The gold diggers

MIDAS may soon lose his touch in Honduras because US mining giant RTZ's plan to exploit the Minas de Oro area is facing massive criticism from green campaigners, led by Wilfredo Sandoval Calix who warns, "The mine would be located in a mountainous area above springs that feed many local drinking water systems." Furthermore, he adds, deforestation, soil erosion, contamination from cyanide and other chemicals could "seriously affect all living creatures."

RTZ officials, however, plead mining the reserves in Minas de Oro has not been decided yet and also the method of extraction. The plea is not convincing to those aware that RTZ's gold mining operation in USA, in Crescent Valley, Nevada, has long faced charges of exploiting land that belonged to the Shoshone tribe.