Choropampa, the Price of Gold

On 2 June 2000 a devastating mercury spill from a US-owned gold mine in Peru's Andean mountains turned a quiet, isolated village into a hotbed of civil resistance against the global mining industry. The Price of Gold follows villagers over a 10-month period in their quest for health care and justice. The Yanacocha mine, owned by Newmont Mining Corp. of Colorado, admits more than 900 people were poisoned by the spill but says the situation was quickly resolved with no lasting health effects. The film makers, however, encounter a starkly different reality: villagers report deteriorating health as the short-term effects of mercury poisoning evolve into long-term, debilitating illnesses. The story parallels Peru's traumatic history with gold mining. 'A long time ago the Spanish used weapons and killed Peruvians to take our things,' declares a grandmother and farmer in the film. 'Now they only need to contaminate us and take our things out from under our noses.' There are no easy solutions to Choropampa's dilemma. Similarly, this 60-minute documentary shot in digital video does not offer a neatly packaged ending but rather opens a Pandora's box of questions about the impact of mining on developing nations that persist long after the final credits.