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Cyanide


Cyanide is the chemical-of-choice for mining companies to extract gold from crushed ore, despite the fact that leaks or spills of this chemical are extremely toxic to fish, plant life and human beings. Cyanide is a deadly chemical, used in the gas chambers of the Second World War and on death row in the United States between 1930-1980. The chemical has caused havoc in water systems across the world with over 30 spills in the last five years.


Fly Over of Barrick Gold's Mine in Lake Cowal
by Natalie LowreySpecial to protestbarrick.net
February 4th, 2013
On Monday 4th February 2013, Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Nevillle 'Chappy' Williams and ProtestBarrick.net co-founders and editors Sakura Saunders (Canada) and Natalie Lowrey (Australia) took a cessna plane from Forbes to Lake Cowal in central western New South Wales, Australia to document a gold mine in the lake. The slideshow video of the recent flight over Lake Cowal shows Barrick's mine pit in the lake bed surrounded by water. On the flight there were hundreds of birds seen in the 1km square toxic tailings dams. Many of these birds have flown great distances to get here and cannot differentiate the difference between the water of Lake Cowal and the tailings dams of the mine. The contamination of water with cyanide and heavy metals by the mine is of major concern to Wiradjuri Traditional Owners and environmentalists.

Barrick Gold spills Cyanide in 5 Argentine Rivers
TeleSUR
February 23rd, 2016
Argentina's Federal Police confirmed that Barrick Gold could be probed over environmental crimes in the country, concludes that there had been a �definite case of law infringement� of the country's legislation on the proper handling of hazardous substances.

Barrick Gold Mine Spill �Contaminated Five Rivers with Cyanide�
by Azzura LalaniThe Argentina Independent
February 23rd, 2016
Last September�s cyanide spill at the Veladero mine owned by Barrick Gold contaminated five rivers in the region, according to a federal court commissioned report.

Million-Liter Cyanide Spill in Argentina Highlights Canadian Mining Crimes
by Deirdre FultonCommon Dreams
October 25th, 2015
Highlighting how corporate extractivism and lack of accountability is driving the destruction of Latin American communities, a Canadian mining company has now confirmed that more than one million liters of cyanide solution spilled from the Barrick Gold Veladero mine in San Juan, Argentina this month�making the spill more than four times larger than originally estimated.

Several injured in break-up of anti-mining protest in Argentina
EFE
October 23rd, 2015
Several people were injured and more than a score were arrested when police broke up an anti-mining protest near a Barrick Gold-operated mine in the northwestern Argentine province of San Juan, where a cyanide spill occurred last month, demonstrators said Friday.

�Barrick Spill Poisoned the Water of San Juan� Says Study
by Azzura LalaniThe Argentina Independent
The J�chal river basin, near to where Barrick Gold spilled 1m litres of cyanide solution last month, is contaminated with heavy metals up to 1,400% above safe levels, a study by the National University of Cuyo found.

UN experts analyze water samples in San Juan after cyanide spill
Buenos Aires Herald
September 20th, 2015
A group of United Nations (UN) experts started to analyze water samples of the rivers Jachal, Las Taguas and Blanco in San Juan to see if they have been polluted with cyanide, following an industrial malfunction at the Veladero mine that caused a pipe carrying the lethal substance to fracture.

Leak poisons Barrick Gold�s reputation
by Michael Lerner Blouin News Business
September 18th, 2015
An Argentine judge on Wednesday ordered a five-day suspension of the gold leaching process at Barrick Gold Corp.�s Veladero mine in San Juan province. The purpose is to check if there was any environmental damage from a 15,000 liter cyanide leak on Sunday caused by a faulty valve. Local residents of J�chal, outraged and fearful of their water supply being contaminated, began protesting as soon as they found out, and spurred the governments of the province and the nation to action.

Nevada court hears Barrick Gold-Philippines province appeal
by Ken RitterAP
February 4th, 2015
A Philippine island province that experienced mining waste disasters in the 1990s but has been unable to find a court to hear its claim for damages is asking Nevada's highest court to rekindle a nearly 10-year-old state lawsuit against Barrick Gold Corp.

Philippines: Marinduque 'pushed to the wall' by Barrick Gold
by Catherine CoumansMining Watch Canada via Rabble.ca
October 22nd, 2013
Canada�s Barrick Gold, the world�s largest gold mining company that bought out Placer Dome, has spent the better half of a decade fighting the province in court rather than owning up to the company�s responsibility to put things right in Marinduque. Once again, Marinduque is the bellwether, evidence that for all its rhetoric about �responsible mining,� the mining industry is still more concerned with its bottom line than in doing what�s right. In spite of a long legal struggle with competent American lawyers, on September 17, Marinduque provincial administrator Eleuterio Raza told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Inquirer) that Barrick was offering the province around 20 million dollars, take it or leave it. According to the Inquirer �[t]he amount, however, would further be reduced to $13.5 million after litigation expenses had been paid. �These are crumbs,� said Raza, �but we are being pushed to the wall.�� It is perfectly clear that this extremely low level of recovery from Barrick is woefully inadequate to protect the health and safety of Marinduquenos, which can only be secured through the comprehensive rehabilitation of all contaminated ecosystems and the stabilization or removal of shoddy dams and structures in the mountains of the island, as well as the tons of toxic waste that these dams are barely containing.

Shifting Prospects
by Tim ElliotSydney Morning Herald - Good Weekend
In the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, the locals are largely locked out of the wealth of a lucrative goldmine. Tim Elliott meets a few brave young men determined to claim just a tiny piece of pie.

Barrick�s environmental foes jump on wobbly miner
by  MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT Globe and Mail
April 25th, 2013
The long term outlook for Barrick shares hinges on many factors: the gold price is obviously the biggest driver, but the company also faces vociferous opposition from environmentalists and many residents around its mine sites, which should be a long term worry for shareholders.

Barrick AGM Protest in pictures
protestbarrick.net
April 24th, 2013
Protesters braved the rain to send a message to shareholders of Barrick Gold: "Barrick is a toxic asset, invest in life!" (all photos Allan.Lissner.net)

New Report! "Debunking Barrick"
by multiple authorsProtestBarrick
April 23rd, 2013
As Protest Barrick completes its sixth year of working with communities impacted by Barrick Gold, we are publishing a different kind of alternative annual report. We have noticed over the years that despite some of Barrick`s major abuses coming into light, the company has been able to maintain � within select circles � a reputation for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Meanwhile, around the world, Barrick�s name is still associated with corruption, abuse and environmental harms.

2012-13: A bad year for Barrick
excerpt of "Debunking Barrick", an alternative annual report on Barrick Gold
April 18th, 2013
Before you think about investing in Barrick, check out this timeline of actions against Barrick's operations around the world since last July.

CONFRONT BARRICK: 2013 AGM Protest and Alternative Annual Report!
Once a year, the board of Directors of the world�s most powerful gold mining corporation converge in downtown Toronto. This year, we're releasing a report that chronicles Barrick's lies and highlights the true stories behind their false CSR spin. Help us ensure that these stories don't get ignored.

Gold Mine Planned for Southwest Alaska Threatens Environment and Local Communities
http://ecowatch.com/2013/gold-mine-alaska/
February 27th, 2013
The Kuskokwim region is at a crossroads. A massive gold mine is planned at Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kuskokwim. With an estimated 27 year production run churning out more than one million ounces of gold per year, the Donlin Gold mine would require an open pit two miles long, one mile wide and 1,800 feet deep, plus the largest pipeline built in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.While it promises jobs in a region with few employment opportunities, the mine as currently proposed could have serious consequences for subsistence livelihoods.

Gold Mine Planned for Southwest Alaska Threatens Environment and Local Communities
by Rebecca SiegelAlaskans For Responsible Mining
February 27th, 2013
The Kuskokwim region is at a crossroads. A massive gold mine is planned at Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kuskokwim. With an estimated 27 year production run churning out more than one million ounces of gold per year, the Donlin Gold mine would require an open pit two miles long, one mile wide and 1,800 feet deep, plus the largest pipeline built in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.While it promises jobs in a region with few employment opportunities, the mine as currently proposed could have serious consequences for subsistence livelihoods.

EPA fines Barrick Gold for Nevada mine record violations
by Jennifer RobisonLas Vegas Review Journal
February 6th, 2013
A big Nevada mining company will pay federal fines following a ruling from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA found that three subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corp. failed to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste management activities at the company's Cortez, Ruby Hill and Bald Mountain mines in Northern Nevada between 2005 and 2008.

Protests against toxic gold mining in the Caribbean
by Anne SewellDigital Journal
November 27th, 2012
�I�m too old for this. I�m not going to be driven off of my land again,� says Juliana Guzman, a farmer from La Cerca in Dominican Republic. The walls of her house are riddled with cracks from the explosions that shake the ground every day.

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