Anti-mining campaigns have become more frequent in Argentina as investment in mineral extraction here has surged in recent years. But a mining dispute in Mendoza province qualifies as unusual nonetheless. That’s because the leading opponent in this case is a foreign-owned company—the French bottled-water giant Danone. Since 1999, Danone has owned a 173,000-acre (70,000-ha) tract of land in a region of mountainous Mendoza province known as Villavicencio. In Argentina, however, land ownership does not guarantee control of the subsoil, as Danone is now well aware. A decade ago, Mendoza provincial authorities granted an exploration concession to an Argentine company called Minera del Oeste. The concession covers Paramillos, part of the Danone-owned land that is 10,500 feet (3,200 meters... [Log in to read more]