Barrick Doubles Funding for Environmental Clean-Up in the Dominican Republic
(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) September 2, 2011 - At the site of the Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic, Barrick Gold Corporation is leading one of the mining industry’s most ambitious environmental rehabilitation projects.
The large-scale clean-up effort was necessitated by the improper closure of a former mine on the Pueblo Viejo property in 1999. Over the years, the old mine caused extensive contamination of soil and local waterways. Barrick has completed rehabilitation of the operating areas of the project to international standards.
In addition to site rehabilitation, Barrick has agreed to fund and manage the clean-up of the surrounding area, which will help to improve local living conditions. Under the original project agreement, the Dominican government was responsible for historic impacts outside the project area.
“Despite the fact that the contract between the company and the state stipulates that Barrick is only responsible for cleaning up the environment in the areas it is developing, the company has also taken on the rehabilitation of other zones outside that area,” said Octavio López director of Mining at the country’s Trade and Industry ministry.
“It was initially proposed that if the clean-up cost $75 million, the company would contribute $37.5 million and the state would contribute the other half, but in the end Barrick offered to take on the full cost of remediation,” López said. “Every element and substance there was hazardous and was handled according to the highest environmental quality standards in effect in any developed country,” he said.
Construction at Pueblo Viejo is underway and production is scheduled to start mid-2012. The project is operated by Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation (PVDC), a company jointly owned by Barrick (60 per cent) and Goldcorp (40 per cent). Total expected mine life is more than 25 years.
Barrick Gold Corporation is the world's largest gold mining company. We operate 26 mines on five continents and employ more than 20,000 people worldwide. Barrick is listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and has been ranked as a world leader in social and environmental responsibility for the third consecutive year by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Our corporate website is barrick.com and you can read stories about responsible mining at barrickbeyondborders.com.
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