By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Nov.7: The Gyama Copper Gold Polymetallic mine in Meldro Gungkar County in Tibet Autonomous Region is set to expand further following a loan sanction of US 627 million dollars (3.98 billion Yuan) this week.
A collective of banks led by Bank of China and others such as Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Tibet has reached an agreement to loan the sum. The repayment will begin in May 2019 and is repayable in full by 2029.
Speaking to Phayul, incumbent MP of the Tibetan Parliament Bawa Kelsang Gyaltsen swayed any falsehood attached to progress and development quotients for local Tibetans of not only Gyama mine but any other mining pursuits happening in Tibet. “Contrary to Chinese propaganda that the wealth of the land belongs to its people, any exploitative resources whether mined resources, water or forest is done solely to fill the coffers of the government itself. The spots in Tibet where such exploitative means take place bear the brunt of not only environmental consequences but damaging socio-economic episodes. Any protests or grass root initiatives by Tibetans are violently suppressed and subjected to imprisonment and torture,”Kelsang said.
The Gyama mine although tipped as a model project and an eco friendly venture by China’s Ministry of Land and Resources has had incidences such as the 2013 land slide in which 83 miners including two Tibetans lost their lives. Besides the obvious pollution of the nearby environment and contamination of water bodies due to toxic waste dumping that led to death of large number of livestock and the local Tibetans, the mine has affected the socio-economic conditions of the region. Large numbers of migrant workers from China cut into employment and other opportunities in the area. In June 2009, Tibetan villagers clashed with Chinese followed by police crackdown leaving 3 Tibetans injured.
The mine currently processes 6,000 tons of ore per day and is aiming to produce approximately 176,000,000 lbs. of copper by 2016.
The CTA’s Environment Desk in an earlier statement mentioned, “As opposed to being a model for “green mine” or “progress”, Gyama mine is a model of the issues relating to over 200 mining sites across Tibetan plateau which faces similar or even worse socio-economic and environmental problems, requiring urgent attention”.
The Gyama mine is run by Huatailong Mining Development, a subsidiary of the state owned China National Gold Group Corporation and the largest gold producing mine in occupied Tibet and China. The Gyama project is located within the Gangdise Copper Metallogeny Belt in Central Tibet, located approximately 60 kilometers from of Lhasa City along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.
