Costa Rican gold mine suspended over pollution risks

A multinational coalition of environmental and human rights organisations is calling on Canadian mining company Glencairn Gold Corporation to disclose information about suspected cyanide and metals pollution from its Bellavista gold mine in Costa Rica. Glencairn shut down the mine in late July, following heavy rains that caused substantial earth movements, and has reported in financial statements that the mine “may remain closed indefinitely”, but has not made available any information about the extent of current or potential damage. The groups also demand proper clean-up and remediation of any current or future contamination.

Bellavista is an openpit gold mine, and uses cyanide heap-leaching – in which huge piles of crushed ore are soaked with a cyanide solution – to extract gold. According to Glencairn, heavy rainfall in May led to significant earth movements that disturbed these massive heaps of cyanide-tainted wastes as well as other waste rock piles at the mine. Experts familiar with the mine fear that such conditions could lead to pollution of water and soil with cyanide and other contaminants owing to a rupture in the leach-pad lining. Glencairn has said that it first noticed cracks in two corners of the leach pad in May, but the company continued to operate the mine and apply cyanide until July 25.

“Putting an openpit gold mine in a mountainous, tropical region, prone to landslides and torrential rainfall, is a disaster waiting to happen,” says Interamerican Association for Environmental Defence chemist Dr Anna Cederstav. In 2005, Cederstav had testified before Costa Rica’s Supreme Court about the likely impacts of the Bellavista mine. Even before the mine was approved, Cederstav and other independent technical experts had warned that the region’s topo-graphy and rainfall make it an inappropriate location for a large-scale mine.

Cleaning up and con-trolling mining pollution can be extremely expensive, costing hundreds of millions of dollars for long-term treatment to protect water supplies. Glencairn has provided just $250 000 in financial guarantees for Bellavista – funds which are intended for mine clean-up, and do not provide insurance against mishaps like the unstable leach pad.

The coalition calls on the Costa Rican government to commission a team of independent technical experts to conduct a review of the Bellavista mine, and to ensure that Glencairn will undertake and fully cover the costs of all necessary mitigation and remediation.

“Glencairn must make sure that communities around the mine are protected from pollution, and that includes paying for clean-up,” says Earthworks and the “No Dirty Gold” campaign representative, Payal Sampat. “Otherwise, taxpayers and communities are stuck with the bill – and the pollution.”

Costa Rica outlawed all new openpit mining in 2002, but the Bellavista mine was given a permit prior to the ban. It is the only large operating openpit mine in this ecotourism-dependent country.

“Costa Rica has had the foresight to ban openpit mining, which can be incredibly destructive to people and the environment,” said Costa Rican Friends of the Earth spokesperson Gabriel Rivas-Ducca. “We hope this incident will serve as a warning to other regions that are opening their doors to gold-mining.”

Cyanide and the metal contamination produced at mines such as this are toxic to humans and extremely dangerous for wildlife, especially aquatic species. If mixed with acidic water, typically present at gold mines, cyanide generates hydrogen cyanide gas, an even more potent poison. Gold-mining can also cause significant pollution of soil and water with sulphuric acid drainage and metals such as arsenic and mercury.

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