Publication

Post-Mount Polley: Tailings Dam Safety in British Columbia

By: David Chambers, Ph.D., P. Geop. This report assesses the tailings dam designs at four mines in B.C. in light of the recommendations of the Mount Polley Expert Panel to examine whether regulatory agencies are applying best available technology to reduce the risk of catastrophic tailings dam failures, and where they aren’t, if changes could be made to do so.

Imperial Metals Seabridge Gold Teck British Columbia Alaska Water and fisheries
Publication

Barrick Consultant Delivers Biased Report on Inequitable Remedy Mechanism for Rape Victims

In 2015, Barrick Gold hired consulting firm Enodo Rights to carry out a review of the company's controversial remedy mechanism for victims of rape by mine personnel at the Porgera Joint Venture mine in Papua New Guinea. MiningWatch Canada has researched and exposed sexual violence and other forms of excessive use of force by Porgera mine security and police guarding the mine for a decade. Our work on these issues started years before Barrick acknowledged any abuses by mine security and continued through Barrick’s implementation of a flawed remedy mechanism for rape victims. This review critiques Enodo Rights’ report and provides an independent assessment of key failures of Barrick’s remedy framework and its implementation at the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea.

Barrick Gold Papua New Guinea Corporate Accountability Grievance Mechanisms Human Rights Indigenous Rights
Publication

In the National Interest? Criminalization of Land and Environment Defenders in the Americas

Here in Canada and throughout the Americas, many governments have embraced resource extraction as the key sector to fuel economic growth, neglecting other sectors – or even at their expense. This is creating unprecedented demand for land and other resources, such as water and energy. Increasingly, when Indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples, farmers, environmentalists, journalists, and other concerned citizens speak out against this model for economic growth, particular projects and/or their impacts, they become the targets of threats, accusations, and smears that attempt to label and punish them as enemies of the state, opponents of development, delinquents, criminals, and terrorists. In the worst cases, this leads to physical violence and murder.

Blackfire Exploration Candente Copper Dorato Goldcorp HudBay Minerals INV Metals Kinross OceanaGold Pacific Rim Tahoe Resources Canada Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Mexico Peru Human Rights Indigenous Rights Militarisation/Criminalisation