Check out the Pascua Lama project in Chile

Dear Mr. Borg, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications of Barrick Gold Corporation,

With all due respect, I am appalled to learn of your company's plans to mine the area known as Atacama in Chile. I have some experience with the effects that open-pit mining can have on an environment, having recently moved out of Fort McMurray, Alberta. I'm sure you've heard of it. There are many difference between Fort McMurray and Atacama, namely that Fort McMurray is not a community which thrives on it's agriculture, there is no foreseeable shortage of clean water, and people choose to live there in order to work. In the Huasco valley, people have lived there for generations, they depend on the glaciers which your project endangers for clean water and sustainability of their farmland, and they already have jobs which support them and their families.

As you well know, mining in Canada is closely monitored by government, environment and community groups to ensure that long-term effects are minimal. The same cannot always be said of mining in other countries. I am concerned that the way which your company proposes to impact their environment will directly impact their right to live as they do now. Not only that, but you are quickly becoming next on a long list of companies that are threatening the a basic human right of access to clean water. As you may already be aware, in November 2002, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights affirmed that access to adequate amounts of clean water for personal and domestic uses is a fundamental human right of all people. In its General Comment No. 15 on the implementation of Articles 11 and 12 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee noted that “the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.”

Please know that I will be watching this issue closely. I would like to know your opinions on this matter, and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Vanessa Fraser

Inter Press News Service Agency: Pascua Lama Gold Mine, a Threat to Sustainability
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