all

18 years 2 weeks ago.   Corporate accountability, Domestic legislation, Government accountability, Human rights.   Colombia Conquistador Mines Ltd.   The town of Simiti, in northern Colombia, is the site of a gold mine whose ownership is a matter of dispute. The mine is claimed by both the Higuera-Palacios family and the 35,000 poor miners who have worked the deposit for 30 years. In 1997, at roughly the same time that Conquistador, through its subsidiary Corona Goldfields, expressed interest in the Simiti mine, paramilitaries began to appear in the area. They killed at least 19 people in towns around Simiti, beheaded one miner, and tortured and killed the Vice-President of a local miners association. Fearing for their lives, thousands of people fled the area. According to Francisco Ramirez, President of the Colombian Mine Workers Union, the death squads’ purpose was to displace small-scale miners in order to make way for foreign capital. Conquistador has since abandoned the project.[1]   Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Corporate accountability, Domestic legislation, Government accountability.   Democratic Republic of Congo Anvil Mining Ltd. MIGA: US$13.3 million political risk insurance[1] CPP: $4 million[2] Brutal conflict, fuelled by the country’s extraordinary mineral wealth, officially ended in 2003 with the establishment of a transitional government. While a fragile peace has held since then, tensions remain high and the government lacks control over large tracts of the country.[3] The Dikulushi mine began production in 2002. Two years later, Anvil provided logistical support to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) to suppress a rebel uprising. The company supplied the FARDC with planes, vehicles, personnel and food.[4] According to a UN mission, the FARDC utilized these resources to carry out a number of human rights abuses, including alleged summary executions.[5]    Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Corporate accountability, Domestic legislation, Government accountability, Human rights.   Guatemala Glamis Gold Ltd. IFC: US$45 million loan CPP: $63 million[1] Marlin, which became operational in 2005, is the first major mining investment in Guatemala in 20 years[2] and is an important test case. In January 2005, the break-up of a 40-day protest by the army resulted in one death.[3] Later that year, indigenous Sipacapan communities affected by the mine overwhelmingly rejected mineral development in a popular referendum.[4] In response to a community complaint, the World Bank’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) investigated the project. While the CAO found that some community concerns, particularly those involving impacts to local water supplies, were unwarranted, the CAO identified some serious shortcomings with project assessment and management. For example, the CAO described the lack of a clear policy on human rights as a “significant oversight” on the part of both Glamis and the IFC.[5]   Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   .   Birmanie   Burma Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.     Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Corporate accountability, Domestic legislation.   Chile Barrick Gold Corp. CPP: $351 million[1] The Pascua Lama gold deposit is located high in the Andes, in an area rich with glaciers. Glacial run-off irrigates the productive Huasco valley, an agricultural centre just south of the Atacama desert.[2] Barrick’s original plan to relocate portions of several glaciers[3] was met with public outcry and was rejected by the Chilean government. Barrick now claims that it can extract the gold without damaging the glaciers or significantly impacting water resources in the valley.[4] However, a government report reveals that exploration activity may already have caused significant damage to several glaciers.[5] The Indigenous Diaguita community of Huasco-Altino claims that the concession includes part of its ancestral territory and is suing to recover the land.[6]   Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Environment, Human rights.   Bolivia Orvana Minerals Corp. IFC: issued loans to and held equity in COMSUR,[1] a Bolivian company that was an Orvana shareholder until 2005[2] The Don Mario mine is located in the heart of the Chiquitano Dry Forest.[3] This rare, globally significant ecosystem supports the headwaters of the Pantanal wetlands and is home to numerous endemic species.[4]  The Pantanal is one of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystems, recognized by UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention.[5]  The area is also of great cultural, economic and social importance to the Chiquitano indigenous people.[6]  In a complaint filed with the World Bank’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, an indigenous organization argued that the mine violates the rights of over 7000 indigenous communities.[7] Among other shortcomings, the ombudsman found that indigenous people were not adequately consulted by the project proponents.[8]   Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Corporate accountability, Domestic legislation, Government accountability, Human rights.   Suriname Cambior Inc. EDC: $100(+) million political risk insurance[1] CPP: $14 million[2] The Aucaner (or N’djuka) Maroon community of Nieuw Koffiekamp is located in the heart of the Gross Rosebel mining concession. Relocated in the 1960s to make way for a hydroelectric dam, Nieuw Koffiekamp now faces a second relocation which, according to a human rights expert, “would be tantamount to [its] cultural and social death.”[3] Maroon authorities were not consulted about the project, and groups within the community vociferously oppose relocation.[4]  Suriname lacks legislation that requires mine proponents to undertake environmental impact assessments and is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that does not recognize the rights of indigenous or tribal populations.[5] Critics argue that the country’s draft Mining Act discriminates against these populations and a UN human rights body has called on the Government of Suriname to rectify this problem.[6]    Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Corporate accountability, Domestic legislation.   Tanzania Sutton Resources Ltd. Mine acquired by Barrick Gold Corp. in 1999. EDC: $173 million political risk insurance[1] MIGA: US$172 million guarantees[2] CPP: $351 million[3] Bulyanhulu is among the most controversial Canadian mining operations in the world.  Artisanal miners were forcibly evicted from the concession area by Tanzanian troops in 1996 when the concession was held by Barrick’s predecessor, Sutton Resources.[4] A storm of allegations surround the evictions including one that as many as 52 miners were buried in mine shafts.[5] Barrick denies these allegations. A former Tanzanian Attorney General and an international team of researchers, lawyers and NGOs have called for an independent inquiry into the evictions.[6] The World Bank Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) found that the evidence regarding the alleged deaths was unconvincing and did not recommend an independent inquiry, deferring this decision to the Government of Tanzania.[7] No inquiry has been held, and the CAO report has been widely criticized by NGOs.[8]      Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   .   The Philippines Placer Dome Inc. (Placer Dome was acquired by Barrick Gold Corp. in 2006) EDC: US$1.36 million loan[1]   Read more ...
18 years 2 weeks ago.   Human rights.   Press Conference: Regulating the Activities of Canadian Mining Companies Who? José De Echave, CooperAcción, Peru Thomas Akabzaa, Coordinator, Africa Initiative on Mining, Environment and Society, Ghana Jacques Saramin Boengkih, Director, Agence Kanak de développement, New Caledonia When? Monday, November 13 at 12:45 Where?   Read more ...

Pages

more