{"id":236153,"date":"2025-05-21T06:23:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T10:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=236153"},"modified":"2025-05-21T11:00:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:00:23","slug":"the-danger-of-living-downstream-of-a-tailings-dam-now-barrick-is-about-to-build-a-second-tailings-dam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2025\/05\/21\/the-danger-of-living-downstream-of-a-tailings-dam-now-barrick-is-about-to-build-a-second-tailings-dam\/","title":{"rendered":"The danger of living downstream of a tailings dam, now Barrick is about to build a second tailings dam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In South America, Brazil and Chile have banned the construction of upstream dams due to their inherent risks, yet the demand for minerals continues to drive the need for tailings storage facilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Dominican Republic, the leading gold mining venture, Barrick seeks to build a second tailings dam and while this has been cleared by the Abinader administration the implementation is meeting with community rejection. Barrick has not announced it will implement alternative technologies for tailings management, such as dry stacking or dewatering, to reduce risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very real risks of environmental, health and life risks of the current tailings dam in the province of Sanchez Ramirez are high up in the concerns of community activists. Communities in other provinces categorically have rejected the installation of a tailings dam, leading the mining company to decide to build a second tailings dam in the same province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the world, the potential for dam failures and the environmental and social impacts of mining operations are driving increased scrutiny and calls for safer tailings management practices, including efforts to develop global standards and increased investor engagement with mining companies. Once a tailings dam is built, it becomes a legacy site where the responsibility for management and potential risks may not be clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earthworks, an organization that monitors tailings dams around the world, highlights that a substantial portion of the world’s tailings dams are deemed to be at high risk of causing catastrophic damage if they fail. The tailings dam in the Dominican Republic is not the exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, regarding the Dominican Republic, Earthworks reports that Barrick Gold\u2019s Annual General Shareholder Meeting (AGM) was held virtual again this year. After last year\u2019s AGM, the company announced it would \u201ccontinue to host virtual-only annual general meetings despite calls for public companies to return to an in-person format.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this decision, in the Dominican Republic, the Comit\u00e9 Nuevo Renacer \u2013 representing 450 families living downstream of the Pueblo Viejo mine and the El Llagal tailings storage facility \u2013 wants to remind Barrick and its shareholders that their fight for relocation continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the Comit\u00e9 joined a Global Week of Action, demanding that the government stop Pueblo Viejo\u2019s expansion project and relocate impacted communities. In 2024, the Comit\u00e9 repeated these demands in a video playing on a mobile billboard parked outside Barrick\u2019s Toronto headquarters during the AGM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earthworks reports that now, in 2025, the Comit\u00e9 believes its relocation request has reached a new level of urgency. They report learning from Barrick employees that the company will increase the height of its El Llagal\u2019s tailings dam by another 14 meters. The dam, which holds back mine waste, is already over 135.5 meters tall and stores 100.1 Mm\u00b3 of tailings as of June 2023. The company projects the dam will eventually reach a height of 152 meters. Google Maps shows that some houses lie within 500 meters of the foot of the dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Comit\u00e9 has also raised serious concerns about Barrick\u2019s plans to build a second tailings storage facility, \u201cEl Naranjo,\u201d to be located six kilometers southeast of the plant and close to the existing El Llagal dam. According to Dr. Steven Emerman\u2019s 2023 independent review of Barrick\u2019s environmental impact study for the proposed expansion El Naranjo would be \u201cone of the largest earth-core rockfill dams in the world,\u201d standing at 157 meters. Barrick disputed parts of Dr. Emerman\u2019s analysis, but not the characterization of the size of the dam. Barrick\u2019s own documents indicate that expected consequences of a dam failure at both El Llagal and El Naranjo have been rated as \u201cextreme,\u201d meaning that more than 100 fatalities could be \u201cexpected in the event of dam failure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the possibility of extreme consequences in both cases should the dams experience a failure, the Comit\u00e9 has been supporting six communities at risk of being displaced by the proposed El Naranjo tailings dam. These communities allege they have not reached an agreement with Barrick regarding adequate relocation and fair crop compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While negotiations continue, as of April 2025, community members are actively trying to prevent Barrick employees \u2013 accompanied by soldiers \u2013 from cutting down trees at the headwaters of the El Naranjo River, a vital part of the local ecosystem. Listin Diario reports that \u201c[t]he residents of the area have formed a common front against the indiscriminate logging which, they argue, not only endangers their environment but also their livelihoods.\u201d As further reported by Listin Diario, Barrick\u2019s environmental department, however, maintains that the tree removal is part of a road construction project on its private land so that \u201ccars can pass over the stream, without affecting the water quality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported in Earthworks, while Barrick Gold meets its shareholders virtually, the Comit\u00e9 and the many communities it represents and supports are mobilizing outside Barrick\u2019s office in Santo Domingo. They are raising their voices in defense of water, opposing the road construction tied to the expansion, and fighting to protect the Naranjo River. They reiterate to Barrick Gold and its shareholders that they do not want to be part of the \u201cmore than 100 fatalities\u201d predicted in the event of a dam failure. They are urgently calling for relocation before tragedy strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:
Diario Libre <\/a>
Diario Libre <\/a>
Earthworks <\/a>
Earthworks <\/a>
Earthworks <\/a>
Tailings dams <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

21 May 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In South America, Brazil and Chile have banned the construction of upstream dams due to their inherent risks, yet the demand for minerals continues to drive the need for tailings storage facilities. In the Dominican Republic, the leading gold mining venture, Barrick seeks to build a second tailings dam and while this has been cleared … <\/p>\n

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