The region which was partially declared a national park in 1993, is also rich with minerals (particularly gold and silver), and these are being plundered by foreign and domestic companies alike, leaving once majestic mountain a scene of toxic devastation. Prospecting activities have been under way in the Biga peninsula and especially in the northern side of Ida Mountain since the beginning of 1990s. Activities have been expanding in the region since 2007 (with more than 40 licences and around 100 projects at exploration stage now); explicitly two gold mines (Kirazli and Agi Mountain) made progress. The Canadian company, Alamos Gold, in charge of three projects (with three licences, Kirazli, Agi Dagi and Camyurt) has been targeting to start production in Kirazli in 2013 and in 2014. In December 2013, the Canakkale Administrative court gave a suspension of execution decision on the exploration activities. Yet, the company kept pursuing the case with the support of the AKP government and published their feasibility reports in 2017. They received operating permission from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to start construction activities in 2019. Public opposition mounted again in July 2019 after the firm allegedly cut down almost 195.000 trees (according to calculations by TEMA Foundation), which is four times more than it declared in the EIA. |