Protection for Argentina's Glaciers

The bill sets standards for the protection of glaciers, which are a vital source of freshwater for much of the country, as well as the surrounding periglacial areas through a system of penalties and fines for pollution as well as damage to the ice fields. It will preserve Argentina's existing water reserves and supplies by prohibiting mining, construction and petroleum exploration and exploitation as well as from waste and chemicals pollution in the protected areas.

The initiative may have ramifications for many of the nation's mining operations. The Cuyo Region, in the mountainous centre of the country, houses vast mineral reserves making it the epicentre for mining investment and development. Two major deposits, the Veladero and Pascua Lama, hold substantial gold and silver reserves. Barrick Gold Corporation, the largest gold mining company in the world, has invested heavily in mining projects in each of these deposits.

Many people accused Fernandez of favouring the company in her veto of the glacier bill in 2008, according to IPS News. The law would have placed limitations on Barrick's Pascua Lama Project, an open-pit gold and silver mine located in the Andes on the country's border with Chile.

Opponents tried to block construction in 2009, claiming that the mine would endanger three nearby glaciers and pollute a vital water source for 70,000 people in Chile's Huasco Valley and Argentina's Jachal Valley.

Should the bill be approved by the Senate later this month, both of Barrick's mines could be subject to regulation. While the company states that neither of its mines violate the terms of the bill, Deputy Miguel Bonasso, the main proponent of the bill, disagrees. "If the law was enacted today Barrick would be infringing it because Veladero is on a periglacial area," Bonasso told Reuters in an interview.