On Wednesday, US mining company Cliffs Natural Resources announced that it was ceasing work on the environmental assessment process for its high profile chromite project in the area of northern Ontario dubbed the “Ring of Fire”.
Global Condemnation of Barrick’s Effort to Secure Legal Immunity from Rape Victims
For many years Papua New Guineans, with the support of MiningWatch Canada and other international organizations, have demanded that Barrick Gold acknowledge a long-standing pattern of vicious beatings, rapes and gang rapes of local indigenous women by security guards at the Porgera Joint Venture...
Canadian Ambassadors, or Ambassadors for Canadian Mining Companies?
From Mexico to Greece, we have been observing and documenting how Canadian Embassies go to bat to defend the interests of Canadian mining companies against the demands of communities and despite egregious human rights abuses.
In May, we released a report with Common Frontiers and the United...
Algonquin Communities Push for Joint Review for Matamec’s Rare Earths Project Under New Federal Environmental Assessment Rules
For the past two years MiningWatch Canada has been collaborating with Wolf Lake and Eagle Village Algonquin First Nations as they grapple with a proposed rare earths mine. Matamec Explorations Inc. is proposing the construction of a 4,200 tonne per day open pit rare earth mine in the traditional...
Is Mine Closure in Ontario Protecting the Public?
Across Canada past mining activities have left a legacy of degraded environments and contaminated sites that were not rehabilitated by the mine operators and became public liabilities. These have included extreme cases of the privatization of profits and the socialization of costs like the Giant...
Ontarians Still Waiting for Review of Mining Tax
Of Canada’s main mining jurisdictions, Ontario has the poorest record for retaining royalties or mining-tax revenues. This is thanks to a mining tax based on profit with generous tax credits to reduce profits for tax purposes, low tax rates and tax holidays. In response to calls from MiningWatch...
Alternative Mining Indaba Brings Community Perspective to South African Mining Debates
South Africa’s economy was largely built on mining, and mining – for platinum, coal, gold and diamonds, among other things – continues to play a central role in South African politics and economics. South African mining companies are also a major force across the continent, but there is increasing...
ICMM’s Tentative Commitment to Indigenous Rights and FPIC
In May the International Council on Mining and Metallurgy (ICMM) issued a new position paper, “Indigenous Peoples and Mining”. The position statement “sets out ICMM members’ approach to engaging with Indigenous peoples and to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).” Twenty-two mining companies make...
Background on Eldorado Gold’s Proposed Mines in Northern Greece
A delegation from northern Greece will be visiting Canada from May 26th to 31st, 2013, to alert Canadians to the current situation with Vancouver-based Eldorado Gold’s proposed Skouries and Perama Hill mining projects. The Greek delegation includes the Mayor of Alexandroupoli, Vaggelis Lampakis...
URGENT ACTION: Tell Environment Minister Kent to Listen Up and Respect Algonquin First Nations
Update - August 6, 2013: The request for a joint review panel has been refused. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is proceeding with a standard environmental assessment with no public hearings and much less accountability.
Local citizens, regional and provincial NGOs are now calling on...
Preliminary Report: Gold Mining and the Defence of Water in El Salvador
Report: International delegation to El Salvador releases preliminary report of findings following visit to three emblematic sites in and on the border of Latin America's most densely populated country where civil society is carrying out a struggle to ban metallic mining.
Rare Earth Elements - Background Information
This page provides a number of key background references and links to advanced stage Canadian rare earth projects. The materials present information on the environmental challenges associated with rare earths mining as well as the economic opportunities they present.
Barrick Under Global Pressure to Withdraw Conditions on Remedy for PNG Rape Victims
Since January, 2013, MiningWatch Canada has raised concern about the fact that Barrick Gold is seeking legal immunity from victims of rape by mine security guards at the company’s Porgera Joint Venture Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG). If these rape victims accept an individual remedy package they...
Kamloops Physicians Demand Rigorous Health Study for KGHM's Ajax Project
A group of physicians from the city of Kamloops, British Columbia, are insisting on a rigorous assessment of the health impacts of the proposed Ajax Gold-Copper mine. They recently placed this ad in the local paper to help get their concerns out.
Gold and Democracy Don’t Mix – Eldorado Gold Faces Determined Opposition in Greece
As Eldorado Gold holds its annual shareholders’ meeting in Vancouver today, Canadians may ask themselves why the company’s plans to mine gold in northern Greece are meeting such strong resistance from residents and even some local authorities. There are really only two problems: what the company is...
‘We rent our land, not our dignity’
Photo essay: Excellon Resources has become an unwelcome presence in the community of La Sierrita in Durango, Mexico as a result of its intransigence to address incompliance with its land use contract and violence against a three month peaceful protest during the summer of 2012.