Gold mining loses its luster

After a gold mining boom in Central America, activists push back.

By Ezra Fieser - Special to GlobalPost
Published: April 5, 2009 08:26 ET
Page 3 of 3

In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency estimates metal mines were responsible for 27 percent of all toxic waste released in 2007. Environmental concerns prompted the state of Montana to ban cyanide gold mining.

But some developing countries see the industry as a source of foreign investment that will create jobs and pad tax rolls.

Twelve years ago, Guatemala adopted a new law designed to attract mining exploration. In 2005, the Marlin Mine opened in a rural area deep in Guatemala’s Western Highlands with the help of a $45 million loan from the World Bank. It was one of the largest direct foreign investments in the nation’s history. In 2008, the mine milled 1.8 billion tons of ore and recovered 241,400 ounces of gold.

The mine’s owner, Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., says it has created thousands of jobs, paid millions in taxes, and planted thousands of trees. Last year, it launched an advertisement blitz that boasts of its accomplishments on billboards throughout the country.

The advertising campaign was meant to offset waning support for mining in Guatemala.

Late last month, Catholic Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini led a demonstration against the mine, one of several he’s organized in recent years, at times to his own peril. According to the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, the bishop and members of his diocese have received numerous threats for his anti-mining position.

Last year, two men reportedly confronted a diocesan nun, pressed a gun to her side and gave her a message: “Tell that good-for-nothing bishop … his days are numbered and that he should stop getting involved in things that are none of his business," according to reports in the Guatemalan press.

He’s continued calling for a change in policy. “A moratorium would be the most sensible thing, given all the conflict mining generates,” Ramazzini said after the February demonstration.

A moratorium might not be needed.

“At this point, I think it would be very hard, nearly impossible, for a new mine to open in the Western Highlands,” said Magali Rey Rosa, an environmentalist and columnist who writes about mining for Guatemala’s largest daily newspaper. “Around the region, something very interesting is happening. The people are leading the fight against gold mining and it’s working.”

More Dispatches on Latin American economies and industry:

Throwing BRICs

Brazil's (unofficial) economic forecast

A new sort of offshoring 

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Posted by Roberto on April 6, 2009 08:15 ET

You can rest assure that anywhere the Catholic church is involved they want people to be in poverty. Poverty keeps you humble looking to the Pope for direction. Only thing they will let you have is all the children you want and give your tithes to the church. That is why the Catholic church is decling in numbers world wide.

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