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Mining Conflict and Opposition

Indigenous Peoples Get Last Word on Mines [in Canada] – by John W. Miller and Alistair MacDonald (Wall Street Journal – March 26, 2012)

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Canadian Court Ruling Encourages Firms to Seek Cooperation Before Digging Begins, Creating Frustration Over Cost
 
TORONTO—Annita McPhee, the leader of the 5,000-member Tahltan First Nation in British Columbia, recalls mining-company executives seeking the nation’s chieftains’ permission to dig for coal next to their land.
 
“They walked in and handed us all blankets, and we were like, ‘What do we need blankets for?’ ” she says. “We showed them the door.”

Lesson one in mining in the mineral-rich, indigenous-inhabited Canadian territories: avoid stereotypes, Ms. McPhee advised executives gathered early this month at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada International Convention, the world’s second-largest mining conference.
 
After bypassing indigenous peoples in Canada, who inhabit some of the richest lands in the world, mining companies increasingly are realizing that they can’t just hand out blankets and begin drilling.

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Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011 – by RepRisk

RepRisk is the leading provider of dynamic business intelligence on Environmental, Social and Governance risks (ESG).

MOST CONTROVERSIAL MINING COMPANIES OF 2011

The extraction industry is traditionally one of the most criticized by various stakeholders for its negative impacts on communities and the environment. This RepRisk special report focuses on mining companies and their projects in 2011. In order of ranking, the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011 were:

1. Alpha Natural Resources
2. Newmont Mining Corp
3. Glencore International
4. BHP Billiton
5. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
6. Rio Tinto
7. Compania de Minas Buenaventura
7. Barrick Gold (equal ranking)
9. Anglo American
9 Vedanta Resources (equal ranking)

These mining giants and their global operations have come under fire for allegedly polluting potable water supplies, scarring landscapes and damaging sensitive ecosystems. There were also numerous allegations detected by RepRisk related to impacts on local communities and effects on the traditional way of life of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, these companies were accused of having poor occupational health and safety standards, which resulted in toxic emissions and accidents that have caused injuries,
fatalities or serious illness.

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Alpha Natural Resources ranked as most controversial mining company – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – March 26, 2012)

www.mineweb.com

RepRisk, a firm specializing in assessing the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks has issued a new report naming the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011.

RENO (MINEWEB) –  Swiss-based RepRisk-which advises investment banks, assets managers, and multinational companies of the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks of the companies in which they have invested or have business relationships with-has issued a new report naming the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011.
 
RepRisk uses the RepRisk Index (RRI), a quantitative risk measure that captures criticism and qualifies a company’s exposure to controversial issues.
 
In order of ranking, RepRisk named as the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies: 1. Alpha Natural Resources, 2. Newmont Mining, 3. Glencore International, 4. BHP Billiton, 5. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, 6. Rio Tinto, 7. Compania de Minas Buenaventura, 7. Barrick Gold (equal ranking), 9. Anglo American and 9. Vedanta Resources (equal ranking).

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Solid Gold reports progress in [Wahgoshig First Nation] dispute – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – March 23, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Some headway is being made in efforts to resolve a conflict between Solid Gold Resources Corporation and Wahgoshig First Nation.

“The government has made certain offers, which I won’t go into at the moment, to accommodate the First Nation,” Darryl Stretch, president of Solid Gold, told The Daily Press Thursday. “The very fact that the government has made some offer of accommodation inspires me just a little, tiny bit. Because it’s always been our position that the government must stand between us and the (First Nation) government.”

Stretch said all along, regional First Nation leaders have been asserting their communities are led by an autonomous government.

If that is to be the case, Stretch added, “then I don’t quite understand why my government would be insisting I go and enter agreement with their government. It just doesn’t make sense.”

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Ecuador Indians march against mining on their lands – by Gonzalo Solano (Globe and Mail – March 23, 2012)

The 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.

QUITO— The Associated Press – The lands of the Shuar Indians in the Ecuadoran Amazon are rich in wildlife such as tapirs, toucans and red howler monkeys. They also hold treasures more coveted by outsiders: rich deposits of copper and other minerals that the government is eager to cash in on.
 
Projects to build open-pit mines that would rip into their forest-covered hills have spawned a protest movement that sets leaders of the ethnic group against the country’s popular president, Rafael Correa, who says development is essential to the future of this nation’s 14 million people.
 
More than 1,000 indigenous protesters reached Ecuador’s capital on Thursday after a two-week, 700-kilometre march from the Amazon to oppose plans for large-scale mining projects on their lands.

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[Ontario] First Nations seek power in development – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – March 22, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper and Brian MacLeod is the managing editor. brian.macleod@sunmedia.ca

It was a brief release on the website of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. More telling, it was released on March 4 — a Sunday. It looks like the medium was the message. In this case, that message is trouble for the Liberals.

The release announced that 23,000 square kilometres of land in the northwestern corner of Ontario were being withdrawn from prospecting and mining to “give clarity to the province’s mineral exploration industry and avoid future disagreements over the land in question.”

That clarity was required after a showdown between the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation and God’s Lake Resources, a junior exploration company. And KI won hands down.

Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci said KI “clearly isn’t ready to enter into an agreement … so we believe it was better for all concerned if we withdrew those lands.”

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MEDIA RELEASE: First Nation and Conservation Groups Seek Investigation of Exploration Company God’s Lake Resources by Securities Regulator

For Immediate Release March 20, 2012

This joint media release was issued by: Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninnuwug First Nation; MiningWatch Canada; Earthroots; Ecojustice and Wildlands League

TORONTO – Today four conservation groups have joined with the northern Ontario Oji-Cree community Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug or “KI” to request the Ontario Securities Commission investigate junior exploration company God’s Lake Resources (stock symbol GLR). KI and the groups are concerned that GLR may have made misleading statements in its public filings. The
company’s documents suggest the company was making progress towards an agreement with KI to allow exploration on leases and claims held by GLR and within KI’s traditional territory.

“Despite repeated correspondence from KI that it had placed a moratorium on all mining exploration in their homeland, from what we have reviewed, GLR has not yet communicated this risk to their investors” said Justin Duncan, staff lawyer at Ecojustice, “as a result, we have asked the Securities Commission to investigate whether GLR has violated the Ontario Securities Act.”

“The KI moratorium on mining exploration is no secret” said KI Chief Donny Morris. “We have said in writing, we have said on Youtube, we have said it on the radio and we have said from jail and we will say it again:

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‘I see other people trying to tell us how to run our land’ [KI First Nation] – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – March 16, 2012)

This article came from Wawatay News: http://www.wawataynews.ca/

KI lands and resource Stephen Chapman was a main speaker during the KI rally in Toronto, outside the Prospectors and Developers Association conference. He spoke to Wawatay News about his community’s struggle to protect its traditional lands from mining and on watching First Nations involvement in the Prospectors conference.
 
Wawatay (wwt): First off, why was it important to bring this message to Toronto?
 
Stephen Chapman (SC): Toronto is a big place. We want to spread the word as much as possible, to Ontario, Canada and all over the world.
 
Wwt: The last time you went through this there was a lot of support down here in Toronto. Does that make it easier this time?
 
SC: Yes. We made connections before, and our connections are growing. They support us and they spread the word.

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KI rallies Toronto as chief mobilizes in North – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – March 14, 2012)

 This article came from Wawatay News: http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on March 6, the bustle of thousands of mining executives drowned out nearly everything but talk of the benefits of mining.
 
Outside however, in the cold wind on Toronto’s Front Street, a very different message was on display.
 
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) councilor Cecilia Begg was telling the national media and everyone else who asked that yes, she was ready to be arrested again for protecting her community’s traditional lands.
 
KI lands and environment coordinator Stephen Chapman was at the microphone, speaking to the hundreds of KI supporters who had gathered in the cold to wave banners, shout slogans and demand that the government take KI’s concerns seriously.
 
“If the world is contaminated, where else can we move to?” Chapman asked, to cheers. “We need to realize now, before it is too late, that we are destroying ourselves and our future generations.”

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Ontario scraps plans to expand mining in an old-growth area near Temagami – by Moira Welsh (Toronto Star – March 14, 2012)

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.

For the rest of this article, please go to the Toronto Star website: Ontario has scrapped plans to expand mining in an ecological gem that is home to North America’s largest stand of old-growth red pine trees near Temagami.
 
A Star story in December detailed the Ministry of Natural Resources’ proposal to change the “forest reserve” designation for 340 hectares around Wolf Lake — 50 kilometres from Temagami — to “general use,” which would have put a greater focus on mining instead of forests and recreation.
 
The ministry now says it won’t tamper with the government protections around Wolf Lake. “It was really about finding the appropriate balance,” Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle said in an interview Tuesday.
 
“We are always trying to find that balance between making sure we maintain the opportunity for economic development in northern Ontario while at the same time . . . we are very committed to the protection of our forests, particularly old-growth forests,” Gravelle said.

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Making progress on mining issues in Ontario’s north – by Anna Baggio (CPAWs Wildlands League – March 8, 2012)

http://cpaws.org/

Anna Baggio is the Director Conservation Land Use Planning, CPAWs Wildlands League (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society)

This past week, Ontario made a historic announcement and protected over 2.3 million ha of native lands from staking and prospecting in the far north. This was in response to the long standing moratorium declared by Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI).  In its announcement, the government said it withdrew the lands “from prospecting and mining claim staking to give clarity to the province’s mineral exploration industry and avoid future disagreements over the land in question”. 

To give you a sense of the size of this area, picture not 1 Greenbelt or 2 Greenbelts around Metro Toronto, picture something bigger than 3 Greenbelts or more than 3 Algonquin Parks. The last time Ontario withdrew land on this scale was in 1999 during Lands for Life. The last time Ontario withdrew anything this size in one shot was in 1970 when they established Polar Bear Provincial Park. See the map here.

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Foreign policy is mining policy – by Elizabeth Payne (Ottawa Citizen – March 8, 2012)

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

Elizabeth Payne is a member of the Ottawa Citizen’s editorial board.

Six months after International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda announced CIDA would fund three controversial development partnerships between NGOs and Canadian mining companies, the federal government is laying the groundwork for more foreign aid to be delivered with the help of the mining industry. It’s a trend in international development that is raising new concerns.
 
“As I listen to this conversation … I sometimes think I’m at a business development meeting,” NDP MP Jinny Jogindera Sims said during recent Foreign Affairs and International Development committee hearings into the role of the private sector in achieving Canada’s international development interests.
 
“The purpose of … international development … aid is to reduce poverty. Yet a lot of the focus I’ve heard today has been on putting infrastructures in place or institutions in place that will help the mining companies.” Sims said she has concerns “about our aid being so closely tied to one particular industry.”

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Land withdrawal does not quell First Nation dispute – by Northern Ontario Business staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 6, 2012)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Removing Crown land from mineral exploration does nothing to resolve a territorial dispute between a junior mining company and a remote First Nation community in northwestern Ontario, said the band chief.
 
Donny Morris fails to see how the provincial withdrawal of 23,181 square kilometres of land in the vicinity of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (K.I.) addresses their demand for a halt on gold exploration by God’s Lake Resources.
 
“This where we keep harping on the government, this is where consultation comes in, so where exactly are these lands that are withdrawn?” While the Ontario government heralded it as a step to addressing the impasse, Morris called it “a smokescreen” that sends out the wrong message.
 
The disputed area where the exploration firm is working is 83 kilometres north of the village of 1,300. One of the company’s claims are on the Morris family trap line, which is also considered a sacred birthplace and gravesite.

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Bartolucci’s is to keep mine production in Ontario – by Mike Whitehouse (Sudbury Star – March 7, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. mike.whitehouse@sunmedia.ca

The expectations First Nations groups have about the fabulous wealth the Ring of Fire represents are welcome, Ontario’s minister of Northern Development and Mines says. But the government’s focus, first and foremost, is keeping ferrochrome production in Ontario, Rick Bartolucci said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Chief Eli Moonias, of Marten Falls First Nation, and Chief Sonny Gagnon, of Aroland First Nation, outlined to the Ontario government their position on mining development in their territory. High among their expectations is that Ring of Fire minerals extracted within First Nation territories are processed and refined in those territories.

The Ring of Fire mineral deposit is located within First Nations homelands in Northern Ontario. There are more than 35,000 staked mining claims in the area, the majority in the Ring of Fire area, which holds chromite and precious minerals.

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KI ‘wins’ in mining’s loss – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (March 7, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

THERE is frustration bordering on resentment in today’s letter from geologist John Scott concerning the Ontario government’s withdrawal of 23,000 square kilometres of northern land from mining. Curiously, there is not a concurrent level of joy in the response of Donny Morris, chief of the area’s Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, who has been leading prolonged opposition to mining exploration anywhere near KI except on its terms, which remain elusive. Instead, Morris claims he was caught off-guard by Sunday’s announcement by Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, though his office says it tried several times to make contact. Morris challenged the minister to visit the reserve to discuss the boundaries of the land.

 By Morris’ own count, his band and the province have been discussing the future of this land mass since 2001. There is a time for talking and a time for doing and it appears that Bartolucci has called Morris’ bluff. Unable to settle with KI on how to proceed, and facing mounting pressure from the mining industry for certainty on where it can look for minerals, Bartolucci withdrew this giant chunk of land “to give clarity to the province’s mining exploration industry and avoid future disagreements over the land in question.”

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