Honduras protests threaten mining investment

Honduras protests threaten mining investment

Planetark, by Gustavo Palencia

May 10, 2004

Tegucigalpa - Protests at Honduran mining sites are threatening to scare away international investment in the nation's rich gold, silver, zinc and lead deposits, industry and government officials say.

Environmentalists and civil groups are in constant protest over Honduran mining activities, which consist mostly of open pit excavations run by four main outfits, three of them subsidiaries of Canadian companies and one that is Honduran.

"If we cannot put a stop to these anti-development groups and mining and exploration companies continue to be attacked, then they will simply leave and no new companies will come in to take their place", Enrique Rodriguez, the president of the Honduras National Association of Mining and Metals, told Reuters in an interview this week.

The pressure already looks poised to unseat the Canadian company Maverick, which pressure groups say has an exploration permit that infringes on a nature reserve.

Honduran President Ricardo Maduro, under growing pressure from ecologists, citizen groups and even the influential Catholic Church to put an end to mining activities, said on April 15 he would revoke Maverick's permit by August.

Maverick's legal representatives in Honduras refused to comment. "There are other countries that are giving miners a better reception and despite having the (mineral) resources we have, we are letting investments get away," said Rodriguez.

In 2003, Honduras exported 975,000 ounces of gold, 840,000 ounces of silver, 80 million pounds of zinc and 13 million tonnes of lead, the government mining fund DEFOMIN said.

The value of Honduran mineral exports more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2003, to $89 million from $22 million.

Protesters say their fight is to save the environment from the scars open pit mines inflict on the tropical landscape.

"We will continue to oppose mining in Honduras, especially of the open pit variety because of the destruction to forests and the environment and the threat of contamination," said Juan Almendarez, of the Madre Tierra environmental organization.

Miners who claim protests are blown out of proportion say they fix whatever damages they cause by planting trees over lands they have cleared.

"This atmosphere of protests in the country is being fanned by minorities," said Juan Castro of DEFOMIN. "We have a legal and competitive environment that will surely attract the mining investment we hope for."