Bolivia's government will carry out a referendum on Amayapampa gold mine
Published by MAC on 2009-05-18Source: The Age, Bloomberg
On December 1996, then-Bolivian president and mining entrepreneur, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, sent 1,500 military and policemen to occupy the Amayapampa gold mine. At the time the mine was under control of its workers, and this brutal assault - known as the "Christmas Massacre" (masacre de Navidad) - resulted in nine people being killed and another 50 people injured.
Bolivia's current mining minister, Luis Alberto Echazú, recently announced that the Morales government would carry out a democratic consultation with the local communities, to seek a peaceful solution to current conflicts over the mine.
Australian mining company, Republic Gold, claims that the mine's environmental contamination was caused by previous operations in the region.
Bolivians drive out Australian miners
The Age (Australia)
15th May 2009
The indigenous community in Bolivia's Potosi region has forced the Australian mining company Republic Gold to abandon a gold-mining venture in the country's southeast, a company spokeswoman says.
Republic Gold's representative Esther Jiton told Bolivia's La Razon newspaper that indigenous Quechua people in the town of Chayantakas had issued threats against the local head of the Australian firm, John Kelly, forcing him to sign a document agreeing to abandon efforts to seek gold ore in the area's Amayapampa mine. "It was a document signed under extreme duress, with threats against his life," said Jiton on Thursday.
Inhabitants of the region are said to be worried about possible environmental damage from mining, according to reports. The newspaper added that Republic Gold had already invested $US14 million in the mining venture, which had been run earlier by Luzon Minerals.
Republic Gold Aims to Start Bolivia Mine Next Year
By Alex Emery, Bloomberg
14th May 2009
Republic Gold Ltd., an Australian minerals explorer, plans to start a gold mine in Bolivia next year, Managing Director John Kelly said, denying a report that the company was abandoning the deposit.
Mareeba, Queensland-based Republic aims to start producing 100,000 ounces of gold annually at the $35 million Amayapampa mine in the fourth quarter of next year, Kelly said today in a telephone interview from La Paz. "Gold prices are up and costs are coming down, so it's a good time to be building a mine," Kelly said. "We also have firm government backing for the project."
Republic aims to complete financing and a feasibility study for the gold mine, which will be Bolivia's largest, by September, he said. Earlier this month, the company also raised A$4.7 million ($3.6 million) through a share sale, Kelly said. The company is also exploring for gold in Australia.
A report today in La Razon, a La Paz newspaper, saying that the company had abandoned the deposit, is false, Kelly said. Company and government officials are holding talks and workshops with local communities in a bid to overcome fears about the project's environmental consequences, he said.
Amayapampa, located in the Andes about 400 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of La Paz, holds reserves for 1.1 million ounces of gold, according to the company's Web site. Drilling completed yesterday will expand those resources, Kelly said.
Generating Cash
"The idea is to generate cash flow and continue expanding our reserves," Kelly said. "The resource potential is massive in this major mineral belt that runs through Bolivia into Peru."
Republic slipped 0.3 cent, or 11 percent, to 2.4 Australian cents today in Australian Securities Exchange trading. The miner's shares tumbled 74 percent in the past year.