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Acid Mine Drainage and Heavy Metal Contamination


Open pit mining creates great waste for a small yield. On average, it takes 79 tons of waste to extract one ounce of gold, according to a conservative estimate by the No Dirty Gold campaign, a project of EarthWorks and Oxfam. The process involves grinding up ore, and then exposing it to cyanide in order to extract the gold.  Sulfides in the crushed rocks interact with air and water to create sulfuric acid, which in turn creates acid mine drainage (AMD).
In and of itself, AMD is harmful to ecosystems because it makes water too acidic to support life. Additionally, the sulfuric acid in AMD leaches out other substances from the waste ore, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, which can have disastrous health effects, and can contaminate both air and water.  Gold mining has been linked to 96 percent of the world�s arsenic emissions.
A recent report by the University of Nevada found startlingly high mercury concentrations in the air around a number of northern Nevada gold mines. The highest concentration was measured at Barrick�s Marigold Mine (3120 ng/m3).


�Please tell people about this:� London students� horror at Dominican Republic mines
by Mark SpowartMetro
October 27th, 2014
Three London students were shocked by what they found last winter during a trip to the Dominican Republic. Canadian mining companies, they say, are destroying lives in the country.

Philippines: Marinduque 'pushed to the wall' by Barrick Gold
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/miningwatch/2013/10/philippines-marinduque-pushed-to-wall-barrick-gold
October 22nd, 2013
In the Philippines, the island province of Marinduque is known as a cautionary tale about the ravages of irresponsible mining. It took Canadian mining giant Placer Dome a couple of decades to wreak environmental destruction on major coral reefs in Calancan Bay and to severely contaminate the Mogpog and Boac Rivers with toxic mine waste -- none of which has ever been cleaned up. The ongoing environmental impacts are only part of the story.

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.

Surviving Rape in Papua New Guinea
Human Rights Watch
August 11th, 2011
What Would You Choose � Prison or Rape? This is what may women in Porgar, PNG are up against when they encounter Barrick Gold security guards. A report by Human Rights Watch

Pay Dirt?
by Michelle SlaterCastlemaine Independent
July 27th, 2011
Can gold ever be ethical?

Barrick Contaminates Water Resources
Latin American Press
June 16th, 2011
High levels of heavy metals have been detected in water resources near the Veladero and Pascua Lama gold projects, both owned by Canadian giant Barrick Gold, according to a recently published study by the Center for Human Rights and Environment, an Argentina-based nongovernmental organization.

Barrick Accused by Governor�s Brother of Mingling in Argentine Election Politics
Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA)
May 4, 2011 � In a highly unusual interview[1] with a national radio station, the brother and would be gubernatorial candidate of the incumbent Governor of San Juan Province attacked his brother (Governor Jos� Luis Gioja) and Barrick Gold of maintaining a lucrative and economically abusive relationship for the province. It seems Barrick�s profits are causing a stir in local politics that has miners and ruling family members at odds with one another.

Barrick Threatens Legal Action Against NGO � Over Publication of Contamination of Gold Mining Projects in Argentina
May 16th 2011 � Argentina. Barrick Gold threatened to file legal actions against the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), for publishing a report that uses Barrick�s own water monitoring data and concludes that the Veladero and Pascua Lama projects are contaminating San Juan�s rivers and streams.

Gold mine saga sign of things to come
by Mobhare MatinyiThe Citizen - TANZANIA
June 2nd, 2011
Once again, Tanzanians are mourning the deaths of five of their fellow citizens shot dead by police on May 16, at the African Barrick Gold�s North Mara gold mine in Tarime District, Mara Region.

Landmark decision gives miners exclusive land rights in Papua New Guinea
Post Courier
A SENIOR lawyer has predicted that a recent landmark decision of the National Court giving Porgera Joint Venture Company exclusive rights of occupancy to its Special Mining Lease will affect thousands of landowners living in major resource development project areas throughout the country.

Request to the Supreme Court of Argentina - immediate cessation of activities in Pascua-Lama
No a Pascua-Lama [Spanish]
Buenos Aires, May 13, 2011 : Barrick Gold violates the law

Solicitan a la Corte Suprema Argentina el Inmediato Cese de Actividades de Pascua-Lama
No a Pascua-Lama
Buenos Aires, 13 de mayo de 2011: El emprendimiento de la empresa Barrick Gold incumple la Ley de Glaciares

Tanzania: Killings and Toxic Spill Tarnish Barrick Gold
by Zahra MolooToward Freedom
The Thigithe River in North Mara, Tanzania meanders through scattered villages and clumps of trees in a vast expanse of land ringed by hills close to the Kenyan border. Nearby, an enormous, sprawling mound of rocks and stones several meters high reaches up from the earth. This is the region's notorious gold mine, operated by African Barrick Gold, a subsidiary of the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation. The mine has a reserve of an estimated 2.95 million ounces of gold.

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