Before the discovery of a huge gold mine in Boka, not many
people had heard of this small village in Tuobuka Town, Dongchuan
City, about 110 kilometers north of Kunming, capital of southwest
China's Yunnan Province.
After some local villagers accidentally found gold here in 1996,
Team 807 of the Yunnan Geology and Minerals Bureau, Team 209 of the
Nuclear Industry of Yunnan Province, and the Canadian Southwestern
Resources Corp (SWG) conducted successive prospecting operations,
providing evidence that Boka was an area rich in high-grade
gold.
With data collected from 67 drilling holes completed by SWG,
Vancouver-based Hatch Ltd made a preliminary assessment of the Boka
deposits in June 2005 and estimated that it had an existing gold
resource of 150 tons of the 2-5g/t Au grade.
At the end of 2002, SWG and Team 209 set up a joint venture
(JV), Yunnan Jinshan Mining Ltd Co (Jinshan). Under their
agreement, SWG, with a 90-percent share in the JV, would contribute
US$3.01 million in cash, and carry out initial explorations.
According to Zhang Hui, manager of Jinshan's international
department, with 200 holes completed so far, the actual gold
reserves of Boka, which covers an area of 5.88 square kilometers,
are almost sure to overtake the Hatch figure.
SWG began initial explorations three years ago. However,
according to an Economic Information Daily report on August
24, the lucrative Boka Gold Project now runs the risk of being held
up.
An official from Jinshan who didn't want to be named said that
several tracts of land at the Boka gold mine are owned by three
other enterprises, which makes further exploration difficult.
"We raised this with the Yunnan Provincial Department of Land
and Resources last October," the official said. "But owing to the
perfunctory attitude of local officials, it hasn't helped us
resolve the problem even after so much delay. What's worse,
unreasonable demands from local villagers have put added pressure
on us."
According to an agreement, the township government of Tuobuka
receives 600,000 yuan (US$75,405) a year from Jinshan to play a
coordinating role. In spite of this, villagers continue to plant
trees in the mining area, hoping to get large amounts of
compensation.
"Other households have been compensated 300 yuan (US$37.7), but
my family only received 200 yuan (US$25). So I must ask for an
equitable judgment," villager Zhao Yuanbing complained.
Tang Jiangkun, head of Tuobuka Town, said that the total number
of closely planted walnut and eucalyptus trees at the Boka mine has
reached 400,000. The 600,000 yuan paid by Jinshan is distributed to
affected residents of 13 natural villages each year. However, as
the company enlarged its prospecting range, more villages began
demanding compensation. When their demands aren't met, villagers
have resorted to blocking drilling holes.
In mid-July, the bureau of land and resources in Dongchuan told
Jinshan to stop drilling at Boka because their "substandard"
operations "left behind a hidden danger" and would cause geological
disasters in the region. As a result, three of the eight rigs have
stopped drilling, resulting in a loss of 40,000-50,000 yuan
(US$5,029-6,287) per day for the company.
In response to criticisms that Jinshan has given little
consideration for the interests of local people, the Jinshan
official said that his company does have a long-term plan for the
construction of Tuobuka Town, such as assisting in the development
of a breeding industry and building a processing factory for
agricultural products. In addition, a large-scale mine construction
project is scheduled to begin as soon as the feasibility study is
completed. With an estimated investment of over 600 million yuan
(US$75.4 million), the profits and taxes of the gold mine over the
next five years are expected to hit 300 million yuan (US$37.7
million), which will be a big boost to the local economy.
"The problem is that at the moment, nobody knows when the first
piece of gold will be found," the official said.
Since 1993, Yunnan has issued a series of regulations
encouraging foreign enterprises to participate in the prospecting
and exploitation of its rich mineral resources. However, what has
happened in Boka has cast a shadow on the province's flourishing
mining industry.
Moreover, Dongchuan's concerns are valid. The once well known
"copper capital" was reduced to penury when its copper resources
were exhausted. In addition, mining over an extended period of time
has gravely damaged the local ecology. It now labors under the most
severe soil erosion problem in the upper reaches of the Jinsha
River. Learning from such a bitter lesson, people cannot help but
ask: Can the newly discovered gold help Dongchuan out of poverty
and become prosperous again? And, if so, how?
Tuobuka head Tang Jiangkun stressed that mineral resources are
not renewable. Just selling gold is shortsighted; instead, a
modernized gold production base featuring downstream processing
should be established to promote the development of other
industries including tourism, he said.
"The conflict between the conservation and exploitation of
natural resources is coming to a head," said Ren Zhiji, a mineral
prospecting expert. "Therefore, the relevant laws and regulations
must be fine-tuned so that resources can be tapped in a more
rational way to benefit the local people."
(China.org.cn by Shao Da, September 5, 2006)
