THE AUTHORITIES HELP IT.
The Vecinos Autoconvocados de Esquel have prepared a web site on the Internet to let the world know what is happening to us and what will happen to our country if we allow this to happen
http://www.noalamina.i8.com
The people of Esquel are fighting based on dignity, scientific knowledge, love for life and nature and against the big robbery to our country promoted by the mining laws.
WE ARE VERY FAR FROM BIG DECISION MAKING CENTRES AND THEREFORE WE WOULD THANK VERY MUCH YOUR HELP TO MAKE THIS ISSUE KNOWN EVERYWHERE.
People that are not for sale can’t be bought.
Water is worth more than gold.
WE SAY YES TO LIFE
WE SAY NO TO POLLUTION AND NO TO THE SACKING
THEY SHOULD GO !!
Vecinos Autoconvocados de Esquel por el No a la mina
Organised Neighbors of Esquel Against the Mine