petition to stop open cut silver mining on sacred huichol land

[qualia]

hi,

i just recently learned of canadian mining companies legal loopholing to perform destructive open pit mining on land which has been declared sacred and protected:

First Majestic Silver Corp. Lays claim to this land by purchasing “Normabec”, another Canadian Company who purchased the land prior to the protection laws being put in place. They have managed to get a permit for exploratory mining, and state they are planning to launch a program of aggressive exploration and excavation in the 2nd half of 2010”. The company uses a method of open pit mining and lixiviation through the flotation in cyanide. This chemical is highly polluting and deadly requiring only 0.2 of a gram to kill a person (this is what the Nazi`s used in the 2 World War genocide in the deadly showers in concentration camps). Mines such as that which First Majestic Silver Corp plan to open require tones of Cyanide each day to operate. The waste is either released into rivers or lakes or put into pits where it is allowed to dissolve through the soil.

In the case of this “Real de Catorce Project” (as it is called by First Majestic) the intention is to use the local water supply, which is the only source for the region, for it`s lixiviation process.

not that a petition is going to stop this, but may help get the word out:

(this is most of the info i could find, if anyone has any more links plese post)

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/proclamation-in-defense-of-wirikuta/

http://salvemoswirikuta.blogspot.com/2010/08/huichol-route-through-sacred-sites-to.html

[gilligan]

Sorry guys, but within reason take into account the following.

Cyanide breaks down as part of the natural process.

Also, i would doubt that the water is released into rivers, as long as they are running to normal environmental standards, the tailings products (barren slurry) will be captured in a tailings dam (these are closed holding systems, if engineered with todays standards, either clay packed to stop flow throug the back, or HDPE lined). THere are also monitoring stations drilled around the dams so that samples can be taken to determine whether seepage from the dams is occurring. The slurry in the dam settles out the solids, which allows the water to decant, and this water is brought back into the processing cycle for reuse. This means that in the closed loop that occurs, the CN is able to break down - sure, there are minor amounts in the water that returns, but not heaps. There are also add-ons to the tailings sections where chemicals are added to the tailings to break down CN as it's travelling out to the dam... thus reducing the overall concentrations of CN.

There are cowboys in the industry, but it is becoming more and more regulated. Thus the cowboys are few and far between. The mining companies WANT good environmental rapport, as this means for expansions etc, they are easier to obtain. US regs are probably different to the aussie ones, but they would still have to be relatively strict.

I work on processing plants, and have significant input to environmental issues on site - we treat it very seriously. Very few people now disregard the environment for the sake of the dollar. I've previously worked in Gold, which uses Cn for dissolution of the gold, and again, there were strict controls around what we did, and that was 10 years ago. The idustry only gets tighter and tighter as time goes on...

Edited January 9, 2011 by gilligan

[Auxin]

This is about mexico- not the US, australia, or any other reasonably regulated nation. Mexico pays lip service to regulation to appease international bodies but in practice companies just have to buy local governments.

And I think your ignoring the catastrophically short sighted environmental destruction allowed in the US for profit. Removing a trillion cubic feet of gas from under cities, grinding up and leaving bare hundreds of miles of mountain ranges, reverse pumping liquid radioactive waste down wells, and soon putting thousands of tons of radioactive waste in a seismically active volcano. All of those were 'regulated' in their execution and done in the US with one tenth the corruption of mexico!

[qualia]

This is about mexico- not the US, australia, or any other reasonably regulated nation. Mexico pays lip service to regulation to appease international bodies but in practice companies just have to buy local governments.

this is more or less how i see it. the fact that the land was declared sacred and protected, then was allowed to be mined anyway says that the mexican government can and will do whatever, without consulting indigenous populations. it's about the fact that the natives were not consulted before this was allowed to go ahead, now their sacred lands which are central to their culture are going to uprooted and destroyed. I don't for a second think that the mexican government can, and will, either look the other way or sign off on dodgy environmental impact statements if the price is right. imagine the outcry that would ensue if this was to happen in australia? if no one could stand for it in their own country, i don't see why they could stand for it in another part of the world.

[dundee]

If money is to be made, and resources are sitting under "sacred sites" governments dont give a sh*t, especially if they know they can get away with it, gilligan is right, I have years of working in the mining industry as well, in NZ and Australia, cyanide breaks down in water, I have also used cyanide pills for possum control, I have seen the effects.

I'm not saying mining is good for the enviroment, but it is part of our consumerist life, cyanide is a just one of many chemicals used in mining, to be honest I think there are far worse things leaching off mines than any cyanide risk.

[synchromesh]

I have some Huichol artwork, and it's among the most beautiful artwork I own... ...This sucks big time.