Revealed: The Dirty Secrets Behind B.C.'s Claim to Be a World-Class Mining Jurisdiction, New Report

(May 17, 2021) - British Columbia’s aim to become a choice supplier of metals and minerals needed to build a greener global economy will fail unless laws are changed, according to a new report released today. Legal reform and better enforcement are needed to force B.C. mining companies to live up to the claim that they are world leaders in social and environmental responsibility.

Source
BC Mining Law Reform, Northern Confluence, SkeenaWild
Key Issues

Sayona Mining Exploration in Témiscamingue: Long Point First Nation Asks Government to Immediately Suspend the Tansim Project

(Winneway) In a letter sent yesterday, May 12th, to the Minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Council of Long Point First Nation officially asks the Government of Quebec to immediately suspend the mining rights of Sayona Mining on the Anishnabeg unceded ancestral territory and to intervene in compliance with the constitutional consultation obligation which is incumbent on the Crown.

Source
Council of Long Point First Nation

The Blackwash Part Two: Crimes against Black people no obstacle for signing the BlackNorth pledge

As Canadian mining companies sign the BlackNorth pledge to fight racism, they continue to attack, displace, and disenfranchise Black and Indigenous people in Africa and the Americas.

By El Jones and Desmond Cole

With files from Sakura Saunders and Rachel Small

As European colonizers installed slavery across the Americas in the sixteenth century, they shipped more Africans to modern-day Brazil than anywhere else. Labouring on sugar plantations, enslaved Africans were brutally tortured and murdered.

Source
Yes, Everything!

Dilution is Not the Solution – Mining Pollution, Compliance and Recognizing Indigenous Laws to Protect Watersheds

Submitted by Ugo on
Special Blog Type

The industry is working hard to paint B.C. mining as “green” and meeting global ESG standards because it can supply “low-carbon” materials needed to support the green energy transition. But unless the B.C. Government enforces laws and standards to: protect water and ensures mine waste dumps do not put communities and watersheds at risk; respect community decisions and Indigenous consent; and make sure companies pay to clean up their mess, environmental destruction and social conflicts will continue to occur. The B.C. Environmental Appeal Board hearing regarding the Tŝilhqot’in Nation’s legal challenge against Gibraltar Mine (Taseko Mines) mine wastewater discharge into the Fraser River is due to finish on May 21st, 2021.

The B.C. Government permits mines to discharge mine wastewater directly into lakes and rivers with little to no treatment, counting on a dilution factor to lower pollution levels, despite Indigenous and local opposition, concerns about water quality, as well as impacts to fish and wildlife.

Focus Terms

Barrick Gold Mines Focus of Conflict Globally

(Ottawa) As Barrick Gold’s CEO Mark Bristow touts the company’s financial gains at its annual shareholder meeting, communities and environments around the world continue to pay the price. In Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, communities oppose Barrick’s mines and their destructive legacy through letters, statements, petitions, and through legal action.

Civil Society and Downstream Users to Barrick: No Dominican Republic Expansion

Open letters from 88 organizations and 15 jewelry producers highlight the human rights, environmental and climate consequences of proposed gold mine expansion

(Santo Domingo/Ottawa/New York/Washington, DC – May 4, 2021) Today, 88 organizations from more than 21 countries released a letter calling on the Dominican Republic and Barrick Gold Corporation to stop the proposed expansion of the Pueblo Viejo gold mine, while 15 jewelry producers joined

Source
Global Justice Clinic – MiningWatch Canada – Earthworks

Turkey is the latest victim of a billion-dollar corporate heist

A Canadian mining company is suing Turkey at a secretive arbitration court over the cancellation of a mine project that was deemed disastrous for the environment.

Alamos Gold, a multi-billion dollar Canadian miner, which was barred last year from working on a mining lease in Turkey’s northwestern region, has said it will file a $1 billion claim against Ankara. 

Source
TRT World

INV Metals Says It Won’t Respect Ecuador Referendum Favouring Water Over Mining

Submitted by Viviana on
Special Blog Type

On February 7, 2021, the same day as the first round of Ecuador’s presidential election, the National Electoral Council (CNC in Spanish) held a popular vote on banning industrial mining in the watersheds of 5 rivers surrounding the city of Cuenca. Residents voted overwhelmingly (80%) in favour of water protection and against large-scale mining including the Loma Larga project of Canadian mining company, INV Metals.

Webinar: Green Energy, Green Mining, Green New Deal?

Submitted by Jamie on
Special Blog Type

Join us on May 5! The mining sector is working hard to take advantage of the climate crisis, painting mining as "green" because it supplies materials needed to support the "green" energy transition. But unless demand for both energy and materials are curtailed, environmental destruction and social conflicts will also continue to grow. How can a "Green New Deal" address this contradiction?

Subscribe to