Goldcorp: История канадского золотодобывающего гиганта

Canadian mining company

Goldcorp Inc. was a gold production company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company stood among the largest gold producers in the world, employed about 15,800 people worldwide, engaged in gold mining and related activities including exploration, extraction, processing and reclamation. Goldcorp’s operating assets included eleven mines in North and South America. In 2019, Goldcorp merged with Newmont Mining Corporation, the world’s second largest producer of gold. In June 2016, Goldcorp was named one of Corporate Knights magazine's Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada. In the same year, the company was also ranked among Canada's Top 100 Employers. Goldcorp has repeatedly been accused of harming the environment, livestock, and public health in multiple studies by advocacy groups and activists, contaminating areas with toxic heavy metals by its mining activities. These allegations have been denied by the company and none have been proven in a court of law. The company's track record around transparency, policies and practices has improved since a damning 2010 study accused the company of human rights violations.

Goldcorp’s operating assets included mines in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. Goldcorp also has a number of projects including the Coffee, Cochenour and Borden projects in Canada, and NuevaUnión (formerly known as Project Corridor), a joint venture with Teck Resources in Chile.

In Q2 2017, Goldcorp reported net earnings of US$135 million and production of 635,000 ounces of gold. In Q1 2017, Goldcorp reported net earnings of US$170 million and production of 655,000 ounces of gold.

In 2016, Goldcorp produced 2.873 million ounces of gold at all in sustaining costs of $856 per ounce.

Goldcorp was officially incorporated in 1994. Following a period of M&A activity, the company quickly grew to become a leading gold producer. The company is focused on responsible mining practices with safe, low cost production in areas of low political risk. Through the consistent application of its business strategy, Goldcorp has achieved significant growth, industry recognition, and numerous awards. In 2000, Goldcorp founder Rob McEwen launched the Goldcorp Challenge, sharing with the public the company’s geological data with the offer of $575,000 in prizes to those who could help locate Red Lake mine’s next six million ounces of gold. The challenge was successful, with more than 110 sites identified and more than 80 percent of sites yielding significant gold reserves. The challenge helped turn the company from a struggling enterprise into one of the most profitable in the industry. As of the third quarter of 2014, Goldcorp was the world's fourth largest producer of gold. In January 2017, Goldcorp announced it had divested two non core assets through the sales of the Cerro Blanco Gold Project in Guatemala to Bluestone Resources, as well as the Los Filos Mine in Mexico to Leagold Mining. In January 2017, Goldcorp reported preliminary full year 2016 production totaling 2.873 million ounces of gold at all in sustaining costs of around $850 per ounce. The Company expects to increase total annual gold production by over 20% over the next five years to more than three million ounces annually. In February 2017, Goldcorp announced it had purchased New Gold's 4% gold stream on the El Morro deposit. The El Morro deposit is part of NuevaUnión, a 50/50 joint venture with Teck Resources that combines the Relincho and El Morro deposits. On 14 January 2019, Goldcorp agreed to a merger acquisition by Newmont Mining Corporation, the world’s second largest producer of gold, with the merged "Newmont Goldcorp" to be the world’s largest producer. In 2020, the merged company's name was shortened to Newmont.

The environmental, economic and human impact of the company’s Latin American mines has been a controversial topic for a number of years.

A study by Italian activist Flaviano Bianchini in 2006 found dangerous levels of arsenic and lead in the blood of Hondurans living downstream from Goldcorp's San Martín mine, located in the Siria Valley. While people living in the valley had equated their health problems with the mine's operations since it opened in 1999, both the company and the Honduran government disputed the study's findings. Since the closure of San Martin mine in 2008, the 1,500 hectare former mine site has been reclaimed into agricultural farmland and the former camp facilities remodeled into an ecotourism hotel. These developments have since provided employment, skills training and new investment to the area.

An investigative report by the CTV Television Network's W5, published on their website on April 17, 2010, reported criticism by human rights workers about the damage they believe mining companies were doing to the people, the land, and the culture of Guatemala. The same news program ran a four part documentary entitled "Paradise Lost" which explored some of the controversy surrounding Goldcorp's Marlin mine operation, and investigated the economic, environmental, and social costs and benefits of Canadian mining operations in Central America. At the request of Goldcorp shareholders, an independent human rights impact assessment (HRIA) was conducted by external auditors in 2010. Goldcorp has since implemented all recommendations from the HIRA, including the publishing of an official Human Rights Policy in 2010. On 15 July 2012, the self organized International Peoples’ Health Tribunal, a panel of twelve "judges" with backgrounds in science, health, ecology, and human rights met in Guatemala to hear testimony relating to the effects of Goldcorp's South American mines. After the two day tribunal, the panel found Goldcorp financially liable for health and ecological damages to the communities near its mines in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico.