South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), linked to the ruling ANC, and the upstart AMCU accuse each other of being controlled by the mineral industry.
Embera indigenous communities on Colombia’s Pacific coast came under bombardment by army helicopters, while an Awá community expelled illegal gold miners from their land.
The Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI), meeting in Cundinamarca, Colombia, called for construction of a "new paradigm" for a "sustainable civilization."
Even establishment voices in Peru are calling for a suspension of the Conga mining project, as Cajamarca region remains under a state of emergency for another month.
Local residents protested against the Barrick Gold Corporation’s giant Pueblo Viejo gold mine, which they said is contaminating water and affecting their health and their crops.
Campesinos in Peru blocked roads to protest the pollution of local waters by a US-owned mining project in Áncash region, and the Pasto Grande II water diversion scheme.
Leaders in Peru’s Cajamarca region said they see no purpose in continuing talks with two Catholic priests trying to mediate a solution to the dispute over the Conga mining project.
Six Mexican coal miners were killed when some 100 tons of coal and rock collapsed in a mine operated by AHMSA company in the northern state of Coahuila.
The Pueblo Viejo gold mine at Cotuà in the Dominican Republic is set to start operations, Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation announced—despite local protests.
Contract workers occupied the San Ambrosio Church in Vallenar, Chile, to protest labor conditions at the Pascua Lama open-pit gold mine in the high Andes.
More than 100 local residents were sickened by a toxic spill at the giant Antamina copper mine in Peru. Anonymous hackers promptly vandalized the company website.
Jamie Sokalsky, CEO of the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation, announced on July 26 that major problems were delaying the opening of the company’s controversial Pascua Lama gold and silver mine, located in the Andes on both sides of the border… Read moreArgentina: gold mine problems spook Barrick investors
