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It is hardly surprising that Switzerland, a country known for exports of chocolate and breathtaking mountain vistas not precious metals, would reject a gold mine in its own backyard.
Nick Squires, writing for The Telegraph, made the trek to the remote Medel Valley to learn the backstory behind why, “after months of anguished debate,” a cluster of villages stopped Canadian company NV Gold (TSX-V:NVX) from digging for 800,000 ounces of gold hidden in seams beneath the snow-capped mountains.
Squires reports that most residents feared the picturesque landscape would be forever scarred by the mine, even though the operation was estimated to generate some 40 million Swiss francs (GBP27 million) over the next 10 years. The age-old debate between development and conservation drove a wedge between the 450 mountain dwellers:
“There was a battle between the two halves of the village, for and against the mine. A lot of people don’t like to talk about it,” said the owner of a delicatessen selling cheeses, cured meats and sausages, who refused to give her name because of the bitterness that has been stoked up.
The referendum result was unambiguous – while 90 people were in favour of allowing gold exploration to go ahead, 180 were implacably opposed.
If the referendum had been successful, the gold mine would have been Switzerland’s first.
The 129-square-kilometre property was first explored in the 1980s and recent surface rock samples returned decent gold values. Of 86 samples taken, 72 returned gold values in excess of 150 ppb Au, with 48 in excess of 1.0 g/t, according to a Jan. 30 press release from NV Gold. Seven samples returned values in excess of 10 g/t.
20 Comments
jamesont
From these assays, It is hard to believe that there would be a “mine” here. Maybe we are not seeing the whole picture.
Nasdaq7
1.0 g/t what are the Canadians thinking? Most of Gauteng has 1.0 g/t.
Mary Finean
Money can tempt the weak and often the greedy fish takes the hook.
Maybe they do not want to trade clean water or other natural gifts for gold?
J.I.M.
With anemic gold values like 1 gram/ tonne, ti would have been an open pit,
Boe
Whoever thought that a large scale gold mine is possible this proximal to a tourist destination evidently doesn’t understand a thing about community relations. Gold mines near tourist resorts have been rejected elsewhere as well (e.g., Esquel, Argentina). It doesn’t depend on the country or level of education!
Mrkhrdr
One thing we can count on – the price of gold will increase in the future, probably faster than costs of exploitation. Some day deposits like this will be far more profitable and therefore worth the extra efforts occasioned by environmental and scenic issues. Hopefully, technical advances will allow for mining with significantly less environmental impact.
pedram masoudi
It is so nice that Swiss people pay much more attention to non-commercial part of the life. I like it. It shows their interior wealth.
Adonis99b2004
must be buried ww2 german treasure (taken from the jews?) ? its a cover-up ! the explorers too might be descendants from the 2nd-3rd reich !!!
Fehertom64
Blind and stupid “antifascist” from the Soviet era. Go to Moscow, maybe you can find similars like you. Better if you go to cemetery forever with your red flag and jewish simbols. What is common with your confused opinion and this world? I would have offer you a greasy job, but it was forgotten from our world some 30 years ago. Fortunately.
Sky_Dog
Oh my God, I know these jokers in these region very well. They prefer to live by subsidies of the central governement! It is the most subsidised region of the country! Everything is payed by the governement. They are pampered to the max!
And they can get very angry as soon as somebody wants to disturb their peace. Because they don’t need “noise” or “foreign people”, that’s reserved for the people in the lowlands who pay everything.
It would have plenty of space in this remote valley, and it’s also not a tourist region. It’s not too far away for supply of everything you need for a mine: Perfect location for a mine!
Juan Vera
It`s amaizing. I never thought that a highly educated community as it is in Switzerland could reject a gold project. It could happen just in South America or Africa ?
Roepemu
Switzerland is a beautiful country with little tradition of mine i admire the defense of the natural environment and no pollution, must be sought in countries with traditions such as Chile, where you can find better values than those mentioned
Mc3
Mining does have a rough reputation when it comes to historic desecration of the environment. The industry (not the tax payer) needs to clean up the past before it will get support for new developments like this one.
Mpblackdog
Switzerland is like being in heaven with it’s pristine beauty. We shouldn’t disturb this beautiful landscape for gold or any other comodity.
Michael
Interestingly Switzerland has long been considered as a safe haven, isolated and protective of its territory and people…a rifle in every house with a man. Unfortunately, NV Gold did a poor risk assessment of the local people (or selling job), especially given the “greeny” orientation of the Swiss and a “first” gold mine in this pristine country.
fgrey
With a higher grade it might have been possible to have a totally built under ground mine and mill. Tailings could be made into slurry and returned minus the gold. Other than water loss, environment impact almost zero!!!!
WesselG
… and your solution to the disposal of the vast volumes of chemically contaminated mining waste water being generated is … (???)
(Elsewhere the latter just gets released back into natural water systems, … an ecological nightmare at best !!)
Mrkhrdr
Geochemical and hydrologic considerations such as these are still a mystery to me. How does underground mine wastewater enter aquifers? What are the effects of the structure of an ore deposit on the contamination process? Does backfilling remediate the production of liquid wastes? Will lime and limestone neutralize acid waters to the point where metals no longer leach from abandoned tunnels and pools? Are professional economic geologists/ mining engineers included in permitting processes? There needs to be more discussion of such issues here and in the popular press.
james
I Love it Swissland!!! I will be buying stock,look out!!!! Million’s of shares!!! Yes!!!! James!!!!
Robert McDowell
They don’t mind storing for other people in the vaults under the airport in Zurich.