Marinduque includes US company in Nevada lawsuit

The provincial government of Marinduque has included another mining company as a defendant in the civil case it filed against Placer Dome Inc. in Nevada, USA last October.

Myke Magalang, executive secretary of the Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC), said the US District Court of Nevada granted last Wednesday the motion of the provincial government to include Barrick Gold Corp. as a defendant in the lawsuit against Placer Dome.

Citing records furnished to the MACEC by the law firm representing the provincial government, Magalang said Barrick Gold Corp. has acquired 81 percent of Placer Dome’s shares and replaced nine of the 12 Placer Dome directors.

Magalang said Gregory Wilkins, president and chief executive officer of Barrick, has replaced the president and chief executive officer of Placer Dome.

"Since then, Barrick had been in full control of all Nevada subsidiaries and mines of Placer Dome," he said.

The provincial government filed the case against Placer Dome in the Nevada state court last Oct. 4 for the series of environmental disasters and the health and livelihood impact of the 30-year mining operations of Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque.

Provincial officials insisted that Placer Dome managed and operated Marcopper from 1968 to the time it divested its interests in the mining company in 1997 after the catastrophic mining spills in the Boac River on March 24, 1996.

Lawyer James McCarthy, lead legal counsel of the Marinduque provincial government, said Placer Dome "has apparently ceased to exist, or ceased to exist in any meaningful sense.

He said Placer Dome "is no longer incorporated in British Colombia, no longer has any assets or properties in Canada or elsewhere, no longer has any ongoing operations, and has been fully subsumed (and amalgamated into) Barrick."

McCarthy said the assets and liabilities of Placer Dome have either been transferred or sold to Barrick.

"Barrick is now liable for and responsible for any judgment that the province (Marinduque) might obtain against Placer Dome in this proceeding," McCarthy said.

"Considerations of equity and efficiency as well as a need for realism therefore demand that Barrick be joined as a named defendant in this litigation, if only to insure that no additional proceedings to collect against Barrick are required," he added.

"The inclusion of Barrick in the case will give meaningful victory for the province and the people who were directly affected by the series of mining disasters in our province. Otherwise, we can only expect a ceremonial victory against Placer Dome because it has no more assets to use in case the court decides on our favor," Magalang said.