No chance of cyanide
leak at Costa Rican
mine:
By Romina Maurino
TORONTO (CP) - Glencairn
Gold Corp.'s chief
executive said Wednesday
there was "no chance of
any environmental
incident" at the
company's Bellavista
mine in Costa Rica,
after its stock fell 16
per cent on
environmental groups'
warnings that there
could be cyanide seepage
and landslides.
A coalition of
environmental and human
rights organizations
said late Tuesday it
wanted Glencairn "to
disclose information
about suspected cyanide
and metals pollution"
from the mine, which the
company shut down over
concerns about the
potential impact of
ground movements in the
area attributed to high
levels of rainfall.
The groups, including
the Interamerican
Association for
Environmental Defense,
CEUS del Golfo,
Earthworks, Friends of
the Earth and
MiningWatch Canada, said
they are concerned about
leakage following a
shutdown of the mine in
late July.
"At this point in time,
there is no chance of
any environmental
incident," CEO Peter
Tagliamonte said in an
interview from Costa
Rica, where he'd been
visiting the mine.
"The risk of cyanide
being injected into the
environment is not there
because we rinsed it
out."
Tagliamonte said the
company had been working
from the beginning to
ensure there would be no
damage to the
environment and has been
keeping the public
updated on its problems.
"It's a well-built mine
and I think we took
pre-emptive steps to act
as prudently as we could
to make sure that where
was no compromise in the
environment," he said.
"I feel a little bit bad
that we are being
attacked at this stage,
because our investors
took a hit because we
were very proactive in
ensuring that there was
no environmental
possibility of damage."
Glencairn stock declined
three cents or 15.8 per
cent to 16 cents with
four million shares
changing hands Wednesday
on the Toronto Stock
Exchange.
The environmental groups
alleged nothing has been
done to stop the
mountain from giving way
or to prevent ruptures
in a liner known as
geomembrane used to
block cyanide from
seeping into the ground.
They did not present
evidence of leakage, but
called on Glencairn for
"cleanup and remediation
of any current or future
contamination," citing
fears from "experts
familiar with the mine"
that cyanide used to
extract gold could enter
the environment.
Glencairn has promised
to monitor earth
movements and said in
July that some areas of
the mine were sliding
one centimetre daily.
Tagliamonte said it was
still to early to say
when the mine would
reopen, and was working
"to understand the
engineering mechanics
and hopefully get the
operation back to the
level where we can make
a decision to go
forward."
He added that it was
possible the groups just
hadn't been getting all
the information that
Glencairn had made
available to the public.
Gaston Araya, the mine's
manager, said the
company has been
submitting monthly
reports on the experts'
findings. He declined to
describe the findings.
Jose Castro, director of
Geology and Mines for
Costa Rica's Environment
Department, said his
office has been
monitoring the mine,
located in Miramar,
about 100 kilometres
north of San Jose.
He said there are
"little problems in some
parts of the mine, but
not in the whole mine."
Glencairn estimates
there are 365,500 ounces
of mineable gold in
Bellavista. |
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