The Barrick Pueblo Viejo mining company has announced that over the next few days it will present a series of paid ads with “myths and truths,” so that everyone in the country can have more information about the project and feel proud of having one of the most modern gold mines in the world.
The company argues that 88% of its staff is Dominican, that it has invested more than US$4 billion in the venture, that it will pay 3.2% of royalty, 25% of income tax and 28.75% of its share of net profits, for US$11 billion based on a gold price of US$1,700 per ounce. It also says that it has committed to spending US$75 million on repairing past environmental damage.
In a letter published in today’s Diario Libre, the multinational concern says that the mine represents a unique opportunity for economic, social and environmental development for the Dominican Republic, and says that when there is constant talk about Barrick “a lot of confusion has been created about the Pueblo Viejo project,” They stress that more than 400 Dominican companies have benefitted from the Barrick Pueblo Viejo project, with a total of RD$56 million in investments made by the company in the purchases of goods and services on the local market. The letter also emphasizes that they have set aside more than RD$700 million in diverse platforms of social responsibility, which include plans for municipal development, education, reforestation, production, micro-businesses and health.
Congress fast-tracked the contract received from the Presidency that improved profitability for Barrick Gold that took over the mining development from Placer Dome. Today, many legislators admit they did not even read the contract.