GENERAL32236

• Permit No: M1988112
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 7/5/2000
• Doc Name: EMAIL GOLD IN THE NEWS 07-05-00
• From: MARCELO MAIDANA
• To: BRIAN ANDERSON
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

"' I-. II
P,IUS HITTING HARD. The Carietonville gold mining town and its
poverty-str;cxen shanties are a heady and da.^.gerous Tixture of AIDS,
alcohol and commercial sex. Tens of thousands of mm~rs, menu el the
migrant workers crarr,med Into sing:.e•eex hostels, carry the AIDS virus at
the world's tar8gesi gold mining complex, which is one of the carts of
Africa worst attested oy A.IDS. For many miners, rer+ef frcm boredom and
loneliness after their grueling work comes frcm cheap beer and cheaper
sax from the prost~tutea woi(ing in the "hot•spots"outside the mines'
camps. Some 70 parcer,~ ~f the sex workers in the squatter camps and
townships are already Hlv'-positive and a thud of the turners carry the
disease, eccording to researchers working G; slam the epidemic to the
region, Using condoms ~s st'll frowned on because they are seen by many
youn miner, as a threat b their masculinity. After spending $4 far
sex, thousands of intec!ed young miners will go beck to their homes,
wives and girlfriends In South African and neighboring countries such as
Mozambique and pass on the disease HIV-AIDS is hitting the mining
Industry hard. Producttvtty Is down as iCness trenaletes into
absentaelsnt and greater demand for health services. Tuberculosis and
other diseases, thriving on the Tiner's depletod Immune systems caused by
HIV, is rife Thousands of chiktren are being orphaned after losing their
parents to AIDS. HI'J•AIDS threa!ens to kill up to 10 percent of the
300,000 miring workforce a year. The country's road rreig~~t bodyY
estimates that about three drivers a day die of AIDS, a rate which would
mean there will be none left by 2003. A leading study on Lea Impact of
.41DS on :!te South African econort~y by investment bankers ING Borings
terecast that HIV infection rates among the country's unskAled and
semi-skilled workforce will top an atarm;ng 3C percent. Even the
country's prcfessional skilled wor'~ciorce wlli be dented by 13 percent,
exacerbating an acute skills shcrzge, extra employment tests for
business and lass tax revenue. 'AIDS Leaves Its Economic Scar On Africa.'
Routers. 715/00.
TRAGEDY PROMPTS REVIE'N. Westem Australia's Mines Minister nos called for
a review of mine safety in tra state followingg an accident Iasi week at
an undergground gold mine north of Kelgoorlle in which three miners are
believed to have dial. Norman Moore told a spacial meating of the state's
Mines Octupattonal Safety and Health Advisory Board (MOSHAB) the industry
had made great progress wrth safety since a 1967 inquiry into mining
fatalities In Western Australia. Mocre said he had directed the Board to
consider further steps to improve safety. Moore'a salt followed a
revelation tram the operator of the mine, Normandy Mlning Ltd., that It
was losing a 5598,000 a day aker suspending Its operations at the eNe
folbwing the accident. Operatons Manager Paul Dowd Bald the company dkl
not plan to close the mine. Three men are presumed to have been killed
when amine-fill barricade collapsed. sending 18,000 cubic matsn of
sand, water and rocks hurtling through the bottom levels of the mine
where they were working. Rescue teams have been workingg around the cbck
in a bid to clear the mine of debris and recover the bodies. "Minister
Demands Safety Review After Mine Deaths.' Agents Franca Presee. 71x100.
CITIZENS BATTLE DISCHARGE. Nearly .00 papple showed up at a public
hearing this week to crl!Ic,ze a ppion by the Badle Mountain Gold Co. to
discharge treated water into Rito Seco Creak in San Luis, Colorado. Their
remarks came at a hearing held by the Water quallry Control Division of
the Colorado Department of Public Health and Envirvnmert. The gold mine
no bnger operates. Last August. the mining company was issued a notice
of violation and ordered to stop discharging info the stream. The
residents said that discharge hom the mine's west pit is contaminating
the water supply with elements such as cyanide, manganese. eullales,
fluoride, iron, aluminum and copper They also accused state agerciea of
befriending the bg mining companyy rather than protecting the residents.
Colin Henderson who .s with the Conejos County public health department,
said the mining company's permit request Is flawed. Henderson is
president of the Albance for Reaoonsibie Minrnp, a citizens advocacy
group he started to combat the use o! cyanide In open pit mining. He said
there are manganese and sulfate prootems wi!h the eftluert !rpm rho mine
site. He noted that the Clean Water Act allows release of pollutants, but
they must be "specified and monitored." He said it appears the state is
Living 8at[te Mountain a "blank cheeK" to ao what the conipen wanted.
McGowan and Costilla County Conservancy District President fleclovio
Martinez suggested that independent data be gathered Instead of relying
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