Argentina

UPDATE: After 2-day strike in the Veladero mine (December 17-18, 2009) OSMA-CTA (Organización Sindical de Mineros Argentinos) and Barrick Gold in Argentina signed a historic agreement on Jan. 12, 2010.

Ten days ago, the Federal Chambers of Tucumán in Argentina brought criminal charges of environmental contamination against Julián Rooney, Vice-President of Bajo La Alumbrera, Argentina’s largest mining operation located in Catamarca and Tucumán. Rooney is free, but his possessions are impounded, and the company will appeal the ruling to the Court of Appeals, and possibly to the Supreme Court. This is the first ruling in all of Latin America against a mining company for crimes against the environment.

"State of Mine, An Investigation of Canada's Extractive Industries", a special edition of The Dominion Newspaper, was published in November 2008 and is now available online.

A report by Rights Action: The nexus of mining companies, the mainstream media, the Canadian government, International Finance Institutions and bought off NGOs work hard to keep the reality of large-scale, open pit mines out of picture, keep community resistance marginalized, and no matter what, to keep talking about “development.” This report is about bringing hard facts and community perspectives together to help North Americans become more informed about the nature of the mining industry.

A report on the activities of Goldcorp around the world: “Given the rapid pace of mergers and acquisitions that Goldcorp has made over the last few years, it is too early to see how the new expanded company will behave in the real world, and what kind of social and environmental responsibility it will assume.”

On May 2nd, 2007, as part of an "International Day of Action" against Barrick, protests took place in six different countries as well as in Toronto, Canada, where Barrick is based.

On the same day, Canada's second largest gold mining company, GoldCorp, was protested at their annual meeting in Vancouver.

For more information about these actions, go to www.protestbarrick.net.

In the Argentine province of La Rioja, an astonishing series of events have lead to the ouster of an allegedly corrupt pro-mining provincial governor and the apparent withdrawal of gold mining giant Barrick Gold from operations on the Famatina range. Who was responsible for these events? A small group of dedicated neighbors who are fighting tooth and nail to save their mountain range from open-pit mining exploitation.

This past March 9-11, representatives from civil society organizations and churches throughout Latin America met to share and discuss the situation of environmental injustice which communities and organizations are confronting as a result of the activities of transnational mining corporations.

Community groups on both side of the Argentina-Chile border are increasing their opposition to Barrick Gold’s proposed Pascua Lama project in Chile, while criticism of its Veladero project already under way on the Argentinean side of the border is also mounting. There have been protests in both countries and even a blockade on the Argentinean side.