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RobertA August 31, 2010

What kind of environmental standards does Goldcorp gold mining company have?

I've heard that Goldcorp Inc has made some environmental transgressions. Is this true?

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KhrisI September 4, 2010

Goldcorp Inc is a huge name in the gold mining business with the best production growth profile around. The headquarters of Goldcorp are in Vancouver, but they have fourteen business proceedings and projects all over the United States and Australia. Being that it is such an important gold producer, it is particularly unfortunate that what you've heard is true – Goldcorp has violated environmental standards. Currently, Goldcorp Inc intends to close San Martin, one of their Honduras gold mines by the end of the year. At this point, leading officials and organizations in Honduras are banding together to insist that the gold mining company pay for the harm they have brought to the environment and to the local people and areas affected by the gold mining. Apparently, the San Martin gold mine has been a major polluter since it opened ten years ago. Irreparable damage has been caused to the land due to the dangerous amounts of heavy metals that have been found in the water that flows within the vicinity of the gold mine. As a result, members of the local communities have reported some rather serious health conditions that could very well be the product of the contaminated drinking water. It is widely believed that the San Martin gold mine is a major source of this damage, due to their specific method of gold extraction. Goldcorp uses a cyanide heap leaching process that is prohibited in many of the states in America precisely because of its capacity to discharge hazardous toxins into groundwater if it is not controlled with great care. It is certainly regrettable that Goldcorp Inc is only one of the countless gold mining companies in the world that are environmentally irresponsible. A couple of organizations, Development & Peace and Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, are doing their best to ensure that Goldcorp Inc take responsibility for their actions by rectifying the toxic damage they have caused and recompensing the local people for all that they have suffered. The bottom line is that the environment and the local population in Honduras have been paying the price for Goldcorp Inc being the lowest cost gold producer in the world, and it's about time they were compensated by the gold mining giant.

 
 

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