The type of mining which would be developed in the gold exploitations soon to commence in Mendoza is "open-cast mining by lixiviation with cyanide". This consists of removing large quantities of soil and subsoil, which is later processed to extract the mineral, which may be present in very low concentrations in relation to the quantity of material removed. This type of mining uses large quantities of cyanide, a highly poisonous substance, which enables metals to be recovered from the rest of the material removed, up to 97%. In order to develop this process, the site must cover large areas and be near to the ground's surface. As part of the process, enormous craters are dug, reaching 150 hectares in area and up to 200 metres in depth. To extract 0.01 ounces of gold, the mining companies need to remove and destroy one tonne (2 thousand pounds) of soil, in addition to using and contaminating around 100 million litres of water per day.

So now, let us begin...

1) Mining generates greater employment and development. FALSE
Response: This lie is assembled by the assiduous collaboration of the commercial mass media and the civil servants in turn. They are responsible for broadcasting statistical reports and projections to convince the people of things such as "we will soon see San Juan flooded with employment" (Report by Jose Luis Gioja, San Juan governor, June 2003). In the case of the "paper mills" of Fray Bentos, Uruguay, promoted by the government of the Frente Amplio; according to the Uruguayan president, Tabare Vazquez, "they would bring in more than 2,000 direct jobs". However, studies presented by the universities of Montevideo and Entre Rios show that real employment for Uruguayan manual workers and technicians would lower to less than a hundred.

In the traditional mining countries of South America, this industry involves 0.1% of the economically active population in Brazil, 0.9% in Peru and 1.4% in Chile. In Catamarca, of the 1300 workers in the Bajo de la Alumbrera mine, only 300 are from the town itself. The work conditions turn out to be extremely unhealthy and unstable, each day resulting in high rates of accidents at work. At the same time, the communities which depended on the natural resources, such as farming and fishing, suffer immediate losses due to the lack and contamination of the water.

According to a study in 1999 by Arborvitae (IUCN, WWF), the Southern countries "rich in mineral resources tend to have much slower economic growth rates, lower levels of social welfare and much higher unequal revenue distribution than developing countries which are not dependent upon minerals. In fact, the greatest base of mineral economy resources has been more of a curse than a blessing".

2) In environmental and social terms, no industrial activity is more devastating than open-cast mining. TRUTH

Response: In this there is consensus in the literature, and is due to: the large areas of the terrain which it affects (tropical woods, mountain slopes, water basins or agricultural soil), the enormous quantity of chemical materials and toxins which are poured into the environment during the exploitation, the collapse which it causes to the local farming economies and the social impacts, and because once the mining exploitation has ended, the millions of tonnes of poisonous material are abandoned on the land.

3) The mining will enrich the exploitation site, or the province or the country. FALSE

Response: The mining companies pay the State less than 3% of what they "say" they take out. Then the State pays them 5% for using Patagonian ports to export (silver from the town). That is to say, they do not invest anything and the town pays them 2%. Additionally, they are not supplied by local providers, they are exempt from VAT throughout the first 5 years of work, of provincial and municipal taxes for life, of fuel taxes and cheque tax. Following the Catamarca case, one citizen recounts: ‘We believed the story that Andalgala would be the Great Mining Department, that they would build neighbourhoods, roads, accommodation for the miners to live in, that the economic multiplier effect would be such that there would be no empty ones here, and that from a tourist point of view, we would emerge to the country and the world as the New Silver Sea or Eastern Point. After ten years of exploitation we have the highest statistics in the country for unemployment and poverty, and on top of that we are contaminated even to our kidneys."

The truth is that it is only the companies who are enriched, which later go to the Northern countries to export what they practically "took" from the Southern countries.

4) The companies say: The cyanide decomposes into non-toxic products. FALSE

Response: This reaction requires very difficult conditions for it to take place in the event of contamination by filtration underground or in water overflow channels. The reaction requires: Plentiful oxygen, neutral environment and sunlight, while underground, in lakes and lagoons, there are many areas without oxygen and light, where the reaction cannot occur. And even if these conditions are met, the reaction is very slow. According to studies carried out by Geochemist Robert Moran, the presence of cyanide still remains in several mg. Per Kg in Missouri (25 years after the mining exploitation) and in Auschwitz (45 years after the use of CNH gas in the extermination chambers used by the Nazis).

It is estimated that 20,000 tonnes / year are released into the atmosphere where this process is used, the gaseous hydrogen cyanide will accumulate in the air and will probably contribute to forming other compounds "of unpredictable consequences for the atmosphere" such as those today known as the greenhouse effect and shrinkage of the ozone layer, resulting from carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) products leaked for years respectively.

5) Open-cast mining is safe. There is no possibility of contaminating the drinking water. FALSE

Response: There are no zero risks. The two most common categories of cyanide leaks into the environment are:

-Filtration into the linings (geo-membranes situated beneath the mounds and ponds). In his excellent review on the linings used by gold mining, Reece (op.cit.) states: "All the linings have leaks. This is the most important thing to understand about the geo-membranes used in mining that extraction uses by lixiviation with cyanide. The only difference between them is that some have had filtrations and other will have them". These are due to an inadequate design, manufacture defects, unsuitable installation and/or damage (holes), which occur during the operation process.

- Solutions which overflow from the storage tanks. These leaks damage the plants and animals which have contact with the lethal concentrations of the cyanide solution, and represent a long-term threat to the underground waters (water tables). In general, the storage reserves are designed to resist large storms and floods. However, they do not always prevent overflows.

A confidential report by the Environment Secretary reveals that the exploitation of the Bajo la Alumbrera Mining Site (Catamarca) has already brought irreversible damage to the ecosystem in just four years. There are clear indications that the phenomenon known as AMD (Acid mine draining) has occurred, which is nothing short of draining all the acids from the mine outside. The toxins which pass from the deposit to the river are already being detected in the monitors out with the area belonging to the company and to naturally repair the damage caused up to today in the environment would require a period of 400 to 500 years for the zone. It is thought that if the project continues and the current pace of contamination remains, the area would need 18 centuries for it to return to normal.

The residents of Vis Vis used to drink water from the basin. Now the water there has levels of more than 700 milligrams of sulphates per litre, when the World Health Organisation states the maximum ratio tolerable to be up to 400 milligrams. Today the same company provides them with water in drums and has recently made them go to a hose with water from a different basin, which is apparently also contaminated. The waste dam is one source of hazardous residues and the technicians maintain that the conditions which it presents would force the closure of the mine, since at this stage there is no way of repairing the construction work, or of reversing the damage. The consequences will be paid for by the next generations of Catamarca.

It is clear that the mining centres situated high up, at the source of the hydrographical systems which supply irrigation systems and drinking water to towns and cities, deserve special attention. In this sense, the high topographical gradient in the mountain range means that any contaminating event would quickly reach the places of impact.

One of the most significant examples of this kind of accident took place in January 2000, in Romania (Baia Mare disaster) in which a cyanide spillage affected Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia, affecting the drinking water supply for 2.5 million people and the economic activities of more than a million and a half people who live off tourism, agriculture and fishing along the River Tisza.

6) Open-cast mining can affect human health. TRUTH

Response: Cyanide - A quantity of cyanide smaller than a grain of rice would be sufficient to kill an adult (if ingested, from 1 to 3 mg/kg of a person's body weight; if taken in, from 100-300 mg/kg, and from 100-300 ppm if breathed in).

Long-term exposure to a sublethal dosage could result in headaches, loss of appetite, weakness, nausea, dizziness and irritation of the eyes and the respiratory system.

Lead - In pregnant women, premature births, alterations in foetal development, lower weight at birth, reduction of the child's IQ level (Intelligence Quotient), and miscarriages.

In children: Able to absorb up to 50% of the lead contained in foodstuffs and water, they are more susceptible to the neurotoxic effect of lead than adults.

In adults: May absorb 10% of lead in foodstuffs and water and cause an increase in blood pressure. In men, it can lead to reproductive disorders.

Everyone: In high dosages it can result in serious problems for the nervous system and the kidneys.
The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist classifies it as "a confirmed carcinogenic in laboratory animals".

7) Wildlife is not affected by Open-Cast Mining. FALSE

Response: Concentrations of hydrogen cyanide in the air of 200 parts per million (ppm) are lethal for animals, while low concentrations, such as 0.1 milligrams per litre (mg/l) are lethal for sensitive aquatic species. There are several cases in which cyanide spillages killed aquatic life for several kilometres, such as in the Summitville disaster in December of 1992 in Colorado, USA, which eliminated aquatic life for a span of 27 Km of the river Alamosa. Sub-lethal concentrations also affect reproductive systems in both plants and animals. Cyanide pools tempt wildlife. The death of wild animals has been frequently recorded, particularly in birds, attracted by the lure of water mirrors in these pools. The widespread extension of mortality in wild animals in the facilities which they use this process has caused concern, in the case of the United States, by the Wildlife and Fisheries Service.

8) The air may be contaminated due to the open-cast mining exploitation. TRUTH

Response: The air main be contaminated with solid impurities, such as dust and toxic or inert fuels, able to penetrate the lungs, and coming from several phases of the process. The air may also be polluted with vapours and gases from cyanides, mercury, or sulphur dioxide found in residual gases, incomplete combustion processes, or leaks from puddles or lakes with water which does not circulate with organic material in decay. A todo esto hay que agregarle la variable que supone nuestro viento Zonda...

9) The government is at the service of the mining companies. TRUTH

Response: "The National State appears to say to Barrick Gold, Meridian Gold, Alumbrera Limited, and others: ‘Gentlemen, we are at your service. Tell us what you want, and we will do it"', accuses the parliamentary Report presented by Member of Parliament, Carlos Alberto Tinnirello, on the 1st of June 2006.

"In reality -continues the reporter- President Kirchner has already taken on the responsibility for carrying out this shameful task. In the National Mining Plan presentation on 23/01/04, aimed at the ‘ mining sector representatives ' he literally said: "...anything which helps the sector and which you, as businessmen, see as a clear prospect to encourage investment, and believe that this investment may be encouraged with established measurements that we can talk about, we are completely prepared to listen...".

This is mainly seen in the facilities where the country awards the mining companies (see "3) Mining will enrich the exploitation site, or the province or the country").

In conclusion, the mining exploitation applied in the continent is a response to the neo-liberal economic policies which the Northern countries impose on the South. These mining companies, supported and protected by the governments, make the population believe, with the help of the media, that with this activity there will be greater development and profit for the communities when the reality is the completely different.

10) According to legislation, the mining companies are obliged to inform the nearby town about the quantities of toxins produced by them. FALSE

Response: The companies hide a great deal of information. In 1999, BARRICK GOLD (owner of Veladero, San Juan, Argentina) sought a judicial appeal to limit the right of the people to know about mining pollution. In April 2003, the court found in favour of Barrick, awarding this company the right to not have to divulge the content of toxins of the entire rock processed and ground. That is to say, the mining exploitation companies are exposing the communities and the water supplies to the effects of the pollutants such as lead, mercury and arsenic, without the people's knowledge.

For more information on the mining companies' legal presentations, please visit: http://www.earthworksaction.org/ewa/TRI_industry.cfm.

11) After the lixiviation by the mining companies, they are obliged to ecologically reconstruct the area. FALSE

Response: After the lixiviation, the mineral accumulation already processed still contains traces of the highly toxic cyanide solution. For this reason, many operations opt to treat the contaminated waste with cyanide rinsed with fresh water until the cyanide concentration lowers to the level permitted (this level varies between states and countries). Once the cyanide concentration lowers to the permitted level, the processed material is then usually left at the site. It is compacted, and they may or may not make the effort to ecologically reconstruct the site. These are situations that the legislation in our country, and still less in Mendoza, is not prepared to regulate.

12) The media provide all the information. FALSE
Response: The mass media are not responsible for broadcasting the negative side of the matter and prefer to ignore events concerning those in opposition to this activity, or to give insignificant space or to bombard the "environmentalists" with the reasons that these companies have used to cause people to believe (promises of progress, wealth and employment). For example, throughout the duration of the demonstration (from the 9th to the 12th, in opposition to the Legislation) by residents and volunteers against the mine, nothing appeared in the televised media in relation to it, and in the news only a small slot was dedicated to it. As regards the radio media, one man mentioned that he was called to make a notice on the Nihuil radio station, where three journalists attacked him with pro-mining arguments. Radio Universidad (University Radio Station), by contrast, is less committed to the government opinion and offered a slot for two days (in the radio program "la posta" and I think also in "cuidado con el perro") to one of the demon station participants so that he could give his version of the events (what is based in all this information that I have attempted to compile).

December 2006
By J.M. Alaniz, Mendoza Location: Argentina
Source: http://psicodeliasecundaria.blogspot.com/2006/12/mentiras-y-verdades-acerca-de-la.html