Page 12 - bne IntelliNews Newspaper 280417

Southeast Europe
April 28, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
Blow for Nevsun in Macedonia as local residents vote against goldmines
bne IntelliNews
Citizens of the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija resoundingly voted 'no' in a referendum on whether to open two gold mines in the area. Reservoir Minerals, a company that was pur- chased in 2016 by Canada-based miner Nevsun Resources, had planned to open the mines on Mount Kozuf after gold deposits were found northwest of Gevgelija.
Around 13,300 voters, or 68% of the local popula- tion, cast their votes in the referendum held on April 23, and over 97% voted against the mine project, local media reported.
“The turnout was big enough to make the refer- endum valid,” news agency MIA reported, citing the head of the municipal election commission, Mitko Dojcinov.
The vote followed an aggressive campaign by local environmental groups who said the authori- ties should not issue a licence for opening the mines because mining would pollute the area near the Greek border. They argued that the gold ore would be extracted with explosives that would ruin the mountain, while the use of cyanide for separating the gold would have disastrous pollu- tion effects in the area, which is mainly used for agriculture but also for tourism.
The outcome means that the Gevgelija municipal- ity will not issue any licenses for prospective gold mining operators to open mines.
The referendum was organised by the civil or- ganisation “Spas za nas” (Salvation for Us). The municipal authorities in Gevgelija are understood to have been against the mines, even though mayor Ivan Frangov is a member of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, whose government issued the exploration concession.
Nevsun’s website says it has significant explora- tion areas licensed in Macedonia, where it has two mineral exploration concessions and two prospect- ing concessions, all of which are early stage ex- ploration projects. Currently, the company’s main assets are the Bisha copper-zinc mine in Eritrea and the Timok copper-gold project in Serbia.
The company previously ran into controversy
in Eritrea, where Human Rights Watch said in 2013 that it had “failed to conduct human rights due diligence activity and had only limited human rights safeguards in place”, resulting in forced labour by conscripts at Bisha. The following year, three former workers sued the company for com- plicity in torture, forced labour, slavery and crimes against humanity. Nevsun said in 2016 that it is confident Bisha is operated in line with interna- tional standards of governance, workplace condi- tions, health, safety and human rights.