Argentine opponents of open-pit mining suffered a big blow on Dec. 29, when the southern province of Río Negro repealed a six-year-old ban on the use of cyanide and mercury in mining projects. When the measure was enacted in 2005, the provincial legislature—controlled at the time by Argentina’s opposition Radical Party—approved it by a margin of 38 to 3. The repeal came on a proposal last month by Río Negro Governor Carlos Soria. Soria—who on Jan. 1 was shot dead, allegedly by his wife, in an unrelated incident following a New Year’s celebration—was allied with Argentine President Cristina Kirchner. Kirchner has strongly supported the development of large-scale mining in Argentina and has seen some environmental advocates leave... [Log in to read more]