Villages in the area to be impacted by the Conga gold mine in Peru’s Cajamarca region announced that they will hold a referendum on the project—in defiance of Lima.
Costa Rica’s Constitutional Tribunal unanimously rejected a case brought by the country’s Mining and Industry Association challenging the 2010 ban on open-pit mining.
San Juan province’s government has released a report claiming that two mines owned by Barrick Gold will do no damage to glaciers near the facilities high in the Andes.
Campesinos in Peru’s northern Cajamarca region began the year with a renewed campaign against the pending Conga mining project, pledging to occupy the concession area.
Guerillas of Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) abducted five gold prospectors working for a Canadian company on an exploratory mission in Bolívar department.
In a victory for local environmentalists, Minera Argenta suspended its Navidad silver mine in Chubut–but the national oil company has signed a fracking deal with Chevron.
Peru’s Minister of Mines Jorge Merino assured investors that his government will make every effort to see the controversial Conga gold mining project move forward in 2013.
Thousands of campesinos filled the streets of Chiclayo in northern Peru to protest La Zanja mining company’s plan to dump waste water in high Andean canyons.
Aymara authorities at Mallku Khota in Bolivia’s Potosí department declared two technicians from Canadian mining company South American Silver to be fugitives from justice.
Campesinos in Zacatecas are blocking the gates of a gold mine owned by magnate Carlos Slim to protest ecological impacts on their communal lands.
Rafael Quispe of the Bolivian Aymara organization CONAMAQ denounced President Evo Morales before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for violating indigenous autonomy.
Two leading opponents of the Conga mine project in Peru’s northern Cajamarca region had their homes broken into, and a third’s vehicle was vandalized.
