Barrick Gold is an official sponsor of the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games and the exclusive supplier of its first, second and third-place medals.
The company proudly noted the fact that it runs 14 mining operations in six Pan-American countries – including Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru and the United States – in the press release announcing its exclusive agreement with the Pan Am Games.
“Like the athletes coming to the Games, our people across the Americas are committed to a culture of teamwork, perseverance and excellence,” says Barrick on the web page promoting its involvement in the Games.
But just as the Games promote a false notion of unity between states, Barrick’s medals are, in fact, a product of the exploitation of communities across the Americas, including our very own backyard.
Copper for bronze medals from Zaldívar mine, Chile
After intense rains on March 24 and 25, the Geological and Mineral Service of Chile reported overflow from tailings ponds at the Zaldívar copper mine in the Andean Precordillera Region near Antofagasta, Chile. Tailings consist of waste rock (containing heavy metals) and solvents (including such toxins as cyanide and copper sulfate) left over from the extraction of ore. The Service later reported that the mine itself had been leaking sulfuric acid.
Residents reported itchy, tingling skin and brightly coloured water flowing from faucets across the affected region in northern Chile.
Zaldívar is open-pit, heap-leach copper mine. Although not a “core asset” of the company, Zaldívar is valued at $2.54 billion and is one of Barrick’s most productive and lucrative mines.
Barrick has since put the mine up for sale in the face of financial difficulties, with reports last week suggesting BHP Billiton, Teck Resources Ltd., HudBay Minerals and China Molybdenum among the companies in the running to take it over.
Silver medals from Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic
Pueblo Viejo is a joint venture between Barrick (60 per cent) and Goldcorp (40 per cent) where, according to the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OLCA), locals have reported symptoms of cyanide poisoning: skin lesions and ulcers that will not heal, migraines, vision loss, insomnia, severe shortness of breath with purulent sputum (containing pus). Blood tests confirm the presence of heavy metals.
The aquifers of the surrounding communities 100 kilometres northwest of the capital city of Santo Domingo, had been poisoned by the mining activity by the previous mine operations, which has necessitated the distribution by Barrick bottled water to families for bathing, drinking and washing.
According to OLCA, however, in the Barrick mine’s first year of operation in 2006, some farmers lost their entire herds of 400 or more heads of cattle, since they couldn’t be prevented from drinking in nearby steams. Locals report that bird species have all but disappeared from the region, and there’s been a significant reduction in the density and vitality of plant life.
Little of the initial promise of employment has materialized. According to residents, “Barrick has not benefited us at all. Some people got jobs, but only for four months, and we stayed poor but also got sick.”
Northeast of Pueblo Viejo, in the province of Sánchez Ramírez, residents of Cotuí accuse Barrick of forcing them to abandon their homes in order to facilitate extraction from a large gold deposit underlying the town itself, according to the organization Paz Dominicana.
Outrage over Barrick’s broken promises sparked demonstrations across Sánchez-Ramírez last fall, along with demands for an end to government acquiescence to destructive multinational mining practices. Protesters want at least 5 per cent of yield from the Pueblo Viejo mine to be turned over to the province they’re also fighting for the construction of aqueducts to bring in clean water, measures to eliminate environmental contamination and long-term employment for locals.
On April 22, civil court judge Jacqueline Y. Ramos announced that she would hear an injunction request against the mine. On June 30, however, a tribunal declared the action inadmissible due to “lack of proof… that the mine implies risk to human life or health.” In a July 4 interview Rafael Guillen Beltre of Paz Dominicana called the decision “the price of corruption that challenges our very sovereignty.” .
Gold from Barrick’s Hemlo operation in Marathon, Ontario
At Hemlo gold camp on the north shore of Lake Superior, approximately 350 kilometres east of Thunder Bay, Ontario, workers have reported respiratory problems including asthma, silicosis (irreversible, disabling lung damage resulting from overexposure to rock dust) and sarcoidosis (the build-up of scar tissue in the lungs, reducing their ability to oxygenate the blood). Barrick has repeatedly denied these claims. United Steelworkers, representing Barrick workers, has described the situation as an epidemic.
In 2008, water trucks used to suppress airborne dust particles were out of commission for over five months. Union leaders claim that air-quality monitoring at the three mine sites that make up the Hemlo operations has been inconsistent.
According to the NGO Northwatch, plans to permanently protect the environment are insufficient – since they don’t include appropriate disposal or treatment of massive piles of acid-generating waste rock. The NGO says the risks of groundwater contamination have not been evaluated by the company.
Kelsey Ross is a member of the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network.
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