| Mothers Affected by Gold Mining Speak Out On Mother's Day, the No Dirty Gold campaign honored the work of the extraordinary women whose communities have been harmed by gold mining. To read profiles of some of these women, click on their photo or name below. You can also send an e-card in support of women affected by mining.
Marta Sahores
Esquel, Argentina
Marta Sahores, a mother of two, is outraged that Meridian Gold Inc. wants to build an open-pit gold mine less than 7 kilometers from her home in Esquel in the Patagonia region of Argentina. Esquel is located adjacent to the Los Alerces National Park, home to the patagonic larch, a southern relative of the giant sequoia that can live as long as 3000 years.
Marta, a retired chemistry teacher, understands well the dangers posed by gold mining, from deadly cyanide spills to water contamination from mine waste. "Esquel is surrounded by natural beauty. We have a vibrant eco-tourism industry and world-renowned trout fisheries. This mine is a threat to our current way of life. We have serious concerns about the impact of the mine on our lake, our streams, our aquifers," explains Marta.
In March, the citizens of Esquel celebrated the anniversary of their 2003 referendum, in which 80 percent voted against development of the mine. "If you come to Esquel, everywhere you will hear and see the phrase 'No a la Mina!' That is the community's decision, and Meridian Gold should respect it."
Learn more about mining proposed at Esquel.
Hannah Owusu-Koranteng
Wassa West District, Ghana
"Gold is a part of our heritage," explains Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, a mother of two from the Wassa West District in Ghana. "But, today's large-scale mining operations are devastating rural communities and destroying livelihoods." Once known as the Gold Coast in colonial times, Ghana is Africa's second largest producer of gold after South Africa. Over the past seven years, five cyanide spills have polluted water supplies, caused fish kills, and forced many rural families to abandon their farms. "Gold has become a symbol of poverty and misery for mining-affected communities," says Hannah.
Hannah recalls the boom in open-pit mining that began in the 1980s when the government threw open its doors to multinational companies. "Back then, I was a young woman working as an extension worker with the ministry of agriculture. I saw rural people losing land to mining operations -- land, which is the most valuable asset for rural people! This had a profound impact on women, who play a large role in Ghana's agricultural economy."
"We're not saying no to gold, or no to all mining. We're saying no to dirty gold mining," emphasizes Hannah. "This is an industry in need of reform."
Learn more about mining in Wassa West District.
Juana Martinez
Choropampa, Peru
Juana Martinez, a mother of 3, is one of the more than 900 victims of a disaster that took place in June 2000 when a truck carrying liquid mercury from the nearby Yanacocha gold mine spilled it along a highway passing through the center of her hometown Choropampa and two neighboring villages. She is also the president of the Choropampa Defense Front, representing victims of the spill who are fighting for just compensation and health care. Juana's oldest child, who recently graduated from high school, continues to suffer chronic migraines and has had difficulty concentrating in school.
Juana explains how residents of Choropampa view the mining company, Newmont-owned Minera Yanacocha, that offered some compensation to the townspeople in exchange for signing documents clearing the mine from responsibility. Juana and several members of her family qualify for this settlement, but they have steadfastly resisted. "They don't want to give us medicine...They've given some people 500 soles, 1000 soles, but can life be bought?" asks Juana.
When Juana refused the settlement, she says the mining company tried to intimidate her. " 'Look dear,' he told me, 'if you make trouble and get a lawyer, we'll get a hundred lawyers. So you should accept our offer.' Like they wanted to threaten me," explains Juana. But Juana and about 1,000 other affected people filed suit against Newmont in the United States where it is still waiting to be heard in court. "What I've been through because I didn't keep quiet. I didn't keep quiet but instead made more of a fuss."
Learn more about mining in Choropampa/Cajamarca.
Mary and Carrie Dann
Western Shoshone Nation
Western Shoshone sisters and grandmothers, Mary and Carrie Dann, know all too well the impacts of modern gold mining operations. Nearly 10 percent of the world's gold production, and 64 percent of US production, comes from Western Shoshone lands, which stretch from southern Idaho, through eastern Nevada, to the Mojave Desert of California. The government has handed over huge tracts of Shoshone lands to mining companies, such as Newmont, Placer Dome, Barrick, and Kennecott, and under the national mining law (which dates from 1872) corporations don't have to pay a penny in royalties to the Shoshone or to the US public.
Among the Shoshone's concerns is the rapid pumping of groundwater for mining operations. Carrie explains that the Shoshone see the earth as their mother, "that which gives us all life. Do we know what the earth mother is saying when they are draining her vital liquids? Is she crying out in pain? And what are the future generations saying to us as we do these things?"
Carrie and Mary's strong beliefs guide them as they clash with mining companies and the U.S. government. "Our teachings tell us that the Creator placed us here as caretakers of the lands, the animals, all the living things. We were placed here with a responsibility. I, and my sister Mary, as traditional Shoshone, live that responsibility every day of our lives."
Learn more about mining on Shoshone lands.
Ioana Ciura
Rosia Montana, Romania
"Rosia Montana impresses every visitor with its serene, dream-like beauty, with the warm and calm ways of the people living here, the traditional 'motzi' people of the Transylvanian mountains whose history goes back more than 2000 years," says Ioana Ciura, a mother of two from Rosia Montana.
Today the Rosia Montana valley and its people are threatened by a proposal to build Europe's largest open-pit gold mine which would displace more than 2000 people, many of them subsistence farmers. "If the valley is replaced by a poisonous cyanide lake and an open mine pit, what will happen to all the communities that depend on this land? How will they be affected by the pollution created by the mine?" asks Ioana. There are serious concerns about the siting and structure of the tailings dam which, if it were to fail, would release toxic waste into the Abrud River.
But Ioana and others are determined to preserve their land and their way of life. "Like our ancestors, we have to take arms to defend ourselves. And our best arms are the love for our land and our determination to never give up what is the birthright of future generations. All the gold in the world is not worth the irreversible destruction that such a large-scale mining project would create."
Learn more about proposed mining in Rosia Montana. |
