MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentine province suspends mining project from Canadian company Osisko
Famatina mayor Bordagaray, “a historic ruling” A court from the Argentine province of La Rioja ruled in favour of suspending the mining project led by Canadian company Osisko in Famatina until the Glaciers Law is applied in the area.
Judge Daniel Flores, in the Chilecito department, ruled in favour of a cautionary measure filed by the Famatina city hall so the agreement between the mining company and the provincial government signed in August 21st, 2011 is temporarily suspended.
The mayor of Famatina, Ismael Bordagaray, called it a “historic ruling.”
“The Chilecito court has decided to rule in our favour,” he said happily, and considered this the town's first achievement in the legal battle that has most of its population at odds with the provincial government.
Bordagaray explained that among the various suggestions in the ruling, one urges the company “not to pursue any further exploration in the explosives area until the Glaciers Law is applied in the region.”
The mayor also said he was “satisfied” by what he called “the department’s independence from the provincial government.”
“To us this is a fundamental issue. It's our first achievement in a legal battle and it proves we’re right. The Chilecito court is the one that understands us the most, the one that remains committed, knows about this whole issue and remains independent,” he explained.
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Read all commentsBad news for Argntine foreign investment. Mining compnaies bring huge investment and provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs which would of been very welcome in poor regions such as La Rioja which has no other viable industries. This news will only cause mining companies to cut back investment. After all there was already an agreement in palce with the provincial government which has now been suspended.
Jul 19th, 2012 - 12:42 pm 0Luckily the problem is small, i.e. that the galciers needs to be identified and protected (similar to what has already stipulated in the mining concession agrremtn for Pasca-Lama. Once this is done we will hopefully see some much needed investment in La Rioja province and the clean up of historical illegal mining in the area which has left a huge polution leagacy (the mine is located near a river called the Yello River, Il let you guess why it is called that.)
“At this point in time Famatina is an exploration project only; there is no current plan, design or intent for any mining operations...development of a mine is still highly hypothetical”
Jul 19th, 2012 - 01:10 pm 0- Osisko Mining Corporation press release, 30 January 2012
http://www.osisko.com/en/press/2012/01/30/665/osisko-updates-status-of-famatina-exploration-project.html
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Jul 19th, 2012 - 01:24 pm 0Agreed, however this makes it even more dangerous for the officals to be taking a harder line. the less money Osisko have invested the more likely they would be to pull the plug on the operation and walk away.
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