Without a proper evaluation being made of the impacts of the project, the installation of an open-pit iron mine in the centre of the country, with a 230 km long ore slurry pipeline leading to an important port on the ocean coast, was brightly announced. This would affect the ecosystem and pastoral farming in the Cuchilla Grande, palm groves and wetlands, the Laguna Negra, the environment, tourism and the coastal populations of Rocha.

By Víctor L. Bacchetta

05/03/2011.

Mining project threatens various ecosystems. Uruguayans and tourists - beware!

The transnational company Zamin Ferrous, better known in Uruguay by the name Aratirí, has been carrying out research and exploration work in iron reserves in the areas surrounding Valentines and Cerro Chato and in the departments of Florida, Durazno, Treinta y Tres and Cerro Largo, to determine the viability of carrying out mining production which would require a capital of 2,000 million dollars.

Growing conflict

The mining company is interested in an area of 110,000 hectares, which is currently occupied by more than 350 pastoral farming producers. It is an atypical area of the country, since the pieces of land are medium to small, and also for the high number of family producers who have lived and worked on this land for several generations.

The presence of Aratirí has generated growing concerns and conflict amongst the producers who made amicable agreements at the beginning. The mining work is carried out 24 hours a day using floodlights and generators to light the area as if it were daytime, with constant human and vehicular traffic.

The 30 tonne drills are steadied on 100 metre squared platforms, with two nearby wells for the exchange of water. The coming and going of 25 to 30 trucks, even during the rainy season, has caused serious damage to the ground and has consequently harmed production. The unsuccessful complaints about this damage have deteriorated relations between producers and the company, even leading to legal action.

Due to these precedents, when the company tried to begin work in Treinta y Tres in January 2010, the producers showed their opposition and demanded that all of the necessary legal paperwork be completed. In June, faced with a demand for 4.075 hectares which would affect 30 producers, 29 presented an appeal against the granting of permission to the Dirección Nacional de Minería y Geología (National Office for Mining and Geology).

During the months of July and August, in the department of Florida, a high percentage of producers who had already made agreements for mining on part of their lands refused to allow it for the rest. In Durazno too, a significant number of producers have repealed permission for drilling.

What the mine would be like

Given the problems caused in the research and exploration phases, the possibility that the planned exploration will take place is leading to a definitive conflict between pastoral farmers and an open-pit iron mine. Aratirí plans to open 8 a 10 pits measuring 200 hectares each (2 km long and 1 km wide) and some 300 metres deep, each with an iron grinding and separation plant and enormous waste deposits which amount to 70% of the mineral extracted from the ground.

Using huge quantities of explosives, these lands will be lost forever, completely eliminating the fertile layer of soil and meaning that the current inhabitants, whether voluntarily or by force, will have to leave the area. Even activity in surrounding areas will be seriously affected due to water contamination, enormous rock deposits and sediments and the dust settling on the fields, in addition to the noise and destruction of the countryside and the social and cultural framework.

In presentations carried out by the company, and also information supplied by the ministries involved (industry, energy and mining and housing, land planning and environment), it remains to be explained what the source of the energy supply would be (25 megawatts, 15% of the country's total consumption) nor that of the water required for the process, including the 230 km long, 62cm diameter pipeline for transferring the iron powder to the port.

The results of the environmental impact evaluation that the company had to present to the Dirección Nacional de Medio Ambiente (National Office for the Enviroment) in order to obtain authorisation are also unknown, as are the government’s forecast for work of this magnitude. However, authorities and company members admit to unofficial negotiations about the project's conditions and the Aratirí representative announced that the responsible government body has assigned land belonging to the State of Rocha for the building of the port.

There is no other industrial activity which is so aggressive environmentally, socially and culturally as open-pit mining, especially in populated and farmed places such as in this case. For this reason ever more countries are banning it throughout the whole country, such as recently decided by Costa Rica andla European Union.

What the port would be like

If this activity is authorised, Aratirí plans to extract 10 million tonnes of iron annually and export them to China. In order to be able to do this an ore slurry pipeline would need to be built crossing the departments of Lavalleja and Rocha to La Angostura beach, along the 288 km of route 9, between the La Esmeralda and Punta del Diablo beach resorts, where a deep-water port for a variety of uses would be located.

Super-imposed satellite image and design of the port. The rocky point in the coast is Chalet de la Viuda, situated 2,5 Km from Punta del Diablo, and la Laguna Negra appears at the top.

On 13 February, agriculturist Arturo Abella, a member of the Neighbours’ Network of La Esmeralda, revealed two graphs with a design of the plant of the planned port and its main components on Channel 8 in Rocha. It would be a huge structure with two separate parallel piers, 2,5 km apart, and 4 km out to sea, and an operating area reaching to Laguna Negra.

The distance between the port and the beach resorts mentioned would be less than if a pier were built from the coast to the offshore point. Abella presented a second document, showing the design of the complex port super-imposed onto a satellite photo of the current coast in this area.

The port plant allows us to evaluate various details of the project. On solid ground are shown: 1. Thermal power station; 2. Consolidated plant; 3. Tank station; 4. RORO (Roll on-Roll Off transport), general cargo; 5. Mineral park; 6.  Silo park; 7. Stock area - Containers; and 8. Extension area. In the piers there will also be: 9. Grain terminal; 10. Container terminal; 11. Coal terminal; 12. Iron terminals; 13. Oil terminal; and 14. Gas terminal.

A port of this size requires electricity, but the generating plant meets the needs of the mine. A thermal power station uses fresh water for the turbines, to cool the equipment, etc. which is why it has been situated in the Laguna Negra. Uruguay imports oil and obtains natural gas either in its direct or liquid form, but what is the coal for?  Zamin also planned to generate energy using coal.

An uncertain future

It has emerged that the responsible Uruguayan government body would not accept coal generation as it is highly harmful from an environmental point of view, but it is known that within the government as a whole there are various positions on this. Since negotiations are confidential, often the information which emerges is used to raise the issue and to make their opinions known. Until the decision is known, nothing is certain.

Several authorities, both on a departmental and a national scale, speak in favour of the project, but neither the company Aratirí nor the corresponding public bodies have yet presented the evaluations required by law on the impact generated by an undertaking of this scale on an economic, social, environmental and cultural level on the regions affected, the ecosystem and their inhabitants.

By way of the association, which is involved in all social and political sectors in the locality, the producers in the region and the populations of Cerro Chato have organised public debates to consider the opinion of society to this issue. On the Rocha coast neighbours concerned about the impact are also joining forces, and gathering signatures of support for legal action ensuring that the necessary legal guarantees are applied and that the government refuses to authorise this project.

Víctor L. Bacchetta - Uruguay - More information can be found at: http://www.observatorio-minero-del-uruguay.com