Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

Roch Lanthier, long-time activist and defender of the environment and people’s health, died January 29 of a heart attack. MiningWatch Canada joins his family and friends in expressing our gratitude for the life of Roch Lanthier and our deep regret at his passing.

Etiquetas: Asbestos, Québec, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005

Book review: "Africa’s Blessing, Africa’s Curse: The Legacy of Resource Extraction in Africa"

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

Africa’s Blessing/Africa’s Curse provides a very accessible overview of resource extraction in Africa, with chapters devoted to gold mining, diamonds and the oil industry. Numerous case studies give a human face to the social, cultural and environmental impacts of mining and the struggles of affected communities to have a say in how Africa should best develop its mineral ...

Etiquetas: Africa, Diamonds, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005

Book review: "In the Way of Development"

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

This book is based on a collaboration of indigenous leaders, social activists and scholars. It explores indigenous peoples’ struggles to maintain control of their lives and lands in the face of increasing and accelerated encroachment of globalized industrial and commercial “development.” The book approaches indigenous peoples caught up in these struggles not merely as “victims” ...

Etiquetas: Economic Development, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, Impact on Communities, Indigenous Rights

Ascendant Copper Threatens Ecuador Cloud Forest

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

Since the early 1990s, the Intag region of Imbabura in northwestern Ecuador has been the target of mining exploration. There is a large ecological reserve there (the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve) as well as community forest reserves. The region depends on subsistence farming, coffee and other agricultural production, and eco-tourism. There is widespread and vehement opposition to plans by Bermuda-based Ascendant Holdings to mine copper in the cloud forest.

Etiquetas: Ecuador, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, Copper Mesa/Ascendant Copper

Two Killed So Far Protesting Glamis Gold in Guatemala

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

Canadian mining investment has been implicated in the violation of human rights and indigenous rights as well as environmental problems at Glamis Gold’s Marlin mine project in San Marcos in the western highlands of Guatemala. The project is operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glamis, Montana Exploradora. It has been the focus of protests and violent repression by the Guatemalan government and now private security contractors and anonymous actors as well.

Etiquetas: Guatemala, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, World Bank/International Financial Institutions, Glamis Gold, Goldcorp

Victor Mine Environmental Assessment Decision Delayed

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

A number of key issues are delaying a decision on the Environmental Assessment of DeBeers' proposed Victor Diamond Mine in Attawapiskat in northern Ontario.

Etiquetas: Ontario, Diamonds, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, De Beers

Getting Smelter Toxins Under Control

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

An open letter signed by over 20 environmental organizations was sent to the federal Environment and Health Ministers on February 21, 2005, demanding urgent action on toxins coming from smelters.

Etiquetas: Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, Toxics/National Pollutant Release Inventory

Diamond Rush in Manitoba

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

DeBeers has staked over 1.94 million hectares of land in north eastern Manitoba near the Hudson Bay coast, in return for a payment of $1 million to the Manitoba government - about 50 cents a hectare. The claims surround another 60,900 hectares staked by Western Warrior Resources.

Etiquetas: Manitoba, Diamonds, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, De Beers

Teck-Cominco Pursuing Garbage for Highland Valley Mine

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

Faced with the impending end of production at the Highland Valley Copper Mine in Logan Lake, BC, mine owner Teck-Cominco is proposing the transformation of the waste rock dumps into a “solid waste facility” to take garbage from the Greater Vancouver area.

Etiquetas: Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005, Teck

Ontario Mining Action Network: For responsible and better-regulated mining in Ontario

Viernes, Agosto 12, 2005

The Ontario Mining Action Network (OMAN) was launched in Sudbury, Ontario on December 5, 2004 at the conclusion of a two-day workshop on mining in Ontario. Representatives from First Nation communities, labour organizations, environmental groups and mining-affected communities from Southern and Northern Ontario identified a number of obstacles to more responsible and better regulated mining in the province and agreed to use the strength of a network to address these issues in their communities and at the government/policy level.

Etiquetas: Ontario, Newsletter 18: Winter/Spring 2004-2005