Landlords and Political Traps: how mineral exploration companies seek access to First Nations territory

A Master's program research paper by Shauna Qureshy.

Many exploration companies seek either formal, negotiated agreements or non-negotiated acquiescence from First Nation communities before they begin their exploration programs, and some proceed without acquiescence or agreement.

In 2005-6...

Report of CEDENMA Visit to Santa Rosa, Intag

On October 21, 2006, a delegation from the Ecuadorian environmental umbrella group Coordination of Organizations for the Defence of Nature and the Environment (CEDENMA, Coordinadora Ecuatoriana de organizaciones para la Defensa de la Naturaleza y el Medio Ambiente) visited the house of Carlos...

Raid on Ecuadorian Activist's Home: Letter to Ecuador's Minister of Government and Police

Abogado Antonio Andretta Arizaga Minister of Government and Police Calle Benalcazar y Espejo Quito Ecuador Dear Sir: Please accept cordial greetings from Canada on behalf of an organization that has worked for many years for Ecuador’s right to choose its own ecologically sustainable...

Raid on Ecuadorian Activist's Home: Letter to Ascendant Copper

27 October, 2006 Gary E. Davis President and CEO Ascendant Copper Corporation 10920 West Alameda Avenue, Suite 201 Lakewood, CO 80226 USA Fax: (303) 297-0538 Dear Mr. Davis: I am writing to you regarding the latest developments around your Junín project in the Intag area of north...

Detailed and Truthful Account of What Happened on the 17th of October in Intag, Ecuador

Carlos Zorrilla tells the story of the police raid on his house on October 17, 2006 and the trumped-up charges against him. Please see our earlier Urgent Action alert for suggestions and addresses to write to.

When I received the very early phone call around 6:15 on the morning of the 17th of...

PBI-Canada Delegation to Guatemala Witnesses Struggle for Lake Izabal

By Ken Luckhardt, Chairperson, PBI-Canada and Board Member, MiningWatch Canada

While the daily pages of the Globe & Mail’s “Report on Business” announce the latest bidding wars for corporate control of the international nickel industry, the Indigenous Mayan people of Guatemala are saying “no” to...

Kanak-led Opposition to Goro Nickel Widens in New Caledonia

Even as two proposed nickel projects are shifting out of Canadian hands in New Caledonia – Falconbridge’s Koniambo project is now owned by Swiss Xstrata following its hostile takeover of Falconbridge, and Inco is now owned by Brazilian CVRD – the opposition to Inco’s Goro project is widening.

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Outrageous! Most mines in Ontario escape meaningful environmental assessment.

Mining projects in Ontario are supposed to be subjected to two levels of Environmental Assessment: Federal and Provincial.

The federal environmental assessment process is triggered if the mining project or any parts of it will require federal permits or authorizations under the Fisheries Act...

New Book: "Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea"

by Stuart Kirsch
Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2006
cloth $55.00, paperback $21.95
see http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?book_id=5341%5342 for ordering details

While ethnography ordinarily privileges anthropological interpretations, this book attempts the reciprocal process of describing...

Aluminium Backgrounder

Aluminium is refined from bauxite ore, with major reserves found in Guinea, Australia, Brazil, Jamaica and India. Aluminium is primarily used for building and construction as it is light, strong, able to conduct electricity and is resistant to corrosion. In order to produce alumina, sodium hydroxide...

Letter to Skye Resources re: Fenix project

Ian Austin, President and CEO
Skye Resources
Suite 1203-700 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada, V6C 1G8

September 28, 2006

Dear Mr. Austin,

Recently, I had the opportunity to tour the Skye Resources/CGN Fenix Project site in the municipality of El Estor, Guatemala, as well as to speak...

Environmental Impacts Fact Sheet

This useful fact sheet was prepared by Alaskans for Responsible Mining in 2004.

Analysis of Platinex Inc. v. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation case

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Aboriginal Legal Issues e-Newsletter by Scott Kerwin, reproduced with permission.

Mining Video - "No Significant Environmental Effects"

Does mining really have "no significant environmental effects"? A short video by Alley Crawford with music by Perpetual Dream Theory and Gary Bourgeois.

Statement to Glamis Gold Shareholders from Honduras and Guatemala

This statement was read at Glamis Gold's Annual General Meeting. It was written by community representatives from regions of Honduras and Guatemala affected by the company's mining operations. They were in Canada on an educational speaking tour with Rights Action. Glamis Gold Ltd. Investors and...

From San Félix to Rodeo: A Letter for the Resistance

When I visited the folks of Colectivo Reexistencia in San Félix (in Alto del Carmen of the III Region of Chile), they asked me to undertake the lovely mission of hand-carrying a letter directed to the people of the other side of the Andes, on the Argentine side, also affected by the Barrick...