Alleged greenwashing by Infinito Gold

Just days before Christmas, eight Canadian organizations are increasing their pressure on Infinito Gold and urging the mining firm to drop its peculiar billion dollar lawsuit against the Republic of Costa Rica. One public petition has already gathered more than 300,000 signatures, and this letter is now calling on the Canadian government to release certain sensitive information about the case.

The wording of the letter (PDF) is strong:

We demand that Infinito Gold respect the will of the vast majority of Costa Ricans and drop the threat of international arbitration.

We also demand that Infinito Gold ‘cease and desist’ all its pending court cases in Costa Rica, and that Infinito adhere to the Supreme Court decisions directing the company to pack up and leave.

The signatories of the letter are a who’s who of prominent Canadian environmental and human rights groups:

• MiningWatch Canada
• Common Frontiers
• Sierra Club Canada
• Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL)
• Council of Canadians
• The Blue Water Project
• Polaris Institute
• Public Service Alliance of Canada

For many Canadians, the lawsuit has become an embarrassment, which the letter clearly explains:

Infinito Gold’s decade-long efforts to intimidate the small nation of Costa Rica is nothing short of an outrage, and will further sully Canada’s reputation in that country.

The request to the Canadian government to release records hints at possible corruption in the case:

We are calling on the Canadian government to immediately make public any and all information it may have pertaining to this case, including the information requested by Costa Rica with regard to funds allegedly transferred by Infinito Gold’s major Canadian backer to the Arias Foundation.

The Costa Rica Star has previously reported on this matter, which as embarrassing as it may be to many Canadians, it does not seem to bother Infinito Gold. In fact, taking on a sovereign nation that has repeatedly issued orders to leave the country to the mining firm might be part of unapologetic tenacity, a new Canadian trait that is also being exemplified by crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s refusal to abdicate despite calls from the entire City Council to do so.

With all the foregoing aside, geologists and researchers have determined that epithermal deposits of gold, silver and other precious metals are present in the Guanacaste region and in northwestern Costa Rica in general, an area known as the Gold Belt. Incidentally, many Canadians already hold interests in the region, particularly real estate and the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport.

The tectonic and volcanic nature of Costa Rica has likely created hydrothermal deposits at shallow depths beneath very hot springs; this in turn could lead to gold and silver mineralization, but it could also lead to fool’s gold and financial scams thereof. Either way, the people of Costa Rica have decided that the environmental impact is simply not worth the hassle of mining and prospecting.