This page provides a number of key background references and links to advanced stage Canadian rare earth projects. The materials present information on the environmental challenges associated with rare earths mining as well as the economic opportunities they present.
Barrick Under Global Pressure to Withdraw Conditions on Remedy for PNG Rape Victims
Since January, 2013, MiningWatch Canada has raised concern about the fact that Barrick Gold is seeking legal immunity from victims of rape by mine security guards at the company’s Porgera Joint Venture Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG). If these rape victims accept an individual remedy package they...
Kamloops Physicians Demand Rigorous Health Study for KGHM's Ajax Project
A group of physicians from the city of Kamloops, British Columbia, are insisting on a rigorous assessment of the health impacts of the proposed Ajax Gold-Copper mine. They recently placed this ad in the local paper to help get their concerns out.
Gold and Democracy Don’t Mix – Eldorado Gold Faces Determined Opposition in Greece
As Eldorado Gold holds its annual shareholders’ meeting in Vancouver today, Canadians may ask themselves why the company’s plans to mine gold in northern Greece are meeting such strong resistance from residents and even some local authorities. There are really only two problems: what the company is...
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‘We rent our land, not our dignity’
Photo essay: Excellon Resources has become an unwelcome presence in the community of La Sierrita in Durango, Mexico as a result of its intransigence to address incompliance with its land use contract and violence against a three month peaceful protest during the summer of 2012.
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Familiar-sounding Australian Report Reveals Exaggerated Benefits and Underestimated Costs
Two Australian research organizations recently released a review of the economic assessments of Australian coal projects and found that the proponent-generated reviews greatly overstated the benefits and understated the costs of the projects.
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Ça Bouge! Quebec Coalition Makes Progress on Reforms
MiningWatch Canada is a founding member and supporter of the Coalition Québec meilleure mine (translated as the Better Mining Coalition with a clever pun – “mine’ also means face or appearance in French). For over five years now the Coalition has been pushing an agenda of mining reforms in Quebec...
Beyond Extraction - Resources
In March 2013 MiningWatch and Studies in Political Economy co-hosted the Beyond Extraction conference in Ottawa. This page is a collection of selected resources related to the themes of the conference.
Canada’s Development Model: Beyond Extraction
This one-day conference on Canada’s current extractivist development strategy took place on March 16 at Carleton University. Co-organized by MiningWatch and Studies in Political Economy, it brought together over 100 participants to asses the extractivist model and propose alternatives that are...
Letter to UN Commissioner for Human Rights re: Barrick Gold's "grievance" procedure for victims of rape by security guards at the Porgera Joint Venture mine in Papua New Guinea
Letters to Dr. Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) re: abuse by Barrick Gold of a non-judicial grievance mechanism for victims of rape by security guards at the Porgera Joint Venture mine in Papua New Guinea.
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URGENT ACTION: Call for investigation and company departure in response to recurring violence in area of Canadian-owned silver project
Background: On Sunday, March 17, 2013, at around 8 pm, the President of the Xinca Indigenous Parliament and three other Xinca leaders were abducted by a group of heavily armed masked men while on their way home from observing a public referendum on Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine in El Volcancito, San...
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Sisters of the Siria Valley, We Support Your Struggle for Justice and Health
Development and Peace and MiningWatch Canada stand in solidarity with our sisters in struggle for justice and health from the communities of the Siria Valley, Honduras while they demonstrate in Tegucigalpa for International Women’s Day.
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New Investment Agreements Show Canadian Commitment to Africa Mining Vision a Hollow Promise
The Canadian government’s big announcement for this year’s Prospectors and Developers Association conference (PDAC) wasn’t the renewal of tax credits for “flow-through” shares – a $100 million dollar a year subsidy for exploration companies – or even a creative new way of diverting international...
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Resistance When Land and Life Are in Peril: Guatemalan Human Rights Defender Speaks in Canada
Lolita Chávez says it is love of life that motivates her to risk her own as an outspoken Maya K'iche' activist against racism, mining, and hydroelectric project developments in the highlands of Guatemala. As a result of her leadership in Guatemala's Indigenous movement, she is a frequent target of...
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Lakes Not Waste Dumps Background to the Sandy Pond Alliance Court Challenge
The Sandy Pond Alliance
The Sandy Pond Alliance to Protect Canadian Waters was founded in response to the imminent threat to Sandy Pond, a unique and pristine lake ecosystem that transnational mining giant Vale plans to use as a waste dump. If the company proceeds it will use the...
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Neskonlith Opposition, A Reasonable Response to Imperial Metals' Ruddock Creek Project
Last week I had the opportunity to visit Secwepemc territory in south-central BC. I was invited by the Neskonlith Band to speak with them about the Ruddock Creek project, a proposed lead and zinc mine in the headwaters of the Adams River. The proponent, Imperial Metals, and MiningWatch have a...