The announcement of large mining projects and the formation of local opposition have become common in Argentina, as multinational mining companies have scrambled to tap this country’s vast mineral wealth and grassroots groups have formed to block them. But in La Rioja province, the process has played out with a twist. What began as an environmental dispute over the planned reopening of a long-abandoned gold mine morphed into a political scandal that became a factor in the removal from office last month of the northwestern province’s governor, Ángel Maza. At the center of the scandal is La Mejicana, a former gold mine located in the Famatina mountain range, 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) above sea level. Opened in the early 1900s and featuring a 21... [Log in to read more]