Search: 12/2009

CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) and MiningWatch Canada

Wave of violence centred around Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining’s gold project

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.

Joint news release with Common Frontiers-Canada, the Council of Canadians, and the United Steelworkers: Documents recently filed by the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining (REMA, from the Spanish) with the Chiapas Attorney General’s Office have exposed Blackfire’s involvement in the corruption of local officials for the purpose of intimidating opponents to the company's open pit barite mine. “We have obtained documents – which Blackfire admits are genuine – that clearly show payments of US$1,000 a month going directly into the Mayor of Chicomuselo’s bank account on the understanding that municipal authorities would keep community members opposed to the mine under control,” explained Rick Arnold, coordinator for Common Frontiers-Canada.

Joint release with CPAWS-Wildlands Leagues and Ecojustice: TORONTO – A rapid increase in exploratory mining activities, including staking, drilling and clearance of vegetation in the heart of Ontario’s northern Boreal Forest, one of the world’s most carbon-rich ecosystems, has become a “Wild West” free-for-all, warn public interest groups. CPAWS Wildlands League, Ecojustice and MiningWatch Canada are concerned that development in an area known in the industry as the ‘Ring of Fire’ in Ontario’s Far North is exploding due to inadequate control under an antiquated Mining Act.