Xstrata Nickel: We’ll counter baseless claims

Santo Domingo.- Xstrata Nickel CEO RD Antonio Garcia said the mining company will start a media campaign this week to explain its ferronickel project in Loma Miranda, La Vega (central). "We’ve seen that there’s been confusion regarding this project as a result of baseless claims that lead to unwarranted concerns."

"It is absurd to say that we will use poison, that we’ll flush it into rivers, and that no water will leave the area, when our ferronickel mining operation doesn’t use chemicals or explosives that may contaminate water or soil. Instead the quantity and quality of river water and the Acapulco swim area will be preserved, and aqueducts and dams in the region will not be affected by sediments," the Xstrata Nickel RD executive said.

In a statement the company says 65% of the property in the Loma Miranda area will be protected to preserve its flora and fauna biodiversity and local water sources, such as the as Jagüey river, whose course will be specially protected and where the miner has already planted 135,000 native trees.

It said they’ll work with a progressive extraction and reforestation plan to reduce the open areas in the remaining 35%. “Eventually the entire project area will be rehabilitated and incorporated into the forested protected area.”