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Welcome to Guatemala: gold mine protester beaten and burnt alive – by David Hill (The Guardian – August 12, 2014)

http://www.theguardian.com/uk

Indigenous people speak out against the Marlin mine run by Canadian company Goldcorp

“They took him and poured gasoline all over him. Then they struck a match and lit him.”

Doña A – not her real name, for security reasons – was standing up, arms crossed, lightly leaning against a ladder, and speaking in her language, Maya Mam, while a friend, a relation by marriage, translated into Spanish. There were 20 or so Mams in the room – mostly women, some children, one elderly man – and we were in an adobe-brick house in the highlands of far western Guatemala, not far from the border with Mexico, and just around the corner from an open sky and underground gold- and silver-mine called Marlin.

The Mams had gathered there – at some personal risk – to speak about the mine and how it impacts them. “Her husband was killed by workers of the company,” someone had said suddenly, meaning Doña A, “but she doesn’t speak much Spanish”, although it was quickly suggested she could talk in Mam and a friend would translate for her.

“We heard the screams and the yellings but we didn’t know what was happening,” she continued. Her husband’s two brothers were with him: they had to run away or would be burnt alive too.

“He didn’t want to die,” she said. “It was the rainy season. There was a little bit of water which he tried to jump into and the fire sort of went away.”

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Mining industry at a crossroads – by Bernard von Schulmann (Mining.com – August 10, 2014)

http://www.mining.com/

There was a time not long ago in BC when the main environmental pariah in the province was the forest industry, but that is no longer so. Over the last 15 years the forest industry changed how it worked and forged serious partnerships with First Nations. It saw it had to change and it did. The sub-surface industries are now at a similar crossroads: they have to change or close up shop.

For the mining and fossil fuel energy sectors it is not a good situation to have become the number one environmental enemy, but this is made worse with how the industries deal with the public, rural communities and First Nations.

The industries could be doing a lot to improve their situation but they are acting like the BC forest industry did in the 1980s and early 90s. On top of this we have the recent Tsilhqot’in decision and the Mount Polley mine tailings pond breach.

The Tsilhqot’in decision indicates that a significant part of BC is likely to have aboriginal title and for companies to operate on that land they will need First Nations consent. That consent is much easier to achieve when there is a positive relationship. Overall the mining industry, especially mineral exploration juniors, has not worked hard to build these sorts of relationships.

The New Prosperity gold mine project in the Chilcotin has had a tough time getting approvals to be built. Taseko Mines’s relationship with the Tsilhqot’in is at best awful and this was made no better when on June 26 the company issued a press release that denied the mine site had any aboriginal title issues.

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One wedding ring’s journey from makeshift mine to fiancée’s finger – by Marco Chown Oved (Toronto Star – August 9, 2014)

 

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.

A Star reporter follows gold from a makeshift mine shaft on the edge of the Sahara desert all the way to his wedding ceremony, showing how dangerous practices continue in West Africa.

When I walk down the aisle this month, as is tradition, I’ll slide a gold band around my bride’s finger and then she’ll put one on mine.

But we didn’t pick out prefabricated rings at a local jewelry shop. Instead, they’re made from gold hammered out of the rock by barefoot miners in northern Burkina Faso, melted down in a shack in western Ghana and fashioned by a local jeweller in Ottawa.

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India’s Uranium Boss Says Deformed Children May Be ‘Imported’ – by Rakteem Katakey and Tom Lasseter (Bloomberg News – July 23, 2014)

http://www.businessweek.com/

Confronted with reports villages near Uranium Corp. of India Ltd.’s mines have unusually high numbers of physically deformed people, Chairman Diwakar Acharya said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of those guys are imported from elsewhere, ok?”

A Bloomberg News report on July 9 highlighted the struggles of the locals with disease and early deaths — and the suspicion they shared with some environmental activists that the health conditions are linked to mining waste.

Acharya dismissed as biased any findings of a correlation between the mines and deformities in nearby villages.

Activists and doctors come with an agenda to Jadugora, a town of about 19,500 people in eastern Jharkhand state that’s home to the company’s main operations, he said in a July 14 interview.

“See, what happens is, you say you are a specialist and you’ll come and treat,” Acharya said at Uranium Corp.’s headquarters. “But all you do is, you are convinced UCIL is evil and you have come here only with the sole motive of finding reasons which would validate your preconceived notions.”

Uranium Corp. sends its security officers to monitor attempts by outsiders to examine villagers, Acharya said, explaining it was a necessary step for collecting information about alleged health problems.

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We trust farmers, new survey says: Mining not as understood – by Dylan Robertson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – July 17, 2014)

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

Canadians love farmers, have split opinions on forestry and don’t understand mining, according to a survey of perceptions of resource industries.

“Western Canadian residents recognize the importance of resources to our economy; they broadly support continued growth of resource industries,” said Len Coad, who directs the Canada West Foundation’s Centre for Natural Resources Policy. “But they have some expectations where they feel a need for improvement.”

For a report published Friday, the foundation had Ipsos Reid survey 600 residents each from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario for their perceptions of four natural-resource sectors. “There’s been a growing awareness across the West in the past several years of the challenges of developing resources, of moving them to market and of meeting the expectations of the public,” said Coad, whose group will now dig down on policy suggestions.

The survey looked at perception, trust and willingness to advocate for the four sectors: energy, forestry, mining and agriculture. Responses were weighted by provincial population, while Ontario results were kept separate to compare attitudes with a region far less dependant on natural resources.

“Ontario was just for comparative purposes, and the range of answers was smaller than we had expected,” Coad said. “Ontario responses were mostly in-line with other provinces.”

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Mining for the truth in Guatemala – by Melinda Maldonado (MACLEAN’S Magazine – July 8, 2014)

http://www.macleans.ca/

What lawsuits claiming rape and murder in a Guatemalan jungle mean for Canadian companies abroad

Rosa Elbira Coc Ich was warming tortillas when the men came. Their trucks rumbled down the dirt road toward her home, a shack she’d rebuilt in eastern Guatemala after a forced eviction 12 days earlier. It was Jan. 17, 2007, and as hundreds of police, military and private security workers returned, she heard their voices pierce the thick tropical brush as they called out for the leaders of the community.

Nine of the men pushed their way into her home.

“Where’s your husband?” a policeman asked, pressing a gun to her temple, according to documents filed as part of a lawsuit in an Ontario court. When she couldn’t answer, the officer said he was going to kill her. Then the men pushed her to the floor, ripped off her clothes and covered her mouth. Ich claims all nine of them raped her.

Nearby 10 other women from the Mayan Q’eqchi’ community say they experienced the same ordeal—gang rapes at the hands of police, military and private security from the Fenix nickel mine, 300 km northeast of Guatemala City—during evictions from the homes they’d built on the mine’s property.

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NEWS RELEASE: 2013 SYTYKM winner works on 2014 awards gala

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Surinder Gill has traveled the path from winner to worker at Ontario Mining Association high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining award galas. Surinder, who is a graduate of Northview Heights Secondary School in Toronto, was a double winner in the 2013 SYTYKM high school video competition. His production “Mined Power” earned him the $2,500 prize for Best Directing and the $2,500 OMA Academy Award.

The quality and creativity of his video attracted the attention of Engage Learning Systems, which was providing media support for the awards gala. This Toronto-based company has collaborated with the OMA for three years in providing promotional and support materials for SYTYKM. Surinder tells us that Mary Hayes, Engage Learning CEO, and James Liborion, Director of Video, “meet with me in 2013, after I received my awards and passed on their contact information, informing me about a possible job opportunity.”

“Through e-mails and heading down to the office a couple of times before I was hired, I learned what the company did and different roles employees had there,” added Surinder. “I was hired as a video editor and helped the video team with multiple projects in the month of August (2013) I had worked last year.” Come September 2013, Surinder headed off to McMaster University in Hamilton to start his courses in engineering.

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EDITORIAL: Mining Week a sign of Canada’s ailing scientific community – by Emma Hansen (The Varsity – May 26, 2014)

The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880: http://thevarsity.ca/

Minister Rickford’s announcement is not just misleading, it’s dangerous

Over the past five years, funding cuts and monitoring programs have shattered Canada’s record in science policy. Science-loving Canadians have watched with dismay as funding has been diverted from scientific research and environmental initiatives into the military-industrial complex, and the administration has sought to derive short-term economic benefits from the country’s scientific community. More significantly, new media policies have curtailed government scientists’ ability to speak freely about their research.

Canada’s current science policy seems to be motivated by a quest for economic stewardship. As such, any announcement from the federal government related to science and technology cites the administration’s goals — the economy is mentioned in every such announcement, without fail. Claims of transparency and good governance in science policy are hard to find, and rightly so.

National Mining Week took place from May 12 to 18. It was marked by Minister of Natural Resources Greg Rickford, whose announcement that Canada’s mining sector is “a leader in transparency, accountability and good governance” stood in stark contrast with reports of human rights violations carried out overseas by Canadian extractive corporations.

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Time to counter human rights abuses by Canada’s mining companies – by Alex Neve (Toronto Star – May 8, 2014)

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.

Alex Neve is Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada.

Major change is required to ensure accountability for companies that cause harm and effective remedy for those who are harmed, especially in the mining industry.

The stories mount, stories of human rights abuse and injustice: “mining activists shot,” “mine operations suspended,” “company accused of water pollution.” Far too often a Canadian mining company is behind the story. Canadian mining companies lead the mining world; but none aspire to lead the world in mining-related human rights abuses.

There is a common theme to all the cases: lack of an effective remedy open to the individuals and communities that suffer human rights harms associated with Canadian mining operations. Victims have nowhere to turn for justice. Not in their home country, nor in Canada.

Over the last two decades, as Canadian companies dig in evermore far-flung corners of the world for gold and other precious metals, disturbing accusations of human rights abuses follow.

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Reality series to follow gold exploration exploits – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 6, 2014)

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.

When it comes to reality TV series, the fishing show Deadliest Catch has orange gold, forestry’s Ax Men has green gold, and the oil industry is encapsulated in the show Black Gold. Now, hard-rock gold mining has its own version.

Fool’s Gold, which will premiere on May 13 on the Discovery Channel, follows Todd Ryznar and seven friends as they try their hand at grassroots gold exploration at the former Straw Lake Beach Mine, located about a 90-minute drive from Fort Francis in northwestern Ontario.

“This is hard-rock mining; all the other shows on TV are about placer gold, and that’s something totally different from what we’re dealing with,” said Ryznar, founder of Shotgun Exploration. “It’s something you’ve never seen on TV before, so it’ll be very interesting.”

A former lakefront property realtor, Ryznar purchased the Straw Lake Beach Mine property in 2005, and, five years later, with inspiration from reality television shows like Deadliest Catch, started filming work being done on the property.

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MiningWatch Canada Celebrating 15 Years of Mining Activism 1999-2014: Fifteen Major Achievements for our Fifteenth Anniversary

 http://www.miningwatch.ca/

MiningWatch Canada was created in 1999 to push back against the mining industry’s ability to rewrite laws, mislead the public, and bulldoze communities, workers, and ecosystems – literally – in its quest for profit. We’ve done that. We’ve changed the debate and helped put power back into the hands of the affected communities. But global demand for metals continues to grow, and the industry continues to push into remote areas, finding new ways to advance its interests. There is still an awful lot left to do.

1. Growing Up

MiningWatch has not only survived, but grown by leaps and bounds in terms of the number of groups and key individuals we work with in Canada and internationally, as well as the strength and depth of those networks and relationships. We’ve also made huge strides in our recognition by the public, media, and decision-makers, and our presence in important civil society planning spaces and multistakeholder dialogues. We’ve grown in size, too, from the equivalent of two full-time staff in 1999 to five in 2014, and from eight member organisations to twenty-seven. Requests for assistance have grown even faster. It would be wonderful to have more staff – and more money – but we’re moving in a great direction.

2. Expanding media reach – both social media and traditional media

People continue to come to our website in the thousands weekly for information and analysis, while our email ists provide daily news, newsletters, alerts, and updates for over three thousand people. Our social media presence – something we couldn’t have even imagined in 1999 – is substantial.

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Coal sector muscles up to green activists – by Sarah-Jane Tasker (The Australian – April 14, 2014)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

AUSTRALIA’S coal industry is hitting back at its vocal opponents and returning fire with the tools used by anti-coal activists as it steps up its campaign to gain support for the struggling sector.

The industry, which has ­increasingly become a target by activists determined to close coalmines, has taken the unusual step to publicly muscle up in its fight with the green movement and launch an active campaign.

The Minerals Council of Australia, backed by the world’s largest coalminers, such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore, will today launch a website — Australians for coal — to give a voice to the sector.

Brendan Pearson, chief executive of the Minerals Council, said the website was an ­opportunity for the silent majority to have a say and not let what he says are the small number of noisy extremists get free air.

“A small number of fringe ­activist groups are doing their level best to undermine the sector,” he said.

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Reader’s view: Copper-nickel mining devastated Sudbury and its surroundings – by Roberta Plewa (Duluth News Tribune – February 23, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Regarding the copper-nickel mining issue, I want to mention a bit of history I have witnessed.

In the 1940s, my father worked for the railroad, entitling families free train travel. My aunt’s family lived in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Trains traveled circuitous routes then so we passed through Sudbury, Ontario. We were aware of mining there but unconcerned. In 1965 my family and I traveled that route to visit. On the way we decided to see the “big nickel.” When we reached the hilltop I looked around and observed a nightmare. It was black as far as one could see. Nothing but black. That was the legacy of copper-nickel mining.

The publicity for and against the Range project set me to thinking. My husband Googled the words “Earth/Sudbury” and retrieved significant information. Today “Greater Sudbury,” as it is called because of its expansion, has grown and prospered due to diversification. However, the original Sudbury, in spite of 50 years of reclamation efforts, still remains devastated.

The Chamber of Commerce of Sudbury acknowledges the devastation of the past but promotes the positive surrounding area. There is no mention of outcome for the watersheds that ultimately go to Lake Huron by way of the rivers and streams. There is no mention of health issues from breathing the black dust or birth defects.

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Miners urged to overhaul comms strategy and engage opposition – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – February 15, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Within living memory, mining was often a dirty, dangerous and toxic business. Health and safety was an afterthought in poorly-run operations, while waste and reclamation work was sometimes shoddy and, in extreme cases, simply disasters waiting to happen. Events like the 1966 Aberfan disaster in South Wales still resonate.

Today, modern techniques and the growing emphasis on sustainability and reclamation have revolutionised the mining industry. Health and safety is a primary concern, while companies now strive to establish corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and consult with those stakeholders affected by a project or operation.

More work still needs to be done and a minority of mining companies continue to make mistakes, some of them elementary. Opponents latch on to these errors, compounding the perception of an industry stuck in the past. At a company level, the damage done can be immense: from delays to project failure.

Mining companies are often wary of social media, forgetting that the platform can enable companies to highlight their objectives, clarify the real narrative of their actions and help stop the spread of supposition and rumour.

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Message to the oilpatch: beware Neil Young – by Eugene Lang (Toronto Star – February 9, 2014)

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 45 years Neil Young has periodically entered the political fray by writing influential protest songs that shine a light on injustice.

“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming.” To baby boomers this is a familiar lyric from one of the most influential political songs of their youth. “Ohio,” as the song is simply titled, is an elegy for four student protesters who were shot dead by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University in 1970 National Guard at Kent State University in 1970. It is an anti-government rallying cry for a generation of Americans that was penned and sung by a Canadian — Neil Young.

For 45 years Young has been in the business of periodically entering big political debates and writing conscience-ridden anthems aimed primarily at his adopted America. He does so sparingly, when he is truly enraged by injustices he sees around him. Mostly he’s been on the right side of history. Almost always his protest songs have been influential and popular if not major hits.

It was Neil Young who reminded Americans that official racism remained alive and well in the south years after the passage of the Civil Right and Voting Rights Acts.

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