Prime Minister Harper's annual trip north has again put the northern territories in a spotlight on the national agenda (at least for this week). Consistent with other rhetoric and legislative changes from the Conservatives, the tour put a heavy emphasis on resource extraction and mining as a potential solution to northern economic and social challenges.

News release from Rivers Without Borders: Concerns and frustration are growing on both sides of the border in response to Chieftain Metals’ closure in June of the water treatment plant at the Tulsequah Chief site. Some stakeholders are now urging Canadian agencies to investigate solutions to the acid mine drainage problem that are not dependent on the mining company or a developed mine project.

News release: Barrick Gold's recent second quarter results reveal cost overruns in the binational Pascua Lama project on the border between Chile and Argentina that point to serious challenges to this project's overall feasibility from communities, civil society organizations, and government officials acting in the public interest.

News release: Excellon Resources puts company's main operation, La Platosa, at risk over lack of willingness to address terms of contract with communal landowners in Durango, Mexico.

News release: Guatemala's highest court has an unprecedented opportunity to uphold indigenous rights as it hears a challenge against the country's mining law for failure to consult indigenous peoples about the law prior to its approval in 1997.

News release: In a report released today, the business and human rights organisation Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) catalogues the inadequacies of the London Stock Exchange’s regulatory framework. The Central African Mining and Exploration Company plc (CAMEC) was allowed to trade and flourish on London’s junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM) despite its close links to Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party (Zimbabwe), the dubious provenance of its Congolese mining assets, and the unsavoury reputation of key business associates.

News release: On July 12, 2012, the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project submitted a request to the Ontario Securities Commission to investigate junior mineral resource company Excellon Resources, Inc., which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The request suggests that Excellon may have breached the Ontario Securities Act disclosure requirements.

The red pine forests surrounding Wolf Lake are by best accounts the largest remaining tract of old-growth red pine ANYWHERE. Despite the obvious and long appreciated ecological significance of the forest MNDM has continued to renew a mining lease in the heart of the Wolf Lake old growth.

News release: On July 12, representatives of the Ejido La Sierrita (communal landowning structure), the non-governmental organization Proyecto de Derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales, A.C. (ProDESC), and other human rights organizations held a press conference to present the dire situation of a blockade of the La Platosa mine.

On July 11, 2012, Excellon Resources, Inc., a Canadian mining company, threatened landowners of the Ejido "La Sierrita" (Ejido) and their adviser, Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ProDESC), with criminal proceedings and judicial action in response to the landowners' peaceful blockade of the company's La Platosa mine.