May 18, 2011 – Republic of Mining

Bad Neighbors: Canadian Mining Companies in Latin America – by Liisa L. North (Canadian Dimension – Jan/Feb 2011)

May 18, 2011

Canadian Dimension is a Canadian leftist magazine founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick and published out of Winnipeg, Manitoba six times a year.

Last Year Alone, at least five opponents of Canadian mining projects were assassinated in Latin America: three in El Salvador, one in Guatemala, and one in Mexico. Critics of mining operations there and elsewhere were wounded and maimed in attacks while many, along with their family members, were threatened. Canadian mining corporations were not necessarily directly responsible for the deaths and acts of intimidation and violence, but some of them were carried out by company security personnel and current or former employees.

So it may be the case that the implicated companies are not legally liable, but alongside the local elites and states that license and promote extractive activities, they at the least bear a moral responsibility for creating the situations of conflict in which assassinations and other acts of violence take place.

Most Canadians are not used to thinking of their investors as human rights violators or of Canada as a “bad neighbor.” Sadly, since the early 1990s and especially over the past decade, the activities of our miners are earning us that reputation. The corporations themselves, of course, argue that they are bringing much needed employment and even “sustainable development” to the poor regions where they operate. If they are doing this, it appears to be a form of development that many do not wish to see in their communities.

Canadian mining corporations abroad

A spectacular expansion of Canadian mining investment in Latin America has taken place over the last two decades, part of the general growth of our mining investment abroad. Today, almost 60 percent of all mining companies are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Our miners are prominently visible all over the southern hemisphere, and their operations have provoked demonstrations in front of Canadian embassy buildings in various Latin American capitals.

Canada: A Global Mining Powerhouse – by Cy Gonick (Canadian Dimension – Jan/Feb 2011)

May 18, 2011

Canadian Dimension is a Canadian leftist magazine founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick and published out of Winnipeg, Manitoba six times a year.

Most Canadians are not aware of it but with the help of the Canadian state, corporate Canada is beginning to throw its weight around the Global South – specifically, in metal mining locations of South America, Mexico, Africa and Asia. This has been a mainly recent development, taking off in the 1990’s but really accelerating over the past decade. Today, Canada’s metal mining industry accounts for about 12 percent of all direct investment abroad, second only to financial services.

Why are Canadian mining companies shifting their investments to the Global South? The reason is twofold. First, in Canada the easy to find ore has already been found so that new properties being developed are low-grade, high cost marginal projects. Second, besides giving diplomatic support, Canadian governments have introduced tax measures and the Export Development Corporation provides easy credit that together greatly facilitates the global expansion of Canadian mining.

Toronto is the mining finance capital of the world, raising 30 to 40 per cent of the world’s mining equity most every year, and Canadian mining companies account for a world-leading 40 percent of global exploration expenditure. As of a few years ago, companies listed on Canadian stock exchanges held interests in over 3000 mineral properties in Canada, 1400 in Latin America, close to a thousand in Africa and about 500 in each of the USA and Asia, Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Push area’s [Sudbury’s] expertise, official suggests [for Ring of Fire business] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 18, 2011)

September 13, 2018May 18, 2011

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. This article was published on May 18, 2011. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

Cities like Greater Sudbury looking to benefit from the Ring of Fire should market their soft skills such as their knowledge base and skilled workforce, and not just “hard infrastructure” to companies developing the massive deposit.

Communities throughout Northern Ontario are looking to capitalize on development of the 5,120-square-kilometre deposit of chromite, nickel, copper, zinc, gold and kimberlite located about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

The co-ordinator of the Ring of Fire Secretariat, Christine Kaszycki, spoke to members of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday about progress in developing the resource and how businesses might get involved.

Kaszycki, who heads the secretariat established by the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry last year, presented a high-level overview of the status of the Ring of Fire development.

Seven ‘intruders’ killed at African Barrick mine – Peter Koven (National Post – May 18, 2011)

May 18, 2011

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper. Peter Koven is the Post’s mining reporter. This article was originally published in the Financial Post on May 18, 2011. pkoven@nationalpost.com

When Barrick Gold Corp. spun its African properties into a new company last year, investors knew they were being sold high-risk assets that had their share of problems.

But they didn’t imagine this.

On Tuesday, African Barrick Gold PLC reported details of a horrifying incident at its North Mara mine in Tanzania. According to the company, about 800 “criminal intruders” armed with machetes, rocks and hammers broke into the mine site and tried to steal gold ore. The Tanzanian police were called in and were forced to open fire after being attacked by the intruders. Seven people were killed and another 12 injured.

“The police are making an investigation, so more details will come from them in the days and weeks to come,” a spokesman for London-based African Barrick said.