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Judge orders Yamana Gold to Suspend Prospecting of Agua Rica
due to Uproar and Violence in Argentine Community
February 16, 2010 – Catamarca Argentina - The national Argentine daily newspaper Crítica reported today that federal and local police “ferociously reprimanded”[1] stakeholders of Yamana Gold’s Agua Rica project in the local community of Andalgalá, Catamarca, a small mountain village in Argentina, near one of Latin America’s largest gold mine operations, La Alumbrera, also partially owned by Yamana Gold. Local judge Guillermo Raul Cerda ordered a shut-down of Yamana’s prospecting on Agua Rica until peace can be restored.
Local stakeholders opposed to open-pit mining ventures in the region, blockaded roads to stop mining contractors, including Yamana Gold, from carrying out prospecting operations in the region. Stakeholders oppose prospecting by Yamana Gold of its’ new Copper, Gold and Silver mine (Agua Rica) programmed in what the company calls “a mining friendly” province of Catamarca. Yesterday’s protests against Yamana’s Agua Rica project and the aggressive police repression used against stakeholders, largely debunked Yamana’s mining-friendly label to Agua Rica, casting doubts on whether Yamana actually has or will ever have the social license it claims to operate.
According to newspaper reports, police used dogs and special teams to fight off stakeholders (which included women and children) that had gathered to voice their opposition to Yamana’s prospecting in Catamarca. (see video clip of repression: http://www.criticadigital.com.ar/index.php?secc=nota&nid=37758)
The local conflict over existing mining and mining prospects, despite Yamana’s claims that Catamarca is mining-friendly, is not new. Yamana as well as other mining companies have actually had a long history of local opposition to gold, silver and coper mining. La Alumbrera (50% owned by the Swiss company XSTRATA and 50% by Yamana Gold and Goldcorp)[2], is one notorious case involving one of Latin America’s largest and most controversial gold mining projects. Spillage, contamination and illness (allegedly) from La Alumbrera have resulted in numerous local complaints, past tension, and even violence. La Alumbrera, as is usually typical in large mining projects in developing countries, was sold to the local community as being a motor for achieving local economic development but Catamarca, home to the Alumbrera gold venture, remains one of Argentina’s poorest provinces, and Andalgalá, home to the mine, one of its’ poorest cities. Agua Rica is some 17 km away from La Alumbrera.
Tension over the Agua Rica project heightened last December, when local stakeholders set up a roadblock near Chaquiago, some 5km north of Andalgalá to stop trucks and other equipment used by Yamana in prospecting exercises for its Agua Rica venture.
Police forces began a sweep of the area yesterday, ordering stakeholders to withdraw from a local plaza. By then, some 200 stakeholders were already gathered and refused to move. Things turned violent as police reverted to physical force and repression to remove the crowd. The repression immediately resulted in a social upheaval, as thousands swarmed on the plaza in just a few hours. By the early evening over 4,000 people crowed the central plaza of Andalgalá in solidarity with protesters against Yamana Gold and Agua Rica.
Responding to rubber bullets and tear gas fired by policy, some protestors burned and destroyed parts of the local municipal government building calling for the mayor’s resignation and an immediate withdrawal of Yamana from Catamarca and an end to Agua Rica.
The violence continued into the night as more people streamed into the plaza. It is reported that near mid-night the police repression against the crowd grew worse, with nearly 70 detentions and more physical brutality. Police impeded victims from receiving medical attention at the site. Over sixty victims were sent to the local hospital with varying lesions, one minor had serious rubber bullet gunshot wounds. The resulting riot and repression ended in the early hours of the morning as locals returned to their homes.
The Canadian based gold company Yamana Gold states on it’s website that Agua Rica “received Environmental and Social License in March 2009[3] and claims to investors that it is “focused on high quality asset portfolio in stable mining jurisdictions”.[4] In the Agua Rica project, Yamana claims to have supported the creation of 14 small and successful businesses, producing food, arts and crafts, clothing, shoes, flowers, and plants.[5] The population of Andalgalá is nearly 19,000. Yesterday 20% of the population took to the street against Yamana Gold, in the midst of rioting, violence, tear gas and a shower of rubber bullets fired into the crowd, calling for an end to the Agua Rica project.
[1] See: http://www.criticadigital.com.ar/index.php?secc=nota&nid=37758
2 http://www.xstrata.com/operation/alumbrera/
3 http://www.yamana.com/Operations/DevelopmentAdvancedExploration/AguaRica/default.aspx
4 http://www.yamana.com/Investors/WhyInvest/default.aspx
5 http://www.yamana.com/CorporateResponsibility/CorporateResponsibilityOverview/default.aspx
