The Bemidji Statement on Seventh Generation Guardianship was released July 6 during the 14th Protecting Mother Earth Conference, convened by the Indigenous Environmental Network in Bemidji, Minnesota. It combines the ancient wisdom of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) -- "The first mandate.... is...
The Real Blunder of Pascua Lama
On June 21, 2006, a Chilean court returned two of Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama mining leases to prospector Rodolfo Villar, who had agreed to sell them to Barrick but had been paid only 10,000 pesos ($20 CDN). The ruling could have serious consequences since the leases are listed as Barrick's property...
Canadian Roundtables on the Extractive Industries
In October 2005, the Canadian government rejected the recommendations of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to adopt concrete regulatory measures to end human rights and environmental abuses committed by Canadian mining companies abroad. However, the...
Issues of Concern re Aur Resources' Proposed Duck Pond Mine in Central Newfoundland - Updated
Aur Resources plans to destroy two trout and salmon-bearing lakes in central Newfoundland by using them for the disposal of environmentally toxic mine waste. Environment Canada has recommended adding these two ponds to Schedule 2 of the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER), effectively...
Campaign against Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama project
Update (July 2006): This matter is now before the courts in Chile, and no longer subject to political decisions. Please support our Chilean counterparts in their continuing struggle for democracy and environmental protection.
It's not too late! Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama project in the Andean peaks...
Comments on Regulations Amending the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations - Canada Gazette Part 1, Vol. 140, No. 14, published April 8, 2006
Comments prepared by Catherine Coumans as representative for the Canadian Environmental Network (CEN) on the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations Multistakeholder Advisory Group, together with Maggie Paquet (Citizens’ Stewardship Coalition, Port Alberni, BC), Judy Parkman (Recycling Organization...
The Proposed Pollution of Two Lakes in Central Newfoundland
The Fisheries Act is very clear that deleterious substances not be discharged into fish bearing waters or that fish habitat be destroyed. Weakening the Fisheries Act has the potential danger that economic considerations would influence political decisions to over ride scientific and environmental...
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Placer Dome Admits to Killings at Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea
Canadian gold mining company Placer Dome, recently acquired by Barrick Gold, has confirmed reports coming out of the remote Papua New Guinea highlands that security guards at its Porgera gold mine have been shooting at, and killing, villagers. Placer Dome is owns a 75% interest in, and operates...
Kinross Gold and Katanga Mining: Part of the Pillage of the Democratic Republic of Congo?
According to various analyses, a joint venture involving Kinross Gold, and which is now being taken over by Katanga Mining Limited, gives the multinationals access to huge pieces of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining company, Gécamines (La Générale des Carrières et des Mines) at “fire...
National Pollutant Release Inventory Drops Exemption for Mining
On February 25, 2006, the Canada Gazette published a “Notice with Respect to Substances in the National Pollutant Release Inventory for 2006”. In “General Criteria”, Section 3(1)(h), the mining exemption now only applies to “pits and quarries”.
In Canada, the National Pollutant Release Inventory...
The Legacy of Asbestos Mining in Newfoundland
On March 15, 2005, the CBC aired a story titled “Mine site air heavily laden with asbestos” about the Baie Verte Mine in Newfoundland. The story was based on a provincial government study that CBC obtained through a freedom of information request. The study shows that the former mine — which...
Two Trout and Salmon Lakes in Newfoundland Slated for Destruction by Mine Waste
MiningWatch Canada is currently participating, as a member of the Canadian Environmental Network (CEN), in a multistakeholder review of the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER). The MMER were originally promulgated under the Fisheries Act (section 36) in 1977. The revised regulations came into...
Urgent Need to Investigate Respiratory Impairment of Hemlo Miners
Almost five years after the Globe and Mail published a full page story that raised an alarm about silicosis among gold miners in the Hemlo Camp in northern Ontario, little has changed.
The Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers explains silicosis this way:
“Breathing dust containing free...
The Mining Controversy: An Awareness and Education Kit for Ontario Grade 7
(Revised November 2006.) Investigating mining as it relates to aspects of the economy, the environment, and communities; a cross-curricular programme relating Reading, Geography, and Science, this package contains everything needed to deliver an effective, skill-based unit. Prepared by Beth Nicol...
Chalatenango Communities Step Up Resistance to Au Martinique
The town of San José Las Flores in Chalatenango overlooks the hills the mining company Au Martinique Silver claims to be rich in gold and other precious minerals, according to its March presentation to investors posted on the Martinique web site. However the community of 200-plus families is not...
From San Marcos to Colombia: The Regional Integration of Gold and Bullets
SUMMARY: Analyzing the role of militarization as an integral part of the control of territory, natural resources and Peoples, this article raises doubts about the so-called war on drug trafficking in mining districts. A comparison is drawn between Plan Colombia in South America and the current...