Google Earth Community: Habitat Destruction:Mining Companies in Venezuela

LAS CRISTINAS-VENEZUELA - GOLD AND ECOCIDE.
With the enthusiastic complicity of the State and the
participation of Canadian, US, British and S. African
transnational mining companies, Venezuela is seeing
the setting up of a project promoting the immediate
exploitation of a rich gold reserve which, according
to its promoters and beneficiaries, will turn out to be
the discovery of the famous El Dorado - sought after
so remorselessly in the 16th century by Europeans in
these lands. We are talking of between 8 and 12
thousand tons of probable reserves which would
represent 10% of world stock with a current market
value of 140 thousand million dollars.

The most powerful one in Las Claritas is Crystallex, a Canadian-owned mining company. It’s not difficult to notice their land: a high fence surrounds their huge swath of land, and at the main gate, guards with helmets and riot sticks are keeping away unwanted persons, in front of a watch tower. “No pictures”, says one of them harshly, even on public soil outside of their territory. It’s clear: these mining companies are here for the money and not for anything else.

Another company is the US-based Hecla, which is the biggest gold producer in Venezuela. Hecla owns concessions in El Callao and El Dorado, a bit further up north in Bolivar state. A third mining company, Toronto-based Bolivar Gold, holds concessions in El Callao as well. Last month, the company announced the first extraction of gold at their Choco 10-field, which is supposed to hold ore reserves of 1,3 million ounces. And then there’s of course the Venezuelan, state-owned CVG, which has a gold mining division.

The presence of mining companies like Crystallex and Hecla is a highly controversial issue among many NGOs and indigenous groups in Venezuela. The main reason for the controversy over their activities is the fact that the mining takes place in the Imataca Forest, a large forest reserve along the border with disputed Guyana. Though it doesn’t have the status of a national park, the area is under special administration. The Imataca forest reserve, which is bordered by the Orinoco delta in the north and the area of Las Claritas in the south, was created in 1963 and measures 3.8 million (!!!) hectares of land, which makes it roughly as big as The Netherlands. The area is rich in different wood arts, gold, diamonds, copper, bauxite, magnesium, water, genetic diversity, and energy.

Because the Imataca Forest has the status of a reserve since 1963, it was supposed to have a Management Plan since then, but until 1997, such a plan never existed. This means that all logging and mining before that year was carried out on the basis of improvisation.

Edited by pedroalbertodelvalle (07/29/06 12:52 AM)

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