Barrick backs off project Latinamerica Press, PÚLSAR 5/30/2007

Canadian mining company Barrick Gold — the world’s third largest gold producer — announced May 15 that it will abandon gold exploration in the open-air Famatina mine, in the central-western La Rioja province.

The company was pressured by environmental and community organizations demanding that Barrick Gold recognize a law approved by the local legislature in March prohibiting the use of cyanide in open-air mines.
Citizen’s groups had blocked roads leading to the mine, saying that the mine would cause “the destruction of the environment with the contamination of aquifers, soil and atmosphere.”

Barrick Gold also operates the Veladero Mine in the San Juan project as well as the highly controversial Pascua Lama project in Chile.

Environmentalists and community members warn that Pascua Lama is putting at risk three important glaciers that feed the fertile Huasco Valley — a major agricultural zone in Chile — with water.
 

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