Some 17,000 tons of explosives will be detonated in the next five years as Aurmont Resources extracts an estimated six tons of gold from underneath a protected area of cork oak, this was the plan.
However, environmental association Quercus announced today that it has filed an injunction that challenges the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Boa-Fé mining project 15 kilometres from the historic city of Evora in the Alentejo.
The 100 hectare cork oak forest is part of the Natura 2000 Network of special countryside areas but Aurmont, owned by Candian company Colt Resources, was given permission for open cast mining at Casas Novas and Chaminé near Évora to get to the gold-bearing rocks 10 to 70 metres below ground. This involves the destruction of the trees, 17,000 of them.
The purpose of the Quercus injunction is to prevent mining in protected habitats as this is the Site of Community Importance of the Sierra Monfurado and in the Natura 2000 network and includes "important oak forests" reads a statement from the association.
Quercus already lodged its opinion against the project during the public consultation period of the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) which ended in April 2013.
At that time the environmentalists expressed opposition to the exploration of gold-bearing mineral deposits, 100,000 tons would have to be mined to obtain 6 tons of gold, stating that the project represented "high environmental risks for the region."
The Quercus analysis of the EIA concluded that "there are not sufficient guarantees of a solution to the massive environmental liabilities that will be created by this intervention and its impact on the surrounding area."
According to the EIA, the open-cast mining operation will run 24 hours a day and produce 11,000 tons of spoil, distributed over 37 hectares.
The project includes the installation of a 32 hectare dam where 10,000 tons of heavy metals will be deposited including arsenic, lead, copper, inorganic mercury, nickel, silver and zinc, over the five year project.
Quercus believes that there are "no guarantees" that the dam wall will prevent contamination in downstream water supplies and added that the project was given permission with the collusion of the local councils of Évora and Montemor-o-Novo which rather neatly altered their Municipal Master Plans and the Plan of Intervention in Rural Areas for Monfurado to enable permission to be grated to the Canadian company.
Quercus accuses the municipalities of "facilitating the aspirations of the applicant” and changing the land classification with the sole objective of being able to grant the company a license to mine in an area in where mining clearly was legally prohibited.
In 2012 Colt Resources’ Chief Executive, Nikolas Perrault, claimed that 100 local jobs would be created in a €100 million ‘investment.’
The Municipal Assembly of Évora held a special meeting on July 5th 2014 to look at the mining proposals and faced with the facts from Quercus, many councillors sensibly concluded that "pollution with chemicals at high concentrations, contaminated dust and pollution of water resources are negative factors, as pointed out by the local population.”
Most of the local councillors do not want the mining company to destroy their countryside and have asked the central authorities for "investment in other areas that bring long-term employment in a sustainable manner, without these considerable risks for the population."
Quercus said that the project proposal provides for the detonation of 340 tons of explosives each year which will create noise and dust containing unknown particles. This, plus a toxic lake, is not an ideal legacy for a short term gain of 100 jobs for 5 years and the percentage of sales that central government receives.
The search for gold will require the destruction of areas of cork oaks and holm oaks with 7,000 mature trees set for destruction.
Portugal is one of the most unspoilt countries in Europe with vast tracts of remote country acting as a natural habitat to hundreds of species, many of which already are threatened by man’s interference.
In 2012, Alvaro 'Have a License' Pereira, the then minister for the economy, had his eye on a fantastical €200 billion boost to public funds from mineral extraction before he was pushed out in the Paulo Portas 'Having a Tizzy' affair. Pereira granted dozens of concessions to mining companies during his term of office, with scant regard to environmental concerns.
It has taken organisations like Quercus legally to challenge this mineral rush and to engage in serious debate about the classification of land and the ease with which interested parties seem able to have restrictive classifications altered to suit mining companies.
Normally the government receives 4% of the mining company’s income. One thing is for sure, financially the mining companies will always do a lot better than the government which already has proved its befuddlement over contract detail with the poor deal agreed for the exploration for hydrocarbons off the Algarve coastline, and the A22 Algarve motorway deal which since tolls were introduced costs the taxpayer an additional €40 million a year.
In terms of cleaning up the environment, subsidiaries may be used which mysteriously fold when its time to spend money on repairing the damage caused by its activities.
Large tracts of Portugal’s wonderfully diverse landscape are protected and remain so through adherence to laws. This laws are not there for councils to twist to their own advantage as in the case at Boa-Fé, Evora.
