cyanide-based open-pit industrial mining
Mining exploration and exploitation in the Siria Valley (municipalities of San Ignacio, Cedros and El Porvenir), began in 1995 and intensified after Hurricane Mitch (1998). The General Mining Law was approved on November 30, 1998, one month after Hurricane Mitch. It was published in the official “la Gaceta” on February 6, 1999 and came into force in 2000.
British experts in acid mine drainage carried out a study for the Catholic Overseas Development Agency (CAFOD) headquartered in London, and uncovered official documents demonstrating water contamination caused by the Minerales Entremares company of Honduras, a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company, Goldcorp. The company must now agree to long-term monitoring of the site to prevent acid mine drainage and erosion problems in the future.
Report by Dr. Juan Almendares, translated for Rights Action by Rosalind Gill, about health and environmental harms caused by Goldcorp in Honduras' Siria Valley.
