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As the BC mining industry’s Roundup 2013 conference winds down national and regional NGOs are emphatically calling for substantial reforms to the rules the industry operates under. While communications from the industry have focussed on the growth in exploration activity and spun the industry’s potential in a positive light, the reality is there is a growing level of frustration and tension around many projects in the province. Changes are urgently needed to resolve these existing and emerging environmental and social conflicts. In order to stimulate a more sober analysis of the situation, MiningWatch Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, Rivers Without Borders and Friends of Clayoquot Sound are releasing a Top 40 list of mining reforms needed in BC.

Ottawa – Washington, D.C. - Oxford – January 30, 2013. Following years of denial, Barrick Gold is implementing a remedy program for victims of rape by employees of its Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Despite Chieftain Metals claims of results from a new feasibility study, the Tulsequah Chief mine proposal continues to face significant risks, uncertainties, delays and opposition. A Technical Report summarizing the results of the feasibility study, released on January 25, notes a number of major uncertainties, risks and assumptions.

(Ottawa) On Wednesday, January 23, 2013, the Honduran Congress quickly passed and ratified a new mining law that had been developed with support from the Canadian International Development Agency against the will of important sectors of Honduran society. The only step that remains is for the law to be published in the official Gazette, which could take place as early as next week.

The Idle No More grassroots protest movement that started in the province of Saskatchewan has stretched across Canada and is now being joined by Alaskans who are concerned about the threats to Alaskan waters and salmon from British Columbia’s (BC) aggressive industrial development plans. Indigenous Peoples and supporters will host an Idle No More rally at Town Square Park downtown Anchorage at noon on Friday, January 11th.

Indigenous and human rights organizations stand in solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence in her appeal for full respect for Aboriginal and Treaty rights by the government of Canada. There is an urgent need for Canada to demonstrate genuine respect and long-term commitment, initiated by a meeting between First Nations’ leadership, the Prime Minister and the Governor General.

Toronto, ON – KI community member, Mark T. Anderson will walk from Queens Park to Parliament Hill starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday to say “no” to continued treaty violations by the federal government. Anderson, who will be joined by members of the KI leadership and youth, has reactivated his walking team to pick up from his 2100 km walk to Queen’s Park in 2006 to say “no” to mining.

MiningWatch Canada is urging the Yukon Government to heed a call for land use planning in the sensitive Alsek Valley on the boundary of Kluane National Park in the south-western Yukon. The national mining watchdog is adding its voice to local residents and the Yukon Conservation Society who have appealed for a cautious and planned approach to development in the area.

Yesterday the federal review panel examining the New Prosperity Gold Copper Mine Project issued a notice to the proponent, Taseko Mines, that the company's environmental impact statement (EIS) is deficient in fifty different ways. This determination follows a scathing review of an earlier draft in July and an initial indication at the end of November that the Panel was not satisfied with how Taseko dealt with cumulative effects.