Environment |
Gold mining is a highly consumptive and environmentally destructive industry. In addition to the landscapes that is destroys, gold mining (especially open pit gold mining) creates massive amounts of toxic waste that often causes acid mine drainage and heavy metal contamination. |
Water Depletion Water depletion is a major negative consequence of gold mining. The large amount of water required to run a gold mining operation exacerbates its impact on local communities, many of which are already experiencing drought. |
Acid Mine Drainage Open pit mining creates great waste for a small yield. On average, it takes 79 tons of waste to extract one ounce of gold, according to a conservative estimate by the No Dirty Gold campaign, a project of EarthWorks and Oxfam. The process involves grinding up ore, and then exposing it to cyanide in order to extract the gold. Sulfides in the crushed rocks interact with air and water to create sulfuric acid, which in turn creates acid mine drainage (AMD). In and of itself, AMD is harmful to ecosystems because it makes water too acidic to support life. Additionally, the sulfuric acid in AMD leaches out other substances from the waste ore, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, which can have disastrous health effects, and can contaminate both air and water. Gold mining has been linked to 96 percent of the world�s arsenic emissions. |
Cyanide Cyanide is the chemical-of-choice for mining companies to extract gold from crushed ore, despite the fact that leaks or spills of this chemical are extremely toxic to fish, plant life and human beings. Cyanide is a deadly chemical, used in the gas chambers of the Second World War and on death row in the United States between 1930-1980. The chemical has caused havoc in water systems across the world with over 30 spills in the last five years. |
Fly Over of Barrick Gold's Mine in Lake Cowal by Natalie Lowrey, Special to protestbarrick.net February 4th, 2013 On Monday 4th February 2013, Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Nevillle 'Chappy' Williams and ProtestBarrick.net co-founders and editors Sakura Saunders (Canada) and Natalie Lowrey (Australia) took a cessna plane from Forbes to Lake Cowal in central western New South Wales, Australia to document a gold mine in the lake. The slideshow video of the recent flight over Lake Cowal shows Barrick's mine pit in the lake bed surrounded by water. On the flight there were hundreds of birds seen in the 1km square toxic tailings dams. Many of these birds have flown great distances to get here and cannot differentiate the difference between the water of Lake Cowal and the tailings dams of the mine. The contamination of water with cyanide and heavy metals by the mine is of major concern to Wiradjuri Traditional Owners and environmentalists. |
Barrick Gold Mine Spill �Contaminated Five Rivers with Cyanide� by Azzura Lalani, The Argentina Independent February 23rd, 2016 Last September�s cyanide spill at the Veladero mine owned by Barrick Gold contaminated five rivers in the region, according to a federal court commissioned report. |
Land dispute sends farmers, Barrick Gold back to court Dominican Today February 11th, 2016 Cotui, Dominican Republic. Hundreds of farmers on Thursday are gathered at the Sanchez Ramirez province (central) Land Court, site of the fifth hearing in their case against the miner Barrick Gold. Hundreds of people have sued the mining company to demand payment for the farmers� properties. |
Million-Liter Cyanide Spill in Argentina Highlights Canadian Mining Crimes by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams October 25th, 2015 Highlighting how corporate extractivism and lack of accountability is driving the destruction of Latin American communities, a Canadian mining company has now confirmed that more than one million liters of cyanide solution spilled from the Barrick Gold Veladero mine in San Juan, Argentina this month�making the spill more than four times larger than originally estimated. |
Several injured in break-up of anti-mining protest in Argentina EFE October 23rd, 2015 Several people were injured and more than a score were arrested when police broke up an anti-mining protest near a Barrick Gold-operated mine in the northwestern Argentine province of San Juan, where a cyanide spill occurred last month, demonstrators said Friday. |
Houses develop cracks caused by blasting activities by Barrick Lumwana mine Lusaka Times October 21st, 2015 Several houses in village around Kakaindu in Manyama area of Kalumbila district have developed cracks arising from blasting activities by Barrick Lumwana mine at Chimibungu pit. |
UN experts analyze water samples in San Juan after cyanide spill Buenos Aires Herald September 20th, 2015 A group of United Nations (UN) experts started to analyze water samples of the rivers Jachal, Las Taguas and Blanco in San Juan to see if they have been polluted with cyanide, following an industrial malfunction at the Veladero mine that caused a pipe carrying the lethal substance to fracture. |
Leak poisons Barrick Gold�s reputation by Michael Lerner , Blouin News Business September 18th, 2015 An Argentine judge on Wednesday ordered a five-day suspension of the gold leaching process at Barrick Gold Corp.�s Veladero mine in San Juan province. The purpose is to check if there was any environmental damage from a 15,000 liter cyanide leak on Sunday caused by a faulty valve. Local residents of J�chal, outraged and fearful of their water supply being contaminated, began protesting as soon as they found out, and spurred the governments of the province and the nation to action. |
Porgera�s new joint owner has a terrible record in China by Yang Chuanmin, The Guardian UK Chinese Zijin Mining has bought a 49.5% stake in Barrick Gold�s already troubled Porgera mine. The new owner has a terrible environmental and human rights record in China |
Barrick AGM statement by Jethro Tulin, Executive officer of Porgera Alliance and Akali Tange Association by Jethro Tulin, Porgera Alliance, Akali Tange Association April 28th, 2015 |
Court to hear injunction request against Barrick Gold extractions in Dominican Republic Dominican Today April 22nd, 2015 Sanchez Ramirez province (northeast) Civil Court judge Jacqueline Y. Ramos will hear on April 28 the request for an injunction to halt mining against Barrick Gold�s local operation Pueblo Viejo Dominicana filed by the missionary Rafael Guill�n, EFE reports. |
Chile regulator seeks new sanctions against Barrick's Pascua-Lama Reuters April 22nd, 2015 Chile's environmental regulator SMA said on Wednesday it will seek new sanctions against Barrick Gold Corp's massive Pascua-Lama gold and silver project, further complicating the possibility that the suspended mine might resume construction. |
Swedish Public Funds Drop Stocks over Ethics Concerns Chief Investment Officer April 9th, 2015 The Ethics Council, formed by four of Sweden�s national pension funds, has excluded three companies from investment portfolios after deciding further dialogue over their concerns would be fruitless. |
Science on Trial at Pascua Lama GlacierHub Chile�s environmental court ruled on Monday that Pascua Lama, the Andean nation�s most controversial mine, is not responsible for damage done to three glaciers near the mine site. While the mine�s operations will remain suspended due to a variety of other challenges, the decision was a setback for local environmental groups, who seek to protect the country�s glaciers. Some say it also represents a defeat for Chile�s scientific institutions. |
Barrick faces multi-billion dollar suit over Porgera mine by Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.com March 19th, 2015 Canada's Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX:ABX), in the midst of a worldwide assets sale to help reduce net debt by at least $3 billion, has something else to worry about these days, as the firm is now facing a legal threat in Papua New Guinea. |
Unveiling Medals, Veiling Abuse: A profile of the mines sourcing PanAm Medals by compiled by Sakura Saunders March 3rd, 2015 Barrick Gold and the Royal Canadian Mint today unveiled the design of the medals to be awarded to athletes at this summer's PanAm games. 4,000 competitions medals will be awarded during the course of both the Pan Am Games and the Parapan Am Games. But why are we using this opportunity to promote the irresponsible practice of open pit gold mining, especially considering that we get more than enough gold these days from recycled sources? Specifically, why are we celebrating a mining company whose abuses are well documented and widespread. To illustrate my point, let's look at the three mines highlighted as the sources of the PanAm medals. |
Mine Landowners: Settle issues first Post Courier February 19th, 2015 Landowners along the Pogera river who were affected by environmental damages caused by the Porgera Gold Mine have petitioned the government to intervene on their request for the developer Barrick Gold to compensate them for the damages caused to their environment and river systems. |
VIDEO: an inside look at Barrick's Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea This film originally appeared on French Television and offers an inside look on the ground at Barrick's Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea. |
Nevada court hears Barrick Gold-Philippines province appeal by Ken Ritter, AP February 4th, 2015 A Philippine island province that experienced mining waste disasters in the 1990s but has been unable to find a court to hear its claim for damages is asking Nevada's highest court to rekindle a nearly 10-year-old state lawsuit against Barrick Gold Corp. |
Protest in Nevada: Mining companies must pay full costs to remedy harm EVERYWHERE they operate by Catherine Coumans February 3rd, 2015 Today, south of Canada in the US state of Nevada, lawyers for the Province of Marinduque squared off against lawyers for Barrick Gold. Marinduque is holding Barrick Gold responsible for providing remedy for multiple disastrous mine waste failures in Marinduque that have caused serious damage to major river and sea ecosystems and have harmed many Marinduquenos. Last year, Barrick tried to make the law suit go away by offering Marinduque $20 million (of which the province would only get about $12 million after legal and administrative fees). The Province of Marinduque rightly turned down this grossly inadequate offer with its many onerous conditions. And so, the Province is back in court continuing the battle against Barrick for a fair settlement that will allow the Province to clean up the mess that mining has left behind. |
Dominican activists decry mining projects as �new form of colonialism�
by Renee Lewis, Al Jazeera January 28th, 2015 If the beauty and clean water of Loma Miranda is the before of mining projects in the Dominican Republic, Cotui, a town just an hour away in the S�nchez Ram�rez province, is the after. A red-tinged and shrunken waterway welcomes visitors to Cotu�. It once supplied fresh water to residents. �The animals already knew,� said Mayobanex Arias, a rancher walking his cattle across a bridge over the river. �They would test the water, then not drink it.� |
Chile regulator says could cancel permit for Barrick's Pascua-Lama
Reuters January 21st, 2015 Chile's environmental regulator is re-evaluating penalties on Barrick Gold Corp's Pascua-Lama project, a process that could include cancelling the embattled mine's permit, the head of the government body told a local daily newspaper. |
Mine expansion may threaten Nevada's largest deer herd by Jeff DeLong, RGJ, Reno Gazette Journal January 9th, 2015 The planned expansion of a major gold mine in northeast Nevada could cause big problems for Nevada's largest herd of mule deer, a sportsmen and conservationist group contends. The Coalition for Nevada's Wildlife is urging people to weigh in on Barrick Gold Corp.'s proposed expansion of its Bald Mountain Mine, a project the group insists could disrupt a key migration route used by deer in the winter. |
�Please tell people about this:� London students� horror at Dominican Republic mines by Mark Spowart, Metro October 27th, 2014 Three London students were shocked by what they found last winter during a trip to the Dominican Republic. Canadian mining companies, they say, are destroying lives in the country. |
Barrick Gold refuses to relocate villagers who suffer murder, rape and house burning by Karl Nerenberg, Rabble.ca September 12th, 2014 On Wednesday of this past week, a representative of thousands of people who live in the highlands of Papua New Guinea together with Canadian supporters came to Parliament Hill to tell Canadians about the highlanders' troubled relationship with Barrick Gold. |
PUBLIC DECLARATION FROM THE DIRECTORS OF THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY DIAGUITAS HUASCOALTINOS by Sergio Campusano Villches, President, Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community May 31st, 2014 In light of news of a potential negotiated agreement that would put an end to the social and environmental conflicts generated by the Pascua Lama project in the ancestral territory of the Agricultural Community of Diaguitas Huascoaltinos, we declare that this only deepens the relationship of confrontation that Barrick Gold has imposed in its relationship with the Community that owns the communal property of Diaguita. |
Protesters to Barrick Gold shareholders: "We don't need gold, stop the unnecessary suffering": AGM Protest brings needed truth to corporate meeting by Sakura Saunders, Protestbarrick.net April 30th, 2014 Over 100 people participated in a protest against Barrick Gold outside the company's annual general meeting this year. This annual protest highlights the realities and demands of communities living next to Barrick's mines around the world. |
Barrick Gold Faces Demonstration Against Human Rights, Environmental Abuses at Toronto AGM by Tim McSorley, DeSmog Barrick Gold's shareholders will be greeted by a familiar sight in Toronto this morning: protesters are once again gathering outside the Annual General Meeting of the world's largest gold mining company to denouce the corporation's human rights and environmental abuses. |
CEDHA offers expert testimony against Barrick Gold in Chilean Tribunals CEDHA April 27th, 2014 On the one year anniversary of the suspension of Pascua Lama due to impacts to glaciers and other water resources, Jorge Daniel Taillant, Director of the Center for Human Rights and Environment (in Argentina) spoke for two hours today before Chile�s Environmental Tribunal to answer questions regarding reports CEDHA has produced to draw attention to Barrick Gold�s Pascua Lama project impacts to hitherto ignored but extremely relevant swaths of land called Periglacial Environments. These frozen hydrological resources help glaciated areas store and regulate water flow to downstream water basins for millions of people. |
Hearing in Grants, NM to review Barrick's Homestake site, where contamination has spread in recent years by Steve Dylla and Candace Head-Dylla, Residents of Grants, NM and members of the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) and the Bluewater Valley Downstream Alliance (BVDA) April 25th, 2014 Once again, Homestake-Barrick Gold refuses to commit the resources needed to fully clean the contaminated water and once again NMED will find that acceptable. In the last discharge permit hearing (DP-725), we asked NMED to require Homestake-Barrick Gold commit to operating a reverse osmosis plant that could actually clean all the water from the site. It is the right thing to do, but Homestake-Barrick Gold will not spend the money required and NMED does not want to get on the wrong side of this powerful company. So, instead, Homestake-Barrick Gold proposes experimental methods that are unproven and likely dangerous, proposes an insignificant increase in reverse osmosis, and NMED will approve this proposal and claim they are supporting �progress� and �innovation� rather than colluding with a company that is too rich and powerful for them to regulate. |
Hearing in Grants, NM to review Barrick's Homestake site, where contamination has spread in recent years Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) April 25th, 2014 The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is set to renew the Homestake Mining Company�s Discharge Permit, DP-200, with some modifications that would allow Homestake to nearly double its use of the public's water supply to dilute contaminants at its Superfund site. |
Written Comments of Steve Dylla and Candace Head-Dylla regarding Homestake-Barick Gold Mining Company Uranium Millsite by Steve Dylla and Candace Head-Dylla, Residents of Grants, NM and members of the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) and the Bluewater Valley Downstream Alliance (BVDA) April 25th, 2014 Once again, Homestake-Barrick Gold refuses to commit the resources needed to fully clean the contaminated water and once again NMED will find that acceptable. In the last discharge permit hearing (DP-725), we asked NMED to require Homestake-Barrick Gold commit to operating a reverse osmosis plant that could actually clean all the water from the site. It is the right thing to do, but Homestake-Barrick Gold will not spend the money required and NMED does not want to get on the wrong side of this powerful company. So, instead, Homestake-Barrick Gold proposes experimental methods that are unproven and likely dangerous, proposes an insignificant increase in reverse osmosis, and NMED will approve this proposal and claim they are supporting �progress� and �innovation� rather than colluding with a company that is too rich and powerful for them to regulate. |
Behind Barrick's meltdown in the Atacama desert by STEPHANIE NOLEN, Globe and Mail April 24th, 2014 In Chile today, you could spend a very long time trying to find anyone with a good word to say about Pascua-Lama. |
Barrick Gold Using Coercive Settlement Provisions to Perpetuate Legacy of Environmental Harm by Michelle Harrison, Earth Rights International March 31st, 2014 After nearly a decade of litigation over environmental devastation in the Philippines caused by Placer Dome�s mining operations (now Barrick Gold Corp.), Barrick has reportedly given the Province of Marinduque a take-it-or-leave-it settlement offer that would prohibit the Province from spending a penny to clean up the damage the company left behind. |
Marinduque solons oppose $20-M Barrick Gold settlement Business Mirror (Philippines) February 22nd, 2014 TWO lawmakers have opposed a $20-million compensation offer being dangled by a mining company in connection with the 1996 Marcopper mine tailing spill, considered the worst mining disaster in the Philippines. �This will not also address the repair of the Maguila-guila and Makulapnit siltation dams and Taipan pit. The said dams are in danger of collapse due to its considerably weakened walls and the big volume of water and silt contained therein. Its collapse will unleash a huge quantity of water and silt to the towns of Boac, Mogpog and possibly other towns in Marinduque which will result to loss of a great number of lives and millions of pesos in damage to homes and properties." |
Tanzania's gold rush and housing crush by Victoria Schneider, Al Jazeera Mayenda says the Buzwagi Gold Mine is the reason the buildings collapsed, and she is not alone. Other villagers say their mud houses crack and collapse because of blasting at the open pit - Tanzania's largest. They say their children's coughs come from the dust blown over the village, and the water from the local wells is polluted from mine waste. |
Philippines: Marinduque 'pushed to the wall' by Barrick Gold by Catherine Coumans, Mining Watch Canada via Rabble.ca October 22nd, 2013 Canada�s Barrick Gold, the world�s largest gold mining company that bought out Placer Dome, has spent the better half of a decade fighting the province in court rather than owning up to the company�s responsibility to put things right in Marinduque. Once again, Marinduque is the bellwether, evidence that for all its rhetoric about �responsible mining,� the mining industry is still more concerned with its bottom line than in doing what�s right. In spite of a long legal struggle with competent American lawyers, on September 17, Marinduque provincial administrator Eleuterio Raza told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Inquirer) that Barrick was offering the province around 20 million dollars, take it or leave it. According to the Inquirer �[t]he amount, however, would further be reduced to $13.5 million after litigation expenses had been paid. �These are crumbs,� said Raza, �but we are being pushed to the wall.�� It is perfectly clear that this extremely low level of recovery from Barrick is woefully inadequate to protect the health and safety of Marinduquenos, which can only be secured through the comprehensive rehabilitation of all contaminated ecosystems and the stabilization or removal of shoddy dams and structures in the mountains of the island, as well as the tons of toxic waste that these dams are barely containing. |
Philippines: Marinduque 'pushed to the wall' by Barrick Gold http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/miningwatch/2013/10/philippines-marinduque-pushed-to-wall-barrick-gold October 22nd, 2013 In the Philippines, the island province of Marinduque is known as a cautionary tale about the ravages of irresponsible mining. It took Canadian mining giant Placer Dome a couple of decades to wreak environmental destruction on major coral reefs in Calancan Bay and to severely contaminate the Mogpog and Boac Rivers with toxic mine waste -- none of which has ever been cleaned up. The ongoing environmental impacts are only part of the story. |
Sickness and wealth: Shiny new mine, rusty pollution problems
The Economist September 21st, 2013 Residents are suing PVDC, claiming that the new mine is poisoning rivers, causing illnesses and the death of farm animals. They want the government to release the environmental-impact assessment for Pueblo Viejo, which it has so far refused to do. |
Five whistleblowers speak out against Barrick, court documents reveal Court documents filed by Labaton Sucharow LLP on August 2, 2013 related to a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders of Barrick Gold reveal the testimonies of five former Barrick employees. These confidential witnesses confirm that Barrick top management knew that construction at the Pascua Lama Project was contaminating nearby water sources and breaching environmental conditions that led to the suspension of the project. These witnesses also testify that at a time when the company was estimating that the Project's cost would be between $2.8 and $3 billion, Barrick already had in its possession an engineering report estimating costs for the Project at nearly twice that figure. |
Confidential Witness reports related to class action against Barrick Gold by compiled by Sakura Saunders (with protestbarrick.net), filer: Labaton Sucharow August 3rd, 2013 The following is excerpts from court documents filed by Labaton Sucharow LLP on August 2, 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. These documents were related to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of persons or entities who purchased the publicly-traded common stock of Barrick Gold Corporation on the New York Stock Exchange between May 7, 2009 and May 23, 2013. The excerpts focus on information related to the testimony of former employees of Barrick Gold acting as confidential witnesses (CW1 - CW5) in the case. |
The Case Against Barrick Gold: Why Shareholders are turning on this mining giant by Sakura Saunders, Special to ProtestBarrick July 26th, 2013 On June 5, 2013, Lewis and Patricia Clark filed a class action lawsuit for themselves and other shareholders against the world's largest gold miner for �making false and misleading statements and concealed material information� relating to Pascua-Lama�s delays and costs. The class covers everyone who bought Barrick common stock between May 7, 2009, and May 23, 2013. Since this date, at least 9 law-firms have taken on the case against Barrick. |
Exclusive: Chile indigenous group likely to appeal Barrick ruling: lawyer by Alexandra Ulmer, Reuters July 18th, 2013 A Chilean indigenous group will likely ask the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision on Barrick Gold Corp's Pascua-Lama gold mine, because the ruling does not go far enough to protect the environment, a lawyer representing the group told Reuters on Thursday. |
Tanzania: Tarime Boy Drowns in Gold Mine Sand Pit by AMBROSE WANTAIGWA, Tanzania Daily News July 11th, 2013 THREE people died in separate incidents in Mara Region including a fifteen-year-old boy identified as Matiko Chacha who drowned in North Mara Mine's Gokona pit, police have said. |
VIDEO: Diaguita Sing Against Barrick Gold A video and song by Pedro Martinez, a member of the ethnic Diaguita who are opposed to Barrick Gold on their lands. |
Shifting Prospects by Tim Elliot, Sydney Morning Herald - Good Weekend In the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, the locals are largely locked out of the wealth of a lucrative goldmine. Tim Elliott meets a few brave young men determined to claim just a tiny piece of pie. |
Barrick's Pascua Lama could wind up costing US$10bn, analyst says by Alexandra Demo-Dananberg, BN Americas June 26th, 2013 Canadian Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama project on the border of Chile and Argentina could wind up costing US$10bn to build, according to Credit Suisse analyst Anita Soni. |
Open letter to Corporate Knights regarding Barrick's placement at #4 on "Best 50 of 2013" by ProtestBarrick.net June 14th, 2013 I am writing in response to your recent "Best 50 of 2013" listing, where you place Barrick Gold in the position of 4th best corporate citizen. You acknowledged that awarding them this honour would stir controversy, as you acknowledge the company has many accusations placed against it for human rights abuses, and even the Chilean government recently shut down its Pascua Lama project due to "environmental irregularities". Still, referencing "publicly disclosed data points that can be compared across companies", you insist that Barrick is a corporate leader. |
Corporate Knights defend abusive corporations
by Sakura Saunders, An edited version appeared in NOW Magazine June 13th, 2013 You only need to check out Corporate Knights magazine�s just-issued Best 50 Corporate Citizens In Canada index to get that �clean capitalism� is all show, no substance. |
Why NZ Super dumped Barrick Gold by Tim Hunter, Timaru Herald via stuff.co.nz Why NZ Super dumped Barrick Gold |
Barrick fined $16m for Pascua-Lama violations by LUIS ANDRES HENAO, Associated Press May 24th, 2013 Chile's environmental regulator blocked Barrick Gold Corp.'s $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama project on Friday and imposed its maximum fine on the world's largest gold miner, citing "very serious" violations of its environmental permit as well as a failure by the company to accurately describe what it had done wrong. |
New Zealand Superannuation Fund excludes Barrick Gold and subsidiary African Barrick Gold on responsible investment grounds New Zealand Superannuation Fund May 13th, 2013 The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has excluded global mining company Barrick Gold Corporation and its subsidiary African Barrick Gold from its $22 billion investment portfolio on responsible investment grounds. |
Q&A: Sen. Allende on Barrick Gold�s controversial Chilean mine by Kalynne Dakin, Santiago Times May 8th, 2013 The Socialist Party senator addresses constituent and worker concerns as US$8.5 billion Pascua-Lama mine faces shutdown. |
Barrick�s mea culpa
by Christian Pena, Now Magazine May 2nd, 2013 If spirits were low inside the venue, outside the mood was buoyant. Activists cheerfully propped up a monster puppet of Munk with a Pinocchio nose to illustrate their view of the company�s claims to social responsibility and drew attention to Barrick�s incursions on indigenous land and its reaction to alleged gang rapes and abuses by company security in Papua New Guinea. |
Barrick�s environmental foes jump on wobbly miner by MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT , Globe and Mail April 25th, 2013 The long term outlook for Barrick shares hinges on many factors: the gold price is obviously the biggest driver, but the company also faces vociferous opposition from environmentalists and many residents around its mine sites, which should be a long term worry for shareholders. |
Barrick AGM Protest in pictures protestbarrick.net April 24th, 2013 Protesters braved the rain to send a message to shareholders of Barrick Gold: "Barrick is a toxic asset, invest in life!" (all photos Allan.Lissner.net) |
Chile rejects Barrick�s appeal to resume work at Pascua Lama by Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.com April 23rd, 2013 Chilean appeals court rejected Canadian Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX: ABX) subsidiary Minera Nevada's plea to reverse the order to suspend construction on the troubled Pascua Lama gold and silver project. |
New Report! "Debunking Barrick" by multiple authors, ProtestBarrick April 23rd, 2013 As Protest Barrick completes its sixth year of working with communities impacted by Barrick Gold, we are publishing a different kind of alternative annual report. We have noticed over the years that despite some of Barrick`s major abuses coming into light, the company has been able to maintain � within select circles � a reputation for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Meanwhile, around the world, Barrick�s name is still associated with corruption, abuse and environmental harms. |
Dominicans Protest Against Canadian Miner Barrick Gold Latin American Herald Tribune April 22nd, 2013 Dozens of people marched Thursday in this northern Dominican city against Canadian miner Barrick Gold, which is developing the massive Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Caribbean nation. |
2012-13: A bad year for Barrick excerpt of "Debunking Barrick", an alternative annual report on Barrick Gold April 18th, 2013 Before you think about investing in Barrick, check out this timeline of actions against Barrick's operations around the world since last July. |
Barrick Gold: Is Pascua-Lama A Mine That Should Not Be Built? Seeking Alpha April 16th, 2013 The uphill struggle for Barrick Gold (ABX) to finally bring the Pascua-Lama mine into production hit another snag last week when a Chilean court ordered all works on the Chilean side of the project to cease pending a decision on a complaint filed by a group of native indigenous people. Court sources quoted by Reuters anticipate the dispute to go to the Chilean Supreme Court, which could mean delays to the order of several months. The suspension is the latest in a series of setbacks to the Pascua-Lama project. Target dates for initial production have been delayed, and cost estimates had to be corrected at least twice. |
CONFRONT BARRICK: 2013 AGM Protest and Alternative Annual Report! Once a year, the board of Directors of the world�s most powerful gold mining corporation converge in downtown Toronto. This year, we're releasing a report that chronicles Barrick's lies and highlights the true stories behind their false CSR spin. Help us ensure that these stories don't get ignored. |
Chile court suspends Barrick's Pascua Lama mine by LUIS ANDRES HENAO, Associated Press April 10th, 2013 A Chilean court on Wednesday suspended Barrick Gold Corp's Pascua Lama mine after indigenous communities complained that the project is threatening their water supply and polluting glaciers. |
Beyond the Headlines: Porgera in Crisis by Sakura Saunders, from report "Debunking Barrick" In May 2009, Jethro Tulin was interviewed on the CBC�s As it Happens, reporting about the fact that over 300 houses were burnt down by police next to Barrick�s Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The news hit the front page of newspapers in PNG, citing the Jethro�s interviews from North America. Even the Sydney Morning Herald � the largest newspaper in Australia � ran an entire series of feature articles on the Porgera situation, while Amnesty International and the Coalition on Housing Rights and Evictions both made public statements condemning the house burnings. |
Agro leaders to protest Barrick Gold contract on Friday Dominican Today April 9th, 2013 The country�s agro producers grouped in CONFENAGRO on Tuesday called for a series of protests on Friday April 12, in rebuke of Barrick Gold�s contract, which calls for only 3% of the profits from the gold mined at Cotu�, in Dominican Republic�s northeast. |
PASCUA LAMA: Charges filed against the controversial project for failing to meet the environmental standards, conditions, and measures. by SEBASTIAN MARCHANT, 24 Horas The Environmental Superintendent of Chile filed charges on Wednesday against Nevada Mining SpA, who is the owner of Pasca Lama project in Chile, because the project fails to meet the conditions, rules and measures established by the Environmental Qualification Resolution delivered in 2006. Chilean authorities also found Barrick's self-reporting did not meet the requirements of Article 41 of the Organic Superintendency Law, which requires the provision of accurate, truthful and verifiable facts by the holder. |
Fury over alleged toxic leaks in Barrick mine; Tarime residents want probe, amends by Beldina Nyakeke , The Citizen (Tanzania) March 26th, 2013 The Tarime District Council chairman, Mr Amos Sagara, has asked the government to form a task force to investigate challenges facing villages surrounding the Barrick North Mara Gold Mine and come up with a lasting solution. |
Economic Displacement + Water Depletion + Long-Term Pollution ≠ Sustainable Development ProtestBarrick editor Sakura Saunders distributed this fact sheet at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto on March 5, 2013. It is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Barrick's abuses, but enough points to prove a point that Barrick does not promote sustainable development at their mine sites. The fact sheet was distributed after Saunders spoke during the question period of the CEO panel which featured Barrick CEO, Jamie Sokalsky. |
Gold Mine Planned for Southwest Alaska Threatens Environment and Local Communities http://ecowatch.com/2013/gold-mine-alaska/ February 27th, 2013 The Kuskokwim region is at a crossroads. A massive gold mine is planned at Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kuskokwim. With an estimated 27 year production run churning out more than one million ounces of gold per year, the Donlin Gold mine would require an open pit two miles long, one mile wide and 1,800 feet deep, plus the largest pipeline built in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.While it promises jobs in a region with few employment opportunities, the mine as currently proposed could have serious consequences for subsistence livelihoods. |
Gold Mine Planned for Southwest Alaska Threatens Environment and Local Communities by Rebecca Siegel, Alaskans For Responsible Mining February 27th, 2013 The Kuskokwim region is at a crossroads. A massive gold mine is planned at Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kuskokwim. With an estimated 27 year production run churning out more than one million ounces of gold per year, the Donlin Gold mine would require an open pit two miles long, one mile wide and 1,800 feet deep, plus the largest pipeline built in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.While it promises jobs in a region with few employment opportunities, the mine as currently proposed could have serious consequences for subsistence livelihoods. |
The Globe and Mail as Corporate Apologists by Sakura Saunders, protestbarrick.net February 15th, 2013 Last week, a remediation program proposed by Barrick Gold was criticized by Mining Watch Canada and other human rights organizations for forcing victims of gang rape to sign away their rights to sue the company in exchange for receiving redress. Barrick's offer came two years after a 2011 Human Rights Watch report exposed a "pattern of violent abuses, including horrifying acts of gang rape". Mining Watch's report also criticized the fact that Barrick was offering no compensation to women who were gang raped by PNG Police, despite the fact that the police were housed, supplied and fed by Barrick during their time in Porgera. |
EPA fines Barrick Gold for Nevada mine record violations by Jennifer Robison, Las Vegas Review Journal February 6th, 2013 A big Nevada mining company will pay federal fines following a ruling from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA found that three subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corp. failed to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste management activities at the company's Cortez, Ruby Hill and Bald Mountain mines in Northern Nevada between 2005 and 2008. |
Nemc�s order to Barrick: SHUT DOWN THE TOXIC TAILINGS POND by Beldina Nyakeke, The Citizen (Tanzania) January 26th, 2013 Mining giant African Barrick Gold was yesterday ordered to close a pit refuse facility at North Mara due to toxic leakages that are contaminating local water sources. |
Clean capitalism gets mixed results in the Andes Montreal Gazette CSR has become controversial because, observers said, it does not necessarily make the mining more responsible � it makes it easier to sell.Rod Jimenez, the vice-president of corporate affairs for Barrick South America, said the company has done a lot to build trust in the community, likening the battle for hearts and minds around Pascua-Lama to a marriage. |
Chileans divided over value of Barrick�s water fund by Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.com December 18th, 2012 2012 was not a great year for Canada�s Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX: ABX) when it comes to its $8.5 billion Pascua Lama project, straddling the border of Argentina and Chile. There has been recent legal actions filed against the company for allegedly not having all the rights to proceed with the development of the mine. And now locals, divided over the merits of a water fund created by Barrick, threaten the fragile status quo in northern Chile. |
Glaciers, protests and court cases slow Barrick in Pascua-Lama by CATHERINE SOLYOM, Montreal Gazette December 15th, 2012 A number of obstacles remaining on the bumpy road to Pascua-Lama, to the delight of some and the dismay of others, from legal wrangling in Chile over the deeds to the vast, frigid territory, to a Supreme Court of Argentina decision over whether any mining can take place there at all, given the presence of glaciers so close to the mine pit. |
More than just costs are a concern at Barrick Gold�s $8.5B Pascua-Lama megamine by Catherine Solyom, Postmedia News December 14th, 2012 what happens up here in Pascua-Lama, where Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold is developing the first open-pit gold mine to straddle two countries, will have a huge impact on the people living in the valleys below on both sides of the border � for better or for worse. |
Protests against toxic gold mining in the Caribbean
by Anne Sewell, Digital Journal November 27th, 2012 �I�m too old for this. I�m not going to be driven off of my land again,� says Juliana Guzman, a farmer from La Cerca in Dominican Republic. The walls of her house are riddled with cracks from the explosions that shake the ground every day. |
Dominican Republic: Barrick set to open giant gold mine World War 4 report August 7th, 2012 The project has stirred up protests in the past, because of what activists said were irregularities in the government�s contract with the Canadian companies, and because of potential damage to the environment and to archeological sites. Barrick plans to use 24 tons of cyanide a day, Virginia Rodr�guez, a coordinator for the local nongovernmental organization SalvaTierra (�Save the Earth�), told the Associated Press wire service. �There is a very high risk, especially with an island like ours with a very fragile ecosystem,� she said. The mine is located in a mountainous region, the source of some of the country�s most important rivers. |
Accumulation by Dispossession: Barrick & Goldcorp�s Pueblo Viejo Gold Mine in the Dominican Republic by James Rodriguez, MiMundo July 30th, 2012 Barrick and Goldcorp�s Pueblo Viejo gold mining project, the �biggest single foreign direct investment ever done in the Dominican Republic estimated at US $3.5 billion�, should begin full operations in July 2012. While the economic sectors deem it an economic blessing, the local population, environmentalists, and progressive groups strongly oppose it due to numerous social problems already underway and the potential to cause an irreversible environmental disaster in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. |
Barrick Gold Suffers Legal Defeat in Argentine Supreme Court by Jorge Talliant, CEDHA July 3rd, 2012 Barrick Gold, the company that had proposed dynamiting glaciers and hauling them off in dump trucks so they could get at gold reserves at their Pascua Lama project, suffered a major setback today in the Argentine National Supreme Court. An injunction order originally granted to Barrick by a local federal circuit court Cuadro de texto: Glacier Destroyed by Barrick� Veladero Mining Roadjudge suspending the recently approved National Glacier Act, was terminally revoked. The glacier law is now back in full force for Barrick and other mining companies operating in Argentina. |
Diaguita Huascoaltinos Declaration 2012 to Barrick Gold Corporation by Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community May 2nd, 2012 We have survived all manner of invasions for more than 500 years, and never before in history, as an Original Peoples, have we been so violated as we have been today by this mining corporation that has invaded the deepest foundations of our ways of life and customs. |
Tanzanian Representative Illegally denied Entry into Barrick Gold AGM by ProtestBarrick.net May 2nd, 2012 Amani Mhinda traveled from Tanzania to speak out against Barrick Gold's abuses at their mines sites there. However, despite holding a legal proxy to enter the meeting, his entry to that meeting was denied. "As part of Civil Society Movement in Tanzania and Citizens of Tanzania we would like an end to atrocities and human rights abuses which has come to be associated with Canadian mining investment. I am here to represent Ms. Otaigo, who died in April because she drank poisonous water next to Barrick's North Mara Mine," said Amani. "Clearly, Barrick denied my entrance because they wanted to cover up the abuses that their company is responsible for." Other advocates were able to attend Barrick's meeting, reading statements from the communities in Papua New Guinea and an Indigenous community in Northern Chile. |
Chile: Barrick Gold mine threatens water supply by Alejandra Carmona, El Monstrador April 9th, 2012 It is for these reasons that the inhabitants of the region are afraid of mining operations and especially of the large project that will go up in Maricunga, 145 kilometers southeast of Copiap�; the Cerro Casale project will use more than 900 liters of water per second in its industrial mining operation. An amount no one can ignore. Especially now. |
US Export-Import Bank (Exim) and EDC of Canada will not finance Barrick�s Pascua Lama Gold Mining Project by Jorge Daniel Taillant, CEDHA March 2nd, 2012 US Export-Import Bank (Exim) and Export Development Canada (EDC), two of the world�s largest publicly funded development finance institutions, will not be contributing to the highly controversial Pascua Lama gold mining project straddling the border between Argentina and Chile. The project has already and will further destroy glaciers to get at gold mineral deposits if it gets underway, affecting the water supply for indigenous communities and small agriculture in Chile as well as an internationally protected biosphere reserve in Argentina. |
CEDHA Files Equator Principles Due Diligence Review to US EXIM Bank and EDC of Canada on Barrick�s Pascua Lama Project CEDHA November 25th, 2011 The Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), along with several local and international groups presented today an Equator Principles Due Diligence Review to two export credit agencies considering financing Barrick Gold�s highly controversial Pascua Lama gold project, straddling the border between Chile and Argentina. |
Tribe battles BLM over Nev. gold mine in US court by SCOTT SONNER, Business Week October 7th, 2011 Lawyers for environmentalists and several Nevada tribes urged a federal judge Thursday to keep in place restrictions from a 2009 court order that blocks the expansion of a gold mine at the base of a mountain that some Western Shoshone consider sacred. |
Barrick Gold�s Tanzanian headache by Geoffrey York, Globe and Mail, Report on Business Magazine September 30th, 2011 Geoffrey York reports in the Globe and Mail's Business magazine, over 11 pages with colour photos on Barrick's mine in North Mara 'As long as Tanzanians are forced to choose between dying for a living and the potential wealth that they can gain by invading Barrick�s gold mine, the bloodshed at North Mara is likely to continue. Weapons and walls are a poor solution.' |
Surviving Rape in Papua New Guinea Human Rights Watch August 11th, 2011 What Would You Choose � Prison or Rape? This is what may women in Porgar, PNG are up against when they encounter Barrick Gold security guards. A report by Human Rights Watch |
Pay Dirt? by Michelle Slater, Castlemaine Independent July 27th, 2011 Can gold ever be ethical? |
Is Barrick Gold Shrinking Chilean Glaciers? Weekly News Update on the Americas In a report published on July 19, the Argentine branch of the environmental group Greenpeace charged that operations by the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation in the Andes at the border with Chile had already significantly damaged three small glaciers. |
Barrick Contaminates Water Resources Latin American Press June 16th, 2011 High levels of heavy metals have been detected in water resources near the Veladero and Pascua Lama gold projects, both owned by Canadian giant Barrick Gold, according to a recently published study by the Center for Human Rights and Environment, an Argentina-based nongovernmental organization. |
Barrick Accused by Governor�s Brother of Mingling in Argentine Election Politics Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA) May 4, 2011 � In a highly unusual interview[1] with a national radio station, the brother and would be gubernatorial candidate of the incumbent Governor of San Juan Province attacked his brother (Governor Jos� Luis Gioja) and Barrick Gold of maintaining a lucrative and economically abusive relationship for the province. It seems Barrick�s profits are causing a stir in local politics that has miners and ruling family members at odds with one another. |
Barrick Threatens Legal Action Against NGO � Over Publication of Contamination of Gold Mining Projects in Argentina May 16th 2011 � Argentina. Barrick Gold threatened to file legal actions against the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), for publishing a report that uses Barrick�s own water monitoring data and concludes that the Veladero and Pascua Lama projects are contaminating San Juan�s rivers and streams. |
Gold mine saga sign of things to come by Mobhare Matinyi, The Citizen - TANZANIA June 2nd, 2011 Once again, Tanzanians are mourning the deaths of five of their fellow citizens shot dead by police on May 16, at the African Barrick Gold�s North Mara gold mine in Tarime District, Mara Region. |
Landmark decision gives miners exclusive land rights in Papua New Guinea Post Courier A SENIOR lawyer has predicted that a recent landmark decision of the National Court giving Porgera Joint Venture Company exclusive rights of occupancy to its Special Mining Lease will affect thousands of landowners living in major resource development project areas throughout the country. |
Request to the Supreme Court of Argentina - immediate cessation of activities in Pascua-Lama No a Pascua-Lama [Spanish] Buenos Aires, May 13, 2011 : Barrick Gold violates the law |
Solicitan a la Corte Suprema Argentina el Inmediato Cese de Actividades de Pascua-Lama
No a Pascua-Lama Buenos Aires, 13 de mayo de 2011: El emprendimiento de la empresa Barrick Gold incumple la Ley de Glaciares |
Tanzania: Killings and Toxic Spill Tarnish Barrick Gold by Zahra Moloo, Toward Freedom The Thigithe River in North Mara, Tanzania meanders through scattered villages and clumps of trees in a vast expanse of land ringed by hills close to the Kenyan border. Nearby, an enormous, sprawling mound of rocks and stones several meters high reaches up from the earth. This is the region's notorious gold mine, operated by African Barrick Gold, a subsidiary of the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation. The mine has a reserve of an estimated 2.95 million ounces of gold. |
IMPACTED COMMUNITIES SPEAKING TOUR May 7th, 2011 It is shareholder's season once again, and for mining-impacted communities all over the world that means it is time to confront their corporate at these companies' annual general meetings. It also means that impacted communities are converging in Canada to share their truth and make alliances to help them hold these corporations accountable! |
Act on abuses, Papua New Guinea activists plea by BJ Siekierski, iPolitics.ca A pair of Papua New Guinean activists are in Ottawa for a fourth time hoping a recent report will help them succeed where earlier pleas have failed. |
Tribesmen ask Canada to force changes at PNG mine AFP OTTAWA � Two members of the Ilipi tribe of Porgera in the Papua New Guinea highlands on Thursday appealed to Canada to clamp down on abuses of mining companies abroad. |
MEDIA RELEASE: Indigenous Papua New Guinea Leaders Protest Ongoing Abuses at Barrick�s Porgera Mine Ottawa, May 5, 2011- For the fourth year in a row, Indigenous Ipili leaders from Porgera in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are in Canada to protest ongoing severe environmental impacts and human rights abuses associated with Barrick�s Porgera mine. |
Informe narrativo: Manifestaci�n contra reuni�n de accionistas de la Barrick, movilizando en apoyo a comunidades afectadas El equipo ProtestBarrick.net est� actualmente en Toronto, Canad�, para la reuni�n anual general de la Barrick Gold y nuestra quinta gira con comunidades afectadas. Este a�o participan representantes de comunidades de Papua Nueva Guinea, y esperamos (si logren sus visas) que se sumar�n desde Tanzania y las Filipinas tambi�n. |
REPORT BACK: Barrick shareholder protest, mobilising in support of impacted communities The ProtestBarrick.net team is currently in Toronto, Canada for the Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting (AGM) and our 5th speaking tour with Barrick mining impacted communities. This year we are joined by Papua New Guinean community and hopefully (visas permitting) community from Tanzania and the Philippines. |
PHOTOS: Activist Protest Against Barrick Gold On Wednesday, over 100 activists protested against Barrick Gold outside the Metro Convention Centre, where Barrick Gold was holding its annual shareholders' meeting. |
African Barrick Gold Clean Up Your Act! People and Livestock Threatened in Tanzania On Thursday 21 April Sally and Adriana handed out flyers to shareholders at the first African Barrick annual general meeting in London. The flyer focused on Barrick's North Mara mine in Tanzania and the devastating impacts on the environment and community. |
Statement and Questions from Tanzania at Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting, 27 April 2011 Pieter Blasedow read the statement and questions on behalf of the Lawyer Environmental Action Team/Friends of the Earth Tanzania at Barrick Gold's shareholder meeting, April 27, 2011 |
Statement and Questions from Papua New Guinea at Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting, 27 April 2011 Unfortunately Jethro Tulin from Porgera, Papua New Guinea was held up due to plane delays to be able to get to the Barrick Gold shareholders meeting. There were also doubts that they would have let him in as his name was on a special list along with Protest Barrick co-editor and Friends of the earth campaigner, Natalie Lowrey. |
Statement and Questions from Australia at Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting, 27 April 2011 Natalie Lowrey, co-editor of ProtestBarrick.net and campaigner with Friends of the Earth Australia was denied entry as a proxy ticket hodler into Barrick Gold's shareholder meeting. This was the statement and questions she was going to ask about Barrick's Mine in Lake Cowal. |
Report Back from Barrick Gold AGM: Access Denied to ProtestBarrick.net Proxy and Shareholder
Up to 200 people attended the rally to confront Barrick Gold outside their shareholder meeting in Toronto. ProtestBarrick.net shareholder and proxy were refused into the AGM and Papuan New Guinea representatives were held up in getting into Canada so missed their opportunity to make a statement to Barrick Shareholders and the Board of Directors, however, questions were asked on behalf of community in Tanzania. |
[Espanol] AMIGOS DE LA TIERRA INTERNACIONAL SE SUMA A PROTESTAS CONTRA BARRICK GOLD
'�Barrick Gold limpien el desastre! Derecho a la vida por encima de las ganancias del oro' TORONTO [CANAD�], 27 de abril, 2011 � Hoy, durante la asamblea general anual (AGM) de la empresa minera Barrick Gold en Toronto (Canad�), Amigos de la Tierra Internacional apoya un fuerte llamado de las comunidades del mundo a detener la miner�a de oro y las pr�cticas destructivas de Barrick Gold. Campa�istas est�n presentes en la asamblea y se sumaron a una manifestaci�n frente al lugar. Barrick Gold, la minera de oro m�s grande del mundo, ha sido objeto de muchos estudios que documentan violaciones a los derechos humanos y devastaci�n ambiental a nivel mundial, en pa�ses como Filipinas, Tanzania y Australia. |
MEDIA RELEASE: Impacted Community Confronts Barrick Gold on Human Rights Abuses, Company Lies, and Cultural Slurs Indigenous representatives from Porgera, Papua New Guinea traveled to Canada this week to speak at Barrick Gold's annual general meeting (AGM). This year marks the fourth year that the Porgerans have visited Barrick Gold's AGM, each time raising serious human rights and food security issues. |
AUDIO: Activists protest against Barrick Gold by John Bonnar, Rabble April 27th, 2011 On Wednesday, over 100 activists protested against Barrick Gold outside the Metro Convention Centre, where Barrick Gold was holding its annual shareholders' meeting. |
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL JOINS PROTESTS AGAINST BARRICK GOLD
'Barrick Gold Clean Up Your Act! Right to Life Over Gold Profits' TORONTO [CANADA], April 27, 2011 � Today, during the annual general meeting (AGM) of mining company Barrick Gold in Toronto (Canada), Friends of the Earth International is supporting a loud call from communities around the world for a halt to gold mining and Barrick Gold's destructive practices. Campaigners are present at the meeting and join a protest rally outside the meeting venue. Barrick Gold, the largest gold miner in the world, has been the subject of many documented studies of human rights abuses and environmental devastation globally, including in the Philippines, Tanzania and Australia. |
CONFRONT BARRICK GOLD: mobilise in support of impacted communities RSVP via Facebook April 19th, 2011 Once a year, the board of Directors of the world's most powerful gold miner converge in downtown Toronto. Join us and representatives from mining-impacted communities to... CONFRONT BARRICK GOLD! WHEN: Wednesday 27 April 2011 @ 10.30AM WHERE: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front Street West, Toronto |
Supreme Court issues writ on two firms over toxic waste by Nathaniel R. Melican, Business World THE SUPREME Court has issued a Writ of Kalikasan (nature) sought by residents of Marinduque province to force Placer Dome, Inc. and Barric Gold Corp. to clean up the toxic waste that spilled into the Boac River in 1996. |
Barrick turns glaciers to dust and the State applies a measly fine by Lucio Cuenca Berger, Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OLCA) February 2nd, 2011 Over a year ago, during November 2009, the state fulfilled its obligation to carry out an audit of the Pascua Lama project one month after construction began. Alarming irregularities were found, particularly with regard to the protection of glaciers and water, two themes that have given rise to more than ten years of concern and resistance on the part of communities living in the area. |
The hidden price behind the yellow metal's glitter: Ruthless production policies ignore poverty of indigenous people Los Angeles Times Naymongo, Tanzania: Barrick Gold Corp's North Mara mine near the Tanzanian border with Kenya disgorges millions of pounds of waste rock each week, piled high around communities where almost half the people live on less than 33 cents (Dh1.2) a day. |
Shooting Gold Diggers at Barrick African Mine Coincides With Record Prices by Cam Simpson, Bloomberg Barrick Gold Corp.�s North Mara mine near the Tanzanian border with Kenya disgorges millions of pounds of waste rock each week, piled high around communities where almost half the people live on less than 33 cents a day. |
Money really can buy anything � even at the University of Toronto by Gerald Caplan, Globe and Mail December 17th, 2010 Last year the Munk Foundation agreed with U of T to establish a new School of Global Affairs to replace the Munk Centre. Ms. McQuaig and Mr. Brooks fear Mr. Munk might be buying influence over the nature of what goes on within the new school � say the choice of faculty and courses �which the university pooh-poohs as unthinkable. As it happens, two weeks after their book was completed, Ms. McQuaig received the actual Memorandum of Agreement between the Munk Foundation and the governing council of U of T, dated Nov. 23, 2009 and duly signed by both. (It�s now been made accessible by the university here.) The memorandum, which I hope will be reproduced in the paperback version of The Trouble With Billionaires, makes the book�s concerns quite plausible. |
Pakistan Supreme Court considers petition against Reko Diq copper-gold mine development by Lawrence Williams, Mineweb The Pakistan Supreme Court is considering yet another challenge to the big Barrick/Antofagasta Reko Diq copper-gold development project in Balochistan |
Munk�s dubious mining morality by John McKay, Liberal MP, Ottawa, The Star.com: CANADIAN PRESS Re: Lack of support for mining bill, Letter Oct. 31 Barrick Gold Corp.�s Peter Munk raises three very dubious moral arguments in his triumphalist celebration of the defeat of C-300. The first is that mining is important to our economy. True. Apparently as long as it is generating wealth for Canada, abuse of basic human rights, degradation of the host country�s environment, and criminal code offences are okay. Interesting moral equation. |
RPT-Argentine judge bars some glacier-protection rules Rueters November 2nd, 2010 An Argentine judge has ruled that key articles of a glacier protection law cannot be applied in San Juan province, where Barrick Gold Corp is building a large mine, an official news agency said on Tuesday. |
Tanzania: Lipumba Wants Compensation for Tigite River Victims by Ray Naluyaga 26 October 2010, The Citizen The Civic United Front (CUF) presidential candidate, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba has called on the government to compensate the Tigite River victims in Tarime district in Mara region. |
Dominican National Police: A Deadly Tradition by David Holmes Morris, Upside Down World October 20th, 2010 Despite national and international outcry, the Dominican National Police are continuing their tradition of violent repression of dissidents at a time when protests are becoming more common across the country. Some recent incidents in El Cibao, the agricultural and mining region in the north, have resulted in the arrests of many demonstrators, a number of injuries by tear gas and gunshot, and one death. |
Argentine lawmakers pass glacier law to curb mining by Luis Andres Henao, Reuters October 1st, 2010 Argentina's Senate passed a law on Thursday that curbs mining on and around the nation's glaciers to protect water supplies, a measure praised by environmentalists but criticized by industry supporters. * Senate narrowly approves glacier-protection law * Law seen affecting Barrick's vast Pascua Lama project * President has said will not veto mining measure |
Border Mining Projects Before Ethics Tribunal by Daniela Estrada*, IPS Latin American activists who want to call attention to mining developments located in border areas will gather in Chile to "pass judgement" on projects they regard as detrimental to local communities, the environment and national security. |
Internationally Significant Environment, not clapped-out cattle country by Diet Simon, Independent Media Center Australia Over the past three days Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Neville 'Chappy' Williams has been back in the Land and Environment Court challenging Barrick Gold's expansion of its' cyanide leaching mine in Lake Cowal � the Sacred Heartland of the Wiradjuri Nation. �This is not a modification, it is a radical transformation which will destroy Aboriginal sites, including already registered sites and will further desecrate our country,� said Mr. Williams. |
Students abandon school for gold, prostitution in Tarime by Damas Mwita, This Day August 24th, 2010 The future of many students in Tarime remains bleak as they continue to drop out of school due to various reasons such as early marriages, pregnancy and gold mining. |
Report Documents Poisoning Following Toxic Discharge from Barrick�s Porgera Mine by Porgera Alliance, http://www.porgeraalliance.net/2010/08/toxic-non-neutralized-tailings-emitted-from-barrick-gold-mines-villagers-poisoned-report-wtestimonies/ August 18th, 2010 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. |
Analysis: Argentine glacier protection bill could shut mines by Luis Andres Henao, Reuters An Argentine bill to protect glaciers by banning mining in ice zones could hinder a new multibillion-dollar gold mine, shutter some projects and slow investment, although some mining provinces seeking to circumvent the measure are passing their own laws. |
Barrick Gold confirms deaths of 2 miners in Nevada mine shaft by Martin Griffith, Associated Press Searchers in Nevada found the remains of two miners at the bottom of a gold mine shaft, company officials said Saturday, after crews worked for more than 32 hours to safely access the area 1,300 feet underground. |
Argentine lower house passes glacier bill by Luis Andres Henao, Reuters Africa Argentine lawmakers on Wednesday approved a glacier-protection bill that would ban mining and oil drilling in the country's Andean ice fields. |
Testimony before Canadian Parliament re Barrick & Porgera JV (Papua New Guinea) Business and Human Rights Resource Centre 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.) |
DECLARATION OF BINATIONAL MEETING CHILE AND ARGENTINA:"LOS ANDES MINING WITHOUT BORDER"
July 15th, 2010 |
Espejitos por oro / Mirrors for gold A video by a young activist film maker from the Dominican Republic, Jose Maria Cabral, highlighting the concerns of Dominica peoples about Barrick Gold's operations on their lands. [The video is in spanish only] |
Mining Through Roots: Displacement, Poverty and the Global Extractive Industry by Sakura Saunders, editor protestbarrick.net July 3rd, 2010 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. |
Campaign to Ban Cyanide in Latin America launched Mines and Communitiesq Civil society organisations, trade organisations and unions, communities, academics and governments are being called on to strive for the banning of the use of cyanide in mining activities throughout Latin America, based on the information that accompanies this campaign launch. |
Breaches of Freedom of Association Rife at AngloGold, Barrick Gold Mines in Tanzania ICEM in Brief The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions workshops in Tanzania on 12-13 March reveal blatant abuses of freedom of association by subsidiary mining enterprises of AngloGold Ashanti and Barrick Gold. The workshops were done specifically for ICEM affiliate Tanzania Association of Mining and Construction Workers� Union (TAMICO), under the auspices of ICEM�s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO), with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and ICEM/SSARO staff person Fabian Nkomo leading the important sessions. |
Papua New Guinea Government Passes Law to Protect Industries from Indigenous Law Suits Cultural Survival The Papua New Guinea legislature on May 28 amended sections of the country's Environment and Conservation Act to shield corporations from any responsibility for environmental damage caused by their operations, whether intentional or accidental. |
Barrick Supported Police Who Carried Out Fiery Evictions in PNG by Valerie Croft, The Dominion Amnesty report confirms links between cops & Canadian mining company - Amnesty International (AI) recently made waves in human rights circles, publishing a new report focusing on Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold's role in violent forced evictions in the Porgera region of Papua New Guinea (PNG). |
PNG group�s Canadian jaunt exposes Porgera issue in international forum Radio New Zealand May 20th, 2010 Four locals from Porgera in Papua New Guinea�s Enga province have returned to the country after visiting Canada where they petitioned parliament to pass legislation that would enforce more accountability from Canadian companies overseas. |
Indigenous leaders call for crackdown on Canadian mining companies abroad by Les Whittington, The Toronto Star May 5th, 2010 Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea came to Parliament Hill today to urge MPs to support legislation to clamp down on the practices of Canadian mining firms operating in the developing world. |
Munk takes on mine protesters, defends capitalism: �We do not need your money,� Indigenous Chilean woman tells Barrick Gold by John Spears, The Star April 28th, 2010 Mark Ekepa journeyed from Papua New Guinea to tell the shareholders of Barrick Gold Corp. how police had burned down his house near the Barrick�s Porgera mine. Idolia Bornones travelled from Chile to say that Barrick operations are damaging local glaciers and rivers. But Barrick chairman Peter Munk was unrepentant as he faced the company�s annual meeting. |
Statement of Mark Ekepa, Chairman of the Porgera Landowners Association at Barrick�s Annual General Meeting April 28th, 2010 Statement of Mark Ekepa, Chairman of the Porgera Landowners Association at Barrick�s 2010 Annual General Meeting, held on April 28. |
Statement of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community, Chile April 28th, 2010 Statement of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos community, prepared for the 2010 Barrick annual general meeting held on April 28, 2010. |
Barrick Gold year in Review: One Company, 9 Countries, Countless abuses by Sakura Saunders, editor protestbarrick.net April 26th, 2010 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. |
On the frontline of climate change
This week's massive climate conference in Bolivia played host to a geographically diverse group of diplomats from the US, well-versed in advancing tough negotiating postures, and working within a framework of international treaties often not worth the paper they're printed on. The US delegation didn't come from the state department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the department of energy. Yet one delegate was given central billing in the inaugural event that kicked off the conference earlier in the week. |
Young Dominicans march against Barrick Gold Dominican Today April 1st, 2010 Marching under a blazing sun, a group of about 50 young people left the capital yesterday en route to Cotu�, with the aim of camping outside the Barrick Gold Mining Company to demand the cancellation of their contract with the Dominican government. |
Dominican Republic: Opposition to Barrick Gold Mining Operations by Rocio Diaz, Global Voices March 28th, 2010 In 2009, the Dominican people stood up to fight against a cement factory that would be installed in the Los Haitises National Park. In 2010, it appears that another cause is mobilizing thousands of young people and adults - the presence of the mining consortium Barrick Gold in Cotu�, the head municipality in the province of S�nchez Ram�rez, which is home to one of the largest gold mines in the world: Pueblo Viejo (Old Town), with estimated reserves of 24 million troy ounces of gold. Activists are concerned about the terms of the agreement with the Dominican State, as well as environmental impacts on the region. |
University researchers divulge "presumptions," Barrick Gold says Dominican Today March 25th, 2010 |
Toxins sickened Barrick Gold�s 326 Dominican miners, study says Dominican Today March 24th, 2010 A joint unofficial study revealed Wednesday that inhaled toxins sickened the 326 Barrick Gold mining company employees last week, when executives had initially blamed the mishap on food poisoning in the cafeteria of the site located in Pueblo Viejo (northeast). |
Senate Environment chief wants Barrick Gold contract reviewed Dominican Today March 16th, 2010 The head of the Senate�s Environmental Commission asked the Presidency to review the gold mining contract with the company Barrick Gold, to obtain better advantages and compensate affected communities. |
The campaign to save Lake Cowal by Felicity Royds, The Green Left Weekly March 13th, 2010 Lake Cowal, located between the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers that feed into the Murray Darling basin, is the sacred heartland of the Wiradjuri country. The important wetland and conservation area is also home to an open-pit goldmine, operated by Canada-based multinational Barrick Gold. |
Dominican Republic�s Environment chief wants Barrick Gold�s contract revised Dominican Today March 9th, 2010 Environment minister Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal today suggested a revision of the Government�s contract with the Canada based mining company Barrick Gold, so it pays for the environmental cleanup, noting that �he who eats the meat must also eat the bones.� |
HUASCOALTINOS CLAIM IS ADMITTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: a statement from the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community February 23rd, 2010 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. |
Chile starts environmental probe into Pascua-Lama by Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Alonso Soto; editing by Jim Marshall, Rueters January 21st, 2010 Chilean environmental authorities said on Thursday it began a probe into the construction of top gold miner Barrick's massive Pascua-Lama project, which could lead to fines or even a revoked concession. |
Once Upon a Water Source by Jessie Boylan, http://jessieboylan.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/once-upon-a-water-source/ Freelance photojournalist, Jessie Boylan visits community impacted by Barrick Gold�s North Mara Mine in Tanzania after their land and lives were dramatically impacted by toxic contamination from a leakage at the mine site in May 2009. |
Ban Barrick: Organizations demand to stop construction of Pascua Lama Radio Mundo Feminist, religious and environmental organizations in Chile issued a declaration on the extractive project Pascua Lama, carried out by Canadian mining transnational corporation Barrick Gold in Huasco province, Chile and San Juan province, Argentina. |
Government Study: Chilean Gold Mine Threatens Local Glaciers by James Fowler, LA TERCERA, LA NACION via Santiago Times January 7th, 2010 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. |
TANZANIA: Community Still Worried By Mine Contamination by Jessie Boylan, Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) December 30th, 2009 Solomon, 55, has been farming here near Nyangoto village, in Tanzania's rural Tarime district for a long time. "I was farming rice before," she said, "but I can�t anymore because of the chemicals." Solomon's farm was contaminated by a leak in May from Barrick Gold's North Mara mine - just 100 metres away. In large sections, the grass has completely died, and plants and some vegetation have off-coloured stalks. The stream running from the mine site has green growth covering it; there is no sign of insects, tadpoles or frogs, and some crystallised plants stick out of the water, as if frozen or covered by salt; no other streams in the area looked like this. |
US court blocks huge gold mine project in Nevada by SCOTT SONNER , Sacramento Bee/ Associated Press December 3rd, 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. 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. |
Miner accused of 'aggressive' tactics by Les Whittington and Brett Popplewell, Toronto Star November 25th, 2009 Testifying by video hookup at hearings of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, Romina Picolotti singled out Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. as one of the multinationals that used political and economic clout to block government intervention in the firm's mining ventures in Argentina. |
Romina Picolotti, former Secretary of the Environment of Argentina by Romina Picolotti, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development testimony November 24th, 2009 I speak before you today in two capacities: first, as the former Secretary of the Environment of Argentina, serving under the previous and present administrations, and secondly, as the President of the Center for Human Rights and the Environment, a globally prized organization over which I now preside, based in C�rdoba, Argentina. You are obviously aware of the very large mining ventures run by the Canadian company Barrick Gold in Argentina and Chile. Perhaps you know that Barrick�s Argentina gold mining venture is one of the largest mining projects in the world. Unfortunately, I must say, that far from being the beacon and model of sustainable mining that we would hope for in the 21st century, Barrick Gold is a modern example of how powerful economic giants can unscrupulously manipulate local politics and skirt environmental and social controls to maximize profit, minimize investment risk, and ignore local culture and communities to the detriment of greater global objectives of sustainable development. |
Sediment Study: Heavy Pollution found at Barrick Gold's mine in North Mara. Norwegian Church Aid November 7th, 2009 Here are the key findings of the study conducted by The Norwegian University of Life Sciences in cooperation with the University of Dar es Salaam to investigate the environmental impact of the mining activity in Geita (Anglo Gold Ashanti) and North Mara (Barrick Gold)mines. "Extremely high levels of arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, crom, nickel and zinc at the area around the spill. The environment has been seriously contaminated". |
Bunge braces for North Mara acid spillage report by ORTON KIISHWEKO, Daily News (Tanzania) November 2nd, 2009 MORE details on the findings of a study on possible water contamination due to acid seepage from the North Mara Gold Mine will be known when the final report on the matter is presented in Parliament in Dodoma next week. |
Mine water use apparently ignored in water crisis Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network October 26th, 2009 �Following the decision of authorities on 23 October to halve water flows from the Wyangala Dam on 1 November 2009 and the spectre of towns without water, we can�t understand why mines and exploration projects in the Lachlan Catchment are not being closed down,� said Wiradjuri Elder, Neville Williams. |
CIDA's Anti-oversight Agenda by Sakura Saunders, editor, ProtestBarrick.net October 15th, 2009 |
Xstrata sells El Morro to Barrick for US$465-million Rueters October 15th, 2009 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. |
Elusive justice Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism September 30th, 2009 |
Pollution lawsuit against Barrick reinstated by SANDY SHORE, Associated Press September 30th, 2009 A federal appeals court has reinstated a nearly four-year-old lawsuit accusing a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corp. of polluting water and land for decades in a province of the Philippines. |
Papua New Guinea landowners threaten to shut down Barrick mine by Porgera Alliance September 5th, 2009 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. |
Independent researchers detect high levels of pollution around North Mara gold mine by DAMAS MWITA , This Day Tanzania July 14th, 2009 INDEPENDENT experts have confirmed the presence of high levels of toxic chemicals in the area surrounding Barrick Gold Corp's North Mara gold mine in Tarime District, Mara Region. Download the full report here. |
Govt under pressure to close down Barrick mine This Day Tanzania July 10th, 2009 PUBLIC pressure is mounting on the Government to shut down operations at Barrick Gold Corp�s North Mara Gold Mine in Tarime District, Mara Region pending an ongoing investigation into reports of potentially deadly health hazards caused by the mine. |
Tanzania Government bans water use near Barrick mine Intercontinental Cry July 9th, 2009 The Tanzania government has banned the use of water from the Tigithe River, which may be contaminated with Sulphiric acid used by the Canadian company Barrick Gold at their North Mara Gold Mine in the Tarime discrict. |
Barrick's Tanzania N Mara Mine Probed On Pollution Allegation by Nicholas Bariyo, Dow Jones Newswire July 7th, 2009 Tanzanian lawmakers have started investigating allegations of pollution made against Barrick Gold Corp.'s (ABX) North Mara Gold Mine, officials said Tuesday. |
Mine expansion delayed by Indigenous owners by Simon Butler, GreenLeft Weekly July 4th, 2009 The NSW Supreme court of appeal ruled on July 1 that a planned expansion of the Lake Cowal gold mine in the central-west of NSW cannot go ahead for up to three months. |
EDITORIAL: Call for Bunge to probe North Mara gold mine deaths timely by EDITOR, This Day Tanzania July 4th, 2009 SULPHURIC acid is an extremely potent liquid. Used carelessly in its concentrated form it kills any living thing, dissolves stones and similar things. The acid is used by mines, such as the North Mara Gold Mine in Tarime District, Mara Region in the process of purifying gold. |
MPs fume at river acid spill by LEONARD MWAKALEBELA, Daily News TZ June 30th, 2009 Members of Parliament yesterday called for immediate formation of a probe team to investigate the cause, magnitude and effects of the recent discharge of acid materials into River Tigiti in Tarime District from the North Mara Gold Mine. |
The human cost of gold in Tanzania: And a deadly price to pay ThisDay June 27th, 2009 VILLAGERS living near a gold mine owned and run by Canada�s Barrick Gold Corp. in Tarime District, Mara Region are demanding the immediate closure of the project, saying they are paying a deadly price for the mining activities in the area. They say more than 20 people have died in recent weeks as a direct result of the contaminated water. |
Close North Mara mine- activists by Vicent Mnyanyika, The Citizen June 27th, 2009 A cross section of human rights activists have called for immediate closure of the Barrick's North Mara gold mine to give room for investigations into allegations that poisonous seepage from the mine has caused death to about 20 people and 270 heads of cattle. |
Supreme Court ruling weakens Cortez challenge by ADELLA HARDING, Elko Daily Free Press June 13th, 2009 The nation�s high court turned down an appeal from Indian tribes in Arizona that had a direct link to the lawsuit filed by Western Shoshone tribes, the Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Resource Watch. �We will be dropping the claim, but we will be going forward on the other issues,� Colorado-based Western Mining Action Project lawyer Jeff Parsons said this week. |
PNG, Australian governments respond to abuse claims by Annie Guest, ABC Australia - The World Today June 11th, 2009 The Australian Government has rejected demands that it intervene in disputes around a Papua New Guinea gold mine where there have been allegations of shootings, rapes and homes being torched. |
Guards accused of assaulting workers by Nick O'Malley, Sydney Morning Herald June 10th, 2009 VILLAGERS are keeping a list of the dozens of people they say have been killed or assaulted by police and security forces guarding a goldmine in Papua New Guinea run by the multinational, Australian-based Canadian mining company, Barrick Gold. |
A walk through the valley of death by Nick O'Malley, Sydney Morning Herald June 9th, 2009 Violence surrounding a PNG mine raises questions about the company's responsibility, writes Nick O'Malley. |
Native Americans Ask Court to Stop Gold Mine on Sacred Mountain by Lisa J. Wolf, Environment News Service June 6th, 2009 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. |
Barrick Gold colonel invites Baluch ire by Ahmar Mustikhan, Newsvine June 5th, 2009 The De Jure Ruler of Baluchistan, Khan of Kalat Suleman Daud, and national hero Hairbyair Marri have expressed their deep resentments over the remarks of a Pakistani army colonel working for Barrick Gold Corporation against the Baluch struggle for their national rights. |
Video invitation to the March for Life and Against Pascua Lama in Chile (En Espa�ol) OLCA (En Espa�ol) This Video contains facts, pictures of the beautiful valley of Huasco, painful stories of these almost 10 years of community resistance, information on the proximity of Barrick with the Government, and of course, the people who called us to join this important protection for life and clean land and water. |
Bill C-300: A step forward on corporate social responsibility by Marie-Claude Poirier, Vue Weekly (Edmonton) May 27th, 2009 In the autumn of 2005, Norway's Council on Ethics began investigating the use of a natural river system to transport and dispose of mine waste in Papua New Guinea. Accused of far-reaching environmental destruction, Canadian mining company Barrick Gold and its Porgera mine's tailings disposal system were placed under close scrutiny. |
UNPFII: Intervention by Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer of Akali Tange Association (Porgera, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea) by Jethro Tulin, Akali Tange Association, PNG May 27th, 2009 Intervention by Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer of Akali Tange Association (Porgera, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea) at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues |
** BARRICK MINING DISASTERS - Emergency Funds Needed ** May 21st, 2009 This has been a crazy past few weeks to be watchdogging Barrick Gold. Within the first week of starting our annual ProtestBarrick tour in Toronto, a Barrick-recommended military force in PNG started to torch hundreds of houses, allegedly to clear way for mine expansion. SO... we changed plans a bit, MiningWatch Canada sent an Urgent Appeal to several United Nations Special Rapporteurs and now we are now attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York! Amnesty International has also made a public statement on the recent events at Porgera. |
Families want payout from gold firm by Patty Magubira, Mwanza , The Citizen May 20th, 2009 The North Mara Gold Mine (NMGM) has been given ten days in which to compensate members of 30 households claiming to have been affected by its poisonous heavy metals. |
Tanzania Government Probes North Mara Gold Mine Over River Pollution by Nicholas Bariyo, Dow Jones Newswire The Tanzanian government is investigating the operations at North Mara Gold Mine following a chemical spill at the mine last week which polluted the nearby Tigithe river leaving thousands of residents without water for domestic use, a government official told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. |
Tanzania: Seeping Water from Mine Stokes Health Scare Trading Markets May 18th, 2009 Water from a storage pond at Barrick Gold's North Mara mine in Tanzania is seeping through containing walls, leading local villagers to fear their water sources are contaminated. |
Activists Try to Block Start of Pascua Lama Mine by Daniela Estrada , Inter Press Service News Agency May 18th, 2009 As Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold gets ready to start construction at the Pascua Lama mine, straddling the Argentine-Chilean border, activists in Chile are scrambling to block the ambitious mining project while calling for an investigation of supposed irregularities committed in the approval process. |
ENVIRONMENT-TANZANIA: Villagers Fearful After Mine Water Containment Pond Overflows by Terna Gyuse, IPS May 18th, 2009 Water from a storage pond at Barrick Gold's North Mara mine in Tanzania has overflowed into the Tigithe River, provoking local villagers to fear for their health. |
RoyalOr Stakes a Claim on Mont-Royal May 15th, 2009 RoyalOr is composed of members of various communities around the world confronting projects developed by Canadian mining companies � including Barrick Gold, Goldcorp, New Gold, and Osisko. Affected community representatives came to Montreal from the Valle de Siria, Honduras; Valle de Huasco, Chile; Porgera, Papua New Guinea; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and Malartic, Quebec. |
Under Andean ice, a golden prize AFP May 15th, 2009 An ambitious gold mining project in northern Chile, high up in the Andes close to ancient glaciers, is finally getting underway amid the economic downturn despite fears from environmentalists. |
Chilean government denies the start of construction of the Pascua Lama mine http://cl.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.aspx?idNoticia=200905142107_EFE_78070950 May 14th, 2009 "Before you start building must meet requirements which consist of a series of approvals, and are pending in the General Directorate of Water," the minister Ana Uriarte, head of the environment, in a meeting with foreign correspondents . SANTIAGO, May 14. The Chilean Environment Minister Ana Lya Uriarte said today that Canada's Barrick Gold, the project leader of the Chilean mine Pascua Lama argentina, must request authorization from the Directorate General of Water prior to construction of it. |
Porgera mine area landowners need relocating, says PNG Enga Governor by Peter Ipatas , Radio New Zealand International May 8th, 2009 The Governor of Papua New Guinea�s Enga Province says the national government and operators of the Porgera gold mine need to look at relocating people who live within Porgera�s Special Mining Lease, SML, area. |
Barrick's Pascua Lama project denounced as illegal May 7th, 2009 Barrick Gold Corporation announced today that its Pascua-Lama project, situated on the border of Chile and Argentina, is proceeding to construction. Community leaders and legal experts from Chile and Argentina � currently in Canada as part of an international delegation � responded to Barrick's announcement today by denouncing this project as illegal and lacking the social license to operate. |
MEDIA RELEASE: Indigenous Leaders from Papua New Guinea, Chile Raise Serious Human Rights and Environmental Concerns Around Barrick Gold Operations Mining Watch Canada May 6th, 2009 Even as houses near Barrick's mine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea are being burned down in a joint military and police action, Jethro Tulin is in Canada to address shareholders and government officials, whom he considers complicit in the suffering of his people as a result of Barrick's Porgera Joint Venture mine. |
Barrick Gold and Diaguita Huascoaltinos People. (a background submitted to the Canadian Parliament by the Diaguita Huascoaltinos community) http://huascoaltinos.cl/ May 5th, 2009 The Diaguita Huascoaltinos Agricultural Community is the heir to the lands that their ancestors have inhabited since time immemorial: the valleys and mountains of the Huasco Valley. This valley is located at the southern end of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, and it is characterized by special natural and cultural qualities. Our community is made up of 250 families of indigenous farmers and shepherds of the Huasco Valley, and it is the only indigenous community in Chile that has a domain title recognized by the Chilean State over their ancestral lands. While other indigenous groups live in the Huasco Valley, none of them have this territorial basis. |
STATEMENT: Testimony of Sergio Campusano, prepared for Barrick Gold's 2009 Annual General Meeting |
MEDIA RELEASE: Indigenous Leaders confront Barrick Gold April 29th, 2009 Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea and Chile traveled to Canada this week to attend the April 29 shareholders� meeting of Barrick Gold. Here, they will confront Barrick about human rights abuses and environmental degradation on their lands. |
EXPERT CONDEMNS CHILEAN GLACIER POLICY AS �INSUFFICIENT� by Chris Noyce, Santiago Times April 24th, 2009 German glacier expert Alexander Brenning labeled Chile�s glacier protection policy as �not sufficient� on Wednesday, highlighting the need for greater information to be provided to the public and businesses regarding the environmental impact of mining projects in Chile. |
Western Shoshone gather at NV mountain being mined by Martin Griffith, Associated Press April 18th, 2009 Dozens of Western Shoshone tribal members and activists are holding an annual ceremonial event on the flank of a northern Nevada mountain that is at the heart of their legal battle against the world's biggest gold mining company. |
I-Team: Mining Interests Face Further Scrutiny by Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp and Photojournalist Matt Adams, Las Vegas Now April 17th, 2009 The quest for gold fueled the exploration and settlement of the west and contributed to the demise of Native American tribes. Now, a new gold rush is underway in Nevada and it is pitting indigenous tribes against their own people and has sparked ferocious court battles. |
MEDIA RELEASE: 28 peaceful protesters arrested after authorisation to occupy mine site April 12th, 2009 28 protesters were arrested this morning at Barrick Gold's mine operation in Lake Cowal, central western New South Wales. They were authorised to enter the mine site by Wiradjuri Tradtional Owners of Lake Cowal and its surrounds. |
MEDIA ALERT: Smoking ceremony, blockade and protesters occupy open cut pit halting mine operations. April 12th, 2009 Wiradjuri Traditional Owners and supporters are inside Barrick Gold�s mine operation in Lake Cowal central western New South Wales currently halting operations. Wiradjuri are conducting a smoking ceremony inside the mine site. Over 10,000 artefacts have been stolen and kept by Barrick Gold Corporation at the mine site in a compound encircled by a 6 foot fence. Over 25 supporters are currently occupying the open-cut pit and several others are blockading the front gate to prevent shift change. |
ACTION ALERT: Gold mine operation halted due to smoking ceremony April 12th, 2009 Over 50 people have been lead to the edge of Barrick Gold Corporations mine site by Wiradjuri Traditional Owners of the Lake Cowal area in a ceremony to cleanse the land and to stop mine operations. |
Indigenous activisits protest gold mine expansion
Radio Australia News April 11th, 2009 In Australia, indigenous campaigners are holding a weekend-long protest to try to force the closure of a gold mine in central New South Wales. |
MEDIA RELEASE: Protesters to halt mining operations - unsustainable mining harms Australia April 11th, 2009 Concerned citizens have gathered in solidarity with Wiradjuri Traditional Owners of the Lake Cowal area to halt Barrick Gold Corporation�s mine operation in the lake. The campaign to Save Lake Cowal has been running for 10 years, this is the seventh gathering at Lake Cowal to protest the mine. |
Enga Governor opposes PNG military presence at Porgera Radio New Zealand International April 10th, 2009 The Governor of Enga province in Papua New Guinea says the government�s decision to deploy members of the Defence Force and police to Porgera is not in the best interest of the local people. |
MEDIA RELEASE: Wiradjuri and Supporters Say No to Mine Expansion April 10th, 2009 What: Lake Cowal Gathering: No Expansion! Shut Barrick Gold�s Mine Down! When: 10-13 April 2009 Where: Lake Cowal, central western New South Wales From the 10-13 April up to 100 people from around Australia will make the journey to Lake Cowal in central western NSW to support Wiradjuri Traditional Owners in their 10 year campaign against the worlds largest gold miner. |
PNG to boost security around gold mine by Liam Fox, ABC News April 9th, 2009 The Papua New Guinea Government is boosting security to deal with lawlessness around a gold mine in the Papua New Guinea highlands. |
Porgera security ops set to kick off by David Muri, The National � Papua New Guinea April 6th, 2009 INTERNAL Security Minister Sani Rambi says more than 300 security personnel will be deployed to the strife-torn Porgera valley in Enga province to flush out warlords and stop illegal mining activities. |
Corporate Social Responsibility Rules for Mining Industry Blasted: Barrick Gold Implicated by Lee Berthiaume, Embassy Magazine April 1st, 2009 The Conservative government has rejected joint civil society-private sector calls to tie diplomatic and economic support for Canadian oil, gas and mining companies operating in developing countries to socially responsible conduct abroad. As a result, there are charges the government�allegedly influenced by mining giant Barrick Gold and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce�has given the green light for misbehaviour abroad, and killed the temporary peace between NGOs and mining companies. |
CHILE: MINING GIANT BARRICK A NO-SHOW AT ENVIRO DEBATE by Lucy McDonald-Stewart, Santiago Times March 27th, 2009 Canadian gold-mining company Barrick Gold backed out of a debate on its Pascua Lama project 20 minutes before it was scheduled to begin on Tuesday at the campus of the Adolfo Ibanez University. |
UN to tackle mercury menace by MICHAEL RICHARDSON, The Canberra Times March 3rd, 2009 Fear sparked by global recession, strains on banks and volatile paper currencies has brought the glitter back to gold. Its value has been rising rapidly in recent months, as investors seek a safe-haven from the economic and financial storm. |
PNG Govt bolsters gold mine security by Steve Marshall, ABC February 27th, 2009 Soldiers and police in Papua New Guinea are being sent into the country's highlands to help tackle a deteriorating security situation near a huge gold mine. |
Harry Reid, Gold Member by Josh Harkinson, Mother Jones February 24th, 2009 Elko is the wind-blasted heart of Nevada's mining country. The five surrounding counties produce all of the state's copper, almost a third of its silver, and nearly 90 percent of its gold. In 2007, mines in Nevada extracted nearly 190 tons of gold-three times the total yield in all other states. Only China, Australia, and South Africa dig up more. A billboard on the edge of town proclaims in a Victorian scrawl, "Discover the new economic gold rush." |
Blows to Barrick by Sakura Saunders, editor protestbarrick.net February 21st, 2009 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 or 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. |
Rees urged to ensure no Lake Cowal mine delays ABC Riverina NSW February 19th, 2009 Bland Shire Council will ask the New South Wales Premier to intervene to ensure no delay on the planned expansion of the Lake Cowal Gold Mine. |
Middle East & Africa:
Mining � Tarnishing Canada�s name Ethical Corporation February 10th, 2009 With many African mining firms about to face bankruptcy, foreign investors� ability to creating sustainable mining communities will be tested. Shielded from public view by their giant rivals BHP Billiton and AngloAmerican, a cluster of small Canadian firms has quietly revolutionised African mining. |
The Real Price of Gold by Brook Larmer, National Geographic February 10th, 2009 Like many of his Inca ancestors, Juan Apaza is possessed by gold. Descending into an icy tunnel 17,000 feet up in the Peruvian Andes, the 44-year-old miner stuffs a wad of coca leaves into his mouth to brace himself for the inevitable hunger and fatigue. For 30 days each month Apaza toils, without pay, deep inside this mine dug down under a glacier above the world's highest town, La Rinconada. For 30 days he faces the dangers that have killed many of his fellow miners�explosives, toxic gases, tunnel collapses�to extract the gold that the world demands. |
Barrick Australia says it will push ahead with plans to expand its Cowal Gold Mine at West Wyalong, despite a loss in the New South Wales Land and Environment Court. ABC Central West NSW February 10th, 2009 Barrick Gold has submitted a proposal to modify its development consent at the mine to almost double its size and extend its life by 11 years. Native title applicant Neville Williams started court action against the plan last November. On Friday, the Land and Environment Court upheld Mr Williams' challenge that the project is not a modification of the mine's existing development consent, but rather a radical transformation. |
A Profile of Barrick Mines in Canada A review of Barrick's Eskay Creek, Renabie, Hemlo Gold Camp, and Golden Patricia Mines |
MEDIA ALERT: Traditional Owner wins injunction restraining Barrick Gold mine expansion February 4th, 2009 Yesterday the NSW Land and Environment Court handed down a decision in favour of Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Neville Chappy Williams, with an injunction restraining the NSW Minister of Planning from determining the E42 Modification Request for the proposed expansion of Barrick Gold's mine in Lake Cowal. |
Norway's sovereign wealth fund drops yet another mining investment; this time it's Barrick by Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb February 2nd, 2009 A dispute over the riverine disposal methods utilized by Barrick's Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea has prompted Norway's Ministry of Finance to drop Barrick from Norway's Government Pension Fund-Global investments, valued at $188.3 million. |
Is Gold the duddest of dud investments? Commodity Online February 2nd, 2009 Everyone is buying gold. The frantic pace with which people are buying gold have prompted some to comment that gold has lost value as a commodity. According to Merrill Lynch, gold is "the duddest of dud investments." Ever since the U.S. dollar went off the gold standard, gold has had no special value as a commodity, with only 280 tons going to industrial uses per year. |
Lake Cowal Gathering 2009 Join Wiradjuri and their supporters over the easter weekend, Friday 10 - Sunday 12 April. |
Mining company excluded from the Government Pension Fund � Global due to contribution to serious environmental damage by Sakura Saunders, editor protestbarrick.net January 30th, 2009 |
Super Pit mine expansion approved
Perth Now AN expansion of the Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie has won government approval but it must meet new and stringent environmental conditions. |
Judge to rule Monday in fight over NV gold mine by SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press January 23rd, 2009 A federal judge intends to rule Monday on a complicated legal battle that pits religious and environmental concerns against the economic interests of hundreds of Nevada miners and the world's biggest gold mining company. |
Western Shoshone and Paiute Protests by Brenda Norrell, The Narcosphere January 20th, 2009 Western Shoshone gathered demonstrated outside federal court in Reno today, demanding that Barrick Gold halt destruction of the area of Mount Tenabo, their sacred mountain. Nearby at Pyramid Lake on Saturday, about 150 Paiutes and supporters gathered to protest. Paiutes said the Pyramid Lake Marina operator has held Paiutes and their cultural items "hostage." |
Hearing begins in Reno on disputed gold mine by Sandra Chereb, MercuryNews.com January 20th, 2009 Western Shoshone tribal members packed a Reno courtroom Tuesday, trying to persuade a federal judge to halt at least part of a huge gold mine they claim would desecrate a sacred landmark. |
All that glitters by Alex Felipe (photos by Alex Felipe as well), This Magazine Admitting that I was a Canadian has never been as difficult as when I traveled to the Philippines to photograph two Canadian-owned open-pit mining sites last winter. The fact that I am also Filipino by blood didn't help. |
Worst Companies in the World: US, Monsanto, Peabody and Barrick by Brenda Norrell, The Narcosphere The United States was voted the Worst Company in the World, followed by Monsanto, Peabody Energy Corp. and Barrick Gold |
Accord reached over Nev. mine until court hearing Associated Press December 15th, 2008 Lawyers for Barrick Gold Corp., environmentalists and a group of Western Shoshone have agreed what work can proceed at a new Nevada mine until a hearing is held next month on efforts to restrict the project. |
Tanzanian journalist uncovers truth about mining industry by Cailey McDermott, The Echo December 15th, 2008 ProtestBarrick.net supporter and investigative journalist, Evans Rubara speaks about the exploitation of Tanzanian land and people by multinational mining industries in a speaking tour in the US. |
Villagers storm Barrick gold mine: Inflict much damage, FFU police deployed to disperse them This Day Tanzania December 14th, 2008 Thousands of villagers raided the North Mara gold mine owned by Barrick Gold Corp on Thursday night and caused damage to various mining equipments worth more than $16 million (approx. 21bn/-). |
Intruders attempt to seize North Mara mine The Guardian December 13th, 2008 A person was shot dead when thousands of gold seekers invaded Barrick`s North Mara Gold Mine in Tarime District and destroyed equipment worth 15 million US dollars.
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ARGENTINA: Frustration Over Veto of Glacier Protection Law by Marcela Valente, http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44898 November 29th, 2008 The decision by the administration of Cristina Fern�ndez to veto a law to protect Argentina's glaciers -- important reserves of freshwater -- has caused deep concern among scientists and environmentalists who participated in writing the legislation. |
Opponents file suit to stop Barrick's Cortez Hills gold project by Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb November 25th, 2008 A Western Shoshone group, environmentalists and other activists seek to halt one of Nevada�s last major gold projects, Barrick�s million-ounce per year Cortez Hills Gold Project. |
Shoshone Indians Sue to Stop Barrick's Nevada Gold Mine by By Lisa J. Wolf , Environment News Service November 25th, 2008 Five tribal and public interest parties filed a lawsuit in Nevada Federal Court on Thursday, seeking an immediate injunction to stop one of the largest open pit cyanide heap leach gold mines in the United States - the Cortez Hills Expansion Project on Mt. Tenabo. |
Africa Files November 24th, 2008 Special issue on Canadian role in mining in Canada -- Resource Extraction |
Feds OK big Nevada mine project The Associated Press November 23rd, 2008 The federal Bureau of Land Management has approved an environmental impact statement for the big Cortez Hills open-pit gold mining project in Nevada�an action sought for several years by Barrick Gold Corp. |
Dangerous Duty in Papua New Guinea by Sakura Saunders, The Dominion November 22nd, 2008 Community members get "the opposite of what was promised" from Barrick Gold |
Barrick Gold ready to carve up Western Shoshone sacred mountain by Brenda Norrell, The Narcosphere November 21st, 2008 Barrick Gold, coring out mountains around the world for small amounts of gold, is ready to carve the sacred mountain of the Western Shoshone into a crater, with cyanide leaching. |
Mining and colonial practices in Tanzania - The return of Victorian era exploitation? by Evans Rubara, Africa Files November 20th, 2008 Multinational mining activities are introducing another era of colonialism in Tanzania as they hold major decisive positions on the use of prime land areas, and profit greatly from the mining of valuable mineral resources. In the recent past, Tanzanians have raised concerns on how the multinational mining companies plunder the natural resources at the expense of the local people. Because of the prevalent high rates of this pillaging of the national stock of natural resources, the citizenry have woken with an uproar to question the government�s stance on ensuring land security for its people, and benefits from their resources. |
Don't cry for me Argentina's glaciers The Great Beyond November 17th, 2008 Argentina�s president, Cristina Fernandez, has just vetoed a bill to protect the country�s glaciers, reports Reuters. The bill was passed only a month ago by Argentina�s congress. |
December Court Challenge to more Mining at Lake Cowal ABC Online November 17th, 2008 The case against the State Government and the mine's operator, Barrick Australia Limited, made by Neville Williams, has been listed for hearing on Monday, December 17. |
Caretakers of the Land by Meg Hewings, The Dominion November 16th, 2008 For the Western Shoshone, an indigenous nation with an unceded Treaty covering a large swath of 60 million acres of ancestral territory stretching across Nevada, California, Idaho and Utah, their traditional homeland is better described as a war zone. |
Environmentalists Decry Argentina Presidential Veto of Bill That Halted $2.4 Billion Mine with Chile Latin American Herald Tribune November 15th, 2008 Environmental groups expressed their displeasure with the decision by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to veto a glacier-protection bill that would have restricted mining and oil drilling. |
Argentina vetoes glacier law that curbed mining Reuters November 14th, 2008 Argentina's president has vetoed a law protecting the country's glaciers that would have restricted mining and oil drilling, officials and environmental campaigners said on Friday. |
Someone Else's Treasure: photo exhibit by Allan Cedillo Lissner October 15th, 2008 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. |
Native Community in Desert Oasis Threatened by Mines by Daniela Estrada, InterPress Service October 9th, 2008 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. |
Requiem for Reko Diq by Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, DAWN September 30th, 2008 Since 1947, successive governments at the centre have pursued a policy of intimidation and coercion towards the Baloch. Most provincial governments have played the disgraceful role of legitimising and lending respectability to army operations, forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, incarcerations and the acquisition of land. The goal has been to coerce the population into acquiescence so that exploitation can be conducted in a threat-free environment. Of late, much-publicised mega projects are actually depriving the Baloch of their resources and said to be adversely changing the demographic balance in the province. |
PASCUA LAMA UPDATE: Project mired in conflict olca.cl September 4th, 2008 Construction of the Pascua Lama mine, which straddles the border between Chile and Argentina, was scheduled to begin two years ago. But the lucrative project remains on hold while a dispute continues between the governments of Chile and Argentina regarding taxation. |
Mining Prohibition Repealed in La Rioja, Argentina by Assembly of Citizens for Life, La Rioja, www.ciudadanosporlavida.com.ar August 11th, 2008 Legislators have repealed a year-old law which had prohibited open-pit metals mining in the province of La Rioja, Argentina. Provincial laws N� 8137, 8138 were passed in March of 2007 in a widespread struggle carried out in La Rioja against a Barrick project in the Famatina mountain range in this arid agricultural province. |
Killing of local boy at Barrick Gold Porgera mine creates crisis by MPI and Akali Tange Association July 29th, 2008 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 has resulted in instant shot to death of the late Gipson Umbi. In the last few weeks, three more locals have been recorded death under mysteries circumstances at the mine site. |
Barrick bids to be an oil player, fearing sky-high costs by ANDY HOFFMAN, The Globe and Mail July 14th, 2008 Forget grade, grams per tonne and reserves. Among the most closely scrutinized metrics in the gold mining business these days is �barrels per ounce.� |
Meeting Crashers: Anti-mining activists confront shareholders at AGM by Veronica Islas, http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/1921 July 14th, 2008 It was the first time that Mexican Congressman Armando Barreiro, historian Juan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara and hydraulic engineer Mario Martinez visited Toronto, but this trip was not a vacation. |
Barrick fined $25,000 for 2006 tailings spill by ANDREW HOBBS, The West Australian July 7th, 2008 Canadian gold company Barrick will pay a $25,000 fine issued by the Department of Environment and Conservation for an environmental incident occurring at its Kanowna operations in November 2006. |
Complaints unheard beneath Kalgoorlie mine din by Narelle Towie, Perth Now July 6th, 2008 SAFE noise limits have been discarded so Australia's largest gold mine can expand to within 200m of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. |
Paul York with Students Against Climate Change defends his recent action against Barrick chairman, Peter Munk |
Bachelet Protested during her Berkeley Visit by David Moderbach June 12th Chilean president Michele Bachelet visited Berkeley, California and was met by some 30 persons protesting Chilean treatment of Mapuche communities, hydroelectric dams, and against Bachelet's support for Big Mining and Barrick Gold. |
BARRICK GOLD, CYANIDE AND THE UNITED NATIONS by Javier Rodriquez Pardo We have been saying over and over again that we are fighting against a mafia and that bribery and corruption is the normal habit among mining companies. We must ask ourselves from time to time, who are we confronting? Who are they really? How do they operate? |
Video Presentation of Sergio Campusano during '08 protestbarrick tour. (en espa�ol) by Sergio Campusano, Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community May 15th, 2008 |
Barrick Gold�s Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea linked to grave human rights abuses, environmental impacts
by http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php@/porgera/porgera_linked_to_abuse May 12th, 2008 Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea travel to Canada to speak out about mine-related killings and severe impacts on their rivers, food security, and health. |
Barrick Gold censors Indigenous Leaders' opposition to gold mining on their lands May 7th, 2008 A delegation of Indigenous leaders travelled around the world to attend the Barrick Gold Annual General Meeting in Toronto today. They came to vent their opposition to Barrick Gold's mining practices on their lands. |
ACTION ALERT: Protesters Demand Accountability Outside Barrick Gold's AGM May 6th, 2008 On 6 May protesters gathered outside Barrick Gold's Annual General Meeting to protest the companies destructive mining operations around the world. |
International Indigenous leaders attend Barrick Gold's Shareholder's meeting May 6th, 2008 Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea, Australia, and the United States traveled to Canada this week to attend the shareholders� meeting of Barrick Gold. Here, they will make statements about Barrick's operations on their lands. |
International Indigenous leaders attend Barrick Gold's Shareholder's meeting May 6th, 2008 Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea, Australia, and the United States traveled to Canada this week to attend the shareholders� meeting of Barrick Gold. Here, they will make statements about Barrick's operations on their lands. |
7th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Agenda Item 5 on human rights: dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people and other special rapporteurs
I April 29th, 2008 ntervention of Friends of the Earth International by Mooka and Kalara United Families within the Wiradjuri Nation, Murray Darling Basin, Central New South Wales, Australia |
7th United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, United Nations, New York
Agenda Item 4: Pacific/Human Rights
Joint submission by Friends of the Earth International on behalf of Akali Tange Association Inc. Pogera Enga Province, Papua New Guinea in a joint intervention with Lake Cowal Mooka and Kalara United Families within the Wiradjuri Nation, Murray Darling Basin, Central new South Wales, Australia Western Shoshone Defence Project, Nevada, USA Laura Calm Wind, Kitchenuhmay Koosib Inninuwug, Canada Indigenous Peoples Links Centre for Organization Research and Education (CORE) Land is Life, Indigenous Environment Network (IEN) |
7th United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, United Nations, New York
Agenda Item 4.2: Pacific/Sustainable Development
Joint submission by Friends of the Earth International on behalf of Mooka and Kalara United Families within the Wiradjuri Nation,Murray Darling Basin, Central New South Wales, Australia in a joint intervention with New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council Akali Tange Association Inc. Pogera Enga Province, Papua New Guinea Agence Kanak de Developpement Western Shoshone Defence Project, Nevada, USA Laura Calm Wind, Kitchenuhmay Koosib Inninuwug, Canada Comision Juridica para el Autodesarrollo de los Pueblos Originarios Andinos (CAPAJ), Andes Indigenous Peoples Links Centre for Organization Research and Education (CORE) First Indigenous Nations Civic Association of South Africa (FINCASA) Indigenous Environment Network (IEN) |
Jethro Tulin: Testimony at 7th United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues by Jethro Tulin, Akali Tange Association, PNG April 23rd, 2008 |
Paradise Lost The mining company Barrick Gold made millions of dollars by mining copper, silver, and gold on the tropical paradise island of Marinduque in the Philippines. The poverty-stricken local population was left with an environmental and health catastrophe. The canadian company is now fighting in the courts to avoid having to clean up. |
The Gold Link A visual story of water, landscape, and people at the source of virgin gold on the border of Argentina and Chile |
Wiradjuri Elder exposes mine pit collapse at Lake Cowal Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Neville 'Chappy' Williams, exposes a massive collapse at Barrick�s Cowal Gold Project in Lake Cowal, 45 km north-west of West Wyalong, central western NSW. |
Barrick skeptical on Pascua-Lama project by Reporting by Robert Melnbardis; editing by Matthew Lewis, REUTERS Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) is not convinced there will be a resolution soon of tax and permit issues delaying its proposed $2.4 billion Pascua-Lama mine in Argentina, its chief executive said on Wednesday. |
Barrick Gold Secretly Building Roads to Attack Mt. Famatina in La Rioja, Argentina by David Modersbach, Rosario, Argentina On the one-year anniversary of the road blockade in Pe�a Negra and "ouster" of Barrick Gold from the Famatina mountain range, it has been confirmed that Barrick Gold, with the complicity of the national and provincial government, has been secretly constructing a new entry road into the backside of the mountain. This new road enters through Potrero Grande near Vinchina, avoiding the widespread public resistance on the east side of the range, and links Barrick Gold�s Famatina project with the uranium projects under exploration along the southern border of the neighboring province of Catamarca. |
New report slams Buzwagi contract
THISDAY March 12th, 2008 A NEW report issued by several faith-based and civil society organisations has slammed the Buzwagi gold mine deal, saying members of parliament and the general public were hoodwinked by ex-minister for energy and minerals Nazir Karamagi into thinking that the upcoming project would pay huge taxes to the government. |
Tanzania activists and religious communities launch critical mining research by Salma Maoulidi , Pambazuka News March 10th, 2008 Salma Maoulidi looks at the mining research report, "A Golden Opportunity? How Tanzania is failing to benefit from Gold Mining� and argues that it builds a powerful case for continued activism in trade and economic justice in line with various Human rights instruments that call for a country�s wealth and natural resources to benefit primarily local communities. |
Spread of mine sparks fears by Narelle Towie, The Sunday Times Kalgoorlie's super pit may be the goose that laid the golden egg, but moves to expand Australia's biggest goldmine are being bitterly opposed by neighbours. |
Sisters take on mining giant by Michael Swan, Catholic Register February 29th, 2008 The Quebec-based teaching order Les Soeurs des Sainte-Anne, with the backing of Les Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jesus et de Marie and the union-backed pension and mutual fund company Batirente, want Barrick Gold Corp. to answer questions about the company�s $2.4-billion Pascua Lama project, an open pit gold mine the company is developing high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile. |
Goldmine swallowing historic town by Kevin Andrusiak and Paige Taylor, Perth Now February 9th, 2008 IT is Australia's biggest goldmine, swallowing what is known as the world's richest square mile of dirt. |
Section of Super Pit wall collapses ABC News Online February 9th, 2008 A 50-metre stretch of the wall at one of Australia's biggest open pit gold mines has collapsed. |
KCGM in moves to reopen tailings dams by Kevin Andrusiak, The Australian THE more gold goes up, the further down the Kalgoorlie Super Pit partners want to go. Joint-venture owners Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold want to increase the heights of two controversial tailings dams, and re-open another, as part of its plans to expand Australia's biggest gold mine, the massive Super Pit operations in the West Australian goldfields capital of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. |
The Wiradjuri Fight to the Bitter End A documentary on the struggle by Wiradjuri to protect Lake Cowal from Barrick Gold's open cut goldmine in the lake bed. By Debbie Gilbert |
CHILE-ARGENTINA: Pascua Lama Mining Project on Hold by Daniela Estrada, Inter Press Service January 17th, 2008 Nearly two years after winning environmental approval from the Chilean government, the controversial Pascua Lama gold mining project of the transnational Barrick Gold Corporation remains without a launch date. |
ENVIROS DETECT HYPOCRISY IN CONAMA�S SUPPORT OF INVESTIGATION by Alex Cacciari, Santiago Times December 13th, 2007 Leaders of the Chilean environmental movement spoke out Wednesday against the National Environmental Commission�s (CONAMA) support of the government�s monitoring of environmental NGO campaigns. This comes after the Chilean daily La Tercera disclosed last Friday that Chile�s National Intelligence Agency (ANI) has increased oversight of environmental campaigns against three of the country�s most controversial environmental undertakings � the Ays�n dam, the Pascua Lama gold mine, and Celulosa Arauco�s (CELCO) proposed waste duct into the sea. |
Papua New Guinea landowner testimonies by David Martinez, PNG interviews August 2006 Testimony from principal landowners near Barrick's Porgera mine. Interviews by David Martinez, August 2007. Includes video. |
CHILE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY MONITORS ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS by Matt Malinowski, La Tercera via The Santiago Times December 10th, 2007 Environmental Activists Alarmed, But Not Surprised About The News |
Shoshone Use Film, Courts to Fight Gold Mine on Sacred Land by Lisa J. Wolf, Environmental News Service December 6th, 2007 The 32nd Annual American Indian Film Festival presented Western Shoshone grandmother Carrie Dann with the Eagle Spirit award for best overall contribution in American Indian cinema at an awards ceremony November 27. "Our Land, Our Life," the film that shows the Western Shoshones� determined struggle to maintain their way of life, won the festival's Best Documentary award. |
United Nations Human Rights Commission Official Complaint by Catherine Coumans, on behalf of Akali Tange Association, http://porgeraalliance.net/ December 2nd, 2007 |
PEAK MINERALS: Ground breaking report warns of resource depletion. http://www.mpi.org.au In an Australian first, mining data from as far back as 1829 has been collected and analysed by Monash University academic, Dr Gavin Mudd in conjunction with the Mineral Policy Institute to determine the long term sustainability of a range of Australia�s mineral resources. |