Mining Conflict and Opposition – Page 52

Child Miners Speak: Key Findings on Children and Artisanal Mining in Kambove DRC – (World Vision – May 2013)

May 24, 2013

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. http://voices.worldvision.ca/home/

Executive Summary

Child labour is a highly complex problem interlinked with poverty, a lack of social services and alternative employment, education and health impacts, and exploitation. The challenge we have is to understand the specific circumstances and needs of working children and their families, in particular settings. From there, we can develop appropriate and effective solutions that address these circumstances and needs, and sustainably move children out of the worst forms of labour. Simplified calls to eradicate all child labour often ignore the complexity of the problem, the persistence of poverty, and the difficult choices children face.

Child miners in one community in the DRC’s southern Katanga province speak to this reality throughout this report. A key objective for the research was the direct participation by children. They themselves described the circumstances, impacts and drivers of their work as miners, as well as possible solutions to the challenges they face. This was then compared to, and supplemented by, parents, other community members, and mining stakeholders.

By listening carefully, we heard that:

Children as young as 8 working in Congo copper mines in Democratic Republic of Congo – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – May 24, 2013)

May 24, 2013

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

World Vision has documented the voices of children kept out of school to work in a copper and cobalt artisanal mine in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo and has found that “this type of hard labour is robbing children of their childhood.”

Child labour in developing world garment factories is a tragic, known occurrence but a new report on children as young as eight toiling away in African mines sheds light on a forgotten group. World Vision, a Christian relief organization, documented the voices of children kept out of school in order to work in a copper and cobalt artisanal mine in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The key goal of this project, entitled “Child Miners Speak,” was to build trust and talk specifically to children to ask them how they feel about working in the harsh conditions of the mines, said Harry Kits, World Vision’s senior policy adviser for economic justice.

“This type of hard labour is robbing children of their childhood,” Kits said in an interview Thursday.

After speaking with 50 children in Kambove, aged eight to 17, World Vision documented children ill with various infections from working in polluted water or being exposed to mercury or uranium.

Conflict Minerals Law Is Heavy Burden On Business, House Republicans Argue – by Christina Wilkie (Huffington Post – May 22, 2013)

May 23, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

WASHINGTON — Republicans at a House subcommittee hearing this week objected to a 2010 law that targets conflict minerals from Central Africa, saying it places too many regulations on U.S. businesses and hasn’t accomplished enough since it went into effect.

“Some of us may pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘Well, we’re making sure we’re not using their minerals,’ but we’re only hurting the people of the Congo,” said Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), who called the law “a massive paperwork burden on U.S. companies.”

Profits from mining of lucrative minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have helped fund a brutal conflict between rebel militias and government troops that has claimed more than 5 million lives since 1998. For those who live in the conflict areas of eastern Congo, the threat of rape and mutilation is constant; both are used as weapons of war. In the isolated mining camps of the region, men and boys often work in debt bondage or outright slavery. Above ground, women and girls are even more vulnerable to the violence, and desperation forces many of them into the commercial sex trade.

The conflict minerals law originated with then-Sen. Sam Brownback, now the Republican governor of Kansas, who argued in 2008 that “with 1,500 people dying a day [in the Congo’s civil war], there is no room for turning a blind eye on this matter.” Bolstered by the support of United Nations experts and human rights groups, Brownback’s plan became law two years later, as Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation.

NEWS RELEASE: Secrecy in Oil, Gas and Mining Conspires Against Economic Development (May 15, 2013)

May 15, 2013

Citizens in Developing Countries Do Not Fully Benefit From Trillions in Natural Resources

Click here for full report: http://www.revenuewatch.org/sites/default/files/rgi_2013_Eng.pdf

WASHINGTON, DC, 15 May 2013. The lives of over a billion citizens could be transformed if their governments managed their oil, gas and minerals in a more open, accountable manner, according to the Resource Governance Index released today by the Revenue Watch Institute.

The Index measures the transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sector of 58 countries worldwide and finds that the vast majority surveyed fail to meet satisfactory standards in how their natural resources are governed. In these countries, opacity, corruption and weak processes keep citizens from fully benefiting from their countries’ resource wealth.

In 47 of the 58 Index countries, governments have yet to embrace openness and accountability. Together these 58 nations produce 85 percent of the world’s oil, 90 percent of diamonds and 80 percent of copper, generating trillions of dollars annually.

Some countries prove it is possible to lift the veil of secrecy and meet higher standards of transparency and accountability. “The Index research reveals a governance deficit in how transparent and accountable countries are with their natural resources,” said Daniel Kaufmann, president of Revenue Watch. “But by pointing to reforming states and to solutions, we reject the tired notion of the deterministic ‘resource curse’,” Kaufmann added. In fact, 11 of the 58 countries receive satisfactory overall scores, including emerging economies in Latin America.

Lonmin South Africa workers strike, raising fears of unrest – by Joshua Nhlapo (Reuters U.S. – May 14, 2013)

May 15, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – South African workers at the world’s No. 3 platinum producer Lonmin (LONJ.J) (LMI.L) launched a wildcat strike on Tuesday, halting all mine operations and sparking fears of a return to the violence that rocked the industry last year.

As dusk fell, a strike leader told thousands of workers gathered at a stadium near Lonmin’s Marikana mine to return home and continue the strike on Wednesday. Workers told a Reuters reporter no one would show up for the night shift.

Activists also said they would go to shafts the next day to threaten those who showed up for work, using the Zulu word for “rat” to describe them. This follows a pattern of intimidation that has accompanied illegal strikes in South Africa.

The platinum belt towns of Rustenburg and Marikana, which saw violent strikes at Lonmin and other producers last year, are a flashpoint of labor strife, with tensions running high over looming job cuts and wage talks.

Aggravating the situation is a turf war between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) – an ally of the ruling ANC that has lost many of its members to the more militant AMCU.

An NUM spokesman said Tuesday’s strike appeared to stem from anger over the killing of an AMCU member. A police statement said a 46-year-old man “alleged to be the regional organizer of AMCU” had been shot dead in a Rustenburg tavern on Saturday.

Innu not idle as Plan Nord advances – by Aaron Lakoff (Briar Patch Magazine – May 1, 2013)

May 13, 2013

http://briarpatchmagazine.com/

Resistance to repackaged neoliberalism grows in Quebec’s North

One year after the student strikes and Maple Spring that erupted in Quebec in 2012, the ongoing wave of social protests is having to recalibrate itself to meet a new set of challenges.

Former Liberal premier Jean Charest incited popular outrage with a proposed university tuition hike and broader austerity measures, but with last September’s election of Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Pauline Marois, many are finding that the neoliberal policies of the Charest government are only taking on slightly subtler forms.

In late February, Marois held a two-day summit on post-secondary education and announced that her government would continue to increase tuition costs, much to the chagrin of the student movement.

Also continuing is the northern Quebec development project known as Plan Nord under the previous provincial government and recently rebranded Le Nord Pour Tous under Marois. According to its official website, Plan Nord is a 25-year project estimated to bring in $80 billion in investments and create 20,000 jobs in mining, forestry, and dam projects.

South Americans Face Upheaval in Deadly Water Battles [Mining conflicts] – by Michael Smith (Bloomberg Markets Magazine – February 13, 2013)

May 13, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets-magazine/

People streamed into the central square in Celendin, a small city in the Peruvian Andes, the morning of July 3, 2012. They were protesting the government’s support for Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM)’s plan to take control of four lakes to make way for a new gold and copper mine. By midday, there were 3,000.

Some hurled rocks at police and brandished clubs. Then assailants shot two officers and an Army soldier in the leg.

Blocks away, construction worker Paulino Garcia left home on foot to buy groceries. As he approached the central square, he encountered chaos. People ran for cover as federal troops fired their weapons, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its March issue.

One bullet struck Garcia as he watched the mayhem. It ripped open his chest and exited through his back. The 43-year-old father of two fell to the ground and died. Another three people were shot and killed, and more than 20 were wounded.

Tensions high as Amplats to unveil South Africa job cuts plan – by Ed Stoddart (Reuters U.S. – May 9, 2013)

May 10, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Anglo American’s (AAL.L) platinum arm, under pressure from South Africa’s government, could announce a restructuring plan on Thursday or Friday that will sharply scale back job losses as it tries to balance out cost cuts and the threat of labor unrest.

Anglo American Platinum (AMSJ.J) had planned to slash 14,000 jobs and mothball two mines to return to profit but industry sources have told Reuters that the final plan would be pared back, with as few as 5,000 jobs cut.

Militant workers have signaled they will launch protest strikes even if the job cuts fall far short of the initial target. Social tensions are running high after violence rooted in a labor turf war killed more than 50 people last year and sparked illegal strikes that hit production.

For Amplats, reining in costs and cutting production to such an extent that it lifts the price of platinum, used for emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles, is absolutely crucial after it fell into a loss last year.

“From the point of view of Amplats itself, both numbers will be critical, how many ounces will you produce, but also how many people, because that impacts on the cost base,” said Alison Turner, an analyst at Panmure Gordon.

Illegal mining Colombia’s new bane – by Paul Harris (Globe and Mail – May 9, 2013)

May 9, 2013

Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Canadian junior miners on front lines as criminal gangs, demobilized paramilitaries and guerrilla groups mine gold outside the law

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA — In Segovia, a prosperous Colombian town of 50,000 people in northeastern Antioquia, the shops are closed by 6:30 p.m. and the streets empty. Segovia is a boom town, one of the country’s richest gold production centres, but tension is in the air as criminal gangs, demobilized paramilitaries and guerrilla groups flock to the area to mine gold illegally.

In Colombia, gold is the new cocaine as outlaw groups increasingly move into mineral-rich parts of the country on their own terms to take advantage of the metal’s strong price.

“The relatively high price of gold, the fact that the final product is legal and its production sources cannot easily be traced, means that illegal groups can operate large, profitable operations without the risks involved in the drug trade,” said Daniel Linsker, vice-president of global services for Latin America, at Control Risks, an international business risk consulting firm.

It’s estimated that illegal mining accounts for most of Colombia’s gold production. Production was an estimated 66 tonnes in 2012, according to the country’s National Mining Agency. About 10 tonnes comes from legal mines and about 10 tonnes from scrap such as old jewellery, meaning more than 40 tonnes is produced illegally, estimates CIIGSA, one of Medellin’s gold refineries.

Acid mine drainage ‘enormous public liability’ in perpetuity—EARTHWORKS – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 6, 2013)

May 6, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

A new report by the environmental NGO, Earthworks, proclaims acid mine drainage could generate between $57 billion to $67 billion annually in costs—a debt that future generations may shoulder.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A new study recently released by the Washington, D.C.-based environmental NGO Earthworks asserts an estimated 17 billion to 27 billion gallons of contaminated water will be generated by 40 U.S. hardrock mines annually in perpetuity. Forty-two percent of these mines are located on public lands.

“Another 13 mines are likely to generate water pollution in perpetuity, accounting for an additional 3.4 billion to 4 billion gallons of polluted water per year,” said report authors, Earthworks chief Bonnie Gestring and environmental research and science consultant, Lisa Sumi.

The proposed Pebble Mine Project—opposition of which has become a cause célèbre for environmentalists and sportsmen’s group– is among new mining projects Earthworks suggests will generate substantial water pollution.

“The primary cause of this lasting pollution—acid mine drainage—is well understood,” said the report. Acid rock drainage is mostly associated with sulfide ore deposits. “Yet, no hard rock open pit mines exist today that can demonstrate that acid mine drainage can be stopped once it occurs on a large scale,” according to Earthworks’ research.

Canadian mining company got embassy help amid controversy in Mexico: Advocacy group – by Julian Sher – (Toronto Star – May 6, 2013)

May 6, 2013

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Mining Watch issues report on what Canadian embassy in Mexico knew about the murder of Chiapas anti-mining activist, whose accused killers had ties to Calgary company Blackfire.

Secret diplomatic emails and briefings suggest the Canadian embassy in Mexico provided “active and unquestioning support” to a Canadian mining company before, during and after it became embroiled in controversy over the murder of a prominent local activist in Chiapas and corruption allegations, according to a report issued Monday by MiningWatch Canada.

The study, made available by the advocacy group to the Star and La Presse, is based on 900 pages of documents obtained through Access to Information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade about its dealings with Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration.

In late 2009, three men with links to the company were arrested after the drive-by shooting of Mariano Abarca, who was leading the fight against Blackfire’s barite mine in the often turbulent state of Chiapas.

Canadian Mining Industry Continues to Face Opposition in Central America (The Costa Rica News – May 5, 2013)

May 6, 2013

http://thecostaricanews.com/

Canadian mining operations have faced fierce opposition from numerous Latin America countries and communities over the past decade continuing most recently in Guatemala and Costa Rica.

In 2008 a Latin American independent report, Investing in Conflict—Public Money, Private Gain: Goldcorp in the Americas condemns the business practices of Canada mining companies, focusing on the largest, Goldcorp Inc., and discusses the Canadian mining industry’s socially and environmentally destructive practices in the Americas.

Even before this report, a Canadian mining operation met strong resistance in Costa Rica. In 2003 Canadian mining corporation Glencairn, started open pit mining in Miamar Costa Rica, ignoring concerns by locals and scientists of the riskiness of the area for large-scale open-pit mining, and an impending ban on open-pit mining in the country. [Reported on http://www.earthworksaction.org]

The company set up a mine using “cyanide heap leaching” at Bellavista, close to Miamar, which is a process where intensely toxic cyanide trickles through massive mounds of ore and removes the gold from the ore.

In July 2007, earth movements caused by geological instability and rainfall cracked the mine’s leach pad liner, allegedly leaking cyanide and contaminating the groundwater near the community of Miramar.

Guatemala declares emergency in four towns to quell mining protests – by Sofia Menchu and Mike McDonald (Reuters U.S. – May 2, 2013)

May 3, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Guatemala declared an emergency in four southeastern towns on Thursday, suspending citizens’ constitutional rights in an area where deadly protests over a proposed silver mine have erupted in recent weeks.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez announced the move in an effort to quell protests targeting the mine belonging to Canadian miner Tahoe Resources Inc. Two people have been killed in the demonstrations.

The company’s security guards shot and wounded six demonstrators on Saturday, said Mauricio Lopez, Guatemala’s security minister.

The next day, protesters, who say the Escobal silver mine near the town of San Rafael Las Flores will contaminate local water supplies, kidnapped 23 police officers, Lopez said. One police officer and a demonstrator were killed in a shootout on Monday when police went to free the hostages, said Lopez.

“I am not going to allow this to continue,” Perez told reporters. “We have conducted a six-month investigation in this area with the attorney general’s office for various criminal activities.” Police and military raided the four towns on Thursday, arresting 15 people suspected of kidnapping, weapons theft and destruction of private property.

Grim report warns Canada vulnerable to an aboriginal insurrection – by John Ivison (National Post – May 2, 2013)

May 2, 2013

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Mankind is at a crossroads, Woody Allen once quipped: “One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

Canada’s relations with its aboriginal people are also at a crossroads but, fortunately, one of the potential paths forward promises a more auspicious outcome than Mr. Allen’s doomsday scenario.

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute think-tank laid out the options in two important essays released Wednesday. One paper, by Ken Coates and Brian Lee Crowley, outlines an optimistic vision where aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians find ways to collaborate on natural resource development, to the benefit of all.

A more pessimistic report, by Douglas Bland, suggests that Canada has all the necessary “feasibility” conditions for a violent native uprising — social fault lines; a large “warrior cohort”; an economy vulnerable to sabotage; a reluctance on the part of governments and security forces to confront aboriginal protests; and a sparsely populated country reliant on poorly defended key infrastructure like rail and electricity lines.

Mr. Coates and Mr. Lee Crowley suggested that aboriginal people are in a “sweet spot” when it comes to natural resource development — the result of treaty agreements, court settlements and Supreme Court decisions.

First Nation threatens to shut down B.C. copper mine – by Peter O’Neil (Vancouver Sun – May 1, 2013)

May 2, 2013

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Possible blockade of mine road across reserve could be start of ‘catastrophic’ uprising across Canada, think-tank warns

OTTAWA — A threat by a B.C. First Nation to shut down a B.C. mine is a small sign of a potentially “catastrophic” uprising in Canada if Aboriginal Peoples don’t become full participants in natural resource extraction, a prominent think-tank warned Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Wet’suwe’ten First Nation threatened to shut down the $455-million expansion of the Huckleberry Mines Ltd. copper/molybdenum operation, 123 kilometres southwest of Houston, in northern B.C.

Wet’suwet’en Chief Karen Ogen said Wednesday the mine’s access road and power transmission line crosses her band’s reserve near Owen Lake. She said the Wet’suwet’en would likely start by charging a toll on mine workers and contractors using the road. But if the band’s demand for jobs for its members are not met, she threatened more drastic action.

“If we have to the hydro lines will come down,” she vowed. The warning of possible violence across Canada comes from Douglas Bland, a professor emeritus at Queen’s University in Kingston. Bland, in one of two reports on resource development and First Nations published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, argued Canadians should take heed of the Idle No More movement that held protests across Canada against federal inaction on key issues.