As the extraction of minerals continue to grow exponentially worldwide, including to supply increasing demand for energy transition technologies and batteries for electric vehicles, the Responsible Mineral Index 2020 (RMI 2020) concludes that "even the best mining companies" still fail to meet society's expectations to protect human rights and the environment.

On October 7, 2020, MiningWatch submitted a brief to Global Affairs Canada with detailed recommendations for a complete overhaul of Canada’s National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines). This Canadian non-judicial body was set up to receive complaints filed by people from around the world who have been harmed by the activities of Canadian corporations that have breached the OECD Guidelines in their operations.

Deer Horn Capital is seeking one of the newest and most highly regarded global mining standard certificates for its tellurium project in B.C. — a first for Canadian exploration companies

Ryan Stuart 

It may not have the allure of gold, but as a key component of solar panels, next generation batteries and computer memory chips, there is a rush on finding new deposits of tellurium, a so-called critical metal. 

Battle over Pebble may be harbinger of coming political fights as idea of opening whole new mining district attracts investors

Gabriel Friedman

Published on: October 6, 2020 | Last Updated: October 6, 2020 9:44 AM EDT

Last week, Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. issued a press release that declared its Pebble Mine, located in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, as the “most significant” source of rhenium in the world.

(Kamloops, B.C.) Declining water quality in Peterson Creek, a tributary of the South Thompson River, due to contamination from waste rock at the closed Ajax mine has prompted the Kamloops Area Preservation Association (KAPA) to ask the Government of British Columbia for increased monitoring of effluent from the mine.

Why do affected communities care about mine waste? And why should we care?

When companies dig the metals and minerals we use from the ground, they typically only extract a tiny fraction that is economically viable and sold to the markets. The rest is waste.

For example, for each ton of iron extracted, over 3 tons of solid waste are typically generated.

A MEMBER OF THE INDIGENOUS TUWALI TRIBE WALKS PAST BARBED WIRES DURING A PROTEST AGAINST THE AUSTRALIAN-CANADIAN MINING CORPORATION, OCEANAGOLD PHILIPPINES, NEAR MALACANANG PALACE IN MANILA IN NOVEMBER 2019. PHOTO BY DANTE DIOSINA/AFP

(Ottawa) There has been an explosion of international and national support for Ecuador’s Indigenous Shuar People, announced the Governing Council of the Shuar Arutam People (CGPSHA in Spanish) in a press conference yesterday. A week-long letter campaign coordinated by MiningWatch Canada and Amazon Watch to ensure that Canadian company Solaris Resources hears the CGPSHA’s demands provoked a powerful response.

Today marks one month since the Ejido of Carrizalillo began a peaceful, legal encampment to stop operations at Equinox Gold’s Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico, over the company’s failure to comply with 70% of the terms of its social cooperation agreement with the community. The company’s breaches of the agreement include failing to ensure an adequate supply of potable water and medicines, among other issues. The community has now rescinded the agreement, but remains open to dialogue.

[Posted from the The Union of the Assemblies of the Communities of Chubut]