La contaminacion de la Barrick

SDE.-"La República Dominicana enfrenta un doble peligro con la explotación de los sulfuros de la mina de PuebloViejo, Cotuí, que lleva a cabo la Barrick Gold", afirmó ayer ingeniero Químico Rafael Solano Liz, quien narró las ocasiones en que esta transnacional canadiense ha sido multada en Estados Unidos y Chile por daños al medio ambiente.

Dijo el ingeniero Solano Liz, que el país está expuesto a que sus riquezas de oro, plata, cobre y otros metales que se encuentran en la mina de Pueblo Viejo, Cotuí, sean saqueados por la Barrick Gold, que logró agenciarse un contrato altamente lesivo a los intereses nacionales.


A juicio del experto el país y, específicamente la provincia Sánchez Ramírez y zonas aledañas, están expuestas a las graves consecuencias de una severa contaminación ambiental, por el ejercicio irresponsable de la transnacional Barrick Gold, en materia de explotación minera.

Recordó que recientemente, la Barrick Gold fue multada en Los Estados Unidos y Chile, por agresión al medio ambiente, lanzando durante varios años consecutivos, en forma clandestina, químicos tóxicos al medio ambiente, axial como por no proteger una amplia zona de glaciares en Chile, donde la transnacional minera explota yacimientos minerales.

De acuerdo al ingeniero Rafael Solano Liz, en Reno, Nevada, Estados Unidos, la Barrick Gold ocultó que contaminó con mercurio, cianuro y plomo.

Y asimismo, de igual manera, a un mes de que la dirección de Aguas de la Región de Atacama, en Chile, solicitara que Barrick Gold Mines Corporación sea multada por incumplir con la protección de los glaciares situados dentro del proyecto binacional chileno-argentino Pascua Lama, la minera acaba de ser multada en Reno, EEUU, recientemente, por la liberación de sustancias químicas tóxicas.

La Agencia de Protección Ambiental de EEUU ha ordenado a tres minas de oro del norte de Nevada a pagar un total de 618 mil dólares por no informar la liberación de químicos tóxicos, incluyendo cianuro, plomo y mercurio desde 2005 hasta 2008.

Dijo que si la Barrick Gold ha sido capaz de llevar a cabo esta práctica en países que cuentan con sólidas instituciones que velan por la protección del medio ambiente, como es en caso de Los Estado Unidos y Chile, en este país será peor.


Lamentó que el Ministerio del Medio Ambiente dominicano este en pañales y que esto obligue a prepararse para estar vigilantes ante los crímenes medioambientales en que pueda incurrir la Barrick Gold en la provincia Sánchez Ramírez y zonas cercanas.

En el ultimo contrato, el acuerdo no menciono absolutamente nada acerca de contaminacion, desalojos y plantas de tratamientos de aguas..La Barrick Gold tampoco ha pagado nada todavia a las autoridades dominicanas..

Barrick Gold’s Perfect Storm Peter Munk on Resource Nationalism and the Changing Global Paradigm

The origin of problems according to Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold’s Perfect Storm Peter Munk on Resource Nationalism and the Changing Global Paradigm



“Please understand” … pleaded Peter Munk several times to shareholdersgathered in Toronto on April 24th for Barrick’s annual shareholdermeeting (AGM) as he laid out the reasons why Barrick Gold has lost nearly three-fourths of its company value, why projects are being closed due toenvironmental contamination, and why all of a sudden gold, and Barrick Gold stock in particular, doesn’t look so attractive. The speech is a revelation of what really drives the gold miningindustry and one of the most controversial industry leaders in particular.

Munk was clearly referring to Pascua Lama, the multi-billion dollar goldproject on the Argentine-Chilean border that has become a constant headache forBarrick Gold. The project is riddled with environmental problems and unpredictedand escalating costs, and suffered as a result of the collapse of the financingscheme Barrick hoped to build with subsidized public money from EDC (Canada)and EXIM bank (USA). Today, the mine remains closed in Chile for failure tocomply with environmental regulations. Barrick’s legal appeals have had noinfluence on the Chilean authorities.



A year ago today, Munk boasted that the fundamentals were brilliant.Barrick was on the verge of launching two of the most spectacularly unique goldmines, Pascua Lama in Argentina/Chile and Pueblo Viejo in the DominicanRepublic. Both projects would be characterized by exceptional production, longlife, and some of the lowest average operating costs per ounce. This yearthough, Munk was reduced to asking, “What can I say to you? ...The fundamental stoday could not be more different than they were a mere twelve months ago. Our two mines are both in trouble”. (AGM Speech: Minutes 43:00-44:00)

At both Pascua Lama and Pueblo Viejo, Barrick has run into significant problems.Munk attributed this to growing resource nationalism, which he referred to numerous times throughout his speech. He says it’s a global phenomenon and the underlying characteristic of the new mining paradigm.

He posed the following hypothetical situation to the audience: “You’rethe new president of a small Latin American country… You have two choices, keepon taxing the people… or go after that big multinational huge globalcorporation with billions of dollars of assets. … This is totally understandable, it is the essence of this enormously rapidly growing resource nationalism… It is the ultimate threat to the very lifeline of the mining industry, which ultimately will cause an enormous spike in commodity prices. (Minutes46:00 - 47:00)

He pointedto leaders such as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia … suggesting that “there’s a whole slew of new modern populist leaders that may not follow the rule of law as we expect them to do”. (Minute 48:00)

While never explicitly stated, it was clear that his critiques were no tso much about Chavez and Morales, but rather referred to his frustration with Argentina and Dominican republic

Ironically, the venting and frustration over host government rule-bendingquickly vanished when Munk came to the issue of executive pay. There, Munk pointed to the impressive CV of newCo-Chairman John Thorton, former Goldman Sachs chief, as a justification for awhopping US$11.9 million pay package from the gold giant to have Thorton takeover Barrick, which has dropped in value by nearly 75% since its recent marketpeak.

In his closing comments, Peter Munk reached out to the essence of whatsustains the gold industry. Companies mine, process and sell gold not forsocial or economic development, not for social progress and not for the benefitof the needy or the poor communities in the countries where Barrick Gold isinvested




So, the conclusion of BG speech:

• Dominican president is as radical and keep the same political lines of as Chavez and Morales
  

• The most important mines of BG are Pascua lama and Pueblo viejo have a populist leader that "dont follow the rules of law"

• BG always follow the rules of law
  

• BG is not in DR for social progress or the needy poor communities of Cotui.
  

• BG never mention pollution, smuggling cyanide, fines, etc so all those "rumors" are probably a lie

• Barrick Gold has lost nearly three-fourths of its company value, shareholders are VERY scare
  

• It's ok to pay somebody a bonus of $11.9 millions made from dominican gold , but not a single dime yet to dominican people
  

source: www.gowebcasting.com/events/barrick/2013/04/24/2013-annual-meeting-of-shareholders/play/stream/7102

These are the personal words of BG president Peter Munk in the last shareholder meeting..
Personally I am speechless ..

You make your own conclusions..

Barrick Gold sticks to its claim over limestone shipment

 
Santo Domingo.- Barrick Gold Corp. on Friday said the shipping manifest filed with the Customs Agency on the six tanks retained for nearly a month are in fact, limestone originally from Portugal worth only 50 dollars.
But Customs technicians said the cargo was shipped from the mine at Pueblo Viejo, Cotuí, a week after Barrick Gold and the Government signed the new agreement


An elnacional.com.do sources revealed that the mining company sought to ship the cargo to Canada, this time with a courier not the usual commercial carrier.

It said the company roused suspicions when it transported the six tanks to Punta Caucedo freight terminal’s Warehouse 10, instead of the customary Warehouse 3.

Another attitude which the source says spurred suspicion is that the company at no time demanded that Customs return the tanks which allegedly contain limestone.

They said the shipment would’ve been sent one week after signing the new contract, "the company still used tricks in the extraction of gold and silver, seeking to circumvent the payment of taxes."

Barrick Gold reportedly set the value of the limestone at 50 dollars, even though a shipping company would’ve charged more than $7,000 to ship it to Canada.
 

 Barrick Gold  set the value of the limestone at 50 dollars from Portugal?
The shipping company would’ve charged more than $7,000 to ship it to Canada.?
The limestone was coming directly from Pueblo Viejo mine?

Something smells very funny there..

Just the manner of declaring the commodity worth $50 is a slap in the face.
 Barricks actions moving the limestone originating from Portugal, subsequently arriving in the RD, and then manifiested to Canada is a de facto declaration of a special utility which adds value to the product.

 ¿ Is it worth the expense to ship ? Barrick thinks so.

Note: Gold is found in limestone deposits. Could it be the limestone was sent to Barrick in the RD for analysis ?

The actions by Barrick It do not pass the smell test.

Barrick's share holders have not gotten a whiff of it yet.

Barrick Gold in Chile: ‘We regret environmental problems, we’ll comply’

Barrick Gold in Chile will comply in enviromental issues, not in Dominican Republic

 

Canadian mining company Barrick Gold Corporation said today that it will comply with the details of the resolution of Chile's Superintendent for the Environment (SMA) in which the authority fined the company US$ 16.4 million.

As Digital Journal reported earlier today, Chile’s SMA announced a fine of about 16,4 million dollars to Barrick Gold for violating several regulations and environmental compliance resolutions. Additionally, the authority instructed Barrick Gold to stop construction activities at the Pascua Lama project until contaminated water management systems could be implemented in the manner provided in the Environmental Qualification Resolution that approved the operations, but the company had failed to put in place.



Today the company issued a statement saying it will build temporary structures to gather, transport and discharge water into a settling basin north of the mine and will monitor the environmental variables affected by the operation which threaten Andean glaciers very important to local indigenous Diaguita communities.

""We deeply regret that Pascua Lama has suffered difficulties in its construction and we will endeavor to rectify the problems and meet the terms of the approved project. We are respectful of the institutions of the countries in which we operate, and consequently, we will act according to the resolution."" said Eduardo Flores Zelaya, president of Barrick Gold South America, and Senior VP of Pascua Lama, according to LaTercera (in Spanish).




Furthermore, the company’s website posted a declaration which includes the following statement: ""Barrick is fully committed to complying with all aspects of the resolution and to operating at the highest environmental standards." "





After reading this ,,we ask our self several questions:

How come they were can comply in Chile and Nevada but not in Dom. Rep. ?

How come that nobody says nothing either?

Why the Dominican government is not forcing them to comply with environmental issues in the last "happy agreement"?

Why they didn't talk about reforestation, jobs for the poor people in the area , water treatment facilities,hospitals for the people that eventually will get sick, etc?

How come that the Dominican government haven't seen a dime yet?

Now we certainly have more questions than answers..

Unfinished business

The Barrick Gold issue



Everyone is happy about the big agreement of the Dominican government  with Barrick Gold related to Pueblo Viejo Gold mine in Cotui, but there are certain issues not finished yet..
 In a press conference after a meeting of several hours between senior officials and Barrick Gold executives in the National Palace, the government announced the pact to amend the contract, to be submitted to Congress as soon as possible.

 Among other points, the agreement will raise Government revenue by more than US$1.5 billion over the project's duration, in addition to the US$10.0 billion projected in March 2013, and raises the profit split from 37.1% to 51.3 % for the country, and lowers Barrick’s from 62.9% to 48.7%

Everything looks clear in the agreement..except for a couple of things:

• We haven't seen a dime yet..

• We haven't get clear what is going to happens with the millions in fines of BG that they already owe to the Dominican state.. ..

• 
  Do BG have any plan to employ Dominican people instead of bringing more peruvians?

• What is going to happens with the cyanide and mercury? How are they going to clean that mess?

• What is going to happens with the crops of cocoa beans, coffee beans and fishing infrastructure that we had before..?   Any reforestation plans either?

• Did anybody realize that we are pushing for more marginality of Dominican people by allowing the eviction of 600 families?

• So far, instead of bringing prosperity to Cotui area, BG only brought misery , illness, cyanide, evictions, and poverty..
  What the government, in charge of protecting its people ,is going to do about it?

• Is there any plan study to analyze the horrendous environmental consequences of Barrick Gold in DR?

2000 years later..I still hearing Jesus saying, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing. .

Barrick Gold to seal reviewed Dominican mine contract next week

 

Santo Domingo.- Several senior executives of Barrick Gold Corp. will visit the country in the next few weeks to endorse the contract renegotiated with the Dominican Government.

The announcement comes two weeks after Barrick Gold capitulated before president Danilo Medina’s stern warning to review the gold mining contract to give the country a faire share of the income.

Once the preliminary agreement signed May 8 is ratified, it would be submitted to Congress, which is expected to approve the amendment.

The government officials who participated in the talks to rewrite the contract for the mine at Pueblo Viejo (northeast)  have continued holding meetings to hammer  out some details.

A source quoted by hoy.com.do said despite the announced preliminary agreement, it’s a complex negotiations involving several new financial aspects, especially for the Canadian miner.

The source also notes that while gold’s price of US$1,600 an ounce was used as the reference in the renegotiation, what should be done regarding its current downward trend must still be established.
 
 ________________________________________________________________________

 The source didn't mention that BG keeps the same operational cost as it was in 2008, so it keeps a VERY good deal for BG.

The conversation of BG and the government were about the financial issues.They haven't talk about pollution, eviction ,unemployment, cleaning the cyanide and mercury from the rivers and dams, , water treatment program , health issue, dead crops and what are they going to do with the 600 families they left without water in that area.

The situation now is unbearable for those people living in the second poorest area of Dominican republic


The government was supposed to be protecting their people. So far it seems like another scam to me.


Time to be good Dominicans and support our brothers and sisters in that deprived area.We need to be proactive and keep our natural resources.

Time to say no to Barrick Gold !

Barrick Gold weighs fewer mines

Barrick Gold weighs fewer mines


New York - Barrick Gold, the biggest miner of the metal by sales, is considering shrinking in size as the company focuses on returns over production volumes, chief executive Jamie Sokalsky said.

“Being more profitable is better than being bigger,” Sokalsky said yesterday at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit in Toronto.

“If we divested of some of those smaller, higher-cost assets and came down to a suite of assets that are long-lived and lower-cost and more valuable, I think that ultimately that can be a better investment proposition.”

Gold producers are trading at their cheapest in more than a decade relative to the broader market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as investors flee the industry amid rising mining costs, project delays and asset writedowns.

Sokalsky, who took over as chief executive of the Toronto-based company 11 months ago, is reviewing growth plans and pursuing asset sales as gold trades at a two-year low and is poised to end a rally that has extended for 12 straight years.

Barrick, the owner or part owner of 27 mines, rose 4.3 percent yesterday to C$19.88 in Toronto.

The company closed at a two-decade low on April 17, losing its position as the top gold miner by market value to Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc last month.

It makes sense for Barrick to shrink, said George Topping, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in Toronto.

Selling the company’s Australian assets would be “a good place to start,” he said.

Barrick is working with Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG on a possible sale of Australian mines, two people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Resource Nationalism

“At the 8 million-ounce level, with 26 or so mines it’s very difficult to focus,” Topping said yesterday by phone.

“In order to have better managerial control you’re better off with fewer but much larger assets, preferably in the same north-south time zones.”

It’s easier to manage a company with fewer assets, said Sokalsky, 55.

The location of mines has also taken on a greater importance because of an increase in so-called resource nationalism, in which governments seek a bigger slice of revenue.

After a dispute with the Dominican Republic, Toronto- based Barrick on May 8 agreed to amend a lease governing the Pueblo Viejo mine in the country.



The conclusions:

• BG had the pressure on after loosing Pascua lama (Chile Argentina)

• BG lost the mines of Tanzania and China last years

• BG is going to fire sell the Australian mine

• The importance of Pueblo Viejo mine is HUMONGOUS for BG assets

• The rules of the game for pollution had changed for good in affected countries

• These news have affected the price of Barrick Gold stock (ABX) , therefor , their market capitalization.ABX is experimenting a bear market right now.

• They haven't release any statement about the future of the 600 families affected by BG contamination.

• They haven't release any statement about any reforestation program and water treatment program for Cotui-Pueblo Viejo

Event though a lot of people are happy with the financial agreement with BG, some of the inner needs of a lot of Dominicans haven't been fulfill yet like  health, employment,heavy pollution,evictions, housing, water, etc, etc.
People is still waiting..
 

The dark business of Barrick Gold





I was reading the news about the new agreement with Barrick Gold and the government., and I could tell that a lot of people were already celebrating the great achivement but certain things cached my attention.

• In the last interview with the 400 intoxicated Peruvian miners, they were complaining that BG took their passports and documents..Why is that?
  They are forced to work, no option whatsoever outside of BG, they are violating Dominican immigration laws because so far, none of them have working papers by the Dominican state, as some Haitian does.
  No employment for dominicans whatsoever in one of the areas of DR with the highest unemployment rate !!

Of course, if they don't like their job no more, they are not cover by Dominican law or any labor department.No money whatsoever..

• How come that Barrick Gold have the power for the eviction of 600 families of Cotui? isn't the government the first one that were supposed to protect them?

• With the last contract , people is very happy but they haven't stop thinking about the island in 25 years.
  The waters and land of the Cibao is already very contaminated, the heart of agriculture in the Caribbean..And it's only the first year! .
  Does it worth it? How come BG never reimburse them?

All Dominicans will be eventually a victim of that dark contamination: rich, middle class , poor as well.
They are going to leave over here a pool of cyanide, a simple Chernobyl of the Caribbean.

People will struggle over here for surviving!

Every penny we ever build in tourism or agriculture will be lost !




This is why not even reforestation can work:

• When you cut a tree for wood purpose , you still have land for the next tree.

• When you cut a tree for open  mining you use explosive to remove the vegetable lawyer of soil , living only caliche behind ( nothing can grow up out of there)

• They already use the water for cleaning their cyanide and mercury ..not for water thousand of acres of land..And that water can not be used for ANYTHING either

No water, no soil, no reforestation capacity, no will..NO WAY








 


In other countries , like Colombia, mining companies before they start operations, they have to pass an auditing for environmental impact by the government.And a third private party auditing the mining companies and the government as well.!
I 've never heard anything like that in the last speech of BG or the government

The level of contamination in our country is already very high.And when the water is over , the amount of money offered by Barrick Gold will be worthless.People is going to be fighting them for their right to live !.

If people think it twice about these topics that I mention before, they wouldn't be so happy celebrating.
If people think it twice , they would realize that Barrick Gold so far has only bring destruction , evictions, illness, contamination and misery to dominicans

So you, as a conscious dominican..What are you going to do now?