Background on Pro-Mining Law Amendments in Mendoza, Argentina

On December 20th, the Provincial Court of the Argentinean province of Mendoza amended an anti-mining Law (#7722) to permit the use of dangerous chemical substances banned under the law like cyanide and sulphuric acid used in the mining industry, essentially giving a green light to large-scale...

Banro Corporation in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The international community remains concerned with the ability of transnational mining corporations to operate outside the law, with a lack of enforced accountability for violations committed. Banro Corporation, operating gold mines in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)...

Gloria Chicaiza Physically Gone But Forever Remembered

We wish to express our deep sense of loss for our comrade, Gloria Chicaiza Aguilar, who succumbed to complications from a lung transplant on December 28, 2019. 

Gloria (Glorita) was a strong and courageous woman who fought tirelessly for a just and ecological Ecuador, an Ecuador free of the...

Federal Court of Appeal Shuts Down Taseko Mines Over "Prosperity" Mine Rejection

This Wednesday, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Taseko Mines Ltd.'s case against the federal environmental assessment of its proposed New Prosperity copper-gold mine in Tŝilhqot’in territory in central British Columbia. The Court found that the federal review panel was well within its...

URGENT ACTION - Tell Multinational Mining Companies to Back Off: Chubut Already Said "No" to Mining

We, the undersigned organizations, are deeply concerned about reports emerging from Chubut, Argentina, a province in the beautiful Patagonia region, about the increased presence of the mining lobby in the provincial legislature pressuring deputies to amend Environmental Law XVII-Nº 68 (former Law...

Understanding Canada’s Silence on the Uprising in Chile

Last week marked one month since Chilean president Sebastian Piñera used a dictatorship-era constitutional power to declare a state of emergency in ten out of sixteen regions of the country, declaring war on protesters. The conflict, which has been superficially described as a reaction to a spike...

Selected Background Readings for "Turning Down the Heat: Can We Mine Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis?"

We prepared this list of key readings as background for the conference "Turning Down the Heat: Can We Mine Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis?" It is not exhaustive nor comprehensive, but we hope it represents some of the key threads in this discussion.

Declaration of the Regional Gathering: Climate Crisis, Energy Transition and Mining Extractivism in Latin America

Statement leading up to the COP25 in Santiago de Chile (now relocated to Madrid, Spain)

September 26-28, Santiago, Chile

Faced with the undeniable climate crisis and the false solutions proposed by multilateral spaces which have been co-opted by the transnational business sector and...

What riches await…

Canada treats mining companies like the goose that laid the golden egg. What we get in return looks more like a goose egg.

Mining enjoys massive government support in Canada. Politically, it’s treated as a preferred development option for remote communities and Indigenous peoples. Former...

Mining the Deep Sea: Stories for Suckers, and Corporate Capture of the UN

When I mention that the global mining industry is eyeing the deep seabed as the next frontier in mining I am commonly met with gasps of disbelief and dismay. That gut reaction is often followed up with sensible exclamations about the fact that the world’s oceans are already overstressed by...

Guest Blog: Acción Ecológica "Evaluating October 2019 in Ecuador"

The events of October 2019 dealt a hard blow to the economic plans of Ecuador’s elites, in particular their programme for eliminating fuel subsidies. But for the people these dates will be remembered as beautiful days of solidarity, of re-encounter with living traditions, of mutual recognition...

US-based Foundation Urges Canadian Company INV Metals to Abandon Controversial Ecuador Project, Highlights Risk to Investors

On October 14th, a US foundation, Defend them All (DTA), sent an open letter to Canadian mining company INV Metals urging the company to abandon its activities in Ecuador following a field visit to the Kimsakocha páramo in south-central Ecuador.

DTA is a non-profit organization with offices in...

Open Letter: Canadian Organizations Stand in Solidarity with Indigenous, Labour and Civil Society Organizations in Ecuador Protesting Neoliberal Economic Reforms 

Since October 2, Indigenous organizations, along with trade unions, social movements and peasant organizations, have been demonstrating across Ecuador against a set of economic austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international lending institutions that...

Some Key Points to Understand What Is Going on in Ecuador in Light of Recent Massive Protests

Since October 2, Indigenous organizations, along with trade unions, social movements and peasant organizations have been demonstrating across Ecuador against a set of economic austerity measures (called the Paquetazo) imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international lending...

New Report Reveals Botched Consultation Process for Indigenous Xinca at Pan American Silver Mine in Guatemala

On September 6th, the Institute for Policy Studies and Earthworks released a report (attached to this post) with worrisome conclusions regarding the ongoing consultation process around Canadian mining company Pan American Silver's Escobal mine. In May 2019, the Xinca Parliament denounced a...

Canadian Mining Companies Part of the Problem as Repression of Indigenous and Social Movements Escalates in Ecuador 

MiningWatch expresses growing concern for the “State of Exception” (State of Emergency) declared by Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno on October 3rd which seeks to grant exceptional powers to the police and military forces to repress Indigenous and civil society mobilizations against the so-called...