* Resumes drilling 8 months after horsemen attacked camp
* CEO says opposition rooted in environmental fears
* January agreement gives locals priority for jobs
* Company to compensate landowners for any damage from
drilling
By Olga Dzyubenko
ARAL, Kyrgyzstan, June 1 (Reuters) – South African miner
Gold Fields hopes an exploration deal in Kyrgyzstan has
bought time to find something just as valuable as the copper and
gold it seeks: the support of the local population in this
volatile corner of Central Asia.
Its joint venture in the former Soviet republic has resumed
drilling eight months after horsemen armed with petrol bombs and
sticks stormed its remote camp, beating a security manager and
issuing death threats to local residents.
The world’s fourth-largest gold miner now plans to replicate
its experience in the Peruvian Andes, where it built a mine in a
region where community opposition disrupted rival projects.
“We’ve learnt over the last five years that it’s critically
important to get community support for projects,” Gold Fields
Chief Executive Nick Holland told Reuters. “It’s probably even
more important than government support in the first instance.”
Continued…
