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MiningWatch Canada is saddened by tragic news coming out of Guatemala today. It is with great sadness that we learn of the sudden and tragic deaths of four tireless activists who have dedicated much time and energy to defending human rights. Ana Paula Hernández from the Fund for Global Human Rights and her colleague Sally O'Neill, who worked for many years from Honduras for Trocaire and most recently for the Fund, along with driver Daniel Tuc, well-known to human rights organizations in Guatemala, and Ana Velásquez, a part of the Consejo Wuxhtaj in Huehuetenango, died horribly in a car...
08.04.2019
Murky Business: How Communities are Fighting to Protect Water & Prevent Mine Waste Disasters in Canada & Internationally When: April 26th, 2019, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Where: Public Service Alliance of Canada Boardroom, 233 Gilmour St., Ottawa Program: 1:15 p.m. MiningWatch Canada: celebrating 20 years of working for peoples and the planet 1:30 p.m. Our Gold is Water: Protecting Colombia’s Páramos from Metal Mining Members of the Colombian “Committee for the Defence of Water and the Páramo” will speak about their ongoing struggle to protect the highland wetland “Páramo de Santurbán”,...
07.04.2019
On March 24th, the peoples of the southern Ecuador canton of Girón voted overwhelmingly in favour of water and life, and against metal mining in their territories. Canadian company INV Metals (majority shareholder IAMGOLD) and the Ecuadorian government are being sent a strong message, “No to mining, Yes to life”. MiningWatch Canada has been reporting on the threats the company has been making against water defenders campaiging to have their voices heard. Now, the votes are in and the “No” vote to the question “Are you in favour that metal mining occur in the paramos hydrological system in...
03.04.2019
[This article was originally published in The Hill Times .] It does not seem to be a controversial proposition that when a government department publicizes a policy, government officials should carry out those policies. In fact, that is exactly what the federal Code of Values and Ethics [2] requires civil servants to do when it stipulates that they carry out their duties “in accordance with legislation, policies and directives.” However, lawyers of the Attorney General of Canada will argue before the Federal Court on March 25 that policies for Canadian embassies meant to...
22.03.2019
Statement by ASONOG (Associación de Organismos no Gubernamentales) and MADJ (Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y la Justicia) On Monday, March 4, 2019, criminal charges were presented against 19 members of the Azacualpa community in La Unión, Copán. The community members are accused of causing damage against the mining company MINOSA (Minerales de Occidente S.A.), subsidiary of the Canadian/U.S. Aura Minerals. Digging up the dead for gold These charges have been filed in the context of a long conflict caused by Aura/MINOSA ever since it started its mining operation in the area in 1997. Since...
04.03.2019
Toronto-based INV Metals is fighting tooth and nail to dispel investor worries over a local vote concerning its Loma Larga project in south-central Ecuador. INV Metals is over 35% owned by IAMGOLD, the former owner of the Loma Larga project. Despite recent statements claiming strong community support for the project, the company is noticably distressed over an upcoming referendum. In late November, about the same time as the company released a feasibility study for the project, the Ecuadorian National Electoral Council (CNE) approved a long-awaited vote in Girón County over whether local...
26.02.2019
By the International Articulation of Men and Women Affected by Vale (AV) On January 25, 2019, three years after the biggest environmental crime in the country, we are once again living a major tragedy caused by mining. By February 22, the collapse of Dam Number 1 in the Corrego do Feijao complex owned by Vale S.A. had resulted in 177 deaths and 133 missing. One month after the rupture of the dam, it is safe to conclude that at least 310 people died as a result of one more crime by Vale S.A. What occurred in Brumadinho is already considered the worst human disaster related to dams in the world...
25.02.2019
Do you know where the gold in your ring is coming from, or Canada’s role in the global market of gold? And did you know that more than 1 in 4 metal mines in Canada and the world is a gold mine? If not, you must see The Shadow of Gold , a new international production by award-winning filmmakers that pulls back the curtain on one of the world’s most precious metals. Watch the trailer on Youtube . It's also on facebook here . From raw material to market, the film exposes the impact of gold on human lives, the economy and the planet. It includes featured stories from Canada, USA, London...
05.02.2019
Do you know where the gold in your ring comes from, or Canada’s role in the global market of gold? Here are some Gold Facts and solutions we pulled together to help you make informed decisions about how to reduce the impacts of the gold industry in Canada and the world (also on facebook here or here ) WHAT YOU CAN DO to reduce the impacts of gold mining in Canada and the world? Don't buy gold – or buy less gold – for your investments or for jewelry (show your love in other ways!) See the new documentary film The Shadow of Gold , an international production by award-winning...
05.02.2019
Following the tragic breach of the upstream tailings dam, “Dam 1” at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão Mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil, MiningWatch Canada is concerned about the state of Canadian-operated tailings dams in Brazil. According to the GRID-Arendal Report and an independent panel report following the 2014 Mount Polley tailings disaster in Canada, “upstream” or “cascading” dams are the most dangerous. This design builds dams inwards, with upper levels added partly on top of accumulated tailings, not a solid engineered base. Indeed, recent examples of catastrophic mine spills have come from...
04.02.2019