Provincial governments and federal election candidates are falling over each other in a rush to expedite approvals for mining, as their response to the damage that US tariffs are just beginning to do to the Canadian economy. It’s important to take a closer look at what is really happening, what is...
Webinar - The fight for permanent closure: Panamanians address renewed efforts to reopen a Canadian copper mine
This webinar will take place on Zoom with simultaneous Spanish-English interpretation. Register here.
DATE: Wednesday, May 7th
TIME: 11 AM PST / 2 PM EST
A year and a half after First Quantum Minerals’ Cobre Panama’s closure order and the historic nationwide protests against the mine, Panamanians...
Eyes on Argentina: Verdict Expected Today in Case Against Chubut Environmental Defenders
An Argentinian court is expected to issue a ruling today in a case against eight community members from Chubut who participated in the 2021 “Chubutazo” – a powerful province-wide protest that succeeded in stopping government efforts to impose the Canadian-owned Navidad silver project and allow for...
Panamanian Organizations Sound Alarm About Reopening First Quantum's Cobre Panama Mine
Operations have been stopped at the Cobre Panama copper mine since December 2023, when the Panamanian Supreme Court ruled the operating contract for the Canadian-owned mine was unconstitutional. But there are growing fears the mine may soon reopen.
Threats Against the Community of Carrizalillo, Guerrero and Call for Respectful Negotiations
MiningWatch Canada joins as a signatory to this letter to Equinox Gold, expressing deep concern over escalating tensions around the Canadian company's Los Filos mine in Mexico.
To Mr. Greg Smith
CEO & President, Equinox Gold
Re: Threats against Carrizalillo ejido and call for respectful negotiations
Th...
Alert: Violence Against Peaceful Anti-Mining Resistance in Azuay, Ecuador
On Thursday, March 6th, four members of the peaceful resistance to protect the Kimsakocha páramo in Southern Ecuador – all of them women, and one of them a senior citizen – were attacked by a group of five women carrying various objects like sticks, scissors, and a heavy padlock on a small...
Canadian Unions Express Deep Concern About Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement
Several prominent Canadian unions write to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to express deep concern about the free trade agreement Canada has negotiated with Ecuador. Collectively, the unions represent more than three million public and private sector workers across Canada. Following an initial letter...
Carrizalillo denounces death threats and reiterates call for respectful negotiations with Equinox Gold as company leadership makes surprise visit
On Sunday, representatives of the community of Carrizalillo, a community of 3,500 located roughly 500 metres from the cyanide leaching pad of Equinox Gold’s Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico, sent a letter to CEO and President Greg Smith. The correspondence denounces a surprise visit to the...
Concern about Criminalization of Environmental and Human Rights Defenders in Bolívar, Ecuador
This open letter was written by Proyecto Dulcepamba and was originally posted in Spanish here. Translation by MiningWatch Canada, who is also a signatory.
Three community leaders were sentenced to four years in prison by the Bolívar Criminal Court. The defenders were convicted of an alleged act of...
Support for the Protection of the Santurbán Páramo and the Physical Integrity and Safety of the Committee for the Defense of Water and the Santurbán Páramo
On Monday, the Committee for the Defence of Water and Páramo of Santurbán, Colombia rallied outside the Ministry of the Environment in Bogota, Colombia. They presented more than 4,000 signatures to Vice Minister Mauricio Cabrera demanding that a Temporary Reserve Area in the Santurbán region of the...
Letter of Concern About the Rising Stigmatization Against the Committee for the Defense of Water and the Santurban Páramo in Colombia
Several international and Colombian organizations write to the Colombian government with deep concern about the stigmatization campaign against members of the Committee for the Defense of Water and the Santurban Páramo (the Santurbán Committee). The stigmatization campaign supports the interests of...
Open Letter from the Ejido of Carrizalillo in Mexico to Equinox Gold
The Ejido of Carrizalillo has written an open letter to Equinox Gold CEO Greg Smith and Board Chairman Ross Beaty calling on the company to commit to fair negotiations of their temporary land use and social agreements for the operations of the Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico. The agreements are...
“We already held a consultation. We said no." Communities denounce attempt by Ecuadorian government and Canadian mining company to conduct another controversial consultation
Communities in Ecuador are denouncing an attempt to advance a consultation in the southern community of Escaleras on the issue of mining – a consultation they say is being carried out with only a select handful of people and one that is not necessary, given communities have already voted against...
Open letter | When will Quebec's mining laws respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples?
This open letter was originally published in French in Le Devoir here.
Twice in recent weeks, the Québec government has missed historic opportunities to ensure that its mining laws and practices respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. First, the province rejected proposed amendments to its Mining...
Criminalization in Ecuador: Charged for Speaking out Against Canadian Mining
“We felt displaced in our own homes,” says Rosa Masapanta, the President of the small farmers’ cooperative Associación Flor de Caña in northern Ecuador. On March 11 and 12, 2024, a reported 1000 members of Ecuador’s state security forces descended on Rosa’s community of Palo Quemado and the...
Continued Militarization and Criminalization of Environmental Defenders to Advance Canadian Mining Project in Ecuador
On October 27, 2024, the Ecuadorian military entered the small parish of Palo Quemado in northern Ecuador, temporarily militarizing the community for the third time in less than two years.
According to community residents, at least eight trucks and several vans arrived in Palo Quemado in the early...