A gold shipment that had arrived by helicopter to be exported on a commercial flight to Miami, Florida, was grounded on Wednesday, 13 March at Las Americas International Airport cargo terminal. El Caribe reports that the shipment of dore from the Barrick Pueblo Viejo mine was retained because the company had violated Law 140-00 and 3489. As reported, the company has incorrectly declared the shipments it has sent until now, as it does not specify the type of metal it is exporting. The bars were categorized as dore (the term used for a semi-pure alloy of gold and silver), which is not a category, as reported in Diario Libre.
Reportedly, the Customs Department (DGA) sent the company a letter on 7 March notifying that verifications would be carried out on the shipments. The DGA says that when its inspectors at the airport asked to verify the export, the mining company representatives present claimed that this could not be done because of the security seals that needed to arrive at the destination intact. The company then agreed to get replacement seals to be placed after the inspection. The DGA stipulates that the company must declare the description of the product to be exported, the amount, weight, units and the value per unit and total value.
Customs director Juan Fernando Fernandez told journalists yesterday, Thursday 14 March: “There has not been any mandate to the director of Customs. We are acting in accordance with the law. The shipment will leave when it meets legal requirements,” he said, as reported in El Dia. He said the shipment is declared as 6,000 ounces of gold and 20,000 of silver and is valued at US$11,609,000 or approximately RD$500 million, and it is not the first time this has happened. He said that they had warned Barrick that they would carry out the obligatory inspection.
Barrick officers argued that the shipment would be opened at its destination and should not be opened at the cargo terminal. The shipment would have made a stopover in Miami, Florida and its final destination was Canada.
Customs director Fernandez confirmed up to now there had been no physical verification of Barrick shipments because Customs lacked the technical expertise. He said that Customs by law verifies exports to establish whether they match the company declaration in the export file. He said that the DGA had notified Barrick that the verification would take place.
The president of the Barrick Pueblo Viejo, Manuel Rocha, was not available for comment. Presidency Legal advisor Cesar Pina Toribio, and key aides to President Medina, Gustavo Montalvo and Jose Ramon Peralta could not be reached either. However, Minister of Environment Bautista Rojas Gomez says the company has met all environmental requirements up to now, as reported in El Caribe.
Meanwhile, deputy Demostenes Martinez, president of the juridical commission of the Chamber of Deputies, said yesterday, Thursday 14 March that the contract with Barrick violates articles 15, 17, 59, 66, 61, 67, 220 and 221 of the 2010 Constitution in regards to health and international treaties on the use of cyanide and water pollution. It also violates Mining Law 146-71 in its articles 19, 32, 43, 75, 95, 98, 104, 119, 123, 129, 133, 134, 137 and 138 on environmental matters and business incentives. Martinez was a member of the Congress that approved the contract in 2009. Himself, and most other deputies were re-elected to their posts in the 2010 congressional election. He also sits on the influential Central Committee of the ruling PLD party.
President Danilo Medina has called for an increase in revenue sharing by the company.
Hoy reports that the helicopter that transported the cargo to the Las Americas terminal belongs to Helidosa, a company that Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo founded in 1992.
www.elcaribe.com.do/2013/03/15/barrick-gold-violo-leyes-que-norman-importaciones
www.listin.com.do/economia-y-negocios/2013/3/14/269571/Aduanas-dice-Barrick-incumplio-requisitos