Mining companies move staggering amounts of earth to extract small quantities of minerals like gold and copper. Much of this waste is contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals used to extract metals from ore. Dealing with the resulting waste is a constant problem — for the industry, environment and nearby communities.
Local campaigners heard that the government is going to decide the planning application to mine coal at Highthorn. Local people have been fighting against a 3 million tonne opencast coal mine near the Northumberland coastline for several years.
As the global assault on indigenous lands intensifies, the world’s largest conservation group, the IUCN, has just voted at its World Conservation Congress for the sacred natural sites and territories of indigenous peoples to be recognised as ‘No-Go Areas’ for destructive industrial scale activities, writes Hal Rhoades – and for corporations to permanently withdraw from such areas.
A growing coalition of religious organizations and environmental groups is confronting big mining. London Mining Network welcomes the coalition’s statement.
The first African People´s Tribunal on Transnational Corporations, that recently took place on 16th and 17th August in Manzini, Swaziland, was perhaps one of the most counter-hegemonic and brave events to bring some hope to mining affected communities in Southern Africa. The event brought together activists and community members from rural areas where transnational corporations extract minerals resources in Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.
