The government and the company Barrick Pueblo Viejo will soon announce the place where the mining company will be allowed to build a tailings dam to continue with the gold exploitation it is developing in Maimn.
The announcement was made to Diario Libre by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Almonte , during an interview with this newspaper, and he reserved himself to go into more details before that announcement is made.
"We have been these days (...) already discussing final aspects to, at some point, announce to the country a definitive solution that has to do with the definitive location where that tailings dam will be built , the conditions, etc.," He said.
A tailings or tailings dam is where the inert material resulting from mining processes is deposited. They are usually made up of ground rocks, water and minerals with no commercial value.
The construction of a tailings dam by the mining company has generated controversy because residents of Monte Plata oppose its development in that province due to the environmental impact it could cause.
In November of last year, Juana Barcel, president of Barrick Pueblo Viejo , assured that there is a lot of misinformation regarding the environmental impact of the mining project's operations. She agreed with the Dominican government hiring a firm to carry out an independent study in this regard.
IT MAY INTEREST YOU The most exported product by the Dominican Republic continues to be gold, reaching US$1,831,463,871 in January-December 2021, according to the Dominican Association of Exporters (Adoexpo).
IT MAY INTEREST YOU "We have a production that is being reduced," Barcel said at the time. "What the mine life extension project is looking for is basically to increase that production (...), if that does not happen, we would have a drop of an average of 500 thousand ounces."
He estimated that the continuity project will derive in more than US$9,000 million of additional income for the Dominican State.
"The Dominican government is not going to give any permit to any mining project that has the slightest indication in the environmental impact studies, and the evaluations made by the Ministry of the Environment and the expert offices, (that) it is negative for the society"Anthony AlmonteMinister of Energy and Mines“
“The Dominican Republic, and particularly Barrick Gold, which has a very clear and efficient schedule, I say, for taking advantage of its gold potential in the international market, cannot lose much time either, and I think that sooner rather than later. a satisfactory solution must be announced to the country,” said Almonte.
Amount of gold available
The Deputy Minister of Mines, Miguel Daz, reported that the Barrick Pueblo Viejo mining project has 13 million exploitable ounces of gold, which exceeds the average availability of this type of deposit. The mine is operated by the Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation, a joint venture between Barrick (60%) and Newmont (40%).