Locals resist irresponsible gold mining in Honduras

i've posted a couple of times about the doe run la oroya operation in peru (here and here)... there seems to be a lot of movement in the grassroots in latin america about many things, and mining activities are a big one... here's an excerpt from a story about community resistance to gold mining in honduras...

On January 9, 2007, representatives from the Mam-Mayan villages that neighbor the "Marlin mine" in San Miguel Ixtahuacan, San Marcos, Guatemala, operated by Goldcorp Inc's wholly owned subsidiary Montana Exploradora, visited the mining company office. They presented a petition to Goldorp Inc. requesting a resolution to a number of problems suffered due to mining operations.

[...]

On January 10, community representatives returned to the Goldcorp offices for the response to their petition. According to testimonies, company representatives not only denied all responsibility for the problems, but also insulted them.

Upon leaving the companies installations, the community representatives met up with some community members and began walking to their homes. About two kilometers from the mine entrance, members of Goldcorp's private security company attacked the campesinos throwing rocks at them and firing guns, and attempted to force one man into a company car.

[...]

On January 22, the company initiated penal charges against 22 residents of communities neighboring the mine. Arrest warrants were issued for 7 of the 22.

[...]

On September 11, the trial was officially opened and on September 26 the trial began. The next phase, the presentation of evidence is scheduled for October 8, 2007.

The communities continue to seek remedy for the damages they are suffering. The communities are extremely concerned about information disseminated by Goldcorp Inc's public relations department in which they announce plans to release water with residues from processing gold, a process in which cyanide, arsenic and other toxic chemicals are used, into the Tzalem river, a tributary of the Cuilco river.

a little bit about goldcorp, a canadian company based in vancouver, b.c... (note: the company DOUBLED its reserves in 2006... add that to the soaring price of gold - $741.20 per ounce as i write this, up from $530 in january 2006 - and you can see that goldcorp is drowning in profit... also note that 70% of the company operations are in nafta countries...)

Goldcorp is a leading gold producer engaged in gold mining and related activities including exploration, extraction, processing and reclamation. The Company’s assets are comprised of 11 operations and 7 development projects throughout the Americas. Over 70% of Goldcorp’s reserves are situated in NAFTA countries.

Goldcorp is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies and in 2006 the Company doubled its reserves and resources from 5 million to 10 million ounces through the acquisition of assets from Barrick (Placer Dome) and Glamis Gold Ltd. Gold production is forecast to increase by over 50% in the next five years.

and like doe run in la oroya, goldcorp touts its civic activities...

Goldcorp has created a number of programs that provide communities with economic and technical means to achieve sustainability. One of the health programs, initiated by the San Martin foundation, and together with the Spanish NGO Dentistas Sin Fronteras, worked to bring a dental brigade to Valle de Siria, Honduras.

from goldcorp's website information about the honduras marlin mine... (note: also like doe run, goldcorp runs its operations through wholly owned subsidiaries to better protect the parent company from financial risk...)

The Marlin mine is 100% owned by Montana Explorada de Guatemala, S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldcorp. The Marlin Mine is a conventional milling operation with a combination of open pit and underground mining which began commercial production in Dec 2005.

Marlin Mine is in the western highlands of Guatemala, 48 kilometers southwest of the city of Huehuetenango, approximately 300 kilometers northwest Guatemala City. The project lies within a highly prospective land package of approximately 100,000 hectares that encompasses the main Marlin deposit and other important mineralized zones.

Commercial production commenced in the forth quarter of 2005 and in its first full year of production Marlin achieved 161,000 ounces of gold and 1.6 million ounces of silver in 2006. Production from the Marlin mine is expected through to 2015.

we need to keep things like this visible... you have to ask yourself WHY the goldcorp would have 70% of its operations outside the u.s. in lesser-developed countries... you also have to ask yourself WHY the locals are upset, in spite of the fact that the company provides jobs and sponsors civic health projects for the community...

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