stopping gold mines from destroying the earth and water.

Dear friends,

In the Valle de San Felix, Chile some of the purest
water in
the nation runs from 2 rivers fed by 2 glaciers. We
all
know water is the most precious resource, and wars
will
be fought for it in our future.

>Indigenous farmers within this region use this
water,
>and these rivers provide the second largest source
of
>income for the area.
> >Under the glaciers, huge deposits of gold, silver
and
>other minerals have been found. To get at these
>deposits, it would be necessary to destroy the
>glaciers -something never conceived of in the
history of
>the world - in order to make 2 huge holes, each as
big as a
>whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the
>mine’s refuse. The project that seeks to do this
is
called PASCUA
>LAMA, led by the company Barrick Gold.
> >Barrik Gold is a multi-national company, and one of
>its members is George Bush Senior. The Chilean
>Government has approved the project to start this
>year, 2006.
> >The only reason it hasn’t started yet is because
the
>farmers have got a temporary stay of execution.
> >If this corporation destroys the glaciers, it will
not just
>destroy the source of especially pure water, but
will also
>permanently contaminate the 2 rivers that nourish
the
>valley. Because of the use of cyanide and
sulpheric
>acid in the extraction process, water from these
>rivers will never again be fit for human or animal
>consumption.
> >In addition to damaging the water and the
surrounding
>ecosystem, profits made from this extraction will
not
>benefit the Chilean people. Every last gram of gold
>will be the property of this
>multinational company and sold to foreign markets,
>none of the gold will be owned by the people whose
>land it is. The people of this region will only be
>left with poisoned water and resulting illnesses.
> >The farmers have been fighting a long time for
their
>land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal
by
a >ban from the Ministry of the Interior.Their only
hope
>now of putting brakes on this projectvis to get
help
>from the international community.
> >The world must know what is happening in Chile.We
ask
>you to circulate this message amongst your friends
in
>the following way.
> >Please copy this text, paste it into a new email
>adding your signature and send it to everyone in
your
>address book. Please, will the 100th person to
receive
>and sign the petition, send it to
>noapascualama@yahoo.ca to be forwarded to the
Chilean
>Government.
> >No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean
>Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier.
> >We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the
>Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3
>glaciers, the purity of the water of the San
>Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the
>agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the
>quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the
>whole population of the region.
> >Signature, City, Country
> >
>1) Katharine Proudfoot, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
>2) Laura Cole, London, UK
>3) David Platt, London, UK
>4) Diane Platt, Manchester, UK
>5) Tanya Corker, Manchester, UK
>6) Nicola Hargreaves, UK
>7 Nicholas Jones, UK
>8) Johann Don-Daniel, Germany
>9) Ashley Berger, Germany
>10) Sarah Downie, Leeds, UK
>11) Paula Delahunty, Bingley, UK
>12) John O’Driscoll, Bingley, Uk
>13) Jordan-Lee Delahunty, Bingley, UK
>14) Claire Mulvey, Bradford, UK
>15) Marie Malcolm Bradford, UK
>16) Ann Clowes, Halifax UK
>17) Jayne McGee, Brighouse UK
>18) Jason Barratt Oldham UK
>19) Lindsay Torrance, Rochdale UK
>20) Maggie Ford, Rochdale, U.K.
>21) Barry Cook, Todmorden, U.K.
>22) Shelley Burgoyne, Todmorden, U.K.
>23) Lisa Stuart, Potes, Spain.
>24) Michael Stuart, Potes, Spain.
>25) Renee Engl, Byron Bay, Australia
>26) Adrian Begg, Brunswick Heads, Australia
>27) Riana Begg, Brunswick Heads, Australia
>28) Oriel Paterson, Brunswick Heads, Australia
>29) Alicia Paterson, Brisbane, Australia
>30) Lyneve Robinson, Sydney, Australia
>31) Jennifer Moalem, Sydney, Australia
>32) Alexandra Pope, Sydney Australia
>33) Shushann Movsessian, Sydney Australia
>34) Amanda Frost
>35) Chris Liddell, AUS
>36) Jade Deegan, AUS
>37) Jo Satori, AUS
>38) Jennie Gorman, Vic AUS
>39) Angelique Queensley, Victoria, Can
>40)Chrystyanna Queensley, Victoria, Can
>41) Dawna Masters, San Miguel De Allende, Mex.
>42) John Gillespie, Canada
>43. Lynn Askey, Canada
>44) Blanche Tanner B.C. Canada
>45)Harreson Tanner B.C. Canada
>46) peggy johnston B.C. Canada
>47) Carolynne Melnyk, AB, Canada
>48) Lilian Frederiksen, Denmark
>49) Johan Frölich, Denmark
>50) Alexandra Peña Urzua Frölich
>51) Lucia Elena Rojas, Santiago, Chile
>52) Cecilia Escobar, Maryland, USA
>53) Sebastian Africano, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
>54) Erin Yoshioka, California, USA
>55) Celana Ahtye, California USA
>56) Simón Hanukai, California, USA
>57) Kei Fischer, California, USA
>58) Maristella Huerta, USA
>59) Nyere da Silva, USA
>60) Sesheta Hanible, California, USA
61) Winnie Porter , San Francisco,California, USA
62.) Mary ZoBell, Del Mar, CA USA
63.) Gus Kriege, Del Mar, CA USA
64.) Victoria Joy, Sausalito, CA USA
65.) Daaren Joy, Sausalito, CA USA
66.) Luisa Hyatt, Santa Barbara, Ca. USA
67.) Mark Hyatt, Santa Barbara, Ca. USA
68) Carrie Stephenson, Santa Barbara, CA USA
69.) Lauren BUrlew,Santa Barbara, CA USA
70.) Merlin Bear, santa babara, CA USA
71.) Gail Shooting Star, Naches, WA USA