Court Halts Open Pit
Gold Mine; President
Arias Being Investigated
For Abuse Of Authority
The Costa Rica
Constitutional Court (Sala
Constitucional)
ordered a small Canadian
mining company to halt
construction at an
open-pit gold mine on
Tuesday, ruling with
environmental groups who
say the project is
destroying virgin
forest.
Infinito Gold Ltd. ,
a subsidiary of
the Canadian company
Vanessa Ventures
Incorporation,
said the court ordered
the company to stop clearing
land at the Crucitas
mine near the forested
border with Nicaragua
while it considered
complaints brought by
environmentalists.
The Canadian miner began
last week cutting down
trees to build a pit and
tailings dam but has now
stopped work until the
court makes another
ruling. The court has
not set a date for a
final decision in the
case.
The miner will have to
cut down 208 hectares
(514 acres) to move
ahead with the project,
most forest that has
never been touched,
Edgardo Araya, the
lawyer who filed the
complaint on behalf of
two local environmental
organizations, said.
About half of the lush
Costa Rican country is
covered with rainforest,
much protected as
national parks. Scarlet
macaws, endangered
parrots, and sloths
thrive in Costa Rica's
jungles, a big draw for
eco-tourists whose
business is the
country's number one
source of foreign
exchange revenue.
Laws prevent changing
the use of forest land
for commercial purposes
but President Oscar
Arias declared the
Crucitas project of
national interest,
giving Infinito the
go-ahead to begin clear
cutting.
Crucitas has an
indicated resource of
1.2 million ounces of
gold the company says on
its website, adding that
it will replant trees
around the mining area.
The Fiscalia (Attorney
General's office) said
Tuesday it has opened an
investigation into Arias
and Environment Minister
Roberto Dobles for abuse
of authority over a gold
mining exploitation they
claim to be of "national
interest."
The statement by the
Fiscalia said that
the investigation will
concentrate on the
possibility that
president Arias and
minister Dobles
committee the
crime of abuse of
authority,
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