The Montreal Gazette reports, “(Vancouver-based) Goldcorp Inc. said it is spending US$570 million this year on its Éléonore mine in Quebec’s James Bay region to get it into initial production of 40,000 to 60,000 ounces in the final quarter.” Goldcorp CEO Chuck Jeannes says, “Once Éléonore and Cerro Negro in Argentina are producing, capital spending will decline significantly.” The news report says that Goldcorp is counting on “strong cash flow” from its other gold mines, including Red Lake in Ontario and Penasquito in Mexico, to fund Éléonore and its other projects.
The Globe and Mail adds, “Goldcorp Inc. said its key Penasquito mine in Mexico would only produce gold for 13 years instead of 19 years. (But) higher grades of ore from Penasquito will help boost Goldcorp’s overall production this year by as much as 18 per cent to 3.15 million ounces.”
And NASDAQ notes, “Goldcorp also expects gold production for 2014 in Red Lake, Porcupine and Musselwhite mines (all three of which are in Ontario) to range between 440,000 and 480,000 ounces, 290,000 and 305,000 ounces, and 230,000 and 240,000 ounces, respectively. For the Pueblo Viejo mine (in the Dominican Republic) and Marlin mine (in Guatemala), Goldcorp expects gold production for 2014 to be within the range of 405,000 to 420,000 ounces and 175,000 to 185,000 ounces, respectively. …First-time gold productions are expected out of new projects including Cerro Negro to start its operations by mid-year 2014, Eleonore to start its operations by fourth-quarter 2014 and Cochenour (in Ontario) to start its operations by fourth-quarter 2014.”
In May 2011, we noted that, “The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board currently has $256 million worth of shares in Goldcorp.”
We oppose the destructiveness of this company to local water sources and impacted communities. We call on the Canada Pension Plan to divest its shares from Goldcorp.
In September 2011, Blue Planet Project co-founder Maude Barlow visited Guatemala and saw the impacts of Goldcorp’s Marlin mine. In July 2012, Mexico City-based Blue Planet Project organizer Claudia Campero Arena attended the International Peoples’ Health Tribunal in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Guatemala. The tribunal focused on the health and social impacts of the Marlin mine, as well as its San Martin mine in Honduras, and its Los Filos mine in Mexico. In May 2013, Council of Canadians organizing assistant Ailish Morgan-Welden went to Goldcorp’s annual shareholders meeting in Toronto to pose questions about the San Martin mine and violence related to the Escobal mine in Guatemala (operated by Tahoe Resources, of which Goldcorp holds a 40 per cent share). Later that same month, Blue Planet Project campaigner Meera Karunananthan travelled to the community near Goldcorp’s Cerro Blanco mine in southwestern Guatemala.
Further reading
Council of Canadians and Rights Action demand shutdown of Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine
Free trade and Goldcorp’s San Martin mine in Honduras
Goldcorp sponsors Conservative MPs to visit Marlin mine in Guatemala
The mining industry’s lobbying blitz to kill C-300
