|
Cajamarca, Peru
The sheer scale of the Yanacocha gold mine in Cajamarca, Peru, is staggering. It is the largest gold mine in Latin America, and the second largest in the world, covering 22,000 acres. The Minera Yanacocha company runs the mine, and is owned jointly by US and Peruvian mining companies and the World Bank.
The Yanacocha gold mine piles up ore
and drips cyanide through the heap.
Credit: Guarango Cine y Video | In 2004, the Yanacocha mine contributed 22 percent of the seven million equity ounces of gold sold by Newmont, its majority owner and the world's largest gold mining company. On its web site, Newmont refers to Yanacocha as its "crown jewel."
The abundant porous low-grade ore found in this area lends itself well to the cyanide heap leach method, and Yanacocha has several huge leach pads, taking over entire mountainsides for this low-cost, environmentally risky system of gold extraction.
Critics of the mine say the government granted the concession to Minera Yanacocha after accepting bribes from Newmont, and without consulting local communities, which are now suffering. It operates in an environmentally sensitive area full of farms that rely on water coming from the mountains in the mine area.
Local organizations claim that since Minera Yanacocha was established in 1992, its revenues have climbed while farm production has dropped, water has become contaminated, and the influx of job seekers to the area has increased crime. With farmers under more and more pressure to sell their land to the mine, this case continues to be an example of how lack of consultation and poor oversight of gold mining can lead to undesirable outcomes for local people and the environment, and infringe on people's rights to a sustainable livelihood and determine the course of economic development in their communities.
Thousands of Cajamarca residents protested Yanacocha's expansion to Cerro Quilish. Credit: Grufides | When Newmont proposed expanding Yanacocha to Cerro Quilish, a mountain four miles from the mine that holds 3.7 million ounces of gold, community members were concerned because Cerro Quilish sits atop the watershed supplying an entire valley of farmers and the city of Cajamarca. Cerro Quilish has been spiritually important to the area's citizens since the time of the Incas, and in 2000, the city of Cajamarca declared Cerro Quilish a protected area.
Last year, residents of Cajamarca stepped up protests against the expansion of Yanacocha to Cerro Quilish. Over 10,000 people staged demonstrations and blocked access to the mine for 2 weeks in September 2004. Protestors faced tear gas, police violence, and long nights, but refused to back down. Realizing the depth of local opposition to the mine's expansion, Newmont announced in November 2004 that it would halt its exploration activities on Cerro Quilish. In a statement printed in Peruvian newspapers, Newmont admitted that it had not always listened to the valid claims and concerns expressed by the Cajamarca community in the past.
More recently, other communities have also protested the mine. On August 2, 2005, about 100 residents in the town of Combayo took over land near Newmont's Carachugo pit, blocking Yanacocha vehicles from highway access. Newmont temporarily shut down operations at Carachugo due to the conflict, during which one protester was killed in unknown circumstances.1 The company negotiated with the government to monitor air quality and conduct a study on ensuring a steady water supply to the area in exchange for permission to resume and expand the operation.
Choropampa residents rally to demand compensation and clean-up following a mercury spill. Credit: Guarango Cine y Video |
Communities living near the mine have reason to protest its operation.In June 2000, one of Minera Yanacocha's contractors spilled 150 kilograms (335 pounds) of mercury from the mine along a 43-kilometer stretch of road through the towns of Choropampa, Magdalena and San Juan. More than 1,000 people maintain they were affected by the spill and many continue to report health effects.
According to Juana Martinez, president of the Choropampa Defense Front -- representing victims of the spill who are fighting for just compensation and health care -- Yanacocha offered some compensation to the townspeople in exchange for signing documents clearing the mine from responsibility. But Juana and others refused to do so, and a group of 1,100 villagers filed a lawsuit against Newmont in the U.S. seeking compensation for damages caused by the spill. After failed attempts to reach a settlement, the case is now set to move forward in U.S. courts.
For more information:
Choropampa: The Price of Gold is a documentary film produced by Guarango about the Choropampa mercury spill and its aftermath.
The High Cost of Gold (Denver Post, 12/12/04, investigative series Part 1)
Fighting Back (Denver Post, 12/13/04, investigative series Part 2)
Treasure of Yanacocha: Tangled Strands in Fight Over Peru Gold Mine (New York Times, 10/25/05)
Print ready photos of the Cerro Quilish protests.
Watch a short film about Cerro Quilish
Grupo GRUFIDES (Spanish site): Cajamarca-based environmental and social justice organization that monitors Yanacocha and supports peasant communities in Cajamarca
- Chauvin, Lucien O. "Gold miner Yanacocha resumes operations after blockade." Metals Week. September 4, 2006.
|
