Pueblo Viejo mine

Annually, the mine produces approximately 6.7 billion cubic meters of highly acidic wastewater that contains significant traces of heavy metals, and studies have found that this poses a significant risk to local water supplies.[7]

Six nearby villages comprising about 450 families (around 2,000 individuals) have reported drastic changes in the environment since PVDC began its operations around 2012.[4] They reported many livestock deaths, including deaths from bovine anemia, which can be caused by ingesting cyanide. There were also fish kills in the Maguaca river. After the mine opened, children were sickened by chemical smells and teachers were forced to close schools. In 2021, residents reported that standing in the Maguaca river can cause persistent lesions that last for years; scores of people in the area have scars from these skin lesions. Agricultural land in the area ceased to be productive.[4] A resident who was interviewed in 2021 reported that,

Before Barrick came to this land, we were like millionaires. We had a lot of water. We farmed and grew fruits. The land provided us everything we needed. But now there is nothing here.[4]

More than 100 employees were poisoned by toxic chemicals in 2012.[7] Nearby homes have been damaged by repeated explosions from the mine.[4]

The 114 meter tall tailings dam for the mine is called El Llagal. Sixty five families were displaced to build the dam. El Llagal is classified as having an 'extreme' consequence of failure, meaning that over 100 people would be killed.

PVDC says that it regularly tests water and air for pollution and makes the information public, although community leaders say they are unaware of these tests.[6] The Economist reported that the company did not respond to requests for that data in 2013,[6] and PVDC declined to provide the data to a researcher from Simon Fraser University in 2019.[4] A request for data from the Jacobin in 2021 was also refused.[4] The Environment ministry found that water in the Margajita river downstream from the mine was highly acidic,[6] and had contaminants that exceeded legal limits.[7] A 2019 report on communities around the Pueblo Viejo mine was censored by the Dominican government.[4] Testing has revealed high levels of lead, sulphur, cyanide and zinc in the blood of local residents.[6]

The Dominican Academy of Sciences concluded in 2012 that the mine had contaminated the Hatillo dam.[8]

In 2014, high levels of cyanide and other heavy metals were found in the blood and urine of residents in four local villages. The test concluded that the toxins were abosrbed through respiration and contiminated water.[4]

Barrick gold says that it has remediated “environmental damage left by previous operations at the mine”, and "contributed to the improvement of the environment and especially the water quality.” The company says it has data that showing improvement in water quality of the Margajita river from 2004 to 2020.[4]

Experts have said there is not adequate historical water quality data to scientifically determine the caused of contamination in the local rivers.[4]

Since 2013, local residents have sustained a protest movement demanding that the government relocate them from the contaminated area. Community members report that PVDC pays local people to inform them about the protests, leading to distrust and fragmentation in the community.[4]

Demonstrators occupied space outside the mine, chained themselves to chairs, and demanded relocation for over 600 families in November 2017.[9]