Residents of the northwestern Argentine province of Catamarca have kept up a roadblock on the access route to a mining site, because they say its exploitation by the Canadian firm Yamana Gold would harm the environment. The work “is not completely authorized,” but the activity continues, Sergio Martínez, a resident of Andalgalá, a town 25 km from the Agua Rica gold, copper and molybdenum mine, told Tierramérica. The mine has a potential of 730 million tons of mineral.

Martínez said the National University of Tucumán added “many, many observations” to the environmental impact study that the company presented last year, and despite those reservations, “they continue digging holes, taking measurements and samples” in order to begin mining in June 2010.

The locals who have mobilized against the mine have organized under the banner Neighbors for Life in Andalgalá, and have intercepted the mining trucks “in order to defend the territory and the health of the water,” he said.