Poland copper producer KGHM is laying off miners in its other mining operations, and has shut down its Podolsky mine in Sudbury. KGHM promises job creation for its new Canadian mine Ajax but that is NOT what it is currently doing. Local communities, green and local activists are fighting back with arguments.
The only thing the spin doctors left out of the glossy Ajax brochures is the “once upon a time” lead-in to most other fairy tales. Whether you characterize the content of the brochures as wishful thinking or outright deception, it is clear that the promises made are hard to believe when compared to the known facts. We know that KGHM is laying off miners in its other mining operations, and has shut down its Podolsky mine in Sudbury. KGHM promises job creation but that is NOT what it is currently doing. No one knows when the fantasy future of a brighter economic tomorrow might come or if it will come.
Combine these facts with the continued slide in market values for copper and gold and the reportedly severe financial struggles of KGHM and the multi-billion dollar rosy picture (complete with photos of a fantasy future) painted by the brochures is laughable. It is no surprise that the Ajax application was submitted without an updated financial feasibility study. What is surprising is that the EAO accepted the application without full disclosure of what will be the true financial risk to the public purse.
The content of the Ajax brochures consists of promises that no one is accountable to keep. The people in Likely and Malartic were probably also promised zero harm. Yet the mining companies were not held legally responsible when things did go wrong and their communities were damaged in the extreme. Promises mean nothing if there is no enforcement or legal requirement to ensure accountability. The Ajax brochures are a marketing tool that bears little resemblance to what the real future will be in Kamloops if Ajax is approved.
source; newskamloops.com
