Water vs. 3700 tons of Arsenic

Posted by vistagoldNO

left: The hands and feet of arsenic poisoning  
Clean Water is more precious than gold!

Vista Gold mining company is proposing to excavate a large open pit gold mine in the Paradones Amarillas area of the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere.  The mining site is located west of El Triunfo in the sierra above the Carrizal agricultural zone. 

While there are many reasons to oppose this mining project, the most important is the risk of arsenic contamination in our aquifers.  The mine will take out 37 tons of gold, but also bring to the surface 3700 tons of arsenic.  With every hurricane or heavy rain this exposed arsenic will leach into the aquifers for generations. 

These are some of the other impacts we are concerned with:

-        Pollution of underground water supplies, derived from the infiltration of chemicals used during the gold production process, mainly lead, arsenic and cyanide. This type of pollution is always dangerous, and it is even more so in a region like this one, where water is so scarce.

-        The impacts that this pollution would have on productive activities throughout the region, including agriculture, livestock and tourism.

-        The impacts of mining activity on the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important ecosystems in the state and in the whole country. It is troubling to see how close the proposed mine is to the core area of the Reserve.

-         Social impacts normally associated with gold mining on all the towns and communities located within the project's influence area, including the cities of La Paz and Todos Santos.

-        The lack of a comprehensive closure plan and insufficient financial means to guarantee full closure and post-closure care.

CLEAN WATER IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD!

For more information about the dangers of Open Pit Gold Mining please see: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/international/24GOLD.html?_r=1 a month long series of articles about gold mining that was published by the New York times.  Also see http://www.nodirtygold.org/ a series of articles and web sites you can visit for more information on open pit gold mines.