In Taolagnaro (Fort Dauphin) a 100-year ilmenite mining lease is not only threatening the well being of tens of thousands but as well their livelihood and our natural heritage. A RioTinto subsidiary QIT Minerals Madagascar (QMM) mine has breached its buffer zone on two lakes and is contaminating the water source of citizens surrounding the mine.
Following incidents of fish floating on the surface of the lake, reports about dirty water and cattle dying after drinking it, we had to investigate.
The RioTinto QMM operations began in 2005, the mine is licensed to extract from 6,000-hectares of unique littoral forest. Still in its first phase (Mandena), the mine is operating in a sensitive environment – a breathtaking maze of swamps, lagoons, rivers, three lakes (Ambavarano, Besaroy and Lanirano) and an embouchure to the Indian Ocean – with variable weather conditions. The most southern lake of this natural water system (Lanirano) is the drinking water source of Taolagnaro.
10-kilometers from Taolagnaro, a fishermen village – Andrakaraka – spreads opposite to RioTinto QMM operations between lake Besaroy and the ocean. When we arrived, a thick smog enveloped the rural morning as the villagers started stirring from their huts and houses. As the sun rose higher in the sky, so did the number of complaints about the mining operations, the villagers’ frustration was obvious.
Journal D'un Barbu 