(Montreal/Saint-Michel-des-Saints) A coalition of elected officials, citizens and organizations united under the banner of the Better Mining coalition ("Pour que le Québec ait meilleure mine!") denounces Quebec’s decision to authorize a mega open-pit mine in a tourist area, adjoining Mont-Tremblant National Park and Lac Taureau Regional Park. They are reacting to the authorization decree for the Nouveau Monde Graphite mine published this morning by Quebec.

(Gan Gan, Argentina) The Regional Southern Coordinator of the National Aboriginal Pastoral Team (ENDEPA) reports that a complaint was submitted to the Inter American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) regarding the Argentinian government and the Province of Chubut’s failure to comply with international human rights treaties. This comes following the decision to submit a provincial bill regarding mining zoning which violates the right to consultation and participation of Original Peoples. 

Canadian mining companies are at the forefront of pushing to gain access to the deep seabed as the new frontier in mining. Canadian company Nautilus gained the first permit to mine hydrothermal vents on the deep seabed off Papua New Guinea before going bankrupt in 2019. Vancouver-based DeepGreen is the most vocal promoter of seabed mining in international waters of the Pacific, where the company is targeting million year old polymetallic nodules.

MiningWatch Canada is excited to announce that Viviana Herrera Vargas has joined our staff as Latin America Program Coordinator for one year, replacing Kirsten Francescone while she is on maternity leave.

TO:

María Consuelo Porras, Attorney General, Office of the Public Prosecutor, Guatemala
Augusto Jordán Rodas Hernández, Ombudsman, Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, Guatemala
Sean McAleer, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Guatemala, Pan American Silver
Michael Steinmann, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pan American Silver
Ross Beaty, Director and Chairman of the Board, Pan American Silver

CC:

(Ottawa/Toronto/Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia) Today, B.C. mining billionaire Ross Beaty will speak at the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME-BC) RoundUp Conference as an “internationally-recognized leader” on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) best practices. But his high-profile presence at the conference is raising eyebrows in light of recent attacks against opponents of Beaty’s Escobal project in Guatemala. 

[See Facts & Highlights below as well as Facebook Images & Maps]

(Ottawa/Washington) Throughout 2020, Indigenous Ifugao maintained their blockade of OceanaGold’s copper-gold project in Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines, in spite of repeated violent attempts by the company to run the blockade.

In response to Ontario’s mad dash to develop the controversial Ring of Fire (ROF) mineral cache in Ontario’s Far North, First Nation communities across Ontario’s Far North have reminded the province of constitutionally protected Indigenous and treaty rights and the Crown’s duty to consult. While 2020 may have begun with a record-setting start for the global mining sector, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the demand for raw materials. Subsequently, there has also been a shift in industry and investor priorities and a readjustment of government policy on mining. In this article, we question Ontario’s response to mining developments in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has included new policies favouring extractive industry interests over at-risk communities. What we find is a continued failure by the province to respect calls by legal experts, First Nation communities and Indigenous and environmental organizations to halt permitting and development planning within the Ring of Fire in light of the surmounting difficulties in participation and the exacerbated, pre-existing crises precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company’s star expansion project will potentially provoke serious impacts for the environment, Indigenous peoples and the workforce.

Report Highlights

• The Quebrada Blanca Phase II (QBP2) Expansion Project will require more than 4.7 billion dollars in capital investment and is financed by Japanese and Canadian  banks and finance corporations.