The warnings of mining critics in Argentina proved prescient this month when a valve failure at Barrick Gold’s Veladero open-pit gold mine in San Juan province caused a cyanide spill on Sept. 13 in the Jáchal River watershed. Ensuing criticism of Barrick Gold is reverberating in Argentina not only because the spill has drawn a strong reaction from open-pit mining opponents, but also because the country is just weeks away from a presidential election. Making a campaign swing through San Juan on Sept. 24, Daniel Scioli, the front-runner to become president and a member of the party of current President Cristina Kirchner, said that despite the incident, Argentina should “continue forward” with mining. But another of the six candidates, Margarita Stolbizer, visited... [Log in to read more]