Women

Photo essay: Despite repeated recommendations from the international community during 2010 to suspend Goldcorp’s controversial Marlin mine in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala, the open-pit mine continues operating. Its presence in the indigenous municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipacapa has led to allegations of serious human rights violations and social upheaval.

From October 1 to 9 MiningWatch's Catherine Coumans attended the Third International Women in Mining Conference in Visakhapatnam, Andra Pradesh, India. She made a brief presentation based on the research she has coordinated for MiningWatch Canada on women, mining and health in collaboration with Canadian women in West Labrador.

In January, MiningWatch had the privilege of visiting with inspirational people from three mining communities across Canada. Mel Quevillon, Canadian Program Coordinator, visited Labrador West (Labrador City and Wabush) in Labrador and Thompson and Flin Flon in Manitoba to meet with community members and scope out the interest in applying to be a pilot community for a project on women's health called "Overburdened: Understanding the Impacts of Mineral Extraction on Women's Health in Mining Communities".

Last issue, we mentioned the workshop Gaining Ground: Women, Mining and the Environment that was held at Lake LaBerge, Yukon, last September. Well, a booklet has been published out of that workshop, and it is available from the Yukon Conservation Society, Box 4163 Whitehorse, YT Y1A 3S9, tel. (867) 668-5678, fax (867) 668-6637, e-mail ycs@ycs.yk.ca