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Mining

What’s Next For Oak Flat?

Oak Flat is officially no longer public land nestled within the Tonto National Forest. The roughly 2,400 acres just east of Phoenix — long-considered Apache holy land — is now private property belonging to a multinational mining company. Despite being under new ownership, Resolution Copper president and general manager, Vicky Peacey, stresses Oak Flat will remain mostly untouched. Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, as Apaches call it, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. “We’re very excited to take the next steps, although in a way that is humble and respectful,” Peacey told KJZZ. “We wanted to make sure that the look — the feel of the area — is very similar to how the Forest Service had managed it.”

Mali Delivers 33 Million Dollars Of Mining Revenue To Local Communities

The government of Mali redistributed USD 33 million of mining revenue to the mining-affected and other underdeveloped regions of the country last week, at a ceremony in the Koulouba Presidential Palace on March 12, presided over by President Col. Assimi Goïta. Local municipalities located in active mining zones were allocated half of this amount. The other half was shared between the regional administrations within which the mining zones are located and the non-mining areas under an equalization mechanism to address the uneven development of different regions of the country.​

New Mining And Energy Law Puts The Galapagos Islands At Risk

On February 26, with 70 votes against and 77 in favor, the National Assembly, controlled by the party of right-wing President Daniel Noboa, approved the controversial mining and energy law. According to the executive branch, the law seeks to attract foreign investment from large mining companies. Following the arrest of the mayor of Guayaquil, which has been considered a form of political persecution by various sectors, the president decided to relocate the government to that city. Immediately afterwards, the legislature, chaired by Niels Olsen, Noboa’s right-hand man, decided that the National Assembly sessions would be held near Guayaquil, in Samborondón, where a significant number of Ecuador’s wealthiest people live.

‘Phytomining’ Could Put The Green In The Green Transition

Alpine pennycress is a charming little plant. Its low-growing rosette of green leaves is topped by leggy stalks bearing clusters of pinkish-white flowers. As they develop, these flowers transform into beautiful flattened seed pods that, in the words of botanist Liz Rylott from the United Kingdom’s University of York, “resemble a British old penny.” But alpine pennycress (Noccaea caerulescens) is notable for far more than its penny disguise. The plant is one of a select group — representing just 0.21 per cent of the world’s known vascular plant species — that have evolved the ability to pull impressive amounts of valuable metals out of the soil.

Mali Recovers Over USD 1.2 Billion After Renegotiating Mining Deals

Mali’s government announced earlier this month that it has secured more than 761 billion CFA francs (about USD 1.2 billion) in unpaid revenue from mining companies following a comprehensive audit and renegotiation of contracts in the extractive sector, making it one of the most significant resource governance interventions in the country’s recent history. Mali is one of the world’s top 20 gold producers and Africa’s third largest gold producer and it relies heavily on mining as a pillar of its economy. Yet, in light of the disparity in the amount of minerals exported and revenue that Mali was obtaining for them, authorities concluded that the country was not receiving its fair share of benefits from its natural resources.

Ontario First Nations Are Building A Village To Block Mining Project

There’s a brand-new clearing on the point above the rapids on the Attawapiskat River, 70 kilometres from Neskantaga First Nation. By the time Ontario’s planned Northern Link road is built to the edge of this river in 10 years, Neskantaga’s chief says those living in a permanent settlement here will be there to block the bridge and the highway into the Ring of Fire. “It’s going to be a village,” Gary Quisess says. “People are going to move away from the reservations. We’re so compressed with reservations, in the box. People are going to move away, back to the old ways where people lived separately, all over the place. That’s the way of our life, our culture.”

Corporate Pressure Mounts On Chileans Opposing Copper Mine

Vancouver-based Los Andes Copper, developer of the proposed Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum mine in Chile’s Valparaíso region, has launched an aggressive campaign targeting the municipality of Putaendo’s mayor, Mauricio Quiroz, and local biologist Arón Cádiz-Véliz. The company is pressing legal and media challenges against them for opposing the mine and leading scientific efforts to protect the area. The conflict centres on a report and technical study commissioned by the municipality, aimed at designating the Rocín River Valley—a high-altitude ecosystem with glaciers, wetlands, and endemic species—as a protected area.

Chilkat Indian Village Tells New Palmer Mine Owners They’re ‘Not Welcome’

Leaders of the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan and the conservation group Chilkat Forever are warning the new owners of the Palmer mine project that they will face “sustained and unyielding opposition” if they pursue hardrock mining in the Chilkat Valley. The groups said the proposed mine — recently acquired by Vizsla Copper — threatens the Jilḵáat Aani Ḵa Héeni (Chilkat Valley Watershed), a region known for its rich cultural traditions and biodiverse ecosystem, including bald eagles, salmon, moose and bears. “Whether it’s Vizsla Copper Corporation, American Pacific Mining Corporation, or another operator that owns the Palmer mining project, this industrial hardrock mining development lacks the consent of the Chilkat Indian Village - Klukwan and of many in the broader community,” said Kimberley Strong.

Opposing The Transfer Of Native Sacred Land Isn’t ‘Anti-American’

With a deadline looming for the ownership transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week granted an emergency injunction that temporarily halted the transfer.  Within 24 hours, President Donald Trump weighed in on the debate with inflammatory, ill-informed rhetoric on social media. He called the appeals court a “Radical Left Court” for issuing the emergency injunction blocking the transfer of Oak Flat to foreign-owned mining interests.  In his post, Trump wrote “our country, quite simply, needs copper–and NOW.” He went further, labeling those who oppose the mine as “anti-American,” suggesting they’re working against the interests of the United States.

Human Rights Obligations At Canadian Embassies Dead On Arrival

Over the winter, hundreds of demonstrators in the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia denounced a Canadian gold mine owned by Aris Mining in the eastern Andean wetlands. They were rallied by the Comité Santurbán, a collective of activists protecting the vulnerable Santurbán watershed, known as a páramo, from industrial mining. Opposition has been ongoing for at least 16 years. But this past December, members of the Comité were designated by a group supporting the Canadian mine as “persona non grata.” In October, they were labelled as “enemies of progress in Santander” and accused of being responsible for “the deterioration of the country’s heritage”.

Apache Women Ask Courts To Halt Land Swap For Oak Flat

A group of Apache women asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to halt a disputed land exchange at the center of a long battle over plans to build a huge copper mine at Oak Flat. It's the fourth lawsuit that seeks to stop the U.S. Forest Service from signing over title to the site, held sacred by Apache peoples and culturally significant by other tribes, to Resolution Copper in exchange for other plots of environmentally sensitive land in Arizona. The four women, who all have spiritual and cultural connections to the 2,200-acre campground in Tonto National Forest about 60 miles east of Phoenix, filed their suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia July 24.

World’s Governments Fail On Moratorium On Deep-Sea Mining

Despite growing momentum, world governments failed to agree to a moratorium on deep-sea mining as the 30th session of the International Seabed Authority wrapped up on Friday. The authority’s July meeting was the first since U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite permits for deep-sea mining under U.S. authority and The Metals Company (TMC) promptly applied for U.S. permits. Governments rebuked the U.S. and TMC for their unilateral approach and did not agree on a mining code that would allow the controversial practice to move forward under international law.

A New Chapter In Ecuador’s Anti-Mining Struggle

Ecuador is a country that has developed a strong consciousness for environmental conservation throughout its history. Its constitution, approved in 2008, was a pioneer in the world in granting rights to nature. In 2021, more than 80% of the inhabitants of Cuenca, Ecuador’s third-largest city, voted in favor of banning mining there. In 2023, in a popular consultation, the Ecuadorian people demanded that the oil in the Amazonian Yasuní National Park be left in the ground. The inhabitants of the country’s capital, Quito, also voted against the exploration and exploitation of metallic minerals in the Andean Chocó area. Mention should also be made of the numerous struggles that Indigenous peoples have waged for decades against the destruction of nature by large mining and oil companies.

From Workplace To Wall Street; Technologies Impacting Mine Workers

When considering workplace artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and new digital technologies, one might envision workers in Silicon Valley or remote factory robotics. However, coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) are addressing the effects of technological change in coal mines and Wall Street from New York City to the Navajo Nation.  In the workplace, contemporary mining technologies and practices without adequate regulations and implementation of safety technologies have resulted in a surge of silica-dust-induced Black Lung disease.

Niger Nationalizes Uranium Mining Company

After taking other initiatives aimed at better controlling and managing its natural resources, Niger has announced that it will nationalize the mainly French-owned company that has been mining uranium in that African country for decades. In question is Somair, the only uranium mine still in operation in the country. Somair was operated by Orano (formerly called Areva), a French multinational specializing in nuclear fuels. Orano had already had its rights to export Nigerien uranium and its operational control of the company withdrawn. The authorities in Niamey, Niger’s capital, explained their decision by accusing Orano of “irresponsible acts,” namely extracting more than its authorized share of uranium.
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