Mainstream News - Turkish court cancels Eurogold mine

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 Turkish court cancels Eurogold mine

  * Contradictory messages about the cyanide-leaching method seem to
 confuse the locals of Efemcukuru. One of the protestors from
 Bergama said that grazing cows around the mine were dying
 
  _________________________________________________________________
  
TDN with wire dispatches

Ankara - A landmark decision, greatly rejoiced by the local people of
Bergama, will force the Canadian-Australian gold mining firm, Eurogold
Madencilik AS, to revise its methods. The Administrative Court
announced on Friday that it has cancelled that part of its process
that utilizes the controversial cyanide-leaching method. This method
is used in the post-mining decomposition process.

"The process of allowing the operations of a gold mine that utilizes
the cyanide-leaching method is not consistent with the public
interest. For that reason, the court decided unanimously on Oct. 15 to
cancel the process subject to this case," the court said in its final
verdict.

Eurogold, a $46-million joint venture between Canada's Inmet INM.TO
with a share of 66.7 percent and Australia's Normandy Mining NDY.AX
with 33.3 percent has been trying to overcome legal and public
opposition since it was set up in 1989.

Eurogold has not produced gold so far at the mine near Ovacik village
of Bergama township. The lawsuit was originally filed by approximately
700 residents in the region against the Environment Ministry who gave
the project the go ahead.

"The court's verdict must be implemented without a delay and work at
the mine must be stopped. The government has given its authority on
this mine to Environment Minister Imren Aykut who has earlier vowed to
take steps in line with the verdict," villagers' lawyers said in a
statement.

"No court decision has been forwarded to us and our lawyers are
looking into the matter," a Eurogold official in Turkey told Reuters.

  Locals of Bergama warn other towns in the region
  
Locals of Bergama, who have been raising their voices against the
cyanide-leaching method, were in Efemcukuru, a small town of Menderes
near Izmir, to inform villagers of the town about the dangers
associated with the system. Four buses with approximately two hundred
people from 17 towns of Bergama were stopped by the gendarmes at the
entrance of Efemcukuru. Arguments ensued with the gendarmes who
insisted on preventing the people from entering the town.

Oktay Konyar, the President of the board stated that they had come to
Efemcukuru to warn the people about the dangers of cyanide-leaching
methods and examine the environmental massacre done by the corporation
that would run the gold mine.

Mehmet Yilmaz, a geology engineer at TUPRAG, gave information about
the gold mine to prevent the growing discussion between the locals and
the gendarme. He said TUPRAG had been undertaking works in Efemcukuru
since 1992 and denied that they were harming the environment. Stating
that it would be dangerous for 200 people to see the gold mine, Yilmaz
offered to take a group of representatives into the mine. Then the
locals protested against the TUPRAG engineer with slogans such as
"Turkey won't be Africa! Eurogold will leave, this job will
disappear!"

  Examining the gold mine
  
The gendarmes who had barricaded the entrance of Efemcukuru permitted
a delegation of 15 people to visit the gold mine headed by Mehmet
Yilmaz.

"People have always thought that we were protesting only for
ourselves. We are against the cyanide-leaching method in general. We
want to inform people about this method. They use the same system in
here as well. They cut the trees to speed up the method. Civil society
organizations must act against these mines and warn people," said the
President of the Environmental Board of Bergama.

But the contradictory messages about the cyanide-leaching method seem
to confuse the locals of Efemcukuru as well. One of the locals stated
that officials from the TUPRAG took them to visit the Etibank
facilities, which uses the same method to dig for silver, in the
Tavsanli town of Kutayha and showed them video tapes that depict the
use of the same system in the United States, Germany and Africa.
Meanwhile, one of the protestors from Bergama stated that the locals
of Tavsanli said grazing cows around the mine were dying.

Halil Sagdic, the Elderly Council of the Ovacik town stated that they
were not against gold mining, but the decomposition process, for which
the cyanide is being used, should only be utilized far from the towns.
"The cyanide pools are very close to our homes, land and water
sources. The mine area is approximately 10 kilometers away from the
Balcova dam. The drinking water of Izmir will be under the threat of
cyanide in a short time," said Sagdic.


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