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Philippine province bans open-pit mining – affects Xstrata

Richard — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:54:55 +0000

The governor of the Philippine province of South Cotabato – where large-scale mining was formerly given high priority – has introduced legislation to ban it, thus joining provinces in Marinduque, Mindoro and Palawan. The government’s mining bureau is arguing that national law supersedes provincial law, although this is an issue that the courts may well decide. The ban will have the most profound implications for Xstrata-Zijin’s Tampakan mine, recently the target of vigorous protests on Earth Day.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10174.

Peru: Violence Targets Anti-Mining Activists

Richard — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:40:37 +0000

On Wednesday 2nd of December a new violent confrontation between local residents and police occurred in the town of Cajas Canchaque, district of Carmen de la Frontera, in the province of Huancabamba, northern Peru. During the confrontation two residents died by police fire: Cástulo Correa Huayama, 39 years old, and Vicente Romero Ramírez, 52 years old. This tragic event raised more fears of militarization at Monterrico Metals‘ Rio Blanco copper-molybdenum project: by creating the public perception of a rural population that is “unmanageable” and “violent”, the state will be able to “justify the militarisation of this area” an observer suggested. See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9717.

Two days after the attack, Peruvian organisation CONACAMI organized a protest in front of the British Embassy (because Monterrico Metals from the UK is still officially the owner of the Rio Blanco project). A short video (with English subtitles) of this protest is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH1h1SGHlPA.

Peru: Mining company faces torture allegations

Richard — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:00:55 +0000

As alleged victims of torture in Peru bring an injunction against British mining company Monterrico Metals, NGOs are calling for foreign victims of UK corporate abuses to have better access to justice in English courts. In written evidence to the ongoing inquiry on business and human rights by the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights, CAFOD and the Peru Support Group have highlighted the case of Monterrico Metals and called for action by the British Government to influence the behaviour of UK and UK-listed companies overseas. London-based law firm Leigh Day served an injunction against Monterrico Metals on June 2nd, preventing the company from disposing of its assets before a further hearing on June 16th.

See http://www.cafod.org.uk/news/peru-2009-06-09.