Report Documents Poisoning Following Toxic Discharge from Barrick’s Porgera Mine Reports from Papua New Guinea detail the aftermath of an unusually high discharge of un=neutralized waste at Barrick Gold’s Porgera mine. The discharge – which reportedly occurred on July 27, 2010 – poisoned dozens of locals, whose accounts are documented in a recent report produced by the Porgera Alliance, a coalition of human rights and landowner groups.

In October & November 2009, the Canadian House of Commons' Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs & Intl. Development held hearings on "Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability".  The following statements were made regarding issues including allegations of killings, rape & other security problems involving personnel at the Porgera Joint Venture in Papua New Guinea, as well as the Porgera mine's environmental impacts.  (Barrick Gold holds a large majority stake of the Porgera Joint Venture.)

Last year, former environment minister of Argentina Romina Picolotti claimed she was forced to resign, after her family was threatened by Canadian mining companies. See: Argentina ex-minister: "Mining companies threatened me"

Now, National Deputies Elisa Carrió, Miguel Bonasso and Fernanda Reyes demanded an investigations over  possible traffic of influence in favour of Barrick Gold, and direct economic links between the gold miner and San Juan province Governor José Luis Gioja.

Luis Claps, Latin American editor, Mines and Communities

More info:
ENGLISH: San Juan province governor accused of 'economic ties' with Barrick Gold
ESPANOL: Denuncian lazos de Mayoral con la minera canadiense Barrick
ESPANOL: A la Justicia por Pascua Lama
ESPANOL: Acusan a Cristina por “tráfico de influencias” en favor de una minera

The Akali Tange Association (ATA) recently received a complaint that three young girls at the age around 14 years were taken into PJV Yoko 2 camp on the 18th June 2010 and raped by PJV engaged police mobile squads. The victims reported the matter at the Paiam Police Station on the 19th June 2010 with full details of the transporting vehicle.

Forced rape and violation against woman is serious crime in PNG and such un ethical behaviours desire urgent investigation. The ATA condemns the actions with term strongest possible terms and call for full investigation and appropriate actions taken with law.

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 5000 adults** live within the Special Mining Lease area of Barrick Gold's Porgera mine. They are desperately seeking resettlement into another area that could provide them with the means to live the subsistence lifestyle that remains the livelihood of 75% of the country. Their requests have been denied by the company, which prefers to offer individual cash payments to villagers as their homes fall victim to waste-related landslides and police-instigated arson.

From mass poisonings and mass mobilizations in the Dominican Republic, to damning reports in PNG and Tanzania to lawsuits in Chile and the US, Barrick has had its hands full this year in dealing with mounting opposition to its mines. In this Year in Review, you'll find out the ways that Barrick has damaged communities around the world and the many ways that communities are fighting back and demanding justice.

Once a year, the board of directors for the world's most powerful gold miner converge in downtown Toronto. Be there to Confront Barrick Gold!

WHEN: 11am Wednesday, April 28, 2010
WHAT: Barrick Gold's annual shareholders meeting
WHERE: Metro Convention Center, 255 Front St. Downtown Toronto

WHO is Barrick Gold? Barrick is the world's largest gold mining company, founded and chaired by Peter Munk. Barrick is one of the biggest forces pushing Corporate Social Responsibility as an alternative to government oversight. With a former executive on the board of the Canadian Pension Fund, and a former Prime Minister on their board of directors, Barrick enjoys public funding and diplomatic support.

WHY Protest Barrick? Barrick takes advantage of inadequate and poorly enforced regulatory controls to rob indigenous people of their lands, destroy sensitive ecosystems and agricultural land, support brutal police and security operations, and sue anyone who tries to report on it. Impacted communities are coming to Toronto to share their undeniable perspectives and shed light on this criminal mining giant. Come out and support them!

On February 12 we were notified that the request for our Diaguita Agricultural Community Los Huascoaltinos was deemed admissible by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Thus, this international body recognizes that the Chilean state committed alleged violations of rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights when Chile approved Barrick Gold’s Pascua Lama mining project.

The case was submitted to the IACHR in June 2007 by Nancy Yañez, the attorney representing the Huascoaltinos. However, the analysis of the substantive arguments of the case was delayed because of the repeated extensions sought by the State of Chile. Chile also requested that the case not be admitted to prosecute, arguing formal filing failures. But after 3 years of study, the Commission did not agree with the State of Chile’s claims. Instead, the IACHR declared our allegation, which states that there was a Denial of Justice when the State of Chile granted an environmental qualification to the development of Pascua Lama Mining Project in our ancient territories, admissible. 

Between April and July 2009, police officers in Papua New Guinea illegally and forcibly evicted people from their homes alongside one of the biggest mines in Papua New Guinea, the Porgera gold mine.

People fled as their homes were burned by police. In some cases police assaulted and threatened people with firearms. One woman, a mine employee, said that while she was nursing her small child in her arms, a police officer hit her on the shoulder with a rifle butt when she hesitated to leave her house, pointed the gun at her and threatened her. Another resident said that when he refused to leave, the police tried to lock him in his house and set fire to it while he was inside.

Rape. Murder. Corruption. Environmental contamination. Impunity. These are just some of the charges and incidents that have plagued Canadian mining operations abroad for years. Now one Canadian lawmaker has taken on the Herculean challenge of legislating mining reform in a country that has traditionally acted like a parent in denial.

Image: Chacha Ochibhota is young, he’s 21 years old, he has a skin pigmentation covering his face, his eyes are bloodshot, he speaks quietly and moves slowly. His medical examination states that on the 1st of July 2009, he claimed to ‘have used acidic water, contaminated by the mining project – sustaining burns on the face…’ Referring him to the Tarime District Hospital for further investigations. Photo: Jessie Boylan.

A foreign company was granted a licence to explore copper and gold in the Reko Dik area but it was not allowed to mine the same, according to Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani.

Speaking to journalists in his chambers, he said the company had violated the contract, which had been signed only for exploring minerals.

Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold, the owner of what would be Chile’s largest gold mine, Pascua Lama, could face legal sanctions after Chile’s national water commission (DGA) reported that the company is failing to comply with Chile’s environmental laws.

UPDATE: After 2-day strike in the Veladero mine (December 17-18, 2009) OSMA-CTA (Organización Sindical de Mineros Argentinos) and Barrick Gold in Argentina signed a historic agreement on Jan. 12, 2010.

In solidarity with the mineworkers' union at Barrick Gold's Veladero mine in Argentina, the United Steelworkers (USW) is asking that people write to Barrick Gold and the Canadian Ambassador in Argentina to let them know we are aware of the situation and urging Barrick to negotiate with the union (OSMA-CTA) and to reinstate Jose Vicente Leiva, the union's General-Secretary, to his job.

Following on-the-ground research by Amnesty International which found evidence of police violence and forced evictions of people living near the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea, Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick) has told Amnesty International that it now accepts that people were living in permanent houses near the Porgera mine and were affected by the police actions. The Canadian-based company’s subsidiaries operate and own 95% of the mine through the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV).

AI Index: ASA 34/005/2009

A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily blocked construction of a massive gold mine project in northeast Nevada that critics say would harm the environment and ruin a mountain that several tribes consider sacred. The judges also said the BLM's review of the project didn't do enough to examine the likelihood that pumping water out of the pit would cause the groundwater level to drop and potentially dry up more than a dozen streams and springs.

In a rare legal setback for the mining industry in the nation's largest gold-producing state, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an injunction to force Barrick Gold Corp. to postpone digging a 2,000-foot deep open pit at the Cortez Hills mine.

This week's reporting in the Toronto Star included three important reports on Canadian mining companies operating abroad. The first report detailed allegations (backed with video evidence) that companies have used paramilitaries to violently trample their opposition to mines that threaten rainforests and their way of life in Ecuador. It also gives some context into Canada's track record of ignoring a long history of similar allegations. The second article focused on Barrick's Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea and particularly on Sarah Knuckey's (Lawyer, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University School of Law) testimony before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE). There, she repeated personal accounts of gang rape and other mine security violence told to her during her time in Papua New Guinea. Finally, the third article told the story of Romina Picolotti, a former Argentine environment minister who testified to receiving threats against her and her family following a mining intervention.

John McKay, Liberal MP for Scarborough-Guildwood, has introduced a private member's bill designed to put controls on mining companies overseas. Conservatives have vowed to kill the bill, which is opposed by Canada's mining industry. MPs are debating it in a House of Commons committee this week.

Read article and report en español.

The room was packed at the D.C. headquarters of the Organization of American States, as folks gathered to hear three speakers on the topic of “Corporate Social Responsibility in a Time of Crisis.” The event, moderated by “Image Management” consultant Italo Pizzolante, featured three corporate representatives, including one from Canada’s infamous Barrick Gold, selling the idea that social responsibility makes sense for corporations to pursue.

While the panelists stressed the need to integrate CSR strategies with an overall business plan, noting benefits such as greater employee morale and increased public support, the elephant in the room was the fact that corporations use the promotion of these voluntary measures as a way to avoid government oversight and mechanisms for true accountability.

read protestbarrick's "alternative" CSR report on Barrick Gold.

Barrick Gold is trying to create ersatz Indians at their Pascua Lama mine in Chile, in the name of corporate social responsibility. Ironically, this is being done in an attempt to undermine the actually existing Indigenous leadership. That photo Sergio is holding? Those are community members, but that’s not traditional dress. In fact, those outfits are completely made up, according to Sergio Campusano, president of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos.  It was created as an idea of what “Indians” should wear. An examination of the photo, taken from Barrick’s “Corporate Social Responsibility” literate, bears this out: if you look closely, they do look ridiculously clean and unworn.

Independent photojournalist, Damian Baker is currently in Papua New Guinea. He has recently visited Barrick Gold's Porgera mine and filed the following reports:

Porgera Gold Mine: Killings and Burnt Villages
Ipili & the Porgera Valley
Porgera: PNG Paradise Lost
Porgera Valley PNG: Paradise Lost (VIDEO)

Mining group Xstrata PLC agreed to sell its 70% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile for US$465-million to Canada's Barrick Gold Corp., Xstrata said on Monday, October 12.

In response, the leadership of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos made the following statement, reaffirming their opposition to mining on their traditional lands.

"The sale of El Morro project is for us a little great victory. Even if this project can be economically very profitable, our community has never given approval to it's development in our lands. This has been a heavy burden with which Xstrata has had to carry since the beginning of this project.

At this point, the social opposition Huascoaltinos was becoming a problem for them and we think that may have influenced Xstrata Copper decision to sell El Morro to Barrick Gold. Barrick is known as a company that is only interested in economic efficiency, with no regard for environmental or social damage that this project might cause, and very likely they haven't evaluated the current social situation.

For us, however, it is better to have one giant who fight. We have stated repeatedly that El Morro project would mean the death of our Community and we will continue fighting to defend our land no matter who is at the forefront of this project." - Sergio Campusano, President of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos

A coalition of landowners and native groups announced today that they intend to shut down the Barrick Gold’s Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea if a petition that they presented to Barrick does not get a positive response. If the landowners – who own 2.5 per cent of the mine – do not receive this response within 30 days of August 25, when they presented the petition, they have pledged to shut down the mine’s operations.

Their petition addresses long-standing concerns at this controversial mine. The petition describes conditions and exploitation at the mine as “appalling and relentless” and demands resettlement of the people within the Special Mining Lease area, amongst other demands.

Someone Else's Treasure: Indigenous Resistance from allan lissner on Vimeo.

Already, scores of people residing around Barrick’s North Mara Gold Mine are showing serious signs of exposure to pollution in the form of water contaminated with various chemicals allegedly flowing out of the mine and into the nearby River Tigethe.

The villagers accuse the mine management, under the Canadian investor company, of causing fatal health hazards to human beings, livestock, and land in Kebasula Ward in Tarime, where the mine is located.

They say more than 20 people have died in recent weeks as a direct result of the contaminated water.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday on whether the Canadian corporation Barrick Gold will be allowed to construct and operate an open pit gold mine on Mt. Tenabo in Nevada. The mine is planned on lands that are culturally and spiritually significant to the Western Shoshone native people.

COHRE is deeply concerned about the reported forced evictions that started on 27 April 2009 in Ungima, Yokolama and Kulapi villages in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. According to information from local organisations, on 27 April 2009, soldiers and police deployed in the area as a part of Operation Ipili 09 burned down more than 300 homes in the above mentioned villages. As per media reports, your representatives claim that the soldiers and police destroyed the homes without orders after commanders lost control.

Madam Chair, this is my second time at this UN forum, and today my message and recommendations are more urgent than before. In my homeland in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, the Ipili and Engan people have seen their traditions turned upside-down by the influence of a large-scale mining project. In one generation, the mine has brought militarization, corruption, and environmental devastation to a land that previously knew only subsistence farming and alluvial mining.

Just in from Tundu Lissu:

There's a major emergency at Barrick's North Mara. There has been a major spill of their toxic sludge into River Tigite that flows into the Mara. This happened the day before yesterday; the entire community is in a huge uproar and panic. They have told me there are dead fish and all kinds of other water life along the river. Barrick's apparently very busy trying to kill the story before it goes out.

Tigite River is a source of water for more than 2534 households from Kewanja, Nyangoto and Matongo villages. Apart from those directly affected villages, the river is also being used by Wegita, Nyakunguru and Nyarwana villages and joins its water with Timbo River at Matongo village and then heads to Mara River which flows to Lake Victoria.

On 27 April 2009 police officials burned down 50 houses within the Porgera mining area, owned and operated by Canadian-based Barrick Gold Corporation. More than 200 police had been sent to the area as part of an operation to deal with the law and order situation in Porgera District, Enga Province. The police alleged that people living in these homes were squatters responsible for illegal mining and other criminal activities.  A further 300 houses of villagers living near the mine are also reported to have been burnt down as part of the same operations.

Affected Indigenous communities from Papua New Guinea and Chile came to Toronto to give Peter Munk a piece of their mind.

Peñas Negras, La Rioja, Argentina 4/14/2009:  Argentine government officials from the Secretary of Mining and Secretary of Environment, along with personnel from the Barrick Gold Corporation today attempted to ascend to the mining camp located in the reaches of the Famatina mountain range.  Women from the Assembly, alerted to the intrusion, gathered at site of the road blockade they have carried out for two years in Peñas Negras,  lowering the metal bar built to deny passage to the mining company.

The officials and Barrick employees – some twelve men – then bashed their trucks against the barrier, without success.  Frustrated, the men proceeded to violently assault the handful of women who were peacefully seated on the road in front of the vehicles.  They attacked the peaceful Assembly members with blows and fists, shoving and kicking the women.

On June 11th, 2008, the gold mining company Banro Corporation filed a 5 million dollar suit against Écosociété and the authors of Noir Canada. This legal action came on the heels of another one filed by Barrick Gold mining society in the amount of 6 million dollars. Due to their limited financial means, Éditions Écosociété have filed a request before the Ontario court in order to have the pursuit transferred to Quebec. A legal action held in Ontario would mean duplication of the heavy judicial procedures (days of interrogation, defense file preparation, etc.) the authors and the publishing company have to go through already, because of the suit filed by Barrick in Quebec. The authors and the publishing company would also have to make regular trips to Toronto, as they are all based in Montreal.

On February 23rd, the request to have the action suit transferred to Quebec was firmly rejected by the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario. Shocked by the bias of the ruling largely favorable to Banro’s «right of reputation», Les Éditions Écosociété and the authors of Noir Canada have decided to appeal.

Norway's Ministry of Finance announced January 30 that it would exclude mining giant Barrick Gold from the country's pension fund for ethical reasons. One week later, another victory against Barrick in Australia occurred when a judge ruled in favor of Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Neville "Chappy" Williams, in granting an injunction restraining the proposed expansion of Barrick Gold's mine in Lake Cowal, New South Wales. More significant than the $200 million divested from Barrick, or the delay in Lake Cowal mine's expansion, is the context that these rulings expose: one of deliberate deceit on the part of Barrick Gold, now Canada's largest publicly-traded company.

***with update! Within a few weeks of Norway's announcement, the Porgera MP Phillip Kikala made calls to impose a state of emergency in Porgera, motivated by situation reports presented to him by Barrick (PNG) Limited. The National Executive Council has now made a call out for a combined defense force and police operation in Porgera including five mobile forces and one platoon at a cost of $12 million PNG Kina.***

Based on a recommendation from the Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund – Global, the Ministry of Finance has excluded the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold Corporation from the Fund. Barrick mines for gold in the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea. The recommendation is based on the assessment that investing in the company entails an unacceptable risk of the Fund contributing to serious environmental damage.

Read the Council of Ethics full recomendation here.

A federal judge ruled Monday a massive gold mine project could proceed in northeast Nevada despite a bid by a Western tribe and conservationists to block it on religious and environmental grounds.

for context, read:

• Someone Else's Treasure, a photo essay on mining in Tanzania by Allan Cedillos Lissner,

• and "A Golden Opportunity?" an exposé on the Tanzanian mining industry, written by Tundu Lissu and Mark Curtis, published by Norwegian Church Aid in Tanzania.
  

Come for a night of good food and conversation, linking corporate globalization and colonization.

$10-20 sliding scale dinner includes a 4-course meal, a short film, presentations, and lots of good folks.

*all proceeds will go directly to people displaced from the Mtakuja village to pave way for AngloGold Ashanti in Mwanza Region in Tanzania.*

WHEN: Friday, December 12, 2008, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
WHERE: Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street (lower east side)
New York, NY

The first of this documentary series features Jethro Tulin (Akali Tange Association) and Mark Ekepa (Chairman, Porgera Landowners Association) from the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea, where Barrick has its Porgera Mine.

 Canada is the world's leading mining nation. Sixty percent of all public mining companies are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. About half of all mining capital is raised in Canada. Many Canadian mining companies have become notorious for damaging communities and the environment and fueling wars and repression all over the world. The Canadian government has refused to hold these corporations accountable leading to international criticism of Canada.

Just as European settlers created Canada by stealing and plundering native land, its mining companies today continue these practices at home and abroad. This colonialism and neocolonialism is what Canada is all about.

Home to fifty-seven percent of the world's mining companies, Canada leads the way in the global mining industry. But people the world over are raising complaints describing the mining industry as Canada's number one contribution to global injustice. Complaints include the displacement of indigenous communities, families being torn apart, destroyed livelihoods, ruined ecosystems and the erosion of ancient indigenous cultures.

Please join Toronto based photographer Allan Cedillo Lissner to discuss Someone Else's Treasure, an ongoing documentary project shedding light on the experiences of people around the world – including the Philippines, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Chile, and Canada – whose lives have been impacted by the global mining industry.

View Allan's photo's online at SomeoneElsesTreasure.blogspot.com.

See a review of Allan's show, written by Paul York.

TAKE ACTION ... click here

The Diaguita indigenous community in Huasco Alto, surrounded by rich gold, silver and copper deposits in the northern Chilean region of Atacama, are engaged in a struggle to prevent mining projects from infringing on their territory and destroying their way of life and ancestral identity.

On the evening of July 22nd, Barrick security guards open fired on the local villages using high powered assault raffles, M16 and shot guns on the harmless villages. The reckless use of excessive force resulted in instant death of the late Gipson Umbi. In the last few weeks, three more locals have died under mysteries circumstances at the mine site. 

For more photos/captions, contact: sakura.saunders[at]gmail.com 

Meeting Crashers: Anti-mining activists confront shareholders at AGM

Tonight a number of activists with Protest Barrick Toronto crashed an African Medical Research and Education Foundation (AMREF) gala, for which Barrick was a "Gold" sponsor. While not criticizing AMREF work, the protesters were critical of the NGO's praise of Barrick's work in Africa. They passed out fliers to gala participants until they were escorted out by AMREF security.

They highlighted the still unresolved Bulyanhulu massacre, the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people at the Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines, the current jailing of 13 villagers for protesting displacement at Barrick's Buzwagi mine, and the lack of tax revenues that goes to the people of Tanzania.

These issues have previously been highlighted by reputable Tanzanian organizations such as the Lawyer's Environmental Action Team (LEAT) and Norwiegan Church Aid in Tanzania.

Read "A Golden Opportunity? Justice and Respect in Mining," written by Mark Curtis and Tundu Lissu, published by Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT), National Council of Muslims in Tanzania (BAKWATA), and Tanzania Episcopal Conference.

Read LEAT's response to the CAO report on the Bulyahulu mine.

View LEAT's page on Barrick's Bulyanhulu Mine.

The world's largest gold mining company is claiming from the small not-for-profit publisher and the authors of "Noir Canada", $5 million in compensatory damages, and $1 million in punitive damages, which represent 25 times the annual operating revenue of Écosociété.http://slapp.ecosociete.org/en

find out what you can do to help!

Greg Palast will interview Indigenous People who are fighting Barrick Gold's operations on their lands.

The night will include an interview with Human Rights Defenders working on the Bulyanhulu massacre in Tanzania. The Bulyanhulu mine is owned and operated by Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining company in the world.

Thursday 1st May @ 5pm

Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery Street
Lower East Side, Manhattan

Cost: $5 - $10 (sliding scale)

For more info: 1 347 439 5839
http://www.protestbarrick.net

San Juan, Argentina:  Argentine national Ombudsperson Eduardo Mondino has recommended that metals mining exploration and operations be immediately suspended in a zone in the northwest of the province of San Juan.  The report is based upon evidence presented in a lawsuit filed by environmentalist Ricardo Vargas in the Argentine supreme court.

This high-mountain zone of the Andes range, containing the UNESCO-protected San Guillermo wilderness, is home to unique and widely biodiverse species ranging from llamas to mountain lions to lichens, and harbors the glacier systems which produce the water vital for the agricultural provinces below.  This zone, known to mining firms as "Argentina's Gold Belt" is slated to be Argentina's next "Mining Sacrifice Zone,"  a center of mining exploration and activity, with dozens of firms, led by Barrick Gold, carrying out exploration and mining activities, in a context of political corruption, plunder and corporate favoritism.

The lawsuit (Nº 5945/04, titled "VARGAS, RICARDO, Regarding Environmental Damages Caused by Mining Operations in the Province of San Juan"),  is  waiting to be heard in the Argentine Supreme Court, but is already producing repercussions for the mining industry.  The lawsuit claims that Barrick Gold's mining operation Pascua Lama has been illegally permitted by the province of San Juan.  The justification is based on multiple grounds:   First, that the contamination, health effects and extraction of water resources will extend to and harm multiple provinces;  second, that the project is being built in the very heart of the UNESCO-protected San Guillermo World Biosphere Reserve; and finally, that the bi-national nature of these projects demands a federal-level environmental approval process, which was never carried out.

The lawsuit will halt all mining projects in the zone, including Pascua Lama and some ten other projects in advanced stages of progress,  and subject them to a new Federal-level Environmental Impact Review process.

Mondino, the national Public Ombudsperson, visited the region last week and collected evidence of the growing effects of mining activities upon public health, cancer rates and drinking water contamination.  The report published demonstrates the multi-provincial plume of contamination and desertification already created by mining operations such as Barrick's Veladero; and indicates the alarming extent to which further mining operations will affect the region in general.  The ombudsperson's report is directed to the National Parks Administration, the Government of the province of San Juan and the Federal Government.

Vargas, a former high-mountain guide intimately familiar with the San Guillermo reserve,  has been struggling against the proliferation of mining projects in the zone for some eight years.  His lawsuit is part of a surge of activism against mining projects in San Juan, on the part of citizens alarmed not only by Barrick's Pascua-Lama/Veladero project, but by the proliferation of literally dozens of projects in this emerging national mining sacrifice zone.

David Modersbach
National University of Rosario
Encuentro por la Biodiversidad
dmoders@yahoo.com

This April and May, hear voices of communities directly affected by the operations of Barrick Gold. "Meet the Resistance" brings together community voices from Australia, Papua New Guinea, the U.S., and Chile to share their experiences in going up against the world's largest gold miner.

Check more link for schedule!

see bios for the presenters.

Thursday, September 6  kicked off Merrill Lynchs Canada's 13th Annual Mining Conference, an invitation-only conference for institutional investors, mining analysts and the executive management of North American mining companies. During this conference, the Canadian Institute for International Affairs hosted a forum on "Canada's Responsibility Abroad," a meeting stacked with industry representatives, attended by a government agency, and organized to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the mining industry. The meeting was countered by a group of protesters outside and inside the forum; the protesters demanded mandatory regulation of the mining industry and handed out information illustrating the abuses of this industry abroad, including specific critiques of Barrick Gold pointing to their repeated misrepresentation of information in an attempt to appear socially responsibile.

Download the CorpWatch report, which details the struggles against Barrick Gold.

Este informe, perfil de Barrick Gold, la mayor empresa minera aurífera del mundo, es una ilustración de los problemas que causa en la actualidad la industria del oro. En estas páginas, se presentan numerosos ejemplos donde los intereses de Barrick y los intereses de las comunidades en cuyo interior la empresa realiza sus explotaciones, van unos en contra de otros frontalmente. Desde evitar toda responsabilidad por la destructiva herencia ambiental que dejan sus proyectos o aliarse a políticos corruptos, hasta recurrir a la policía para que reprima con violencia (y que a veces mate) a los críticos de la actividad minera, el poder de Barrick en estas luchas configura un caso que exige intervención urgente.

Entre los grupos comunitarios que luchan contra Barrick se cuentan desde autoridades gubernamentales y tribales locales hasta asambleas de madres contra la minería y otros grupos de base que atraen miles de adherentes. La valerosa entrega de estos activistas a su obra es asimismo peligrosa y agotadora, y sirve para ilustrar la realidad concreta de Barrick y otras empresas similares. No hace falta decir que esta perspectiva sobre la minería, que tan escasa resonancia tiene, no presagia nada bueno para la industria en su totalidad, ya que procede de quienes se hallan afectados de cerca por sus explotaciones.

Lea el articulo en español. 

On one side of the world in Chile, over a thousand people went into the streets with c­ostumes, music, and dancing to protest the proposed Pascua Lama gold project – a multi-billion dollar project that Barrick has been boasting since the late 90’s – which threatens the fertile Huasco Valley. Meanwhile, almost the same number of strikers at Barrick’s Bulyanhulu mine i­n Tanzania refused to work after negotiations with Barrick management brokedown over salaries, working conditions, medical care and other contentious issues. Within four days, Barrick fired every striking worker.

While Barrick projects an image free from political controversy, these latest flares of organized resistance represent on-going struggles, discontent, and anger aimed at this mining giant.

Remembering when Pascua Lama Opposition was Mainstream

For people outside Chile, it might be easy to forget that anti-gold mining sentiments aimed at protecting the environment dominated both President Bachelet and her erstwhile opponent, Sebastián Piñera’s election platforms last year. Both assured their constituents that the glaciers – which are situated right in the middle of a UNESCO biosphere reserve – would not be touched.

Then, in a move that mine opponents believe was planned from the start, Barrick abandoned their first proposal to relocate the glaciers and the project was approved, with conditions meant to preserve the environmental integrity of the area’s sensitive ecosystem.

The mine’s opponents, including the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous group and Alto del Carmen councilperson Luís Faura Cortes, remained undeterred by what they saw as paper assurances and politicking. What’s more, Barrick’s exploration activities have since been publicly revealed to be linked to a 56 to 70 percent depletion in the glaciers near the mine site, contradicting assurances in their environmental assessment reports.

Last weekend’s protest was just the latest in a series of protests against this mining project, and it represents that the resistance is still alive, and that folks on the ground in Chile are not deceived by Barrick’s political maneuverings.

Firing the Opposition will only make it burn Stronger

In Tanzania, it has been almost ten years since an estimated 30,000-400,000 small-scale miners were forced off the Buyanhulu mine site to make way for corporate mining. But this week’s decision to fire the thousand striking miners will no doubt rekindle this historic resentment.  The deal to take this mining concession away from these small-scale miners was brokered by Sutton Resources’ CEO James Sinclair, who was a friend of the president of Tanzania and several senior ministers, as was his daughter.

Accusations of high-level nepotism have since plagued the Bulyanhulu operations, with allegations of millions in tax evasion surfacing last year. Additionally, just this July, the Tanzanian government was criticized for signing a mining agreement with Barrick prematurely, and selling it’s 15 percent stake in the Bulyanhulu mine for too little.

Beneath the political veneer, it appears that Barrick must appease growing movements of discontent.  It's history of political shenanigans has attracted steadfast opponents, while the worldwide legacy of gold mining is inspiring a movement for reform. Hopefully, it is only a matter of time.

NOTE: While this article mentions the presence of community representatives from Mexico, Honduras, Chile, Papua New Guinea, Argentina and Malartic, Quebec. The communities organized against Barrick – from Argentina, Chile, and Papua New Guinea – were the only communities whose struggles were not mentioned in the body of this article.

The Quebec government's decision to protect the famed Mount Royal from mining companies didn't deter a group of activists from staking their own claims to the Montreal landmark yesterday.

In an effort to draw attention to the many international communities that are forced to live beside Canadian-operated open-pit gold mines, the activists sealed off a large swath of Mount Royal, which dominates the city's landscape.

Dressed in hard hats and white coveralls - the logo of their mock company RoyalOr emblazoned on the back - and toting tape, stakes and surveying equipment, the activists neatly placed the legal documentation affirming their mining rights claim in an envelope addressed to the province's Natural Resources Department and toasted their feat with a bottle of champagne.

"It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful open-pit mine," actor-cum-activist Jason McLean told the group of about 80 participants. "Imagine a big hole right here.

"Yes, we'll have evictions. ... nobody will suffer. Everyone will be okay with a mine in Montreal."

The participants included activists from Mexico, Honduras, Chile, Papua New Guinea, Argentina and Malartic, Que. - all of whom are fighting Canadian gold mining companies that have set up in their communities.

Carlos Amador of Honduras said local residents in Valle de Siria are suffering a variety of health problems due to water contamination from mines, while farmers have seen their businesses collapse as rivers and wells have dried out because of the mine's massive consumption of water.

Enrique Rivera Sierra of Mexico said while communities have won court cases against Canadian mining companies, corrupt government officials have allowed environmental and land title abuses to persist and those who speak out have faced beatings, death threats and worse.

Meanwhile, Nicole Kirouac of the 3,800-strong town of Malartic said the mining project in her community in northwestern Quebec has forced the relocation of 200 families and the destruction of five of the town's eight public buildings.

Yesterday's stunt, aimed at drawing attention to the perils of open-pit gold mining and calling for changes to mining laws, drew the attention of the provincial government.

On Friday, the department responsible for mines declared Mount Royal a protected zone that is off limits to surveyors.

A department spokeswoman said it was simply an added precaution as the landmark was declared a historic site in 2005.

"We effectively imposed an additional moratorium but, regardless, a mining company couldn't just stake a claim on Mount Royal without permission from the city [which owns the land] and the Culture Department because it's a historic site," Jolyane Pronovost said.

Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, a McGill University professor of Mexican history and one of the event organizers, saw it as a small victory.

"The message is to start thinking about what's actually happening elsewhere in the world, what's happening in Quebec and Ontario," he said.

Noting Ontario is the only province so far to look at modernizing its archaic mining laws, he called on Quebec and other provinces to do the same.

His group also wants the government to provide legal recourse to international communities that are adversely affected by the mining practices of Canadian companies abroad.

The Question of Sustainability Conference aims to build a movement for change within Canada. This conference provided the space for people within Canada to interact with affected communities and each other, and the conference format prioritized facilitating conversations focused on solutions to ending corporate impunity.

Closing Comments from GordonGecko on Vimeo.

The Question of Sustainability is a conference dedicated to examining the Canadian mining industry through the lens of sustainability within ecosystems, human rights, culture, and economics.

Featuring speakers from Papua New Guinea, Chile, the Congo, Guatemala, Tanzania and Peru, as well as many First Nations speakers and academics from Canada. This conference brings together indigenous people from the global south and the global north, and serves to address some of the complex social, political and environmental issues that relate to the imposition of extractive industries on traditional cultures.

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The government has been urged to come up with a policy that will ensure people living around the mining areas enjoy the benefits accrued from their God-given resources.

It was also urged at a public dialogue on mining held here at the weekend that efforts should be made to empower Tanzanians exploit mineral resources.

The sector has been listed as the fastest growing in the country but still lags behind in terms of its contribution to the GDP.

Agriculture and service sectors lead in contributing to the GDP. The Vice Chancellor of St. Augustine University Tanzania, Dr Charles Kitima, said that Tanzanians should be supported with capital and technology to access the resources.

He spoke during the inaugural public dialogue on mining that brought together critics of the mining sector, private sector, the government and intellectuals.

The lack of transfer of technology he said, will only lead to more witchcraft related killings as the artisanal miners estimated at over 1 million in the country rely on witchcraft to develop.

"People want to exploit mineral resources, they want their communities to benefit from the sector and companies like Barrick Tanzania should emulate banks and sell at least 20 per cent of their shares to Tanzanians," he said.

Barrick Tanzania's CEO Mr Deo Mwanyika presented a paper entitled 'Success, Challenges and Prospects of the Mining Industry' in which he said that the mining sector's overall contribution to the economy between 1997-2007 was $1.63 billion.

The Commissioner for Minerals Dr Peter Kafumu, acknowledged that the growth of the sector surpasses the government�s capacity to improve the infrastructure.

The current electricity demand stands at 570MW and 15 per cent is spent by mining companies.

By 2010 Buzwagi, Tulawaka, North mara, Buyanhulu, Geita will consume 30 per cent of the generated power, said A Chadema Mp, Mr Zitto Kabwe, who also presented a paper at the dialogue.

"With the addition of Kabanga nickel mine, the lake zone alone will need 200 MW from the national grid which Tanesco will not be able to provide. "By not supplying electricity to the mines we lose out in economies of scale with production costs becoming higher and Tanesco accruing no revenues from electricity," the MP explained.

"The public perception of the sector is negative, the stability of the fiscal regime is unclear, regulation is increasingly unpredictable, and sabotage is on the rise. The cumulative effect of these is negative feedback," said Mr Mwanyika.

The dialogue participants urged the government to implement the Bomani commission report, which includes withdraw of all fuel exemptions, impact assessment before signing mining contracts and aligning surface rights and mineral rights to ensure correct compensation of people relocated from mining sites.