加拿大巴立克金礦（Barrick Gold）公司3月初宣佈將放棄一項引發爭議的採金計畫，地點在阿根廷拉里約哈（La Rioja）省的法瑪悌娜（Famatina）， 一個位於靜謐安地斯原住民聚落中的小鎮。在反對採礦業的副省長赫瑞拉（Luis Beder Herrera）主導省議會表決通過禁止於該省使用氰化物露天採礦後，巴立克金礦隨即發表此放棄聲明。
為反對巴立克金礦事業而聚集在公民議會的當地權益相關人，皆對此消息感到慶賀。當禁令於23日上午投票通過，與會人士便遊行到礦場並將入口封起，要求巴立克移除設備，永久搬離。
權益相關人在礦場設下路障，使得巴立克的代表進退不得，兩方人馬在入口發生激烈交涉。他們暫時達成協議 ，巴立克會在7天內將設備完全移除，儘管該公司要求60天期限。而20位巴立克員工已喀使著手拆除機械。
赫瑞拉目前正緊鑼密鼓地角逐2007年10月選舉的省長大位。而他主導省議會通過的露天採礦禁令，將於6月或7月舉行當地公投複決，以查民意向背。但巴立克公司似乎不願等待公投結果，已經捲起舖蓋收拾打包，該省政府單位表示他們預期巴立克會以法律行動求償損失。
阿根廷國內有許多嚴重環境問題，包括在與烏拉圭邊界設立紙漿廠的爭議、現有紙漿與造紙廠的污染、露天垃圾場、石化物質外洩、河川湖泊污染等，此次巴立克撤出法瑪悌娜，可以說是阿根廷對環境問題漸趨重視的結果。
Canadian mining company Barrick Gold announced earlier this month that it will abandon a controversial gold mining project it planned in Famatina, a town situated in a quiet Andean enclave of La Rioja Province. The announcement came hours after the House of Representatives of the Provincial Legislature, led by anti-mining Vice Governor Luis Beder Herrera, voted to ban open air mining using cyanide in all of the province.
Local stakeholders, united in a Citizen's Assembly against the Barrick Gold venture celebrated the news. Immediately following the voting of the law Friday morning, the assembly marched to the site and closed off the entry to Barrick demanding they immediately remove their equipment and go home.
Tense negotiations ensued between stakeholders and Barrick representatives, who could not exit or enter the mining camp due to stakeholder roadblocks at the site. They reached a tentative agreement in which Barrick would remove its equipment in seven days, as opposed to the 60 days requested by the company. Twenty Barrick employees are now working on dismantling machinery.
Herrera is in a tight race for the governor's chair to be decided in upcoming October elections. He led the legislative ban on open air mining in the province, a law which calls for a local referendum in June or July to support or reject the legislative decision.
Barrick seems not to want to wait for a public vote and has packed its bags. Government sources say that the province expects legal action from Barrick for losses.
The Barrick pullout from Famatina comes on the heels of growing concern in Argentina over serious environmental problems around the country, including controversial pulp mills going up on the Uruguayan border, contamination from existing pulp and paper mills, polluting industrial tannery operations, open air garbage sites, petrochemical spills, and contaminated rivers and lakes.
全文及圖片詳見 ENS報導
