I generally do not react strongly to issues like this. I do not know if this is Authentic, but wanted people to be aware of this. who care about our earth. Judge for yourself if you want to take action. In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers. Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be fought for it. Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no unemployment, and they provide the second largest source of income for the area. Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers - something never conceived of in the history of the world - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine's rubbish tip. The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold. The operation is planned by a multi-national company, one of whose members is George Bush Senior. The Chilean Government has approved the project to start this year, 2006. The only reason it hasn't started yet is because the farmers have got a temporary stay of execution. If they destroy the glaciers, they will not just destroy the source of especially pure water, but they will permanently contaminate the 2 rivers so they will never again be fit for human or animal consumption because of the use of cyanide and sulphuric acid in the extraction process. Every last gram of gold will go abroad to the multinational company and not one will be left with the people whose land it is. They will only be left with the poisoned water and the resulting illnesses. The farmers have been fighting a long time for their land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal by a ban from the Ministry of the Interior. Their only hope now of putting brakes on this project is to get help from international justice. The world must know what is happening in Chile. The only place to s tart changing the world is from here. We ask you to circulate this message amongst your friends in the following way. Please copy this text, paste it into a new email adding your signature and send it to everyone in your address book. Please, will the 100th person to receive and sign the petition, send it to noapascualama@yahoo.ca to be forwarded to the Chilean Government. No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier. We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the whole population of the region. Signature, City, Country: 1) Katharine Proudfoot, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK 2) Laura Cole, London, UK 3) David Platt, London, UK 4) Diane Platt, Manchester, UK 5) Tanya Corker, Manchester, UK 6) Nicola Hargreaves, UK 7) Nicholas Jones, UK 8) Johann Don-Daniel, Germany 9) Ashley Berger, Germany 10) Sarah Downie, Leeds, UK 11) Paula Delahunty, Bingley, UK 12) John O'Driscoll, Bingley, Uk 13) Jordan-Lee Delahunty, Bingley, UK 14) Claire Mulvey, Bradford, UK 15) Marie Malcolm Bradford, UK 16) Ann Clowes, Halifax UK 17) Jayne McGee, Brighouse UK 18) Jason Barratt Oldham UK 19) Lindsay Torrance, Rochdale UK 20) Maggie Ford, Rochdale, U.K. 21) Barry Cook, Todmorden, U.K. 22) Shelley Burgoyne, Todmorden, U.K. 23) Lisa Stuart, Potes, Spain. 24) Michael Stuart, Potes, Spain. 25) Renee Engl, Byron Bay, Australia 26) Adrian Begg, Brunswick Heads, Australia 27) Riana Begg, Brunswick Heads, Australia 28) Oriel Paterson, Brunswick Heads, Australia 29) Alicia Paterson, Brisbane, Australia 30) Lyneve Robinson, Sydney, Australia 31) Jennifer Moalem, Sydney, Australia 32) Alexandra Pope, Sydney Australia 33) Shushann Movsessian, Sydney Australia 34) Amanda Frost 35) Chris Liddell, AUS 36) Jade Deegan, AUS 37) Jo Satori, AUS 38) Jennie Gorman, Vic AUS 39) Angelique Queensley, Vic. Canada 40) Chrystyanna Queensley, Vic. Canada 41) Monica Robertson, Canada 42) Rick Brown, AB Canada 43) Joanna Shandro, AB Canada 44) Jon Eisman, Ashland, OR 45) Michelle Grace, Ashland, OR 46) Jade Eisman-Grace, Talent, Or 47) Stephen Wolpin. Santa Paula, CA, USA 48) Edward Bear, Santa Barbara, CA, USA 49) Buryl Weissan, Santa Barbara, CA, USA 50) Rosie Hale, Ventura, Ca 51) Alegri'a Angeles, Ojai, CA 52) Helga Scow Stern, Ojai, CA 53) Peggy LaCerra, Ojai, CA 54) Suza Francina, Ojai, CA 55) Tara Blasco, Ojai, Ca 56) Liz French Santa Barbara, CA 57) Gordon Coburn, Santa Barbara, CA 58) Christine Sprenger, Santa Barbara, CA 59) Kelley Picard, Loveland, CO 60) Nola MacDonald, Fort Collins, CO 61) Therese Mahannah, Berthoud, CO 62) Marti Miller, Austin, TX 63) Anne Fertitta, Austin, TX 64) Cherie Rachel, Austin, TX 65) Dorcas Paden, Austin, TX
While the project is real, a lot of the assumptions are false. Take a look at the PASCUA LAMA FACT SHEET
