01.05.2025 Newsletter April Newsletter: A spotlight on mining resistance in Latin America Dear friend, MiningWatch has long supported communities in Latin America who are protecting their lands and livelihoods from the harmful impacts of Canadian mining. Across the board, we’re seeing environmental defenders who speak out against these projects be hit with trumped-up criminal charges in an effort to intimidate them and silence their opposition. Threats and attacks against communities are continuing...

30.04.2025 Blog Entry A global movement speaks out in support of environmental defenders in Penco, Chile More than 100 Chilean, Canadian, and other international organizations and coalitions published an open letter today in solidarity with environmental defenders who are being harassed and persecuted for defending their territory in southern Chile from a Canadian rare earths mining company. The company, Aclara Resources, has filed a court injunction ( recurso de protección ) against two environmental defenders in...

28.04.2025 MiningWatch in the News Ontario's push to fast-track Ring of Fire mining may actually delay the development it seeks to speed up Sonal Gupta, the National Observer As Ontario moves to fast-track mining in the Ring of Fire, legal experts and Indigenous leaders warn that the province's rush to cut red tape could cause environmental destruction and a wave of lawsuits — potentially slowing the very development it seeks to speed up. The Ford government’s newly-tabled bill, designating “special economic zones” in...

24.04.2025 Blog Entry Why Speeding Up Mining Approvals Won’t Solve Tariff Troubles Provincial governments and federal election candidates are falling over each other in a rush to expedite approvals for mining, as their response to the damage that US tariffs are just beginning to do to the Canadian economy. It’s important to take a closer look at what is really happening, what is really going to result, and what we should do...

23.04.2025 Blog Entry Webinar - The fight for permanent closure: Panamanians address renewed efforts to reopen a Canadian copper mine This webinar will take place on Zoom with simultaneous Spanish-English interpretation. Register here . DATE: Wednesday, May 7th TIME: 11 AM PST / 2 PM EST A year and a half after First Quantum Minerals’ Cobre Panama’s closure order and the historic nationwide protests against the mine, Panamanians are facing a new threat: the Panamanian government and First Quantum Minerals...

23.04.2025 MiningWatch in the News Poilievre says feds are holding up oil, gas and mining projects. Is he right, and could he change that? A number of the Conservative leader’s priority projects are nearing or have final approvals, while others face concerns about environmental and First Nations impacts Carl Meyer, The Narwhal Pierre Poilievre says a slew of new oil, gas and mining projects in Canada have been “stuck for years” awaiting federal approval. The reality is more complicated. Poilievre, the leader of the...

22.04.2025 Brief Centering Human Rights in the Rush for Critical Minerals MiningWatch Canada makes a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change, to inform the rapporteur’s upcoming report on “Human Rights in the Life Cycle of Renewable Energy and Critical Minerals.” This submission highlights several examples of human rights violations linked to mining for critical minerals, from initial claims staking to exploration, exploitation, and recycling. While our focus is... Read more

22.04.2025 Blog Entry Eyes on Argentina: Verdict Expected Today in Case Against Chubut Environmental Defenders An Argentinian court is expected to issue a ruling today in a case against eight community members from Chubut who participated in the 2021 “Chubutazo” – a powerful province-wide protest that succeeded in stopping government efforts to impose the Canadian-owned Navidad silver project and allow for industrial mining activities in parts of the province. Out of the eight, seven have...

15.04.2025 News Release MiningWatch Supports Xatśūll First Nation’s Mount Polley Tailings Dam Challenge (Ottawa) MiningWatch Canada strongly supports the legal challenge filed today by Xatśūll First Nation against the British Columbia government’s approval of an increase in the height of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley Mine. The Mount Polley mine was the site of Canada’s largest environmental disaster when its tailings dam collapsed on August 4, 2014, sending 25 million cubic...

15.04.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Xatśūll First Nation files Judicial Review against B.C. for approving the Mount Polley Mine expansion The Province of B.C. ignores DRIPA legislation, bypasses environmental assessment, to approve raise of dam at Mount Polley Mine Tailings Storage Facility (Vancouver, B.C. – 15 April 2025) Xatśūll First Nation has filed a Judicial Review with the Supreme Court of British Columbia against the Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals, the Minister of Environment and Parks, the Deputy Permitting Officer, Major Mines Offices and Mount Polley Mining Corporation (MPMC) to overturn two provincial decisions authorizing Mount Polley Mining Corporation to raise the height of the dam at the Tailings Storage Facility that so devastated Xatśūll’s territory in 2014 and that is still harming the Nation’s rights, culture and way of life.

08.04.2025 MiningWatch in the News B.C. loses fight to deny Seabridge Gold millions of dollars in tax credits A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled mining companies can receive tax credits on a broad range of activities to prove their mine is 'economically viable' Stefan Labbé, Business in Vancouver A Canadian company looking to advance a major B.C. mining project has won an appeal against the province after it denied the company tax credits for millions of dollars of...

01.04.2025 MiningWatch in the News B.C. company to seek U.S. approval for deep sea mining — 'a violation of international law,' says United Nations Head of United Nations seabed authority warns unilateral action would violate international law and undermine multilateral efforts to govern the world's oceans. Stefan Labbé, Business in Vancouver A Vancouver-based company said it is seeking approval under United States law to mine several deposits in the Pacific Ocean — a move that could set up a collision with a United Nations...

28.03.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Financial Desperation Is Driving TMC’s Reckless Push To Bypass International Law The Deep Sea Mining Campaign has condemned The Metals Company’s (TMC) announcement that it will seek deep-sea mining permits through the United States as a cynical, desperate attempt to stay afloat, not a credible step forward. “This is a company floundering under pressure and trying to buy time,” said Andy Whitmore, Finance Advocacy Officer at the Deep Sea Mining Campaign...

25.03.2025 Blog Entry Panamanian Organizations Sound the Alarm about Reopening First Quantum's Cobre Panama Mine Operations have been stopped at the Cobre Panama copper mine since December 2023, when the Panamanian Supreme Court ruled the operating contract for the Canadian-owned mine was unconstitutional. But there are growing fears the mine may soon reopen.

21.03.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Declaration of “Panama is worth more without mining” regarding the attempt to reopen the Cobre Panama mine Read the original declaration in Spanish here . The more than 40 organizations that make up the Panama is Worth More Without Mining Movement (MPVMS for its initials in Spanish) reject metallic mining and the inadequate management of the Minera Panama case, which is once again threatening the rule of law, citizen security, the sustainability of ecosystems and the wellbeing...

20.03.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Important victory for citizens: CPTAQ denies Canada Carbon project for a graphite mine Grenville-sur-la-Rouge - Following a mobilization that began in 2017, the citizens of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge have achieved a significant victory against the junior mining exploration company, Canada Carbon. On March 18, 2025, the Quebec Agricultural Land Protection Commission (CPTAQ or Commission) issued a decision rejecting the graphite mine development project. As soon as the project became known to the community, it sparked...

14.03.2025 Friends of MiningWatch Abject failure: Canada’s would-be human rights watchdog leaves Bangladeshi garment workers languishing in poverty The appalling working and living standards faced by Bangladeshi garment workers compelled the United Steelworkers union (USW) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to file a joint complaint to the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) against retailer Mark’s and its parent company Canadian Tire. Read their statement on the CORE's response.

13.03.2025 Blog Entry Threats Against the Community of Carrizalillo, Guerrero and Call for Respectful Negotiations MiningWatch Canada joins as a signatory to this letter to Equinox Gold, expressing deep concern over escalating tensions around the Canadian company's Los Filos mine in Mexico. To Mr. Greg Smith CEO & President, Equinox Gold Re: Threats against Carrizalillo ejido and call for respectful negotiations The below signed organizations write with profound concern over escalating tensions, threats of violence...

13.03.2025 Blog Entry Alert: Violence Against Peaceful Anti-Mining Resistance in Azuay, Ecuador On Thursday, March 6th, four members of the peaceful resistance to protect the Kimsakocha páramo in Southern Ecuador – all of them women, and one of them a senior citizen – were attacked by a group of five women carrying various objects like sticks, scissors, and a heavy padlock on a small neighbourhood laneway on their way to their agricultural...

12.03.2025 Editor Message Canadian Unions Express Deep Concern About Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement Several prominent Canadian unions write to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to express deep concern about the free trade agreement Canada has negotiated with Ecuador. Collectively, the unions represent more than three million public and private sector workers across Canada. Following an initial letter sent on October 2024, the unions urge Canada to again reconsider this trade agreement out of deep concern about the potential negative impact this agreement will have on Indigenous communities in Ecuador, as well as broader implications for human rights and environmental protections.