The Gümüşhane Culture, Art, Environment and Social Solidarity Association (GÜDAP) issued a written statement regarding both ongoing and newly planned mining sites in the city.
The statement stressed that the heavy destruction of nature does not begin only with cyanide pools, but at the very moment the first drilling machine pierces the soil. It said: “We are announcing to the entire public of Gümüşhane the scientific realities that are overlooked and concealed under the term ‘exploration license,’ which silently poison the geography of our province. During the exploration phase, hundreds of wells are drilled thousands of meters deep into our mountains.
* Habitat fragmentation: Roads are opened so that construction machinery and trucks can reach untouched forests and highlands; ecosystems, pastures and wildlife that have existed for thousands of years are fragmented from the very first day.
* Piercing of underground water basins (aquifers): Drilling that reaches hundreds of meters below the surface pierces separate clean and polluted underground water veins, causing them to mix. The clean water source of a village becomes contaminated underground even at the ‘exploration’ stage. In order for the drill to rotate and prevent collapse, tons of chemical mud are pumped deep into the earth. These muds contain:
* Polymers and heavy chemicals: toxic substances used to thicken the mud; grease and diesel: petroleum derivatives used to operate and lubricate machines; and corrosive substances that regulate the acidity (pH) of water. These toxic muds seep along underground fault lines and reach our highland springs and streams kilometers away.
The colonial mindset that sees Gümüşhane merely as a ‘raw material depot’ presents promises of employment that are a complete lie. What GÜMÜP and similar structures call ‘economic development’ is exploitation at minimum wage. Condemning three or five young people from Gümüşhane to minimum wage under the name of ‘employment’ cannot be presented as a favor. Forcing our youth to work deep underground under the harshest conditions, breathing dust and cyanide, is not industrial development but a system of exploitation. While it is clear that many of these young people will not even live to see retirement due to occupational diseases caused by mining, sacrificing the mountains of our homeland for a handful of ‘laborer wages’ is betrayal. The death of a worker from cyanide exposure at the Yıldız gold mine was covered up despite a forensic report. In Dibekli village, 192 villagers were poisoned by cyanide, and the public was mocked with claims that ‘it was a sewage leak.’ While the bodies of those who died from cyanide were covered with lime and buried ten meters underground, we will not remain silent against those who cover cyanide pools in Karamustafa with a piece of plastic and call it ‘safe.’
Exploration license (currently taking place in our villages): Roads are opened and chemical mud is injected into underground waters. Operating license (cyanide and heavy metal phase): This is the final stage of destruction, where mountains are completely destroyed and cyanide mixes into the soil. We are not a group that opposes mining entirely. We understand the value of underground resources for the country’s economy. However, we oppose the poisoning of our living spaces, pastures, underground waters and forests with cyanide and heavy chemicals. The noise of drilling machines in the villages and highlands of Gümüşhane is not merely technical exploration noise; it is the cry of our geography for help. Those who believe the tale of ‘we are only exploring today’ will not find drinking water in their highlands tomorrow. We call on the public of Gümüşhane, civil society organizations and all residents to remain alert against this silent but deep destruction and to protect their land. The surface of Gümüşhane is more valuable than its ‘gold.’”
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