Indonesian environmentalist Arianto Sangaji is in Vancouver to launch a national campaign highlighting the role of Inco in his country.
Mr. Sangaji, the director of Yayasan Tanah Merdeka (Free Earth Foundation), is highlighting the threatened displacement of both indigenous people and migrants...
In 2004, MiningWatch Canada partnered with two women’s groups in the remote mining communities of Wabush and Labrador City (together known as Lab West) to consider the health implications of living in a mining town for community women. The Labrador West Status of Women Council and the Femmes...
On March 18-19, MiningWatch Canada facilitated a meeting in Whitehorse to assess resources and capacity in the Yukon to work on mining, prioritize issues, expand working relationships and work on strategies. Invitees included a number of individuals and representatives of local organizations.
In northwestern Tanzania, in the Shinyanga region, there is a massive gold mining area called Bulyanhulu, just south of Lake Victoria.
Since the 1980's Bulyanhulu has been mined by small-scale local artisans who had questionable rights to mine. However, the government tolerated their mining...
Peter McCaslin's article High Stakes, Hard Lines Pose Threat to Peace in Northeastern Thailand and his paper Somboon Mining Project: A Failure of Democracy in Thailand were also posted by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. The Centre asked the company to respond, and Asia Pacific...
The House of Commons Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Development submitted its third report to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which adopted the report on June 26, 2005. The report (the Committee's 14th), Mining in Developing Countries -- Corporate...
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.
Manitoba has a system of claim staking that enables large areas to be claimed at one time. Mining claims can vary in size from a minimum of 16 hectares to a maximum of 256 hectares. A mining claim in unsurveyed territory is approximately rectangular in shape; the length cannot be greater than four...
Most asbestos mining in Canada takes place in Québec. At its peak Québec had 10 of the 13 asbestos mines in Canada. The Thetford Mines region in Québec is home to most of these mines, the largest being the Jeffrey Mine. In fact, the Jeffrey Mine is the largest open pit asbestos mine in the world.
A...
Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) seek to address the impacts a mine will have on a community and the environment and set the ground rules for a relationship between the community and a mining company.
Law or policy does not require iBAs, but many companies may seek to negotiate IBAs...
It is estimated that 60% of all mining activity in Canada takes place on Aboriginal lands. In many cases Aboriginal people have been hit the hardest by the social and environmental impacts of mining activities, from exploration through mine development and operation and to closure and abandonment...
The Victor Diamond Project is located in Northern Ontario, approximately 90 km west of the coastal community of Attawapiskat. This project involves Attawapiskat First Nation, and three other remote communities on the shores of James Bay: Moose Cree, Fort Albany, and Kashechewan First Nations. It...
In Ontario, a regulation made under Bill 26 (the Savings and Restructuring Act introduced in January 1996) enabled profound changes to the Public Lands Act.