Haiti: Sitting on a Gold Mine

June 11, 2012 | Pulitzer Center

Ben Depp, for the Pulitzer Center, Haiti

The Pueblo Viejo mine is again starting production in 2012. Barrick holds a 60 percent interest and is the operator of this mine; Goldcorp, another Canadian company, owns 40 percent. The mine is expected to operate for 25 years and produce an estimated 23.7 million ounces. This site was unsuccessfully mined by the Dominican government and their efforts caused major environmental contamination to nearby lakes and rivers. Image by Ben Depp. Dominican Republic, 2012.

Arnolt Jean looks into tunnel dug next to a home. Jean says it's dangerous walking or running in the community at night because of all the holes. People in this village have been digging for gold since the 1960s. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

Gold is weighed on Vidrés Bastien's scale. Bastien began buying gold in 1973. Since gold prices increased, he now pays upwards of $25 per gram and sells for $30 to traders in cities around Haiti. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

Locals play dominoes. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

A teenage boy climbs out of a gold mine. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

Manise Joseph, 16, looks for gold in dirt dug from a nearby tunnel. Joseph says she enjoys the work and is able to pay her school fees with the money she earns from selling gold. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

Women clean rocks out of a mine where they are digging for gold. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

Workers build a damn to catch acid runoff near the Pueblo Viejo site. This site was unsuccessfully mined by the Dominican government and their mining efforts caused major environmental contamination to nearby lakes and rivers. Image by Ben Depp. Dominican Republic, 2012.

The Pueblo Viejo mine is again starting production in 2012. Barrick holds a 60 percent interest and is the operator of this mine; Goldcorp owns 40 percent of the mine.Image by Ben Depp. Dominican Republic, 2012.

A river polluted with acid runoff from the nearby Pueblo Viejo gold mine. The acid runoff happened while the Dominican government was operating the Pueblo Vieja mine. Now the Pueblo Viejo mine is again starting production in 2012. The mine is expected to operate for 25 years and produce and estimated 23.7 million ounces. Image by Ben Depp. Dominican Republic, 2012.

Jesus Maria Fajardo, 75, is a farmer who lost his right arm and eye in an accident. He and his family were relocated by the government after the government bought their land to lease to Barrick for the Pueblo Viejo mine. Fajardo says he was not fairly compensated for his farm. Image by Ben Depp. Dominican Republic, 2012.

A woman holds the gold she found this week. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

A woman carries a sack of dirt to a nearby stream to pan through it for gold. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

A Canadian boss and Dominican and Haitian workers at a Newmont drill hole. Workers drilled 330 meters straight down into a mountain for 10 days to extract samples for testing. Three Dominicans and a half dozen Haitian workers help remove the pipes through which samples were collected. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

A gold buyer weighs gold. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

Antony Sylveste was paid $12.50 a day to clear brush at gold mining exploration sample sites for the American company VCS in Morne Bossa. VCS has exploration permits for this 50 square kilometer site which consists of a low mountain range surrounded by farmland. Image by Ben Depp. Haiti, 2012.

In the rural village of Lakwev in northeast Haiti, people have been digging for gold since the 1960s. Holes from tunnels dug by hand are scattered across the land, and with the price of gold increasing, nearly 80 percent of the village's population is involved in unearthing the valuable metal.

Across the border in the Dominican Republic, the Pueblo Viejo mine--now run by two Canadian mining companies, Barrick and Goldcorp--is set to resume operations this year. The Dominican Republic previously ran the mine, without success, and the operation caused a lot of environmental damage to lakes and rivers. The mining companies have projected that the mine will operate for 25 years and produce about 23.7 million ounces of gold.