President Clinton Acts on Yellowstone Gold Mine – Parallels with the Geocom-Kinross Gold Mine in Chile’s Futaleufu River Valley (Part 2)

In this series of articles we revisit the plans of Canadian mining conglomerate, Noranda Inc. to open a Gold Mine a few kilometers from Yellowstone National Park and how the project was halted by the Clinton Administration.

President Clinton is vacationing this year in western Wyoming, playing golf and reveling in the wonders of Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. Last Friday, too late for the evening news shows, he took a crucial first step toward protecting Yellowstone and much of the adjacent wilderness from an environmental catastrophe.

This disaster-in-waiting is the proposed New World mine, which a Canadian conglomerate, Noranda, wants to build on land it controls in the upper reaches of Montana's Henderson Mountain, less than three miles from Yellowstone and in the watershed of the irreplaceable Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River. Conservationists reasonably fear that the 5.5 million tons of waste the company wants to bury in an active earthquake area will ruin this sensitive watershed in America's first and most important conservation zone.

Mr. Clinton toured the mine site by helicopter and then declared a moratorium on mining activity on 4,500 acres of Federal land surrounding the site. The moratorium will not affect the actual site, to which the Canadian company has legal title, and will therefore not by itself stop the mine. But it tightens the noose around the company and signals the need for further action to block the mine if the Canadian company does not read this Presidential order as a signal of American resolve to protect its oldest national park.

The most controversial aspect of the project is a proposed tailings impoundment -- a deep reservoir the size of 70 football fields -- where the company would store acid wastes. Reputable geologists say that given the region's extreme weather and history of earthquakes, any such structure is bound to crack at some point in the future.

The reservoir would be built on 56 acres of wetlands that lie under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers. If the Corps denies a permit to build, the company will have to look elsewhere to store its toxic wastes. Nearly every suitable alternate site is on the 4,500 acres the President has ruled off limits. The company may then be forced to truck its wastes to a site miles away -- an operation that could be prohibitively expensive.

This drama is not over. But the President has now ratcheted up the discomfort level. He deserves credit for responding to the rising outrage among the national environmental community over what the miners and some shortsighted Western politicians have tried to portray as a strictly local issue. Heretofore, Mr. Clinton has often disappointed those who thought he would bring a new level of environmental consciousness to Washington. This time he seems to have gotten the message that some places are too precious to sacrifice to a 19th-century mining law that needs to be repealed for both economic and environmental reasons.

Here is the full article originally published on Aug. 29, 1996

Geocom Resources CEO, John Hiner, to Transform Herbal Supplement Vendor into Gas & Oil Exploration Corporation

SEATTLE, Jan 31, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Onelife Health Products Inc. (the "Company") (OTCBB:CWOI) is pleased to announce that effective January 28, 2008, the Company began trading on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (the "OTCBB") under the name "Crown Oil and Gas Inc."

In conjunction with the name change, the Company is also pleased to announce that effective January 31, 2008, a forward stock split on an 18 (new) for 1 (old) basis became effective on the OTCBB. The Company's common stock is now quoted on the OTCBB under the symbol "CWOI".

The name change and forward stock split follow the Company's appointment of John Hiner as President, effective January 3, 2008.

Mr. Hiner has been involved in the mining industry for over 30 years. From April 2003 to present, Mr. Hiner has been a director, President, Chief Executive Officer of Geocom Resources Inc. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Hiner was a director of Villanova Capital Corp. a TSX Venture Exchange capital pool company that acquired Africa West Minerals Corp. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Hiner operated JEHCORP Inc., a consulting firm to the mining industry. Prior to this, Mr. Hiner was the Vice-President of Champion Resources Inc. Mr. Hiner holds a B.Sc. in geology from San Diego State University, granted in 1972, and a M.S. in geology from the Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada-Reno, granted in 1978.

The Company believes that the above-mentioned changes will allow it to pursue opportunities in the field of exploration and development of oil and gas properties, as the Company moves away from its existing business of producing quality herbal products for sale to end-use consumers via the Internet.

Here is the full article.

Stopping the Yellowstone Gold Mine – Parallels with the Geocom-Kinross Gold Mine in Chile’s Futaleufu River Valley (Part 1)

In this series of articles we revisit the plans of Canadian mining conglomerate, Noranda Inc. to open a Gold Mine a few kilometers from Yellowstone National Park and how the project was halted by the Clinton Administration.

Congress is in a mood to abandon the preservation of America's ecological heritage. It is therefore imperative that the Clinton Administration muster its resolve and its executive powers to block at least one monumental and irreversible environmental catastrophe. This disaster-in-waiting is a proposed gold mine in the upper reaches of Montana's Henderson Mountain, less than three miles from Yellowstone National Park.
The mine and its lethal wastes threaten not only the original crown jewel of the national park system, but one of the most beautiful and fragile wilderness areas in the country. So grave are those risks that this page suggested last year that Congress appropriate the necessary funds, about $35 million, to compensate Noranda Inc., the Canadian conglomerate that owns the site, for its exploratory expenses and then ask the company to go away.
That is still the best course of action for saving the great national park established by President Ulysses S. Grant. But it is unlikely that the Republican Congress will spend the necessary money or pay attention to various creative strategies offered by opponents of the mine. These include a proposal by Representative Bill Richardson, Democrat of New Mexico, to put the area off limits to mining by declaring it a national recreation area.

But the battle is far from lost. Under the 1872 Mining Law, the Federal Government cannot simply seize claims to which Noranda has already taken lawful title. It can, however, use existing statutes and its regulatory machinery to break Noranda's resolve. This is a company that persists in building a mine that few others want. Washington has enough legal authority, if the White House will wake up, to prevent the desecration of an American treasure by a foreign corporation.

Under the 1972 Clean Water Act, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency, through the Army Corps of Engineers, can prohibit development on wetlands. This is an important power because Noranda proposes to dig out 56 acres of wetlands high on the mountain. There it would build what it calls a "state of the art" impoundment site for storing acid wastes -- a deep reservoir the size of 70 football fields. Reputable geologists say that any such structure, no matter how beautifully engineered, is bound to crack at some point given the region's extreme weather and its history of earthquakes. That will send poisons directly into the surrounding watershed, which includes two of the nation's important wild rivers.
If the E.P.A. and the Corps deny Noranda the necessary permits, the company will have to look elsewhere to store its toxic material. Alternative sites could be prohibitively expensive. But even if the two agencies duck what is an obvious moral obligation, there are other weapons available.

Noranda's 200-acre mine site is in the Gallatin National Forest, which is under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Department's Forest Service. Noranda owns most of this land but does not yet have clear title to 27 acres that sit directly above a portion of the mother lode of gold, valued by Noranda at $500 million. Environmental lawyers believe that Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, following a formal request from the Forest Service, has the power under the 1976 Land Policy and Management Act to take permanent title to these acres on behalf of the Federal Government.

If these experts are right, then the Forest Service should promptly ask Mr. Babbitt to declare these acres off limits and the Secretary should rapidly comply. Deprived of some of its potential riches, Noranda might fold its tent.

Two environmental groups -- American Rivers and Trout Unlimited -- have suggested yet another approach to those pivotal 27 acres. They argue that a close reading of the 1872 Mining Law and a handful of court cases suggest that Mr. Babbitt can deny Noranda's claim if he can show that the land has greater value in an undisturbed state than it does as a mine. They also argue that even the $500 million in estimated deposits cannot begin to compare to the ecological and recreational values of Yellowstone and its adjoining ecosystem.

Mr. Babbitt may have trouble quantifying those values, but of course American Rivers and Trout Unlimited are right. The numbers are not important. As a nation, we have to draw a line and announce that some places are simply too valuable and too sacred to our history to be put at risk.

Here is the full story originally published on March 27, 1995.

Geocom-Kinross Gold Mine Plans Draw Celebrity Attention – Charity Whitewater Raft trip with Robert Kennedy on Chile’s Futaleufu River nets $94,000 usd

Celebrities Enjoy Antics at Banff Charity

[Jan 23, 2008] The Edmonton Journal

It was a good bench-emptying hockey brawl and at the centre, gloves flying, was Karen Percy-Lowe.

Jerseys were pulled off and into the fray jumped Oscar winner Tim Robbins (Mystic River); singer-songwriter Tom Cochrane and Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill), and would-be MP Justin Trudeau.

"We were just acting," said Percy-Lowe. "Last year's impromptu hockey game was so much fun that we thought we'd stage a couple of games this year."

The mock "fight" took place on a rink at the Fairmont Banff Springs Celebrity Sports Invitational.

Alec Baldwin (The Departed, The Good Shepherd) emceed the Saturday night gala and former child-evangelist Marjoe Gortner acted as auctioneer.

Some $900,000 was raised to support Robert F. Kennedy's Waterkeeper Alliance, fighting worldwide to clean up rivers and lakes and conserve water.

Few had hockey skates last year, but stars were told there would be games on the Friday and Saturday nights this year.

"It was mainly a Canadian sort of thing," said Percy-Lowe. "We even have red and black team jerseys now."

The Friday game ended about midnight, but it was after the witching hour before the game began Saturday.

The stars had gone to Sunshine Village to compete in a snowshoe-toboggan and cross-country ski races Friday and downhill slalom ski races Saturday.

Most of the money raised, $750,000, came from the live auction at the black-tie, salmon tartar-and-Alberta beef gala.

Gordon Downie, lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, raised a cool $100,000 by offering a concert in a private home.

PLENTY OF CELEBRITY GUESTS

"I believe that is the most ever raised by a single item at one of our auctions," said Toronto lawyer Matt Mattson, Canadian representative to the Waterkeeper Alliance board of directors.

"But all our celebrity guests were articulate about the cause they were supporting, particularly the Canadians."

Margaret Trudeau, her right arm in a sling, looked a tad uncomfortable at the dinner.

"I dislocated my arm in the last run of the day Friday," she said. "I should know better than to try and keep up with the Kennedy boys."

Skiing with the same competitive edge as his elder brother Robert, was Matthew Kennedy, a lawyer and Harvard University graduate.

Kennedy crossing the Futaleufu on a Tyrolean Traverse

An item that sold twice, for a total of $94,000, was a whitewater trip with Robert Kennedy Jr. on Chile's Futaleufu River. (A real steal: kayak lessons, hot tubs and the services of a masseuse were included.)

(For a future picture of the Futaleufu River Valley, see: Double threat of Cyanide Leach Mining and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) imperils the Futaleufu River Valley - Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources responsible )

Kennedy was also happy when a family was offered a day of falconry with him -- he's a master falconer and former president of the New York State Falconer's Association -- and it sold for $60,000.

Golf with Wayne Gretzky at Ontario's Georgian Bay Club the day before the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic begins on the newest PGA stop, sold for $14,000.

MESSIER'S BEACH HOUSE

Bidding for a week at Mark Messier's brand new beach house at Runaway Hill Inn in the Bahamas was keen. Mark will try to be there. It fetched $18,000.

Lawyer Mattson is off on a one-week trip through Cree wilderness in Ontario's Arctic lowlands offered by author Joseph Boyden. It sold for $18,000.

"Boyden's debut novel, Three Day Road, won international acclaim for its depiction of Canada's First Nations and the contributions to the First World War," said Mattson.

"A trip through remote, fragile ecosystem is a dream."

Lesser mortals wouldn't have been able to lace up their skates after gathering around the stage to encourage former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald and his band. (One gentleman brandishing an open bottle of Patron tequila offered everyone a drink.)

But it was Downie, a minor league hockey goalie who played for an Ontario Championship-winning, bantam-level team in 1979, who lead the stars to the ice. An unpredictable game followed.

(The games are not part of the TV program that will be beamed to a North American audience of some 70 million.)

Oscar-winning Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) was shooed off the ice for following her long-time partner, six-feet-five-inches-tall Robbins, around the ice with a video camera.

Former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter, thrice named to NHL All-Star teams, skated powerfully in his goalie skates.

And Jason Priestly (Beverly Hills 90210) looked like a real hockey player, while Alicia Silverstone (Clueless, Batman and Robin), a model since she was six, looked fantastic.

Tired after some heavy-duty skiing, Percy-Lowe, a double-bronze ski medalist at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, led cheerleading from the bench, along with husband and Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe, and friends, Edmonton lawyer Doug Goss and his wife, Provincial Court Judge Joanne Goss.

The game went until after 3 a.m.

Here is the full article: Edmonton Journal

Pinnacle Digest financial magazine to review Geocom Resources Inc. and requests information regarding Geocom from the general public

Pinnacle Digest: Private Placement Completed: Spurs Review From Lead Online Financial Magazine

Jan 17, 2008 [www.PinnacleDigest.com] is a performance-driven online financial magazine with a consistent and disciplined approach to the market. With our growing network of experienced professionals we strive to bring investors the only multi-dimensional online investing magazine. Recent news from XYZ has led to further research by our team in order to determine if we will select them as our next Featured Company. Pinnacle members will be notified if we select them as our next equity target. Although the Canadian markets are our focus at Pinnacle Digest they are directly related to the American markets, which is why we research both equally.

Geocom Resources Inc. (OTC:BB:GOCME) experienced an even day in the market the last time they traded. On January 16th they announced that they have completed a private placement in the amount of $250,000. We are interested in how this will affect them in terms of development and the allocation of this capital. Pinnacle Digest has begun a review upon Geocom Resources.

The private placement was closed with Alliance International Investors which is based in Chicago, IL. To gain another perspective on this news, and to voice your opinion in regards to this company come visit our complimentary online financial investor community, at www.pinnacledigest.com.

Here is the full article.

Alliance International Investors Invests in Geocom Resources to Develop Gold Mines in Patagonia, Chile's Futaleufu River Valley

BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwire - January 16, 2008) - Geocom Resources Inc. (OTCBB: GOCM) ("Geocom" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has completed a private placement in the amount of $250,000 with Alliance International Investors based in Chicago, IL.

The private placement consists of 1,250,000 units at a price of $0.20 per unit with one accredited investor for total proceeds of $250,000. Each unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant. Each share purchase warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.25 for a period of one year after the date of the subscription agreement. The registrant has agreed to re-price the warrant exercise price to $0.20 per share following the completion of a listing of its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange.

There is no agent's fee payable on the private placement. Proceeds of the private placement will be used for exploration and development of Geocom's properties and working capital.

For further information please contact Samantha Haynes at 604.805.4653 or via e-mail at ir@geocom-resources.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

John E. Hiner, President & CEO

Here is the full article.

To see the plans of that Alliance International Investors has with Geocom Resources and its partner Kinross Gold Corporation, see:

Double threat of Cyanide Leach Mining and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) imperils the Futaleufu River Valley - Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources responsible

Futaleufu Gold Miner, Geocom Resources, Announced a Temporary Change to Stock Symbol on 10/29/07 – History of SEC Filing Delinquencies Uncovered

Geocom Announces Temporary Change to Its Stock Symbol

[October 29, 2007] Geocom Resources Inc. ("Geocom" or "The Company") (OTCBB: GOCM) would like to inform its shareholders and other interested parties that due to a late filing the Company's symbol has an "E" added to the end of it. Therefore, to find the quote for the Company the symbol lookup will be (OTCBB: GOCME) until the Company has completed its required filings.

The delay in filing is due to a discrepancy between the Company's Chilean subsidiary accounting report and parent company reporting requirements. The Company's accountants are resolving the reporting difference and expect to have synchronized financial reporting methods soon.

Once the requisite filing has been completed, the Company will issue a release informing its shareholders.

For further information please contact Samantha Haynes at 604.805.4653 or via e-mail at ir@geocom-resources.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

John E. Hiner
President & CEO

Here is the full article.

PERTINENT ASIDE: As Geocom Resources Inc. has chosen to embroil itself in a public controversy, with the end result being a future gold mining operation in the Futaleufu River Valley, a thorough examination the company’s public records is in order. It should therefore be noted that Geocom Resources Inc. has a history of delinquent financial filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). As Geocom (and / or its venture partners) will be responsible for the timely reporting of environmental issues to the Chilean authorities (e.g. CONAMA) this history of tardiness may become relevant at some future date.

Other filing delinquencies occurred on:

Notices of Late Filings of Form 10-Q or 10-QSB -- Form 12b-25

11/15/07
5/16/07
11/14/05
5/17/05
2/15/05
5/17/04
2/18/04
11/14/03
5/14/03
11/15/02
5/14/02

Source: SEC INFO

Notices of Late Filings of Form 10-K or 10-KSB -- Form 12b-25

9/28/07
9/29/06
9/29/05
9/28/04
9/29/03

Source: SEC INFO

What are the possible implications of all of Geocom's late SEC filings and stock symbol annotated the letter “E”?

According to the Securities & Exchange Commission:

"E" Added To Stock Ticker Symbol

When a company that trades on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) becomes delinquent in its reporting obligations with the SEC (for example, it submits a required filing late or in an incomplete form), the letter “E” will be appended at the end of the company’s stock ticker symbol. After the “E” is added, the company is given 30 calendar days (60 calendar days for most foreign companies and domestic banks), known as the “grace period,” to become current in its reports. If the company files complete required reports during the grace period, the “E” will be removed. If the company fails to correct its deficiency, the company’s stock symbol will be removed from trading on the OTCBB.

In addition, repeated delinquencies by a company in filing complete periodic reports with the SEC or other applicable regulator, or removal of the company’s security from quotation on the OTCBB because of its failure to file required reports within the prescribed period, can result in the security becoming ineligible for quotation on the OTCBB for a one-year period.

Specifically, if an OTCBB-quoted company is delinquent in filing complete required annual and quarterly reports with the applicable regulator three times in the prior two-year period, quotations of a security on the OTCBB will be prohibited until the company has timely filed in complete form all required reports due in a one-year period. * Further, if a security is removed from the OTCBB twice in the prior two-year period, the security is subject to removal from quotation on the OTCBB until the company has timely filed in complete form all required reports due in a one-year period. For more detailed information, please read NASD Rule 6530.

* Note only annual and quarterly filings for periods ending on or after October 1, 2005 will be considered in determining the applicability of Rule 6530(e).

Source: http://www.sec.gov/answers/eadded.htm

See: Geocom Announces Filing of Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the current resolution.

(Geocom Resources apparently has plans to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX Venture Exchange).

See: Humboldt Capital Corp. Invests in Geocom Resources to Develop Gold Mines in Patagonia, Chile's Futaleufu River Valley )

Humboldt Capital Corp. Invests in Geocom Resources to Develop Gold Mines in Patagonia, Chile's Futaleufu River Valley

BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwire - January 14, 2008) - Geocom Resources Inc. (OTCBB: GOCM) ("Geocom" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has completed a private placement in the amount of $100,000 with Humboldt Capital Corp. which is based in Calgary, Alberta. The private placement consists of 500,000 units at a price of $0.20 per unit with one accredited investor for total proceeds of $100,000. Each unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant. Each share purchase warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.25 for a period of one year after the date of the subscription agreement. The registrant has agreed to re-price the warrant exercise price to $0.20 per share following completion of a listing of its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange.

The relationship with Humboldt Capital provides a strong and credible basis in Canada for future financing and support as Geocom plans its move to the TSX Venture Exchange. The principals at Humboldt Capital are well known and respected in both the mining and oil and gas sectors and Geocom welcomes their investment as a validation of the Company's exploration assets.

Here is the full article.

To read about what environmentally destructive projects Canadian Humboldt Capital is investing in, see:

Double threat of Cyanide Leach Mining and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) imperils the Futaleufu River Valley - Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources responsible

Undervalued Kinross could be a target - Will Barrick Gold Corporation be Geocom's new gold mining partner in the Futaleufu River Valley?

Kinross Gold Corp.'s more than 7% rise on Toronto and New York markets so far Tuesday is no doubt being viewed as a step in the right direction by RBC Capital's Stephen D. Walker, after the analyst said earlier in the day that Kinross' low current valuation makes it a sitting duck.

He told clients in a note that any one of Barrick Gold Corp., Newmont Mining Corp., or Goldcorp Inc. could pull the trigger on a takeover bid for Kinross, citing first and foremost the company's significant 25 to 35% valuation discount on its 2009 cash flow estimates.

Mr. Walker also noted the company's estimated 76% production growth over the next two years and the development upside at Cerro Casale, a joint venture project with Barrick, as further rationale for an offer to emerge.

"With production growing from an estimated 1.6 million ounces in 2007 to 2.8 million ounces in 2009, Kinross is in an enviable position among the Tier 1 producers (along with Goldcorp), with strong forecast growth in production, earnings and cash flow," the analyst wrote in a note to clients.

Here is the full article.

Chile's Patagonia Residents Reject Geocom-Kinross Gold Mine

[Jan 4, 2007] Region X’s pristine Lago Espolon was the site last weekend of a protest aimed at keeping international mining companies out of Chile’s Patagonia.

Kayaks, rafts and ferryboats - provided largely by local adventure companies - traveled across the lake on Saturday, December 29 to alert local residents of the decision by two transnational gold mining companies to reactivate their Patagonia mining project.

Geocom Resources Inc. of the United States and Kinross Gold Corp. of Canada recently reactivated their Geocom-Kinross Gold Mine project - located on 225,000 acres (or 350 square miles) of the Espolon Valley. The gold mine project would use a cyanide extraction process that creates acidic runoff that could poison the area’s pristine lakes and rivers.

Espolon Valley is near the Argentine border, upriver of the Rio Espolon, which flows into Rio Futaleufu. Each of these water sources are tributaries for the town of Futaleufu, Lago Yelcho, Rio Yelcho and numerous communities all the way to the port city of Chaiten.

The residents of Espolon and the river community gathered Saturday to share a barbeque and express their disapproval of the proposed mining. Public speakers from the neighboring community of Esquel, Argentina - which recently defeated the proposed Meridian Gold mine - also came to share information and offer advice.

Residents on both sides of the border fear the proposed gold mine will contaminate the waterways and have a serious impact on the environment, economy, and health of the local population.

Speakers noted that in addition to the toxic wastes that gold production would put into the local waterways, mine blasts fog the air with dust and debris. This not only pollutes the air, but also settles on vegetation and glaciers. If dirt is allowed to build up on the glaciers, it could lead to their dehydration – ending another source of water for the community.

Lago Espolon and Rio Espolon are also fertile spawning grounds for trout and salmon, said the speakers. Not only are they a source of food and for salmon exports, they also attract tourism from around the world. Rio Futaleufu is also home to what is arguably the best whitewater rafting and kayaking in the world. Each summer people from around the world come to experience the area and subsequently boost the local economy.

by Andrea Giampoli

Here is the full article.

Barrick Gold Rains Money on Chile's Huasco Valley ($60 million usd) what will Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources pay for the Futaleufu River Valley?

Gold Mining Company Creates US$60 Million Fund to Quiet Protests in the Huasco Valley

(July 12, 2005) In an effort to calm environmental concerns brewing because of the construction of the planned Pascua Lama gold mine, the Canadian transnational Barrick Gold Corporation has signed a protocol agreement with the Huasco Valley Board of Overseers addressing environmental issues such as the drainage of acidic waters and the effects of relocating nearby glaciers.

The Pascua Lama mine, which straddles Chile’s Region III and Argentina’s San Juan Province, has reserves of 17.6 million ounces of gold and silver deposits and is meant to begin operations in 2009.

In the unpublished agreement signed June 30, the company Minera Nevada, an affiliate of Barrick, commits to providing funding of US$60 million to address negative concerns regarding the construction of the mine and ongoing environmental problems. The $60 million will be doled out at US$3 million per year for the next 20 years.

Kinross Gold Mining Company Creates US$_ _ _ Million Fund to Quiet Protests in the Futaleufu Valley
(fill in the blank)

The money will be used to provide compensation packages to cover indirect effects that could result from the mining, according to Huasco Valley Board of Overseers executive Iván Pavletic. In this sense, the money would be directed at water infrastructure projects, investment, and ends that will be established by the local Board of Overseers.

Barrick will also carry out environmental evaluations of the drainage of acidic water caused by the mine and the relocation of three glaciers in the Andes Mountains that will be necessary for accessing the open-pit mine.

Barrick’s original plan was to transfer 300,000 cubic meters of ice with a 20-hectare surface area from the glaciers that surround the deposits (ST, March 31).

To mitigate ecological impact and prevent ice from melting, Barrick hopes to transfer the three glaciers, Toro 1, Toro 2, and Esperanza, to an area with similar surface characteristics and elevation by merging the three into a larger glacier, Guanaco (ST, June 1).

Glacier specialists from France, contacted by the Board of Overseers, are expected to arrive in Chile today, Tuesday, to begin studies on the glacier relocation, as outlined in the protocol agreement. Barrick will also fund this study.

Although environmental organizations are primarily focused on the effects of glacier relocation, it is not the principal environmental concern being addressed in the protocol agreement. Instead, Pavletic says, the acidic water drainage is much more important.

Because this project involves the exploitation of a mountain and the creation of sterile deposits, there is an effect on the mountain range’s drainage system of water, rain, and water from snow, Pavletic says. The level of acidity is already high in the Huasco River, and will naturally be higher with the drainage of water from the mine. In the agreement, Barrick promises to look into the best way to prevent contamination of the river.

Earlier this year, farmers in Region III protested the Pascua Lama gold mine because they fear the water supply they rely on for irrigation will become contaminated (ST, March 7).

Barrick has said that the water contaminated by the mine that flows into the valley will undergo a cleaning procedure and will arrive purified in the San Félix Valley. (ST, June 1)

The Huasco Valley Board of Overseers is likely Barrick’s most important counterpart because it is aligned with 2000 farmers that use the Huasco River and its tributaries. And at the moment, this is very important for the Huasco Valley, where people are experiencing an economic upswing with the construction of the Santa Juana reservoir, which has increased horticultural production of olives and the exportation of grapes and olive oil.

In the agreement, Pavletic says Barrick proposes a series of mitigating measures. There is talk of an Andean reservoir at the base of the Carmen River, a system of 30 automatic water-quality monitoring stations, and the construction of a retainer wall for filtration of acidic drainage in underground water from the mouth of the Estrecho River.

Pavletic says the report does not resolve all of the issues that still exist with the mine and the future of the water balance, the treatment of acidic waters, and the glaciological impacts.

However, he admits that this is a historic landmark. Barrick’s commitment to spend over US$60 million will begin with the arrival of French glaciologists this week.

Here is the full article.

Kinross Gold calls Bolivia, Venezuela risky

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kinross Gold Corp will steer clear of leftist countries South America because of the high political risk for foreign investment, the chief executive of No. 8 gold producer said on Monday.

CEO Tye Burt said at the Reuters Global Mining and Steel Summit in New York said Kinross has a few "no-go" countries, naming Venezuela and Bolivia, whose recent moves to nationalize foreign owned energy resources, have made mining companies nervous that the same could happen on the minerals side.

He also noted that China and Indonesia were risky areas as well.

"I would say Indonesia right now is a bit remote for us and China is a bit insular from our perspective," Burt added.

He noted, however, that he was comfortable with the investment potential in Russia.

"We are comfortable with the political situation (in Russia). Kinross has been active in Russia since at least 1998, but its Kubaka mine is nearing the end of its life.

"Moscow we see making a lot of the right moves in terms of paying the bureaucrats more in those republics," he said. "On the whole, Russia is very prospective, not our highest priority but certainly on our radar screen."

Elsewhere in South America, Kinross is upbeat about investing in Chile and Brazil, where Burt was optimistic about the prospects for its Paracatu project.

Here is the full article.

A Gift from the Kinross Gold Corporation of Canada to the residents of Futaleufu, Chile - Pit Mine Blasting - TNT & Dynamite Watch it Explode!

Experience the "Daily Blast" at the Kinross Fort Knox Gold Mine in Alaska


Can't see it? Try here: Kinross Gold Mine Blasting

In the likely event this video is removed, we have many others:

Blasting at Marvel Lock Gold Mine Western Australia


Blasts at Mt Keith Nickel mine in Western Australia.


Believe it or not, these explosions are so large they will crack foundations...

Mining companies blast rocks once or twice daily and this does not only generate noise pollution but the vibration has created deep cracks in residential buildings and schools. Four schools in the Kwabibirem district, Fiaseman Sec. Sch. in Tarkwa, three basic schools at Bogoso to mention a few, are on the verge of collapsing due to deep cracks in them. Must we allow this to continue?

See: The Environmental Effects of Surface Mining

...and can be detected on a seismograph used to measure earthquakes.

In August 2004 a UNR group set out a line of 400 seismometers extending from Fresno, Calif. north across the Sierra Nevada range, the Long Valley volcanic caldera, and central Nevada to the Idaho border. These seismometers monitored earthquakes in the caldera, and several large (>100,000 lb ANFO) mining blasts at huge open-pit gold mines in northern Nevada for one week.

This record of 411 seismograms shows the data from one of these mining blasts, from the south end at Fresno on the left, to the Idaho border with Nevada on the right, more than 500 km (300 mi) north. Time on each one of these four-minute-long seismograms increases downward, as deeper structures tend to affect the seismograms at larger time. The blast was located near the right side about 100 km south of the Idaho border.

Read on: The Sound of Seismic - Gold Mine Blast

Massive Sulfide Layer reported in Kinross Gold Corporation / Geocom Resources Inc. Espolon Mine claim in the Futaleufu Valley - AMD hazzard imminent

In April 2007 Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc. reported initial assays for their Espolon Gold Mining Claim in the Futaleufu River Valley watershed. The results were as follows:

"The Espolon Claim Block comprises 13 claims totaling 3,800 hectares (9,390 acres or about 14 square miles). The claims cover a gold-silver-copper mineralized zone that has now been traced over a strike length in excess of 3 kilometers (2 miles). The mineralized zone is 10 to 30 meters thick (32 to 96 feet). The zone consists of a gently dipping altered sequence of volcanic tuffs, limestones, and argillites. These rocks have been thermally metamorphosed and moderately to completely silicified. Within the mineralized zone there is a massive sulfide layer that varies in thickness up to 3 meters (about 10 feet) consisting of pyrrhotite-pyrite with varying amounts of chalcopyrite. " Reference: Yahoo Finance, Espolon Assays...

The Geocom Resources geologists reported a "MASSIVE" SULFIDE LAYER within the mineralized zone. These layers, even when small in size, are associated with Acid Rock and Acid Mine Drainage (ARD/AMD), the industry's terms for the production of sulfuric acid run-off. Pyrrhotite-pyrite (FeSx, iron sulfide) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS2, Copper Iron Sulfide) , which were specifically mentioned, are both associated with Acid Rock Drainage (AMD). For pyrrhotite-pyrite see: Petrology and Minerology in ARD Prediction . For chalcopyrite see: What is Sulfide Mining

Sierra Club: Sulfide Mines with Acid-Producing Tailings (Waste Rock Piles)

"Another threat to the environment is the mining and processing of copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, rhodium, silver and gold found in low concentrations in rock with sulfides that turn to sulfuric acid (battery acid) when exposed to air and water — as they are when they are mined. The result is mountains of waste rock (99+% of mined rock would be waste) that are expected to leak acid for unknown decades. The acid kills aquatic life that feed fish and amphibians, leaving the rivers and downstream lakes barren and unsafe. Water draining from the waste rock also (with or without acid) will leach toxic metals such as cobalt into the waters.

After the mines play out, the perpetual costs of treating polluted drainage and tending toxic wastes could fall on taxpayers because sulfide mines are "reactive" or acid producing for thousands of years." Reference: Sierra Club

For more information regarding Sulfide Mining see:

What is Sulfide Mining

Acid Mines are Never Safe

The Controversy Behind Sulfide Mining

What is Acid Rock Drainage (ARD)

Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine

What is Sulfide Mining and Acid Mine Drainage?

In April of 2007 Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc. reported finding a "MASSIVE SULFIDE LAYER" in the Espolon Gold Mine claim in the Futaleufu River Valley. Here are the implications:



“Sulfide mining, like that of the Yellow Dog mining project, may create potentially irreversable environmental damage to the region and lasting health ailments to area residents,” said U.S. Congressman Stupak.



Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine

Acid Mine Drainage - Environment Impacts - How will Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Sulfide Mining effect the Futaleufu River Valley?

In April of 2007 Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc published an assay of their Espolon Gold Mine claim in the Futaleufu River Valley. What they found was a "massive" sulfide layer within the ore bearing strike. (more about it here) Here are the implications:

Acid Mine Drainage

A high school freshman sits in a grass meadow where two mountain ridges slope down and join. As the young observer gazes across the landscape, he sees a scar on the neighboring ridge. At first it looks like a rockslide or scree slope, but on closer examination he sees a hole in the mountainside. It is an abandoned mine with a waste rock pile at its entrance. An orange-red liquid slowly trickles down from the mine into the forest until it reaches the headwaters of a crystal clear mountain creek teeming with small fish and insects. The volume of clear, cold water flowing overwhelms the orange-red liquid and it disappears.

Returning 8 years later as a college graduate, the observer encounters a much different scene. The meadow is now a wasteland without vegetation, and the once healthy creek is flowing red in the headwaters. The observer follows the creek downstream to see it change from red to white to turquoiseblue; no fish or insects appear for several kilometers downstream. What has happened? The answer is acid mine drainage.

Specifically, in the first visit, the high school student saw acid mine drainage from an old mine that had been worked with crude equipment, likely producing no more than a couple tons of ore a day. Acid mine drainage from this old mine was not significant enough to negatively affect the creek.

The following year, however, the mine had been reopened. The newly opened mine operated with high efficiency using modern equipment and produced from 350 to 450 tons of ore per day. Owing to the larger disturbance and production methods, the acid mine drainage from the modern mine had a significant impact on an entire watershed.

This scene actually played out in the Siskyou Mountains of southwest Oregon. The Formosa Mine initially operated between 1927 and 1933. The mine re-opened in 1990 and produced from 350 to 400 tons of copper and zinc ore per day. The ore was crushed into powder and processed using ponds to separate the metals.

Upon closure in 1994, the mining company placed the leftover crushed high-grade ore back into the mine workings and filled the former flotation ponds with the gangue or low-grade ore. The following winter, the mine workings and former ponds filled up with water from rainfall and began producing acid mine drainage (AMD) as the ore reacted with the water.

AMD from the mine flowed into the headwaters of two nearby creeks, which were habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead. Studies performed before 1990 documented an abundance of aquatic insects and fish in both creeks. After the mine closed, the creeks flowed red, white, turquoise-blue, and blue-green as the metals in the AMD precipitated out into the streambed. A total of 29 kilometers (18 miles) of stream were contaminated with metals from the AMD. Eighteen kilometers (11 miles) were found to be mostly void of aquatic insects, and fish populations were reduced by over 90 percent.

Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)

Acid rock drainage (ARD) is a natural process in which sulfuric acid is produced when sulfides in rocks—for example, pyrite (FeS2)—are exposed to air and water. This occurs along outcrops or scree slopes where sulfide-bearing rock is naturally weathered.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is essentially the same process as ARD only greatly magnified. In general, rocks that contain valuable metals usually contain sulfides (metals combined with sulfur). The reason for this marriage (metal deposits with sulfide or sulfur) is that thermal waters are typically responsible for depositing many types of metallic ore. These thermal waters travel along fractures or small channels in the host rock. As a result, the thermal waters also change the mineralogy of the host rock along these fractures, creating bodies of rock referred to as hydrothermal alteration zones, which may be many times larger than the economically-defined ore zones or veins that fill the fracture.

Mineral Deposits

Gangue minerals are the nonvaluable minerals closely associated with the valuable ore deposits. They generally include minerals like quartz or calcite. During mining activities, the gangue material is commonly discarded as waste rock or low-grade ore in an effort to extract more valuable ore minerals found in the veins. AMD is typically associated with these types of hard rock mines across the world. Another major form of AMD is associated with coal mines in the eastern United States (and elsewhere around the world) where acid is formed by the oxidation of sulfur occurring in the coal and the rock or clay found above and below the coal seams.

When the minerals in the rock were deposited millions of years ago, they were formed at high temperatures and pressures. This makes these mineral deposits (including the gangue material) unstable under surface conditions when exposed to oxygen and water. Most sulfide minerals react with oxygen (oxidation) and water (hydration). Some sulfides, especially those containing iron and copper, generate sulfuric acid in the process. Pyrite (commonly called "fool's gold"), the most common sulfide mineral, reacts with oxygen and water to form ferrous iron and sulfuric acid in solution.

Laboratory studies have shown that exposing sulfide minerals to oxygen and water produces sulfuric acid, but scientists found that the rate of generation is so slow that it would take decades to oxidize a significant proportion of sulfide. Observations of AMD and other natural systems clearly demonstrate that acid production occurs in a short time period, from months to years. This is because some common strains of bacteria present in almost all environments increase the reaction rate by orders of magnitude.

Once the acid is formed it leaches other metals, such as copper, zinc, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, lead, and mercury, from the mineralized vein. High concentrations of these metals are dissolved by the acid and carried away in solution. As the acid solution flows away from the mine, the pH changes and affects the chemistry of the solution such that different metals begin to precipitate out of solution.

Color changes typical of creeks affected by AMD start as orange, red, or yellow-brown as the ferrous iron solution is diluted. The pH rises as the AMD mixes with the receiving stream, causing the ferrous iron to precipitate out as ferric iron. Farther downstream, the stream is white as aluminum oxide deposits along rocks and the streambed. The iron and aluminum deposits tend to form a sludge-like material, which inhibits algae, insect, and fish growth, and damages their habitat. Benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms are particularly sensitive to this type of pollution. Following the orange iron and white aluminum deposits, the streams can then take on turquoise-blue or green colors as copper and other metals begin to precipitate from solution.

Depressed food supplies, gill clogging, and smothering by iron or aluminum precipitates, along with direct toxicity from ingested metals, contribute to the significant decline of fish, insect, and benthic communities in streams polluted by metal oxides. With their food supply diminished, fish populations can be limited even when degradation is not severe enough to cause direct poisoning of individual fish.

The Problem and the Cleanup

Acid mine drainage is a global problem. In the eastern United States alone, AMD from coal mines has adversely impacted fisheries associated with over 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) of streams in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland. The problem in the western United States is less studied, yet it has become apparent that once-pristine watersheds are suffering from the effects of AMD. Cleanup of abandoned mine sites is difficult because of their remote locations and because these problems will go on for hundreds of years until the mineralized rock is leached free of sulfides and metals.

Here is the full article.

Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine

Cyanide Heap Leaching and Acid Mine Runoff - A Futaleufu River Valley preview?

This is the story of the struggle to save the famed Blackfoot River (memorialized in A River Runs Through It) from a proposed leach mine. It documents the enduring but sad legacy of mining throughout the state of Montana--cyanide-laced groundwater, acid mine drainage, and the failures of a boom and bust economy. It speaks from the hearts and minds of men and women who are fighting to save their vanishing heritage. Private property and the right to make a short term profit face off against the rights of future generations to experience the spirit, physical beauty, and health of the wilderness.

Examples of Acid Mine Drainage - Will Kinross Gold Corporation & Geocom Resources Inc. do this to the Futaleufu River Valley?

Abandoned Mine - Kentucky



News segment on WYMT TV about Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in Letcher County,KY and the work of OSM/VISTA Evan Smith (Head of Three Rivers Project) and Kentucky Watershed Watch to bring attention to this problem and seek remediation. Produced by Amy Walker.

Little Dry Fork Mine - Kentucky



On or around March 7, 2007, an abandoned mine had a blow out and now acid mine drainage is gushing into Little Dry Fork, just west of Whitesburg, KY. The orange water, increased water flow, and the changed chemical makeup of the water has decimated aquatic life in the creek. The acid mine drainage flows into Dry Fork and then into the North Fork of the Kentucky River. The plume of cloudy orange runoff extends at least one mile downstream from the mouth of Dry Fork.

Appalshop created this piece as a collaboration with WMMT's Community Correspondents Corps (CCC) and Appalshop Films.

The Almeda Mine - Oregon



The Almeda Mine is located in Southern Oregon on the Wild & Scenic Rogue River. Despite decades of acid mine drainage discharging into the river, the BLM and DEQ have continued to drag their feet when it comes to a comprehensive cleanup of the site. The Center for Environmental Equity, a Portland-based nonprofit is leading the charge to have the mine listed as a Federal Superfund site. For more information go to nevermined.org.

Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine

Espolon Claim owner, Geocom Resources Inc. to sell Chilean properties to Goldmark Minerals Ltd. of Canada

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Nov. 19, 2007) - Goldmark Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:GMK) is pleased to announce it has finalized an acquisition agreement with Geocom Resources Inc. (Geocom) to purchase all of Geocom's interest in the Iliamna properties in Alaska, and 49% of Geocom's interest in the Santa Rosa and Marcelita properties in Central Chile.

Pursuant to this agreement, which is subject to receipt of title opinions satisfactory to Goldmark, Goldmark will purchase Geocom's interest, which comprises a 52.5% interest in the H claim section and a 38.5% interest in the D claim section of the Alaskan Iliamna project, a copper porphyry exploration project consisting of 318 sq kilometers of claims. Geocom acquired its interest in Iliamna pursuant to an Option agreement with TNR Gold. Goldmark will be the operator of this project.

In addition, Goldmark will acquire a 49% interest in Geocom's Santa Rosa and Marcelita projects in central Chile, which are also copper porphyry claims. The Santa Rosa and Marcelita properties are located in the Zapallar mining district, 40 kilometers southeast of Copiapo, Tierra Amarilla County, Region III, Chile. The claims consist of a total area of 29 square kilometers and are 100% owned by Geocom through its Chilean subsidiary.

Goldmark Minerals has acquired these properties for a total consideration of $200,000US payable once title opinions have been received.

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"Goldmark Minerals is excited about exploring both Iliamna and Santa Rosa/Marcelita. We feel that these are interesting high impact exploration projects," says Bob Lamond, Chairman of Goldmark.. "This is another step in focusing Goldmark's business efforts in this strong commodities marketplace on some potentially significant projects. The Company will announce the specific plans for both Alaska and Chile shortly."

Here is the full article.

See the future of the Futaleufu River Valley - Kinross Gold Corporation - US Mining Property Slideshow

Some photos of various Kinross Gold Corporation mines in the states of Alaska and California. With the lax environmental laws Chile has in place and a government that caters to the extraction industries this is what Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources plan for the future of the Futaleufu River Valley.