by Mike Gaworecki on 30 September 2020

On August 25, Cornerstone Resources (TSX:CGN) held its Annual General Meeting for shareholders, online and out of the reach of the communities and organizations most affected by its activities.

Researchers have shown that some fungi that live symbiotically within the leaves of plants are able to change their biology to decay wood; this new research provides insights into a mysterious form of symbiosis called ​endophytism​. The research was conducted at ​Los Cedros Reserve​, a protected forest in northern Ecuador threatened by mining development.

In a historic ruling, the Valparaíso Court of Justice has nullified the illegal authorization of the “Prefeasibility Mining Drilling for Las Tejas” project and has ordered the Regional Environmental Assessment Service (SEA in Spanish) to implement a process of citizen participation for the Vizcachitas holding company’s environmental evaluation.

On August 19th, many organizations from Cuenca and the surrounding area of the Kimsakocha páramo in Ecuador released a public statement (translated below) regarding a letter sent by Canadian company INV Metals to the Cantonal Council of the municipality of Cuenca (attached here in Spanish).

Water wins again – and the consultation for Cuenca is coming

It is an historic day for the defence of water in Cuenca in the face of the attempted imposition from the central government. Today, Thursday, August 13, 2020, the Environmental  Commission of the Cantonal Council of Cuenca, in an extended session, unanimously approved the popular consultation regarding metal mining in the water recharge areas of five rivers in the canton.

Faced with the Upcoming Ruling Concerning the Shutdown of Canadian Barrick Gold’s Pascua Lama Mining Project: 14 Reasons Why the Environmental Court and the Chilean State Cannot Allow its Continuation

The Pascua Lama Mining Project is owned by Canadian Barrick Gold and is located in the high mountain area of the Huasco Valley, Atacama Region, Chile. This project is currently suspended due to serious environmental noncompliance, but there’s an upcoming ruling that could order its reopening.

(JUNEAU) This week British Columbia (B.C.) made significant progress toward the closure and cleanup of the abandoned and polluting Tulsequah Chief mine in the transboundary Taku River watershed. Yesterday the Province released a cleanup and closure plan for the mine. It also announced funding for preliminary cleanup steps. And at a Tuesday hearing in front of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, both the Province and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN) asked the court to end the receivership process, which started in 2016 when mine owner Chieftain Metals (incorporated in Ontario) went bankrupt, and to allow B.C to take responsibility for mine remediation.

On August 4th, Peruvian organization Derechos Humanos Sin Fronteras-Cusco (DHSF) published a note on its web site responding to a statements made by Hudbay Minerals, first to a local newspaper, then during its AGM, and finally in a letter written to the Business and Human Rights Centre, denying an outbreak at its Constancia mine in Peru.

Quebec’s independent Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement) today made public its report on the state and management of asbestos and asbestos mining wastes in Quebec. The three-member Commission was mandated by Quebec’s Minister of the Environment to carry out an inquiry and advise the government how to deal responsibly with the more than 800 million tons of asbestos mining wastes left by asbestos mines that operated in Quebec for more than a century. In particular, the Commission was asked to make recommendations regarding multi-billion dollar projects to extract magnesium and other metals from the asbestos mining wastes.