For 16 years, Committee for the Defence of Water and Páramo of Santurbán has worked to protect the Santurban páramo - a high altitude wetland ecosystem which provides fresh water to more than two million people. Recently, they achieved recognition of part of the páramo as a Temporary Reserve Zone...
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Open Letter: 27 Canadian Organizations Support Xinka People’s Right to Self-Determination over Canadian Mine in Guatemala
We, the undersigned Canadian civil society organizations, wish to express our deep solidarity with the Xinka people and their struggle for self-determination concerning the future of the Escobal mine, owned by Vancouver-based Pan American Silver. The Indigenous Xinka people have denied consent for...
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Communities, environmental groups voice concerns about controversial consultation process approval for Canadian mining project in Ecuador
On May 19, the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining reported that a "free, prior and informed consultation process" had been approved for Canadian Dundee Precious Metals’ project. The Chamber says that “100% of the inhabitants of [Indigenous community of San Pedro de Escaleras] approved the advancement of...
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Sacrifice Zones – The Ford Government’s Latest Plan To Stimulate the Economy
Ontario’s Conservative government can’t seem to miss an opportunity to try to solve a problem by doing the wrong thing. In the face of US President Trump’s tariffs, the Ford government is pushing through an omnibus bill that would create “Special Economic Zones” for mining and infrastructure...
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Report Back | Hearings on the application for authorization to institute class action proceedings against Glencore (Horne Smelter) and the Government of Quebec
Rouyn-Noranda – May 16, 2025. Citizens Julie Fortier and Miguel Charlebois of Rouyn-Noranda, represented by their lawyers at Siskinds Desmeules, filed a motion for authorization to institute a class action lawsuit on October 23, 2023, in the Superior Court of Quebec against the Government of Quebec...
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Equinox Gold: Doing the right thing at Los Filos?
Equinox Gold indefinitely suspended its Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico on April 1, 2025 when the company let lapse its land use and social cooperation agreements with the community of Carrizalillo. The company had been trying to pressure the community of Carrizalillo in Guerrero, Mexico into...
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Open letter: 100+ International organizations call on Argentinian authorities to end the criminalization of environmental defenders in Chubut
Photo Credit: No a La Mina Esquel
On April 22, a court in the south-central province of Chubut, Argentina handed down sentences to six environmental defenders who participated in the 2021 Chubutazo – a powerful province-wide protest that successfully derailed government attempts to impose a zoning...
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The Metals Company Goes Rogue in Desperate Move to Monetize the Deep Seabed
Background
Vancouver based The Metals Company (TMC) holds concessions for exploration of polymetallic nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, in Pacific international waters, granted to it through the International Seabed Authority (ISA) because of its partnerships with the Pacific Island country of...
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On the Day of Barrick Gold’s Annual General Meeting, Communities in the Dominican Republic Reaffirm their Call for Relocation
The following blog was written by Diana Martin of MiningWatch Canada and María Alejandra Torres García of Earthworks.
Barrick Gold’s Annual General Shareholder Meeting (AGM) is virtual again this year. After last year’s AGM, the company announced it would “continue to host virtual-only annual general...
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Update on Barrick's Days in Court in Canada
In 2022, [1] and again in 2024, [2] Indigenous Kuria from villages surrounding North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania filed cases in Canada against Barrick Gold Corporation [3] (Barrick) for alleged “acts of extreme violence committed by Mine Police in the service of Barrick in and around the North Mara...
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A global movement speaks out in support of environmental defenders in Penco, Chile
More than 100 Chilean, Canadian, and other international organizations and coalitions published an open letter today in solidarity with environmental defenders who are being harassed and persecuted for defending their territory in southern Chile from a Canadian rare earths mining company.
The company...
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Why Speeding Up Mining Approvals Won’t Solve Tariff Troubles
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...
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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...
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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.
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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...