Mining

Canada Accused Of Failing To Prevent Overseas Mining Abuses

November 3, 2014 Carey L. Biron, www.ipsnews.net Organize! Canada, Energy, Environment, Latin America, Law, Mining

The Canadian government is failing either to investigate or to hold the country’s massive extractives sector accountable for rights abuses committed in Latin American countries, according to petitioners who testified here Tuesday before an international tribunal. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also heard concerns that the Canadian government is not making the country’s legal system available to victims of these abuses. “Far too often, extractive companies have double-standards in how they behave at home versus abroad.” -- Alex Blair of Oxfam America

Eagle Mine Seeks New Lease, Public Demands Hearing

October 27, 2014 Save the Wild UP, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Environment, health, Mining

The Eagle Mine LLC, currently owned by international mining conglomerate Lundin Mining, is seeking a new mineral lease from the State of Michigan for 40 acres of land (NE 1/4 SE 1/4, Section 13, T50N, R29W, Michigamme Township, Marquette County) beside the Yellow Dog River, a federally-recognized National Wild and Scenic River with a status of ‘excellent’ water quality. According to documents obtained by grassroots organization Save the Wild U.P. (SWUP), Michigan's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has known about this application since July. The DNR's announcement of Lundin Mining’s mineral rights lease application was published on Monday October 20th, 2014, commencing a legally-required 30-day public comment period. SWUP contends the DNR and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have institutional conflicts of interest in regulating metallic sulfide mining.

Bolivia’s Conamaq Indigenous Movement

October 27, 2014 Pablo Peralta, www.ww4report.com Resist! Bolivia, Indigenous Rights, Law, Mining, Social Movement

Bolivia's Conamaq indigenous movement is currently a major grassroots critic of the policies of the Evo Morales government and its Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party. Because of this critical stance, the government helped to violently oust the Conamaq from their offices in La Paz this past December, and create a parallel, pro-MAS Conamaq. Mama Nilda Rojas is a leader of the dissident, or organic, Conamaq, and is interviewed here by Pablo Peralta M. of Bolivia's Página Siete newspaper. While ex-Conamaq leader Rafael Quispe is seeking to run for president against Morales, the current Conamaq of Nilda Rojas rejects all political parties and alliances with any governments, and remains one of the few critical social movements outside the umbrella of the MAS party, along with a radical base of followers and a progressive vision for the country.

Federal Court Upholds EPA Veto Of Spruce Mountaintop Removal Mine

October 3, 2014 Earth Justice, www.earthjustice.org Organize! Climate Change, Direct Action, Energy, Environment, Law, Mining

Today Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s veto of a permit for one of the largest and most extreme mountaintop removal coal mines ever proposed in Appalachia, the Spruce No. 1 Mine. The court found no merit in the coal industry’s case, and found that EPA’s decision to veto the Clean Water Act permit for this mine was reasonable and fully supported by the scientific record. Statement from Emma Cheuse, Earthjustice counsel who argued on behalf of several Appalachian groups in defense of the EPA’s veto: “Today’s court victory is a win for all Americans who believe our children deserve clean water and healthy lives without facing the increased threats of cancer, birth defects and early mortality associated with mountaintop removal coal mining."

First Nation’s Victory: Exemption For Gas Rescinded

September 16, 2014 Dene Moore, www.globalnews.ca Resist! Canada, Energy, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, Mining

VANCOUVER – In January of this year, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers made a presentation to high-ranking officials in British Columbia’s Environment Ministry, outlining changes they wanted to environmental review rules for natural gas projects. Those changes became law on April 14, but they didn’t stay that way for long. An outcry from First Nations organizations forced an about-face from Environment Minister Mary Polak, who rescinded the revisions two days after they were passed by order-in-council. “Industry prefers shorter regulatory timelines and less regulatory burden to reduce costs,” said internal documents obtained by The Canadian Press through a Freedom of Information request.

Shadowy Tribunal Decides Mining Companies’ Power

September 16, 2014 Alice Ollstein, www.thinkprogress.org Resist! Capitalism, El Salvador, Law, Mining

Does a corporation’s right to profit trump a country’s right to protect its land and water? That was the question today before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an obscure tribunal housed within the World Bank in Washington, DC. At a hearing closed to the press and the public, the gold mining company OceanaGold claimed the government of El Salvador owes them hundreds of millions of dollars for denying them a permit to excavate in an ecologically sensitive region. At a rally outside the World Bank Monday, Manuel Pérez-Rocha with the Institute for Policy Studies explained the situation to ThinkProgress: “The $301 million dollars they are demanding is related to the profit-not-made. It’s not that they invested $301 million. They are saying, ‘Well, if you don’t let me operate in your country the way I want, you must pay me for the profits that you prevented me from making.’”

Response To Tahltan Mining Protest In Sacred Headwaters

September 15, 2014 Vancouver Observer, www.vancouverobserver.com Resist! Energy, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mining, Police, Protest

A First Nations group protesting a copper and gold mining site in the heart of the Sacred Headwaters of northwest B.C. was responded to by RCMP officers with rifles on Friday afternoon, according to several eyewitness accounts. Members of the “Klabona Keepers” have occupied a drill site in Tahltan territory, near Iskut B.C. for several days. The drill is operated by Firesteel Resources of Vancouver. Tahltan band member Peter Jakesta helps run the protest camp, and said four RCMP members came in unannounced, took their radios, and told them to leave or risk being charged with theft.

Will World Bank Punish El Salvador For Protecting Its Environment?

September 15, 2014 John Cavanagh and Robin Broad, www.otherwords.org Educate! El Salvador, Energy, Environment, Mining

This summer, we returned to northern El Salvador. That’s where the Pacific Rim mining company started to dig its exploration wells about a decade ago. Near that disputed mining site, local resident Vidalina Morales explained how she and others came to oppose mining: “At first, we thought mining was going to help us out of poverty through jobs.” But, she said, during a visit to a mine in neighboring Honduras, “we saw polluted rivers and people with bad skin diseases, and we learned about the social conflicts that mining brought between those working in the mine and those in the community.”

Tsilhqot’in To Declare Site Of New Mine A Tribal Park

September 13, 2014 Larry Pynn, www.vancouversun.com Create! Energy, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mining

What a Dasiqox Tribal Park would help to protect: (1) Would connect five surrounding parks: Ts’yl?os, Big Creek, Nunsti, Big Creek, and Southern Chilcotin Mountains. (2) More than 10,000 hectares of threatened white bark pine forest, perhaps the largest and healthiest such stands remaining in Western Canada, not decimated by white pine blister rust, the mountain pine beetle, and wildfires driven by climate change. (3) The last viable refuge for the dryland grizzly bear, which historically occurred down the western mountains of North America in the lee of the coast ranges. The diet of these grizzlies ranges from white bark pine nuts to salmon. (4) Important spawning habitat for chinook, sockeye, and coho salmon, having made lengthy journeys via the Fraser and Chilcotin rivers; the low sockeye run in Yohetta Creek is considered a unique genetic stock that is endangered. (5) Migratory routes for mule deer as well as ancient Tsilhqot’in trails, both local and long-distance, some of them thought to date back thousands of years.

Protestor Burned Alive For Speaking Against Company

September 9, 2014 Timon Singh, www.inhabitat.com Organize! Environment, Guatemala, Mining, Protest

A Guatemalan protestor was beaten and burnt to death after he dared to speak against the Marlin gold mine, which is owned by Canadian company GoldCorp. The man, who was a member of an indigenous tribe, was reportedly killed by workers from the company who doused him with petrol before throwing a lit match onto his body. Marlin Mine, Goldcorp, Gold mining, protestors, goldcorp protests, prosestor death This is not the first controversy that has hit the Marlin mine. When it was first constructed, there were multiple protests from local farmers. In December 2004, an indigenous group from Sipakapa began a 42-day blockade of Glamis trucks passing through their community on the way to the mine, but the blockade was ended when more than 1,200 soldiers and 400 police agents began firing at unarmed protesters, resulting in the death of an indigenous farmer, Raul Casto Bocel. This latest death is part of a decade-long struggle for local communities to protect themselves from the mine and its impact on the region. The stories are shocking with tales of intimidation, threats, social division, violence, bribery and corruption of local authorities, destruction and contamination of water sources, not to mention forest clearing and appalling health impacts such as malnutrition and skin diseases. The company running Marlin is Montana Exploradora, a subsidiary of Goldcorp, based in Vancouver, Canada. The Guardian asked them to comment on allegations that company workers had been responsible for setting fire to the protestor and received this response from the Communications Director, Christine Marks: The allegation is patently false. Goldcorp and its subsidiary Montana Exploradora do not condone violence of any kind, against anyone. We respect the right of all individuals to voice their opinions respectfully. Goldcorp and Montana Exploradora have adopted the internationally-recognized standards of “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.”

Imperial Metals, Government Focus On Cover Up Not Clean Up

September 2, 2014 Leila Darwish, www.rabble.ca Educate! Canada, Mining, pollution, Water

On August 4, the massive tailings dam at the Imperial Metals Mount Polley gold and copper mine burst. The dam breach unleashed 14.5 million cubic metres of toxic heavy metals and chemical laden tailings water and sludge into Polley Lake, down Hazeltine Creek, into Quesnel Lake and onto the Quesnel River which directly connects to the Fraser River Watershed. The Quesnel Lake watershed is a major source of drinking water and home to one-quarter of the province's sockeye salmon. This is the largest mining disaster to occur in Canada and it's still unfolding. The Imperial Metals Mount Polley mine is located on Northern Secwepemc territory, therefore, this disaster most directly affects the Secwepemc who rely on salmon as their principal food source and the impacted area for hunting game, fishing, gathering berries and medicines. The nearby Secwepemc communities most impacted are the Xastull (Soda Creek) First Nation and the Williams Lake Indian Band (Sugar Cane First Nation). Neither Xatsull (Soda Creek) or the Williams Lake Indian Band (Sugar Cane) were alerted by the company of the disaster. The disaster also directly affects residents of the town of Likely who have no immediate access to drinking water and are experiencing serious health effects as a result of the spill. And as the salmon return home, the spill impacts the many downstream First Nations and communities who depend on the fish in the Quesnel and Fraser River systems.

Group Pushes Congress On Abandoned Uranium Mine Cleanup

August 22, 2014 Matthew Seeman, www.cronkitenewsonline.com Organize! Clean Up the Mines, Mining, pollution, Uranium, Water

The people behind Clean Up the Mines understand that others have been trying for years to clean up abandoned uranium mines and have mostly met with limited success. But they say that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t keep trying. The grass-roots advocacy group of environmental, Native American and other organizations launched in April with the goal of getting Congress to mandate cleanup of the more than 10,000 abandoned mines in the country, at least 500 of which are on the Navajo Nation. “This needs to be a federal standard,” said Klee Benally, a Navajo who is a member of Clean Up the Mines. “It needs to be the highest that we can possibly have to address these toxic abandoned uranium mines.” Key to that effort is a proposed piece of legislation, the Uranium Exploration and Mining Accountability Act, that would require a complete inventory of the thousands of abandoned mines in the U.S. It would be the first bill specifically addressing uranium mining, said Charmaine White Face, who drafted the proposal and is coordinator for Defenders of the Black Hills. She said Clean Up the Mines formed after several native communities in South Dakota shared concerns that abandoned mines had contaminated their water supply.

Residents Demand New Jobs, Transparency On Strip Mine

August 21, 2014 Justice To Justice, www.justicetojustice.com Resist! Appalachia, Jobs, Mining, Protest

In the pre-dawn rain, members of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) waited to deliver a citizen mine inspection request letter to workers at the foot of an A&G Coal Corp. surface mine in Appalachia, VA. The strip mine on Looney Ridge of Black Mountain, above the community of Inman, was the source of the boulder that killed three-year-old Jeremy Davidson 10 years ago today1. The mine was recently cited for bond forfeiture by the Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy2. Local residents are concerned that the mine, and many others controlled by billionaire Jim Justice, continues to be out of compliance for required reclamation and reforestation. The community group is asking that Jim Justice and the VA DMME allow for regular citizen mine inspections to ensure that Justice is in compliance with the law, and applying the best available reclamation techniques on operations like this one. The group has previously asked for citizen inspections of this mine, as allowed by SMCRA, but been denied. The Wise County residents hoped to meet the morning shift at 5:30 this morning, before delivering the same mine inspection request to the DMME. By 7:00 AM, workers had still not arrived, and so the group left their letter behind a band of caution tape in front of the entrance. The letter can be found at JusticeToJustice.com, or below.

Mining Spill Closes 88 Schools, Pollutes Water

August 20, 2014 Ari Phillips, www.thinkprogress.org Educate! Mexico, Mining, pollution, Water

An acid spill from a large copper mine in northern Mexico is keeping 88 schools closed starting Monday due to uncertainty over the safety of drinking water. The 12-day-old spill, which sent 10 million gallons (40,000 cubic meters) of toxic wastewater into portions of the Bacanuchi and Sonora rivers, may keep schools closed for over a week according to the Associated Press. The Buenavista copper mine, one of the largest copper mines in the world, is located in Cananea, Sonora, about 25 miles south of the U.S. border near Nogales, Arizona. The mine is operated by Grupo Mexico, one of the world’s largest copper producers. Grupo Mexico’s American subsidiary, Asarco, is nearing a deal to gain full ownership of the Silver Bell copper mine across the U.S. border in Marana, Arizona and has been subject to major environmental misconduct charges in the past relating to its mining operations. Mine officials have been criticized for not reporting the massive acid spill to authorities for around 24 hours, with residents downstream detecting the spill the next day as it turned dozens of miles of river orange.

Brazil: ‘Dalai Lama Of Rainforest’ Faces Death Threats

August 19, 2014 Fabiola Ortiz, www.ipsnews.net Resist! Brazil, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Mining

Davi Kopenawa, the leader of the Yanomami people in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, who is internationally renowned for his struggle against encroachment on indigenous land by landowners and illegal miners, is now fighting a new battle – this time against death threats received by him and his family. “In May, they [miners] told me that he wouldn’t make it to the end of the year alive,” Armindo Góes, 39, one of Kopenawa’s fellow indigenous activists in the fight for the rights of the Yanomami people, told IPS. Kopenawa, 60, is Brazil’s most highly respected indigenous leader. The Yanomami shaman and spokesman is known around the world as the “Dalai Lama of the Rainforest” and has frequently participated in United Nations meetings and other international events. “The landowners and the garimpeiros have plenty of money to kill an Indian. The Amazon jungle belongs to us. She protects us from the heat; the rainforest is essential to all of us and for our children to live in peace.” -- Davi Kopenawa He has won awards like the Global 500 Prize from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). His voice has drawn global figures like King Harald of Norway – who visited him in 2013 – or former British footballer David Beckham – who did so in March – to the 96,000-sq-km territory which is home to some 20,000 Yanomami.

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