New tests for residents near big gold mine

[webfact]

New tests for residents near big gold mine
Pratch Rujivanarom
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A FRESH round of blood/urine tests is now being processed through the initiative of five organisations, including the Industry Ministry, to assess a gold mine's impacts on the health of people living in Phichit, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok provinces.

The tests, which started with a blood-sample collection on Saturday, are the sixth round since locals became concerned about the operation of the Chatree Mining Complex. Many residents have complained about deteriorating health.

The blood/urine collection took place at Dong Lhong Temple in Phatchabun's Wang Pong district over the weekend.

"I'm sure that we can come up with accurate results in one month," Dr Smith Tungkasmit of Rangsit University said yesterday.

"The results should come out in time to solve the problems surrounding the goldmine."

Rangsit University has agreed to take part in the blood testing in response to a request from local people.

Two other implementation agencies are the Central Institute of Forensic Science and the Public Health Ministry, which have also supported the initiative.

"We have received overwhelming interest. We collected 500 samples in just two days," he said.

The samples will be carefully tested at the well-equipped laboratories of Ramathibodi Hospital and the Medical Sciences Department, he said.

"We are going to look for traces of manganese, arsenic and cyanide, as activists have claimed that these toxic substances have leaked from the goldmine," he said.

The last test on 700 people in August found heavy metal levels in blood that were above average in more than 400 of those tested.

The current round of tests would check the findings from the last time.

This fresh round has covered 400 people whose blood has showed heavy metal concentration that is higher than the average last time.

"We have also covered two more groups of subjects. One is for people who have never taken part in the test before. The other is for children under 15 years of age. "For the young group, we're going to check if their micronucleus or DNA has developed any abnormalities and whether their development has been affected," he said.

This round only collected samples from people living near the Chatree mine in Phichit, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok, while the sample collection on the environment will be performed in two weeks.

The Department of Special Investigation has reportedly sent a team to survey the goldmine's vicinity. The information would be used to decide whether the gold mine protest should be considered a special case to be assigned to the DSI. Suekanya Teerachartdamrong, a representative of the anti-goldmine group, said no representative from Akara Resources, operator of Chatree, was present during the sample collection.

"But I saw some people from the goldmine observing the activities from afar," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/New-tests-for-residents-near-big-gold-mine-30271132.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-19

[fgmr]

The Public Health Ministry should have initiated this project not the University which in turn should have been asked by the Ministry for support. Not the other way round! Just where do responsibilities start and end with the various Ministries?

[bangrak]

Let's hope the experts and the labs involved will not be 'influenced' by the mining companies, or the proverbial 'influential people', and, first of all, that the collected samples will not be tampered with... The odds are ...? I wouldn't bet a penny on it.

[Batboy]

It does not matter if Chatree are cleared "once again" the allegations the anti mining group will never believe the results. This mine site is well run and the tailings dam is lined to stop any potential leakage into the ground water. This plant also has a detox plant to destroy the cyanide in the plants discharge before being pumped to the tailings dam and any water that collects on the dam is returned to the plant as reusable process water.

Another little known fact is that sunlight also destroys cyanide in water, so if there was still any cyanide in the tailing's dam water it would be quickly reduced.

Anyone who has had any involvement with this mine know that much of what is happening now is in part because some locals refused to sell their land to Chatree when their expansion was planned and implemented. These people are now upset that Chatree made changes to their pit design because of this and now they are angry because Chatree do not need their land now. Reading that 700 people turned up to me sounds like rent a crowd for maximum impact in the media. I hope that they also took where they lived.

[GOLDBUGGY]

If they have a very real claim to heath issues over this Gold Mine, then I don't blame them for protesting. I just wonder how real it is and if they are not biting the hand that feeds them. Drive by a Sugar Cain Factory and see a trail of smoke 5 miles long almost anytime, and that seems to be okay with everyone. Or the Smog in Bangkok.

Or like these recent protests on Gas Flaring from a new large Gas Discovery, where this Natural Gas will be used to Generate Electricity. So not be so dependent on more expensive Gas Imports from Myanmar. Not to include the Political Risk of even losing that. But if you choose to protest this than please don't stand in line to protest when your electrical bill goes up 10 Baht per unit. You can't have both.

Or their protest over a huge Potash Mine near Udon Thani which has set this project back by many years. Potash is not rare like Gold and can be found almost anywhere. What makes it rare here is that it is not found in too many places where it is so rich in quantity per tonne, making mining feasible. To my knowledge only Canada and Russia have mines like this which produce over 90% of the Worlds Potash.

Building this Potash Mine would create thousands of good paying Unskilled Construction Jobs, which should go to the local communities as the highest priority, Also training for local graduates, to eventually end up with high paying long term jobs their with the company. For every direct hire in places like this there are usually 5 indirect hires. For suppliers in Thailand to Camp Kitchen Staff and Cleaners. Even the local Food Cart Woman would benefit from this Construction Site.

After construction, and now with the abundance of Potash, the next logical chain of events is to build a Fertilizer Plant, which could supply all of Asia. A new LNG Off-loading Plant to supply Natural Gas to a new Power Generating Plant,, to supply the extra needed power, and so on. So no end to what this alone Potash Mine can lead to in the future.

I am not saying for or against any of this. All that I am saying is that if you are sick of sending your grown children to Bangkok for low wages, to work in some auto plant or some shoe factory,as they can't make a living on the farm anymore, then you should seriously think about this first and before you pick up that sign to protest,

. . .

[Srikcir]

"I'm sure that we can come up with accurate results in one month,"

The RTP should do the analysis.

In the Koh Tao murders police were able to get a complete DNA map within days when normally it would take several weeks. Albeit, there won't be any samples left for reconfirmation of results should they be challenged.