Swiss village in Alpine valley votes to turns its back on $1.2 billion goldmine

I wouldn't vote down that kind of money,but if those villagers don't want that then thats their business.Hopefully the Swiss do not have any eminent domain laws that allow foreign owned companies to forcefully take property like the US has.

Swiss village in Alpine valley votes to turns its back on $1.2 billion goldmine - Telegraph
It was not a question many villagers will ever have to face - and theirs was an answer that even fewer would probably give.

But when residents of a remote Alpine valley were offered a share of a fortune that would have brought them tens of millions of pounds, they said "No".

Swiss banks may be bulging with gold ingots, but the inhabitants of a cluster of villages in the Medel Valley have shown themselves less than keen to dig the stuff out of their own mountains.

After months of anguished debate, the villagers voted in a referendum last week to stop a Canadian mining company prospecting for the estimated $1.2 billion worth of gold ore believed to be lie in seams beneath the surrounding snow-capped mountains.
It would have been Switzerland's first gold mine and one of only a handful in Europe but locals ran scared of the prospect of turning their valley into a miniature version of the Klondike.

In doing so they rejected a windfall of around 40 million Swiss francs (£27 million) over the next 10 years – a veritable bonanza for the 450 inhabitants of the picturesque valley.

I hadn't heard about this, but I'm not surprised. The Swiss never put profit above the preservation of the natural beauty of our land, especially the mountain folk. Good for them. I would have voted as they did if I lived in that area.

I dream of the day where beautiful green spaces will take precent over ugly ass condos.

Swiss village in Alpine valley votes to turns its back on $1.2 billion goldmine
Villagers almost anywhere in the world would be celebrating if more than a billion dollars of gold was found under them. But not in Switzerland.

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I think the issue is that the Swiss in this village are privileged enough to choose their town not be virtually transformed into something indistinguishable from its current form and the several square miles around it be transformed into industrial wasteland.

Out of 270 residents 40 million swiss franks puts it at nearly 150k franks each inhabitant... is that worth the move somewhere else and buying a house, or if one stayed and had to leave their house and occupy a 'new town' when it was built (nothing like their historical village)? It'd essentially be a miners town with 200 something original inhabitants once things started moving. Not to mention industrial noise, pollution, etc etc etc. They likely made a good choice.

Money is not everything.
Apart from that if those 1.2 billion are spread over 20-30 years, it's not much of benefit.

Canell said:

Money is not everything.
Apart from that if those 1.2 billion are spread over 20-30 years, it's not much of benefit.

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I'll take 1.2 billion over 20-30 years than no billions over 20-30 years. So yeah, definitely a bit of a benefit at least in hard dollars. Environmentally? None.

1.2 billion in gold value or total revenue, the negotiated payout to residents was less.

Mining companies are illegally doing the work and they are damaging the nature property. Today for Gold and next for Coal. We have to protect the nature.

Keep in mind how ridiculously inflated gold prices are at the moment. If the market returns to historical averages, that 1.2 billion could easily be worth only a third of that.

rathi said:

Keep in mind how ridiculously inflated gold prices are at the moment. If the market returns to historical averages, that 1.2 billion could easily be worth only a third of that.

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was there any mention on the life expectancy of the mine?

It took me a little too long to figure out that they were talking about a literal gold mine. I think it's time for more coffee.

jamesrage said:

In doing so they rejected a windfall of around 40 million Swiss francs (£27 million) over the next 10 years – a veritable bonanza for the 450 inhabitants of the picturesque valley.

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That breaks down to about $10,000 US per person per year. That is not a lot of money to compensate for having your idealistic mountain valley community you call home disrupted and potentially ravaged.

I do not blame them, I would likely vote the same way were I in their shoes.

MKULTRABOY said:

was there any mention on the life expectancy of the mine?

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Seems like I saw 10 years somewhere as the projected life of the project.

Hatuey said:

I dream of the day where beautiful green spaces will take precent over ugly ass condos.

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When you're living in a tent in a beautiful green space let us all know.