FYI -- One of our partners in the NO Dirty Gold campaign has achieved a
huge success and protection of an important water source...Hopefully the
Western Shoshone are next!  Western Shoshone lands are currently the
world's third largest producer of gold.   See www.nodirtygold.org for
more information on the campaign, the Western Shoshone facts sheet and
to sign the pledge calling for an end to irresponsible gold mining
practices.

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Dear all,
Some great news from Peru!  

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Newmont's Yanacocha Gives Up On Peru's Quilish Deposit  

 

Thursday November 4, 8:41 AM EST  

 

LIMA (Dow Jones)--Newmont Mining Corp.'s (NEM) Yanacocha gold mining
company on Thursday publicly asked the Peruvian government to revoke its
license to explore on the Cerro Quilish mountain.

 

In full-page newspaper advertisements, Minera Yanacocha SRL said that
widespread protests in September had led it to "understand the true
dimension of the concerns."

 

"Because of this, dealing with the concerns and the desire of the people
of Cajamarca, we have asked the Ministry of Energy and Mines to revoke
the exploration permit for Cerro Quilish," the advertisement said.

 

In September, local residents started protests against Minera Yanacocha
after the company began exploring for gold on Cerro Quilish.

 

Local residents blocked the road to the mine, concerned that exploration
would pollute their water supply, something the company denies would
happen.

 

 

The government then temporarily suspended Minera Yanacocha's permission
to explore for gold there while studies of the water system were
undertaken.

 

More recently, the government was pushing for a taskforce, involving
company, government and local representatives, in order to ensure that
the Cerro Quilish protests didn't flare up again.

 

Local representatives had said that clear action was needed to avoid
further protests.

 

Minera Yanacocha has mined the Yanacocha site in northern Peru for more
than a decade and could produce about 3.0 million ounces of gold this
year, making it South America's largest gold mine.

 

Officials earlier estimated that development work at Cerro Quilish could
start in 2007 with production beginning in 2008. The deposit has proven
and probable gold reserves of 3.7 million ounces.

 

Newmont has a 51.35% stake in Yanacocha, while Peru's Buenaventura SAA
(BVN) has a 43.65% stake.

 

The World Bank's IFC has a 5.0% holding in Minera Yanacocha, although it
has said it wants to reduce that stake.

 

-By Robert Kozak, Dow Jones Newswires;511-221-7050;peru@dowjones.com 

 

  Dow Jones Newswires

  11-04-04 0841ET

 

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