In 2004, the neighbors of San Carlos began to meet worried about the recent activity of prospecting and mining exploration in the vicinity of the Diamond Laguna Reserve. Some of these neighbors had already done since 2003, accompaniment tasks to the country's geologists, and at that time they did not perceive the activity as a risky. Subsequently, via trips south of local mountains arrive news of what happened in Esquel, and the possibility of having near the springs of water a megaminero project took other connotations.

The neighbors began to meet before the need to learn, and formed the diamond front at first. They began to make informative meetings, and resolved to ask for official information. For this, the neighbors resorted to the mayor, who, as they manifest, did not hear them. The same happened with councilors. Before the official refusal of providing information, the need for the mobilized neighbors of informing their peers was reinforced. They began to give talks in schools, and teachers and families played a very important role in the disclosure of the subject. Thus, the autoconvocate neighbors of San Carlos would arise, which were transformed into the first organization that resisted the megaminery in Mendoza, and at the birth of an important provincial movement.

The area named Papagayos was the zone of Mining Interest - with potential to extract copper and gold - which generated the conflict in San Carlos. The area of ​​prospecting is located near Arroyo Papagayos, 35 km from Volcano Maipo, and 15 km southeast of the Laguna del Diamond Provincial Reserve. The nearest town is Pareditas, 90 km northeast of the area.

Source: vector Argentina, environmental impact report of the Papagayos project, 2003.

A report on the purchase option of said project is available on the page of the Canadian Minera Exeter:

pdf / 2003_news / exeter_news_031112.pdf>.