Goldcorp bested by Mayan mother

ANDY HOFFMAN

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

July 9, 2008 at 11:52 PM EDT

It took about $150-million and 18 months of construction to put Goldcorp Inc.'s Marlin Mine in Guatemala into production. It took just a few minutes, however, for a local farmer to shut it down.

For nearly a month now, the company has been unable to operate the mine's mill, after Gregoria Perez intentionally damaged a power line on her property that supplies the company with electricity.

When Goldcorp workers went to fix the power line, they were blocked by residents and anti-mining activists.

Ms. Perez, a Mayan mother of six, who farms a small plot of land in San Miguel Ixtahuacan, says a warrant has now been issued for her arrest as well as seven other local women and one man.

“We've had many problems here with the company. It has caused damages to our houses. There is an energy line that is going to fall down. There are sicknesses that are happening. That's why we took the decision to do what we did. Now we have charges against us,” Ms. Perez said in telephone interview yesterday from Guatemala that was translated by an official from Rights Action, an non-governmental organization (NGO) that is also opposed to the mine.

Goldcorp vehemently denies Ms. Perez's allegations and said it offered her more money under a revised “right-of-way” agreement giving the company access to the land that was originally signed in 2005.

“We've always dealt openly and honestly with the landowners there,” Goldcorp spokesman Jeff Willhoit said.

Even without electricity, the company continues to dig Marlin's open pit and underground mine and stockpile ore. However, without the power to run the mill it can't process the ore and produce gold.

“We consider this to be very dangerous tampering. First and foremost, we're very concerned for the well-being of everybody in that area along the power line as well as the person undertaking the tampering. We just want to resolve it for health and safety's sake,” Mr. Willhoit said in an interview.

Ms. Perez's bold decision to pull the plug on the Marlin mine's mill (temporarily at least), represents the latest victory for an increasingly powerful global anti-mining movement.

From Argentina to Romania to Canada, environmentalists and activists are enjoying more and more success in their attempts to delay, disrupt or even halt mining projects.

Toronto-based Gabriel Resources Ltd. has seen its Rosia Montana gold project in Romania held up for years by aggressive opposition from well-financed NGOs. The company even funded an anti-environmentalist documentary in an attempt to discredit its critics. The project remains on hold.

In Argentina, mining has been banned in some areas, partly because of local opposition. While in Canada, debate has raged recently over the proposed use of lakes to dump mine waste. Northgate Minerals Corp. abandoned its proposed Kemess North gold mine last year after local First Nations groups in British Colombia convinced a joint federal-provincial panel to reject the Vancouver company's plans to use a lake for tailings disposal.

Goldcorp is quietly trying to resolve its problems in Guatemala and reach an agreement with Ms. Perez. It said it has not sought help from local authorities or security forces and has asked a local human rights commission to mediate the dispute.

The power outage represents just the latest headache for an operation that has often been mired in controversy. A Mayan man was killed in 2005 in a protest blocking a road to the mine. Marlin is one of Goldcorp's largest and most profitable deposits and is expected to produce about 250,000 ounces of gold and four million ounces of silver per year during its life. But the mine has also garnered fierce opposition from a group of local residents assisted by NGOs. They claim the mine is contaminating water and that blasting is damaging nearby houses. They also allege the company used coercive tactics to win land rights from residents.

Goldcorp rejects the activist's claims. The company says it paid residents more than 10 times the market value for the land. It also employs more than 800 Guatemalans, helping the local economy.

Goldcorp is now working on constructing an alternative power line that wouldn't need access to Ms. Perez's land that could be operational by late July.