Valle de San Felix, Chile

[Im going home Donny]

edit to add...please note an error in this process was pointed out and your best bet to sign an effective petition on this matter would be to scroll down to Karin Annies post and go through the link she/he has set up.

Cheers

DEAR FRIENDS WHO CARE ABOUT OUR EARTH!

In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile

runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers.

Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be

fought for it.

Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no

unemployment, and they provide the second largest

source of income for the area.

Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of

gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it

would be necessary to break, to destroy

the glaciers - something never conceived of in the

history of the world - and to make 2 huge holes, each

as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction

and one for the mine's rubbish tip.

The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is

called Barrick Gold.

The operation is planned by a multi-national company,

one of whose members is George Bush Senior.

The Chilean Government has approved the project to

start this year, 2006.

The only reason it hasn't started yet is because the

farmers have got a temporary stay of execution.

If they destroy the glaciers, they will not just

destroy the source of specially pure water, but they

will permanently contaminate the 2 rivers so

they will never again be fit for human or animal

consumption because of the use of cyanide and

sulphuric acid in the extraction process.

Every last gramme of gold will go abroad to the

multinational company and not one will be left with

the people whose land it is. They will only

be left with the poisoned water and the resulting

illnesses.

The farmers have been fighting a long time for their

land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal by a

ban from the Ministry of the Interior.

Their only hope now of putting brakes on this project

is to get help from international justice.

The world must know what is happening in Chile.

The only place to start changing the world is from here.

We ask you to circulate this message amongst your

friends in the following way.

Please copy this text,

paste it into a new email adding your

signature and send it to everyone in your address

book. Please will the 100th* person to receive and sign

the petition send it to noapascualama@yahoo.ca to

be forwarded to the Chilean government.

Note* it looks like there are a few signatures missing near the beginning of

THIS copy of the petition .... therefore only send it to the above address

if you are the 118th person to sign.*

NO! to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean

Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier.

We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the

Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3

glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix

Valley and El Transito, the quality of the

agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the

quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the

whole population of the region.

Signature, City, style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Manchester, UK

5) Tanya Corker, Manchester, UK

6) Claire Colvine, size=2>Madrid, Spain

12) Michelle Campbell, Vancouver, Canada

13) Lynn Irving, Arial">UK

23) Kirsteen Ruffell, London UK

24) Virginnia Nuutinen, Sydney, Australia

25) Donna Alderson, Sydney, Australia

26) Mal Buchanan, Auckland, NZ

27) Shianne Buchanan, Auckland, NZ

28) Chris Hay, Auckland NZ

29) Kathryn Thomas, Auckland NZ

30) Shiree Lambert, Auckland, NZ

31) father James Robson,Vancouver,Canada

32) Luigi Cianni, Vancouver, Canada 33) Cathy Silvera, Delta, B.C.

34) Rev. Julie Montague, Maple Falls, WA

35) Dawn Muncaster

36) Alice Taylor, BC Canada

37) Sharon Alder, Victoria, B.C.,Canada

38) Maggie Tchir, Nelson, BC Canada

39) Kiara Lynch, Nelson, BC, Canada

40) Julia Barsellotti, Ottawa, ON, Canada

I did put this in 'Politics' but mabey it has a higher chance of getting copied and mailed around from here.

Thanks!

Edited May 26, 2006 by Guest

[afro poppa]

sending right now...what a shame

[phorbesie]

i'm a bit confused how this works...

julia if you signed as #40 and copy and email it out to all your friends, who all sign as #41 and copy and email it to their friends, and so on, and everytime it reaches 100 it gets sent to chile, aren't peoples' names on many many multiple versions? how does it get an accurate count?

[afro poppa]

yea thats true, i was thinking the same thing

[Im going home Donny]

well you copy and paste it, then add your name as the next number...after 100 it gets started anew at #1.

Though it could get a bit screwy by putting it here then continuing but I figured it might just work itself out.....but yeah I wondered too after putting it here but the whole thing had me near tears...okay tears... so I guess somethings better than nothing.

suggestions are tottally welcome.

thanks guys.

Edited May 26, 2006 by Guest

[can-o-phish]

Thanks for the email this morning Howler...I copied, pasted and sent it out to many...I know I still owe you a semi-lenghty update but I'm buried in animation land and busy making things go KA-POW, BANG, WAMOW & SPLAT!!! I will catch up soon...

[Im going home Donny]

thanks cop...and no worries...I am a patient soul.

Glad things are kerplowin along nicely.

[phorbesie]

that would work if you are only sending it along to one person, but not if you are sending it to your entire address book, as it suggests you do.

[KarinGarage]

The site actually straddles the chile-argentina border. it looks like they're still waiting on approval of the argentinean government, which i'm sure they'll get since they already signed a mining treaty with chile. this is from www.barrick.com

"The Company filed for its environmental permits in both Chile and Argentina in 2004. Approval was received from Chilean environmental regulatory authorities in early 2006, and approval from the Argentine regulatory authorities is targeted for second quarter 2006. Upon receipt of these approvals, a three-year construction schedule will begin, with production targeted for 2009."

here's a link to a petition if you're against the project: www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/946839131

[phorbesie]

great...thanks!

[StoneMtn]

Just signed.

I saw phorbesie's name on that petition, but I hope to see a whole lot more skancs on there soon.

[Im going home Donny]

Phorbs...yeah I see what you mean now....I was anxcious about heading to the Dentist for further torture....while I was being tortured I got what you were saying...not sure what the solution might be?????

I'm currently experiancing much pain from my visit to the little shop of horrors but definately trying to think about it??

oops missed Karieannes attachment...better idea I guess to just send folks there.

Cheers!

oh and thanks Phorbs for pointing out the prob' so it could get worked out.

Edited May 26, 2006 by Guest

[StoneMtn]

There is a similar discussion to this ongoing on another board. A friend of mine posted the following, which I think is an interesting and well-informed read...

greetings from the arctic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

where to begin

for the past week i've been walking the tundra around the Ekati Diamond mine in the middle of the northwest territories. we've been conducting ongoing fisheries studies related to mine operations.

last year i worked here and i worked on the Galore Creek project currently being developed by Nova Gold at the headwaters of the stikine.(funny we're not talking about that project)

straight off i'll say i have a bit of a problem with minewatch. first hand i can say that they were reporting pre-feasibility study numbers for streams affected by the Galore project access road, before we even confirmed how many streams there were.

we studied the route that minewatch drew attention to and due to a variety of reasons, including our study results finding extremely high fisheries value, the access route was changed to an area with virtually no fish. the alternate route will be much more expensive to develop. nonetheless, before studies were complete, minewatch released a report based on the initial road option which will NOT be used. take that as you will.

As the environmental consultant, rescan was forced to start a company with the Tahltan First Nations Employment of local first nations is a HUGE priority.

The concept of developing a mine within a glacier is a bit hard to fathom as the water management issues would constitute an extreme liability for mine operations. At Galore, which is right at the toe of a glacier water management from glacial melt threatens the entire project. Galore Creek is one of the biggest projects going on in the world right now.

many companies are accepting the environmental and socioeconomic implications of mining activities and attempting to conduct their operation in the most sensitive manner possible. I was recently at a Nova Gold meeting in vancouver where the senior management and owner were present and very open about the destructive nature of their business. Galore will have the 5th largest dam in the world to contain tailings. Tailings and acid rock drainage are definitely of the utmost concern environmentally and one of the main problems associated with mineral extraction.

companies are realizing that they can't conduct business in the same manner as they used to. it's my opinion, and only my opinion that Barrick is smarter than to develop an ore body in the manner that opposition suggests they will. However, both sides always have their points.

This is the world we live in. We extract resources and make our stuff. All mines suck. Diamonds have represented destruction of the environment and exploitation of aboriginal cultures around the world for a very long time.....when they get to us they represent eternal love and companionship. the irony is sickening.

Mineral extraction will continue and as we use up the easily accessible stuff, we will see companies going to greater extremes to get what they're after and what we need to build our little mp3 players and gold necklaces. It's difficult to conceive of no mining at all. Check the price of gold over the past few years. I think what we can hope for is that resources are developed in a truly sustainable manner....eventually. Compensation packages and reclamation plans are now a huge part of any mineral development.

Blah, blah, blah... I wrote this really fast as i'm currently fogged in.

At close range within the Ekati operation i have seen arctic fox, caribou, arctic hare, crazy lots of birds (ptarmigans are fricken' cool) and there's been a lone white wolf following us around lately. feels like she's watching over us, which is cool cuz there's definitely barren ground grizzlies close to camp. Arctic grayling, lake trout and round whitefish in abundance.

All that said. it breaks my heart as i walk around any kind of remote industrial development (which i've done for many years). I truly love all the little creatures and feel terrible for their loss!! I wish people cared more. I long for a utopian world but am too realistic to hope for it in my lifetime.

Dereks point is well made. What are you willing to give up for that mine not to happen?

Link

[mattm]

First, thanks for pointing this out, I've told many people about it just so that they know where their gold baubles come from and the death and pain toll that is an invisible part of the price (of course most people ignore me as to listen is to give up luxuries...)

This is the world we live in. We extract resources and make our stuff. All mines suck. Diamonds have represented destruction of the environment and exploitation of aboriginal cultures around the world for a very long time.....when they get to us they represent eternal love and companionship. the irony is sickening.

Yes and thanks to your buddy and anyone else that can recognize this.

Edited June 11, 2006 by Guest