30.07.2025 Xinka Delegation to Tour Eastern Canada to Demand Respect for Indigenous Self-Determination in Guatemala  A Delegation of Xinka Women will visit Eastern Canada in September 2025 #PuebloXinkaDijoNo After nearly seven years in a court-ordered consultation process, the Xinka Indigenous People of Guatemala have denied consent for the restart of Canadian Pan American Silver’s Escobal mine in southern Guatemala. The Xinka are now calling for its permanent closure. The company and Canadian authorities must respect...

23.07.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Surprising Changes at Equinox Gold If memory serves us correctly, May 7 of this year was the last time we sent a letter to Mr. Greg Smith, then CEO of Canadian company Equinox Gold, which went unanswered, like many other letters and official communications we have sent him. These letters serve as proof not only of his discourtesy, but also of contempt, racism, and discrimination...

23.07.2025 Blog Entry Communities at Risk: New Barrick Tailings Dam Sparks Environmental and Human Rights Concerns in the Dominican Republic Joint blog by MiningWatch Canada and Earthworks. People living near the world's sixth-largest gold mine are taking legal action to protect their communities, ecosystems, and their rights. Local communities and civil society organizations have filed two constitutional protection actions (amparos) calling for an immediate halt to Barrick Mining Corporation's recent efforts to begin construction of their massive new dam that...

10.07.2025 Ecuador: Azuay Says No to Environmental Licence for Dundee Precious Metals Environmental defenders in Southern Ecuador filed an injunction ( medida cautelar ) against Canadian-owned Loma Larga project and announced several actions protesting the arbitrary decision of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (“MAATE”) to grant an environmental licence for exploitation to Dundee Precious Metals. Yaku Perez, the lawyer who filed the injunction on behalf of Federation of Campesino...

08.07.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Papua New Guinea: Response to Prime Minister’s Statement on Porgera Mine As the Chairman of the Porgera Landowners Association (PLA), I am compelled to respond to the recent statement by Prime Minister James Marape on the achievements of New Porgera Limited (NPL) in the first quarter of 2025. While the Prime Minister has every right to commend what appears to be a promising restart to operations, I must speak on behalf...

08.07.2025 Friends of MiningWatch A first in Québec: Ahead of a referendum on the "La Loutre" graphite mine in five municipalities in the Outaouais region, the No Committee launches its campaign Duhamel, July 8, 2025 — After six years of criticizing the La Loutre mining project for its incompatibility with the environmental, economic, and tourist resources of the Outaouais region, the Regroupement de protection des Lacs de la Petite-Nation (RPLPN) is launching a grassroots civic engagement campaign ahead of the local referendums regarding the mine's social acceptance, which will be held...

03.07.2025 News Release Over 280 Ecuadorian and International Organizations Speak Out Against the Criminalization and Violence against Environmental Defenders Resisting Canadian Mining Quito-Ottawa: Yesterday, July 2, 2025, 283 Ecuadorian, Canadian, and international organizations, unions, and coalitions sent a letter expressing deep concern about the systematic criminalization of 29 human rights and land defenders in Bolivar province in Ecuador, due to their legitimate and peaceful opposition to the Canadian owned Curipamba-El Domo mining project. The letter was sent to the governments of Ecuador...

30.06.2025 MiningWatch in the News At a Canadian-Owned Mine, a Mexican Union Alleges Dirty Tactics A North American labour dispute panel is examining allegations union members were threatened into joining a competing union. by Isaac Phan Nay The union for workers at the Camino Rojo mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, is calling for Canada and the United States to resolve allegations its members were threatened into joining a competing union. Orla Mining, a $3.8-billion company based...

26.06.2025 MiningWatch in the News Environmental and civil society groups react: Bill C-5 becomes law, setting a dangerous precedent (Unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin Territories – Ottawa) Environmental and civil society groups condemn Parliament’s reckless passage of Bill C-5’s controversial Building Canada Act. The Act erodes democratic principles, runs roughshod over Indigenous rights, shuts Canadians out of decisions that could affect them, and puts the environment at risk. Bill C-5 sets a dangerous precedent. It gives sweeping and potentially unconstitutional powers...

26.06.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Global Activation Against Deep-Sea Mining: Take to the water for a moratorium July 20, 2025 – Global Activation to Stop Deep-Sea Mining: Take to the water for a moratorium On July 20 people around the world will rise and gather in defense of one of Earth’s last untouched frontiers: the deep sea. As governments convene for the crucial International Seabed Authority (ISA) meeting in Kingston, Jamaica (July 7 – 25), to decide...

26.06.2025 Editor Message 25th Anniversary Legacy Giving Fund: Making a Gift in Your Will The work to secure a just future for people and the planet is multigenerational. Making a gift in your will of any size can provide the resources to strengthen and carry on that work. That is why MiningWatch is launching a legacy giving program, to mark the end of 25th anniversary fundraising campaign. A gift in your will is an...

25.06.2025 MiningWatch in the News First Nation battles to stop history repeating at Mount Polley mine Sonal Gupta, National Observer More than a decade after the catastrophic collapse of the Mount Polley tailings dam, a BC First Nation is back in court this week challenging the province’s decision to approve expansion of a dam at the same mine. The 2014 collapse of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine operated by Imperial...

20.06.2025 The Building Canada Act Is a Shocking Power Grab – And Powerful Political Theatre. What Happens Next? Bill C-5 , the One Canadian Economy Act , including the Building Canada Act, is already a fait accompli . The Conservatives are supporting the Liberal minority to ram it through the House of Commons with no meaningful deliberation and no significant amendments. It is slated to pass third reading by midnight on Friday, June 20, and be passed by...

20.06.2025 Blog Entry Letter to Prime Minister Carney: Canada's Position on Deep Sea Mining The following letter was sent to Prime Minister Marc Carney by 20 Canadian and international civil society organizations, coalitions, and unions, including MiningWatch Canada. The Right Honourable Mark Carney, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A2 RE: CANADA’S POSITION ON DEEP SEA MINING We are Canadian, Indigenous, and international...

18.06.2025 Newsletter June Newsletter: Mid-year recap of the struggle for mining justice in Quebec Dear friends, Politics are becoming increasingly toxic and the climate is deteriorating, but we continue to resist the dominant industrial model and seek out alternatives. The parameters around which our struggles were organized yesterday have now been profoundly transformed in these changing times. The rare and inadequate procedural tools we’ve been able to leverage in the past, such as public...

17.06.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Defend the Glacier Law: Milei Acts Against Argentinian Water Reserves The following open letter to President Javier Milei was signed by 39 organizations, including MiningWatch Canada. Argentinian organizations and mining affected communities denounce President’s Milei for trying to pass a presidential decree that would modify the National Glacier protection law in order to allow more industrial mining, which would heavily benefit Canadian companies, in highly sensitive ecosystems such as glaciers...

12.06.2025 Blog Entry Letter to Québec's Environment Minister: Request not to give in to pressure from mining company Falco Resources The following letter was sent to Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife, and Parks, by five civil society organizations, including MiningWatch Canada. Subject: Request not to give in to pressure from Falco Resources and reject the Horne 5 mining project Dear Minister, We are writing to encourage you not to give in to pressure from Falco Resources...

12.06.2025 MiningWatch in the News National Interest Bill Ignites Wave of Opposition Energy Mix Staff, The Energy Mix. Environmental assessment specialists, nature protection advocates, Indigenous leaders, and other climate and energy analysts are aghast at the scope and potential impacts of the legislation introduce Friday by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government that would grant it new powers to quickly push forward major projects the federal cabinet deems to be in the national...

12.06.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Legal setback for mining company Aclara: Chile’s Supreme Court overturns ruling against environmental defenders By J. Arroyo Olea - Resumen.cl The Supreme Court of Chile overturned a ruling in favor of the Canadian mining company Aclara, marking a legal setback for the company after the local Concepción Court of Appeals had ruled in its favour in a case against environmental defenders in Penco who criticized its rare earth project. On Tuesday, June 11, the...

11.06.2025 Blog Entry Calling on First Quantum Minerals to Definitely and Safely Close its Cobre Panama Mine The following blog was written by Viviana Herrera of MiningWatch Canada and Paulina Personius of Earthworks. Today 101 organizations are calling on First Quantum Minerals to close its Cobre Panama mine, drop the international arbitration against Panama, and implement environmental remediation at the mine site. Historic opposition wins protections The demands stem from years of concern over the impacts of...