Environment Ministry Halts Antimony and Gold Exploration in Small Carpathians

Bratislava, 28 May (TASR) - The Environment Ministry has halted exploration for antimony and gold in the Trojarova exploration area in the Small Carpathian mountains, issuing an injunction revoking the designation of this area for the Slovak Antimony Corporation, TASR was told by the ministry's communications department on Thursday. For Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee), it is crucial that the Environment Ministry is protecting the public interest, and, in this context, hasn't issued any new permits or approvals for geological exploration. Any future mining would first have to undergo an environmental impact assessment process. "The decision by the ministry's waste and geology section put a clear end to the possibility of antimony and gold mining in the Small Carpathian mountains. It's also a testament to the incompetence and hypocrisy of the Environment Ministry's leadership under Jan Budaj and Michal Kic, who gave the green light to an exploration area for toxic antimony located within the Small Carpathian Protected Landscape Area that coincided with protected areas of European significance," said Taraba. In its injunction decision, the ministry concluded that the continued existence of the Trojarova exploration area runs contrary to the public interest, in particular to the protection of the environment and the health of local people, which outweighs the subjective interests of the exploration area holder, as was demonstrated in the proceedings. am/df