The Amazon
Brazil: Canadian gold mine loses license
More problems for Latin America's "Gold Rush": while controversy continues over the Belo Monte dam, a nearby gold mine is blocked by a judge.
Tag: mining
The Andes
Colombia: security workers blockade coal mine
Workers from the Sepecol security firm blocked the rail line leading to the mammoth Cerrejón coal mine in northeastern Colombia for seven days over a contract dispute.
Planet Watch
Canada’s high court upholds aboriginal title
First nations across British Columbia are celebrating a unanimous ruling by Canada's Supreme Court that recognizes aboriginal title to traditional territories outside reserves.
The Andes
Peru: prison for regional leader who opposed mine
Gregorio Santos, regional president of Cajamarca in northern Peru who opposed the US-backed Conga mine project, was ordered under "preventative" detention.
The Amazon
Venezuela: Amazon indigenous protest mining law
Venezuela's Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of Amazonas (COIAM) issued a statement rejecting a government decree to expand mining in the rainforest region.
Southern Cone
Chile: HidroAysén dam project is scrapped
Years of protests have succeeded in blocking a giant dam project in southern Chile, but Barrick Gold is still working to reopen construction at its mammoth Pascua Lama mine.
Mexico
Mexico: more narco-mineral exports seized
Mexican authorities seized a ship carrying 68,000 tons of illegal iron ore bound for China—hailed as the latest blow against the drug cartels' contraband mineral sideline.
Southeast Asia
Philippines: indigenous peoples pledge resistance
Datu Guibang Apoga, fugitive leader of the Manobo indigenous people of Mindanao, held a jungle press conference to pledge renewed resistance to militarization of tribal lands.
Greater Middle East
Turkish miners: ‘Burn AKP!’
Thousands of Turkish workers went on strike to express their outrage over the mining disaster at Soma, where angry protests by local miners and their families continue.
The Andes
Peru: OAS rights body rules in Conga case
The Organization of American States rights commission ordered Peru's government to protect local residents facing threats over their opposition to the Conga mining project.
The Andes
Ecuador: face-off in Intag Valley mining dispute
Hundreds of police troops occupied Ecuador's Intag Valley, backing up a team sent to carry out an impact study for the Junín mining project—over the protests of local campesinos.
Oceania
Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony
China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.