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-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

Hollywood Stars Shed Light on Chile's Controversial Dam Project

U.S. Film Idols May Join Chilean Music Celebs In Protesting Dams

(Jan. 15, 2008) A controversial plan to construct massive hydroelectric dams in Chile’s Region XI continues to attract international attention to pristine Patagonia, which this (Chilean) summer welcomes a number of high-profile visitors – possibly even a few Hollywood stars.

Rumor has it that mega-celebrities Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz might be making their way to southern Chile in the coming weeks. The two actors, who have both visited Chile in the past, starred opposite each other in the 2002 box office hit “Gangs of New York.”

According to La Tercera, their trip has the support of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). DiCapprio sits on the Washington, D.C.-based environmental group’s board of directors, together with U.S. film legend Robert Redford. Citing an unnamed source, the Chilean daily also reported that Diaz and DiCapprio will participate in protests against the so-called HidroAysén project.

A joint venture involving Spanish-Italian electricity giant Endesa and Chilean energy company Colbún (owned by the Matte and Angelini groups), the project involves plans to build five dams that would together generate some 2,750 MW of electricity – roughly equivalent to 20 percent of Chile’s current overall generating capacity.

The project, slated for the region’s two largest rivers – the Baker and the Pascua – has an estimated price tag of US$2.5 billion. That figure does not include an additional US$1.5 billion needed to build a 1,200 mile transmission line between Region XI, an area also known as Aysén, and central Chile, where the electricity would be consumed by mostly industrial and mining operations.

At this point, the rumored Diaz-DiCaprio visit is still very much unconfirmed, insists ecologist Juan Pablo Orrego, a leading opponent of the polemical project. Still, were the rumor to become reality, the involvement of DiCaprio and Diaz in the ongoing anti-HidroAysén campaign would certainly be welcome, he told the Santiago Times’ sister newspaper, the Patagonia Times.

“In general, artists can play a powerful role in bringing together campaigns and drawing attention to all kinds of issues, be they human rights, foreign debt, the environment, what have you…Artists can really play a noble role in this sense. I think it’s praiseworthy that people who’ve done well for themselves as a result of their art are ready to use that charisma, the celebrity they’ve attained as artists, for noble causes,” said Orrego, head of a Santiago-based environmental NGO called Ecosistemas.

DiCapprio and Diaz would by no means be the first celebrities to oppose the dams. Starting with ex-La Ley front man Beto Cuevas, numerous Chilean celebrities have joined the opposition. The growing list of famous dam critics includes musicians Joe Vasconcellos and Javiera Parra, Juanita Parra of the group Los Jaivas (The Crabs) and the legendary Chilean folk-rock group Inti Illimani, among others. Celebrity attention to the issue has really “snowballed,” said Orrego, who once enjoyed his own share of artistic fame as a member of the successful 1970s band Los Blops.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr will be rafting on Chile's Futaleufu River, site of the Geocom-Kinross gold mine, next week

Whether or not Chile’s Patagonia will be rolling out the red carpet for the “Gangs of New York” costars, it will definitely play host to representatives from both the NRDC and the California-based environmental NGO International Rivers (RN), formerly the International Rivers Network.

Starting this coming weekend, the RN will be leading a fact-finding expedition to some of Region XI’s more remote locales. Led by Patagonia campaign leader Aaron Sanger and campaign coordinator Aviva Imhof, the group will also include U.S. country singer Dana Lyons. Among other things, the RN team plans to visit the Pascua River, which because of its relative isolation tends to not receive as much attention as the more accessible Baker.

“(The RN trip) is a way of making this river more visible. Because it’s further away and more isolated, the Pascua – in terms of this whole conflict – has remained somewhat hidden. There’s a lot of talk about the Baker, because it’s visible. The Carreterra Austral (Southern Highway) goes near it at various points… It’s interesting that the Pascua is less visible, because it is actually the more pristine of the two,” said Orrego.

Also expected to travel to Patagonia is NRDC senior attorney Robert Kennedy Jr., whose father was assassinated in 1968 while running for the U.S. presidency. The RN and NRDC delegates, meanwhile, plan to meet this week with researchers from the Universidad de Chile to discuss possible energy alternatives.

According to the companies behind the project, the HidroAysén dams will go a long way toward meeting Chile’s increasing appetite for electricity, which is growing by an estimated 6 percent annually. Backers of the dam project question how a developing country such as Chile can continue growing without major new sources of electricity.

HidroAysén critics, however, argue that rather than sacrifice its Patagonian wilderness, Chile ought instead to invest in non-conventional, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Spain, for example, currently produces nearly 12,000 MW of wind electricity, while Germany’s total wind electricity production is more than 20,000 MW. In contrast, Chile’s total energy matrix – primarily made up of hydroelectric and thermal-electric (fossil fuel burning) facilities – produces just 12,700 MW. (Ed. Note: Please see today’s related feature story.)

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.

National Geographic Channel Filming in Patagonia, Chile's Futaleufu River Valley

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FILMING IN CHILE’S PATAGONIA

Adventurist Joby Ogwyn Travels To Futaleufú In Search Of An Extreme Challenge

(Jan. 2, 2008) Futaleufú, the small Patagonian community of 1,200 people that is best known for world-class whitewater on the nearby Futaleufú River, recently played host to adventure film protagonist Joby Ogwyn.

Ogwyn arrived to Futaleufú early this Chilean summer to film a segment of The Adventurist, an outdoors TV series put together by National Geographic International and Rush TV.

The concept for The Adventurist series is Ogwyn’s, who spent two years looking for institutional support before concluding a deal. But sealing the contract was child’s play compared to the fierce adventure that is embodied by the series itself.

The gut of the show illustrates Ogwyn’s own true competitive strength. Each episode documents two weeks in which he must learn and master an extreme adventure sport. His past shows have included running with the bulls, vertical rock climbing and base-jumping.

In order to cram for the skills required in the art of whitewater kayaking, Ogwyn approached Chris Spelius, the owner of the Futaleufú outfitter Expediciones Chile.

It’s no stumper why Ogwyn sought out Spelius and the infernal Río Futaleufú in his pursuit of expert status. Spelius was a 1984 U.S. Olympic team kayaker and was the first person to successfully descend the Futaleufú River solo. The Futaleufú, along with Africa’s Zambezi River, is the top commercially-run whitewater river in the world. To successfully negotiate the deep trenches of the Futaleufú is to claim a feat held by few – and certainly none as inexperienced as the Adventurist himself.

Ogwyn practiced on the near by Espolón River, where he managed to acquit himself as a competent kayakist after 14 long days of training. He was then fit and rigged for his dip in the fire.

“I was nervous. Of all the different things I have trained to do, this was one of the hardest and most intimidating. But I was up for the challenge. However daunting it was, I knew my only choice was to concentrate on everything I had learned and to use that knowledge and those skills to get me through it,” said Ogwyn.

On-looking professionals acknowledged that Ogwyn’s learning curve was impressive.

“After a few days, it looked like he had years of experience.” Bob Vranich, professional raft and kayak guide at Expediciones Chile. “I wonder if I had pushed myself like that, if I could have picked it up as fast. It’s not easy.”

Ogwyn ran his final descent of Futaleufú white water with precision. Against a relentless current and violently stirred chop, he cut clean lines and maneuvered his craft with expertise.

“It was a long and wet two weeks. But the goal was to do it. And I did it. And now I’m going home [to California] to buy a boat and get right back on the river.”

Ogwyn, as most do, grew passionate about the beauty of the Futaleufú River. His determination, and perhaps his stubbornness, helped him conquer a river that few ever will.

by Andrea Giampoli

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.

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

Mine Tailings, Sudbury Ontario, Edward Burtnyski

Fool's Gold?

One of the world’s greatest adventure tourism destinations is being threatened by the plans of Kinross Gold Corporation, of Canada and Geocom Resources Inc. of the United States. These junior level mining concerns are intent on establishing a gold mine along the Rio Espolon, a major tributary of the Futaleufu River. Discovery work was conducted within the claim in 2006 resulting in the release of assay results in April, 2007. Along with substantially high gold deposits, some as concentrated as 20.9 grams per tonne, the assay also returned reports of a “massive” sulfide layer nearly three meters thick within the ore body. These sulfide layers are notorious for producing Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) – sulfuric acid - a potent environmental poison which is discharged from mine tailings. Furthermore, such toxic drainage can go on for centuries, long after a mine has shuttered its operation. Rather than declare the area unfit for a safe mining enterprise, Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc. have instead elevated the Espolon Claim to a “formal venture status” thus instigating a confrontation with determined and established environmental organizations(1) and adventure travel outfitters for the future of the region, as outlined below.

Geographic proximity to communities, national parks and adventure tourist destinations

The location of the future mine is an odd choice, as if the company executives were unaware of the community they planned to operate in, which in the past has been typical of many North American based mining operations. Canadian mining companies, with a wink and a nod from the Canadian Government, (2) have often shoved aside indigenous people around the world (3); the evicted and displaced populations of Guatemala being a perfect recent example (4). What these companies are allowed to do internationally they are prohibited by law from doing in their own country (5) leading the CEO of a prominent Canadian mining corporation to proclaim, "Chile is the best mining jurisdiction in the world... Canada is not a jurisdiction where I would like to develop a mine." (6) Where it is unthinkable that Canadians would be exposed to the toxins generated by these mines, Canadian mining interests like the ones proposing this project in the Futaleufu River Valley have little concern about exposing poorly represented and uninformed indigenous people to the health and environmental threats of heavy metals, sulfuric acid (battery acid), and cyanide. (7)

As for the geographic neighborhood of the mine, on the western border of the Kinross-Geocom claim lies Pumalin National Park (8), Chile’s largest and newest nature sanctuary, founded by American entrepreneur and passionate conservationist Douglas Tompkins(9). Tompkins, who made his fortune founding the Esprit and North Face apparel companies before discovering the Shangri-La of Patagonia, is vehemently opposed to the gold mine as well as the road that must be built through Pumalin Park to sustain it. (10) An "industrial thoroughfare" through and bordering the park he founded is not something he envisioned.

To the east of the mining claim lies the famously anti-mining province of Chubut, Argentina (11) whose populace recently voted down(12) a proposed gold mine, by Meridian Gold Corporation, another North American concern. The mine was to be situated seven kilometers from the city of Esquel, Argentina, which sits some 50 kilometers from the present Kinross-Geocom claim in the Futaleufu River Valley. Instead of working with the citizens of Esquel, to address points of weakness in the company's environmental impact statement (EIS), Meridian Gold instead chose to pursue their case all the way to the Argentine Supreme Court where they were summarily rebuffed. (13) It probably came as some surprise to the Meridian Gold executives, who are used to having their say in nations in which they are ostensibly guests, that the Argentine government works independently of the international extraction industry. (14 , 15) Had the same environmental challenge been raised in Chile, its authors would have been, at minimum, monitored by the Chilean National Intelligence Agency (16 , 17 , 18) before the challenge was inevitably papered-over under the pretense that Chile is not ready for the full environmental privileges, protections and regulations of a first world country(19), being only one of three countries in the Western Hemisphere without an Environmental Protection Agency. (Peru and Panama are the other two, for those keeping track.) It is sad to say that it appears the Chilean national government believes that quality of life improvements for its citizens can only be made manifest through environmental degradation, not preservation. (20)

To compound matters on the Argentine side of the claim, the Kinross-Geocom mine, once built, will abut one of Argentina’s preeminent nature reserves, Los Alerces National Park. (20) The park is world famous for harboring rare populations of ancient Alerce Trees, some over three thousand years old. The blasting in the mine, which will send heavy metals aloft, will unfavorably effect the air quality, water quality and health of Los Alerces.(22) In addition, the drainage of the Futaleufu River, one of the greatest sport fisheries in Patagonia runs directly through or is directly adjacent to the mine. Exposure to even the most diminutive amounts of cyanide, heavy metals or sulfuric acid will irreparably spoil this international angling treasure. (23.)


Finally, to the south of the mining claim lies the spectacular and awe-inspiring Futaleufu River Valley, world renowned for international adventure travel and worldclass whitewater rafting and kayaking. The Futaleufu region is fast becoming one of Patagonia, Chile’s greatest tourist destinations, gaining the same fame and stature as Torres del Paine National Park and Argentina’s Cerro FitzRoy, in recent Chilean (24) and international (25) media coverage. The Futaleufu River Valley is also a favorite vacation destination of a wide array of Hollywood celebrities and European and North American business magnates, some of whom have bought property in the valley that will be rendered worthless when the Kinross-Geocom mine begins operation. A recent well publicized outfitter's trip included:

"John McEnroe and his wife, rock singer Patty Smyth; comedian-writer Dan Aykroyd and his wife, actress Donna Dixon; and Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband, Saturday Night Live comic; Brad Hall, all with children in tow." (25)

The above mentioned trip also happened to include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Chilean Senator, Antonio Horvath. According to the outfitters, who run adventure trips on the river, there are many other celebrities who vacation in the Futaleufu Valley, incognito, that will gladly volunteer to shed their anonymity to help publicize the plight of the Futaleufu - virtually ensuring that the fight over this river will become long and protracted.

Incongruously, this world-renowned adventure Mecca lies only a few kilometers downstream from the ill-considered Kinross-Geocom mining claim and it will bear the full brunt of the cyanide, heavy metals and acid runoff the mine is sure send down the drainage, (26) rendering the river lifeless and useless (27) to anything but the generation of hydropower – which will likely be this project's aftermath? (28)

Sulfide Contamination throughout the Strike Zone

If geographic location were not inauspicious enough for this proposal, what lies between the ore bearing lodes is the pièce de résistance of environmental foreboding and abuse. As reported in the official Geocom Resources company assay (29), of April 2007, the Espolon Mining Claim contains a “massive” sulfide layer composed of the sulfur laden compounds of pyrrhotite-pyrite and chalcopyrite. These injurious aggregates, which nature has wisely provided to safely and nearly permanently encapsulate, when exposed to an atmosphere of oxygen and water, of which the Patagonia region has no shortage, devolve to form sulfuric acid. (30) While acid is a valuable commodity (when confined to an automobile battery) to have sulfuric acid freely flowing through the environment is another matter altogether.

As far as the sport fishery is concerned it can be completely wiped out by one flood that the mine owners fail to contain. (31, 32) A small tailings dam in Romania failed with the following result:

In January 2000, the tailings impoundment dam failed, resulting in the release of 130 cubic yards (130 pick-up trucks worth) of mine waste contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals. The result was the disruption of drinking water supplies in 24 locations and for 2.5 million people and a massive fish kill in the Tisza River where up to 80% of all fish perished. In all, over 1,200 miles of the Danube River system were contaminated. (33 , 34 , 35)

If the Kinross-Geocom mine were to be developed in North America, a region with strict environmental laws, it would require the most stringent and extreme precautions, often requiring the claim owners to harvest only the highest-grade ores and avoid tailings reclamation. (36) This is something Kinross Gold Corporation has historically loathed to practice. (37) During such a mine’s lifespan, were it located in North America and not Chile, environmental regulations would require that all water be cached and filtered through a water treatment plant and that the mine be back-filled with limestone as a final precaution at the end of its productive use. All of these safeguards are expensive and significantly limit a mine’s lifespan, productivity and profitability and are no guarantees against natural disasters. However, in a country with weak environmental laws, these concerns are often dismissed so that the indigenous inhabitants might enjoy jobs at the mine to the sacrifice of their environment, communities and health. (38) Furthermore, should an employee elect to become a part owner in the mining enterprise they would find the proposition exceedingly difficult as the mine’s stock is not listed on the Chilean stock exchange, despite Chile being the company’s primary venue of business. (39)

Abundant water and epic storms mean acid mine runoff and containment difficulties.

Water is another element of concern in the extremely sodden environment of Patagonia, Chile. Anyone who has spent any significant time in this area is bound to encounter the epic rains that frequently soak this region, sometimes for weeks at a time. It is not unimaginable that one of these storms could inundate the Espolon Mine forcing a release of toxic tailings waste into the environment, as was the recent case with the Red Dog Zinc Mine in Alaska.

"As I've told you folks here in the past, we can't stop discharging unless it stops raining," Kuals said. "Until that happens we must discharge water or that dam will fill up and overtop and nobody wants that to happen."

The only recourse the Red Dog Mine owners offered was to reapply to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States to increase their discharge quota. (40)

Cyanide in the water - a necessary part of the gold mining process

The Espolon Mine will require vast amounts of toxic cyanide to extract the metal from the ore layers. Cyanide is used to process both base and precious metals and is the reagent of choice at modern mines. 85% of the world's gold is produced through the cyanide leach process. (41)Cyanide leach mining is a hallmark of the Kinross Gold Corporation which is petitioning the EPA in the United States to implement the technology at mines it owns in Alaska. (42) Cyanide spills can cause longterm problems for local communities like Futaleufu which lies directly downstream of the mine.

"Even after mining ceased in 1997, cyanide continued to leak into nearby Jordan Creek at levels harmful to aquatic life. At the Beal Mountain, Kendall, Golden Sunlight and Zortman-Landusky mines - all in Montana - numerous cyanide spills and leaks contaminated drinking water aquifers and killed streams. These weren't transient effects. Because of persistent cyanide contamination, Pegasus Gold had to provide an alternative drinking water source to the town of Zortman..." (43)

Cyanide mining has been banned in some provinces of Argentina (44) and recently in Romania. (45)



Pit Mine Blasting - Will the "daily blast" rock the Futaleufu River Valley?

In order to loosen rock material to be transported to the cyanide leach heaps, rock must first be loosened from the surface using pit blasting. These daily blasts are so large and powerful that they are often captured on seismographs designed for earth quake monitoring:

"In August 2004 a UNR group set out a line of 400 seismometers extending from Fresno, Calif. north across Nevada to Idaho. These seismometers recorded earthquakes and several large (>100,000 lb ANFO) mining blasts at huge open-pit gold mines in northern Nevada for one week. This open-pit gold mine is more than 400 m (1400 ft) deep and over 2 km (1.5 mi) wide. Blasting is done almost every weekday, since for these deposits gold production depends on crushing and processing huge volumes of ore." (46)

Because the topographic relief is so great in the Futaleufu Valley the noise created by these mega-blasts will echo through the canyons for miles. Noise pollution will not only affect the experience of international adventurers visiting the valley but may also impact animal species like the endangered Huemul which lives in a dedicated nature reserve nearby. What pit mine blasting does to people living in the vicinity is already well documented:

"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?" (47)



Take a tour of various Kinross Gold Corporation properties from around the world. For all practical purposes, this IS the future of the Futaleufu River Valley, these mines look all alike.

Exchanging the Patagonia wilderness for jewelry & jobs

The Espolon Mine will be a scar on the landscape, a sprawling industrial zone comprised of some 14 square miles (3800 hectares, 9360 acres) at latest count, if all the ore is to be mined. (48) At the end of the mine’s useful life all that will remain is a pit brimming with hazardous mine tailings covered over with a thin layer of topsoil which will need to be monitored for centuries after closure, to ensure that nothing infiltrates the water-table and watershed. (49)

In exchange for all this environment cost the mine owners promise jobs and community fringe benefits - for as long as the strike lasts. The “creation of jobs” (50) has become the cornerstone of the miner’s mantra as if the very act itself supersedes the environmental damage they intend to inflict. (51)

It is ironic that even with the sharp increase in the number of the mining companies established all over the country, unemployment in the mining areas is growing at a geometric rate and labour rights and welfare are ever deteriorating. Social inequity is further exacerbated by the fact that the indigenous people’s hopes of attaining employment in these mines have all too often proved elusive. Two reasons account for this:

1. The processes involved in surface mining offer few job opportunities for unskilled labour.

2. Where they can be absorbed, they are discriminated against.

These mining companies propose an employment quota for the affected communities as bait to gain local acceptance but consistently fail to deliver. The introduction of surface mining has been characterised by forceful ejection, displacement, relinquishing of farmlands and an outright ban on agricultural activities including farming, hunting and fishing. Believe me the legacy has been acute unemployment associated with a drastic fall in living standards. In effect, people in mining areas are pushed deeper into poverty. (52)

Using the very same logic these miners employ one could argue that the dismantling of the Pyramids of Egypt would offer local Egyptians the same perks during the destruction and the very same disadvantages after it was over (lack of tourists) – albeit without the centuries of subsequent environmental heavy metal contamination.

Gold mining produces nothing of practical value.

Finally, the most peculiar aspect of gold mining is that it produces nothing of practical value. Gold is mined almost exclusively to adorn the wrists, fingers and necks of the upper classes (53). There is no shortage of gold in the world for useful purposes. However, what the planet is fast running out of are wild and pristine places like the wilderness areas of Patagonia, Chile. (54)

In Summary - Eight Reasons to question the Espolon Gold Mine


1] The mine is located in an ecologically sensitive triangle between the Pumalin National Park in Chile, Los Alerces National Park in Argentina and the spectacular world-class tourist destination of the Futaleufu River Valley. The land already has a use as world-class international tourist destination. How can a gold mine of this magnitude exist without degrading the environment and scaring away international travelers?

2] The mine claim area contains vast amounts of Sulfide which will cause Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). This mining proposal, if approved, will be the dirtiest type of gold mine possible. The effects on the aquatic life in the Espolon and Futaleufu River Valleys will be devastating. The result will affect every fishing lodge and aquatic dependent business in the watershed, including possibly the Salmon Industry in the Golfo Corcovado sixty miles downstream.

3] The Espolon Mine will use vast quantities of toxic Cyanide in the extraction process. The cyanide will be present in tailings waste containment ponds waiting for the inevitable flood which will send toxic water down the Espolon into Futaleufu River, as was the case on the Danube River in Europe. Additionally the cyanide can leak from the containment areas and infiltrate the ground water making it unfit for human consumption for decades after closure. When this happens will Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources be around to monitor and ameliorate the environmental problems they caused?

4] The Futaleufu River Valley region is subject to vast amounts of precipitation and frequently floods. Even if Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc plan for the worst-case flood scenario, and spend accordingly to prevent it, the Espolon Mine will leak acid and heavy metals into the environment, either through necessary releases to avoid a containment dam breach or through a breach itself. Vide infra:

"In 1992 in Summitville, Colorado (USA), a containment dam that held mine waste from a gold mining operation burst. The escaped toxic waste killed all life along a 25 km stretch of a nearby river." (55)

5] Daily pit-mine blasting in the Futaleufu Valley will drive away international tourists and wildlife. If the residents of the valley are lucky there will only be one seismically recordable blast a day. However, because the Espolon claim is so large, it is possible that there will be more than one open pit, which will require more than one explosion.

6] The mine region has no infrastructure to support heavy industry. Within the region there are limited roads and a limited electricity supply. All equipment for the mine, including cyanide for the leeching process, will need to be transported through Pumalin Parque or the Futaleufu River Valley. Both of these are unacceptable from a tourism perspective.

7] The Futaleufu River Valley is fast becoming one of Chile's greatest international tourism destinations. The pure, translucent teal colored waters of the Futaleufu River make it one of the most photogenic rivers in the world. Will tourists visit an area whose streams, lakes and rivers have been compromised beyond recognition?

8] Gold is a decorative metal with very limited use outside the manufacture of adornments. Is it worth the price of destroying one of the last pristine wilderness areas on the earth to produce it? The desire for gold has been the historical driving force behind the destruction of entire civilizations in the Western Hemisphere - do we need to add the Futaleufu River Valley as well?

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

Chaiten - Futaleufu Road to cut through Parque Pumalin - Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) submitted today - Project to be debated by CONAMA

(Nov. 29, 2007) The Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MOP) submitted Tuesday an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) for the construction of a new road within Pumalín Park—a private nature reserve in Region X developed by U.S. philanthropist and ecologist Douglas Tompkins. The proposal will now be debated by the Chile’s National Environmental Commission (CONAMA).

Tompkins expressed indignation about the project, calling the road unnecessary and potentially harmful to the fragile ecosystem of the park.

“It is unconscionable that [Public Works Minister} Bitrán is conducting totally out-of-control ministry with regards to the road they are building in the South,” said Tompkins. “I don't think they have any idea about the needs of the people, the impacts the road will have, the disasters it will leave in its wake, and the money wasted.” He claims that access to the region is already available via a coastal road along the Huequi Peninsula.

The new road was first proposed in May and would be an extension of the existing southern highway that cuts through the park (ST, May 27). It would connect the towns of Termas del Amarillo and Futaleufú, the latter of which has become a tourist hub within the past few years. Construction by the Military Work Corps is expected to take 10 years and cost US$40 million.

Proponents of the new project include officials of both towns as well as tourism companies in the region. Mayor of Futaleufú, Arturo Carvallo, expressed satisfaction that his town will finally have more direct access to Puerto Montt, the capital of the region.

The scenic road will include four look-out stops along the edge of Lake Espolón. The region already receives 22,000 tourists annually, and the new road is expected to increase that number by 25 percent.

Pumalin Park is rich in biodiversity, including populations of several endangered species such as the condor, pudú (the world's smallest deer), and the ranita de Darwin, a species of frog. There are also rare old-growth forests of coihue and lenga trees, as well as 11 varieties of fern.

Here is the full article.

Hidroeléctrica Futaleufú expresses interest in building 2 dams on the Santa Cruz River in Argentina

Six consortiums have expressed interest in an international tender to construct two hydro plants in Argentina's Santa Cruz province, the country's deputy ministry of hydro resources said in a statement.

La Barrancosa and Condor Cliff hydro plants, to be located on the Santa Cruz river, will have combined capacity of 1.7GW and require investment of US$1bn.

Interested companies can still purchase data packages for the tender.

Offers are due on December 27 and the winner is expected to be announced on March 17, 2008.

The interested consortiums are: IMPSA, Corporación América and Construções e Comércio Camargo Corrêa; Isolux Corsán and Andrade Gutierrez; Techint, Grupo Roggio, Esuco and Supercemento; Electroingeniería, IECSA and José Cartellone; Hidroeléctrica Futaleufú, Odebrecht and Aluar Aluminio Argentino; and Panedille Argentina.

Here is the full article.