“Argentina Federal Government Recognizes Glaciers in Mining Areas”- 25 January 2017

Through a quietly released official announcement, the Federal Environment Secretary of Argentina, Sergio Bergman, informed that Argentina’s National Glacier Inventory has just completed a glacier count in the controversial Famatina Mountains, and that the National Glacier Institute (the IANIGLA) recognizes the presence of glaciers and rock glaciers, as well as periglacial environment (permafrost), all protected by federal and provincial law. This is in the very area where two Canadian mining companies (Barrick Gold and Osisko) had unsuccessfully attempted to develop the Famatina Gold Mining Project…The IANIGLA glacier inventory report...[indicated] that 46 protected ice bodies are located in the mountain range…Argentina’s federal glacier protection law established a clear prohibition of mining activity (exploration and extraction) in glacier and periglacial areas…“This is an important moment for glacier protection and cryoactivism —the protection of our frozen environment” says, Jorge Daniel Taillant, Director of…[CHRE], an NGO originally based in Argentina, but that had to leave following sustained political persecution when they began intervening in mining operations affecting glaciers.