Company accused of dumping cyanide interferes with reporters

A supervisor at a Canadian joint-venture gold mine accused of dumping

cyanide in a local river refused to let a Vietnam Television crew film his work site in the central province of Quang Nam Thursday.

Reporters Van Thanh, Cong Dung and Trong Hoang were visiting the Lo River area for footage for a story on local fish breeders who claimed that cyanide dumping had killed large quantities of their fish on Wednesday morning.

The reporters then tried to film cyanide waste tanks at the Bong Mieu Gold Mining Company, but the company's environmental supervisor Kiko Sanchez tried to grab Thanh's camera, the reporters said.

Sanchez failed to snatch the camera, but instead covered the camera lens with his hand until the company's interpreter Bui Thi Luan arrived at the site.

Gerry Calpo, the company's mining manager, said the incident stemmed from a language barrier.

Cyanide is a poisonous chemical often used in gold mining.

Residents in Tam Lanh Commune's Tra Sung and Bong Mieu villages had gathered in front of the Bong Mieu Gold Mining Company's processing plant Wednesday morning to protest the firm they accused of dumping cyanide waste into the Lo River.

The residents said the cyanide had killed their fish.

They alleged the company had taken advantage of Tuesday's heavy rain to dump the toxic waste into the river.

Authorities have already taken water samples at the river section where fish expired for testing.

Bong Mieu Gold Mining, a joint venture between Canada's Olympus Pacific Minerals (OYM.T) and local partners Mineral Development Co. and Quang Nam Mineral JS Co., opened in 2005.

Reported by Ho Trong