SPECIAL: Battling the Mining Industry on the World Stage

Negotiating for the planet

"At the moment, one large negotiation process is underway about how the world can achieve sustainable development. Rio+10, also known as the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, will discuss this issue and take into...

Memo from Senat Coutumier to Commission of Inquiry on Goro Nickel Project

The industrial project of GORO-NICKEL, involving the construction of a commercial plant, has already been the subject of a pre-inquiry that took place from February 4, 2002 to February 19, 2002, inclusively.

The present MEMORANDUM of the Customary Senate of New Caledonia is part of the actual...

Backgrounder: What's INCO doing in New Caledonia?

by Catherine Coumans

New Caledonia is a French "Overseas Community" in the southwestern Pacific (21 degrees 30' S, 165 degrees 30' E). The archipelago is surrounded by a 2,000-km long reef system (44,000 square kilometres) that is the world's second largest coral massif after Australia's Great...

Submission re: Bill C-19: an Act to Amend the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

(Presentation by Joan Kuyek, National Coordinator)

Thank you for this opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

MiningWatch Canada is a pan-Canadian coalition of environmental, Aboriginal, social justice, development and labour...

Letter to Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of Philippines

I am writing to you on behalf of MiningWatch Canada regarding the tragic attack on 26 December 2002 upon community members from Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte. Madam President we wish to express through you our sympathy for the victims of this act of violence. It is of great personal regret...

Response from MiningWatch Canada and the Council of Canadians to the National Post article of Dec. 29, 2001 re: Barrick Gold's Bulyanhulu project

On December 29, 2001, the National Post carried a story written by Brian Hutchinson entitled "Barrick's African Tribulations", about the removal of tens of thousands of artisanal miners by the Tanzanian government and a Canadian-owned Sutton Resources' subsidiary — Kahama Mining Corporation or...

Mining's Privileged Access to Land Challenged: Bedford Mine Alert

Cottagers and residents of Bedford County, Ontario have found out what it means to lose the mineral rights to your property. If someone wants to prospect or develop a mine in your front yard, you are only entitled to compensation, not to stop it.

Bedford is in the Rideau Lakes area of the province...

Mining and Water Pollution in Canada

There is growing public concern about the condition of fresh water in Canada. Mining affects fresh water through heavy use of water in processing ore, and through water pollution from discharged mine effluent and seepage from tailings and waste rock impoundments. There are various regulatory and...

Canadian Mining in the Philippines

In early October, Catherine Coumans visited the Philippines to work with three partner communities. We report on two issues — Placer Dome's responsibility for the perilous situation in Marinduque, and Crew Development Corporation's efforts to establish a nickel mine in Mindoro despite...

Companies and Events in 1996, Bulyanhulu Area, Tanzania

Ownership - Sutton Resources Ltd.1

Sutton Resources was incorporated under the laws of British Columbia on December 4, 1979. In 1996, the company had a number of subsidiaries. One of these was Kahama Mining Corporation which was incorporated in Tanzania, but was owned 100% by Romanex...

Sutton Resources, Barrick Gold and Bulyanhulu: Statement from MiningWatch Canada

On September 27, 2001, MiningWatch Canada, the NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation and the Council of Canadians held a press conference to publicly release a video about the removal of small scale miners in Bulyanhulu in August 1996. At that time we called for an independent...

Northwatch Submission on Metal Mining Effluent Regulations

As a preamble to our comments on the proposed amendments to the Metal Mining Liquid Effluent Regulation under the Fisheries Act, I would like to convey our appreciation for the many years of work that you and your colleagues in Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have...

MiningWatch Comments on Proposed Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER)

The CEN Mining Caucus and AQUAMIN Reference Group participants to the MMLER review process rooted their recommendations on how to modernize the MMLERs on principles that they outlined in comments to Environment Canada in 1999 (March 1999; June 1999). These principles have already been recognized as...

Submission from Canadian Environmental Network Mining Caucus members re: MMER

Is it good enough to protect the health of Canadians, or our fish, wildlife, and water? Ten years ago, Environment Canada set out to strengthen and update the regulation for mine effluent. Pollution from mines can harm the environment generally, especially for the people and communities that depend...

Report to Mines Ministers from MiningWatch Canada

Increasingly, international organisations such as the OECD, national policy makers and the public are engaging in a pressing debate about the need to promote more sustainable forms of production and consumption. This debate involves questions about the economic value of the environment and...

Background Information on Proposed Metal Mining Effluent Regulations

In 1977, the Metal Mining Liquid Effluent Regulations (MMLER) were promulgated under the Fisheries Act. In 1990, the Government of Canada announced its intention to update and strengthen the MMLER in its Green Plan, and the Aquatic Effects of Mining (AQUAMIN) process was established to...