Mining

Re. Story of Westray dangers should have been told

Topics: 
Unpublished or under-reported, Mining, Public health & safety
Rating: 
3

UNPUBLISHED

Joanna Gualtieri and David Hutton – May 15, 2012

On the 20th anniversary of the Westray mining disaster, investigative reporter Andrew Mitrovica offered an apology to the 26 dead miners’ families for his failure to publicize adequately the warnings he received from whistleblowers about safety violations at the mine.

Fourteen years ago, Joanna Gualtieri met Andrew when he contacted her regarding her allegations of corruption and abuse of power at the Department of Foreign Affairs.  She found him to be smart, energetic, informed – precisely the attributes we would hope for in an effective journalist.

Whistleblowers need protection: New Zealand ombudsman

Topics: 
New Zealand, Mining, Ombudsmen, Legislation
Rating: 
0
Pike River mine disaster

Rob Stock – November 25, 2012

New Zealand's underused whistleblower protection act is not working and needs to be reviewed says Chief Ombudsman Dame Beverley Wakem.

There is soul-searching in the Office of the Ombudsman as to why no-one connected to Pike River blew the whistle on the poor safety standards at the mine where 29 people died when methane ignited there in November 2010.

Repeated warnings ignored before New Zealand mine disaster

Topics: 
New Zealand, Mining, Workplace conditions
Rating: 
3
Pike River mine disaster

November 5, 2012

A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to dangerous levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.

The official report released on Monday after eleven weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces and said the Pike River Coal company was exposing miners to unacceptable risks as it strove to meet financial targets.

New Zealand mine warning: 'She's going to blow'

Topics: 
New Zealand, Mining, Workplace conditions
Rating: 
3
Pike River mine disaster

Neil Reid – March 22, 2012

Stuart Mudge dreamed of learning the art of mining on the Pike River coalface. But it was a passion which ultimately claimed the life of the 31-year-old resident of Runanga, a township 10km northwest from Greymouth.

And as a Royal Commission of Inquiry investigates the cause of the tragedy - as well as a raft of issues relating to the mine's safety procedures, design and the actions of former management - Mudge's parents have gone public with an aborted plan to have the mine closed down.

Greed and corruption in Zimbabwe’s diamond fields

Topics: 
Mining, Corruption, Political misconduct, Africa
Rating: 
2

November 13, 2012

Partnership Africa Canada has launched its new report “Reap What You Sow: Greed and Corruption in Zimbabwe’s Marange Diamond Fields”   on November 12 to coincide with the opening of an international diamond conference being held at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Reap What You Sow is the third investigation by Partnership Africa Canada into illicit activity in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector. The report is divided into three main sections. The first looks at ongoing trade irregularities and the lack of transparency of diamond revenues, and examines ways ZANU and the global diamond industry have interacted, before, during and after the Kimberley Process imposed an embargo on Marange stones in 2009.

Whistleblower Hotline Established For Saskatchewan's Uranium Workers

Topics: 
Saskatchewan, Nuclear industry, Hotlines, Mining
Rating: 
0

MBC Radio News – October 11, 2012

A new whistleblower hotline has been set up for workers in Saskatchewan's uranium industry. The new line is the brainchild of the Committee for Future Generations -- a group that opposes the current dialogue between northern communities and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization about potential storage areas for nuclear waste.

Pat McNamara is a carpenter from BC who came to Saskatchewan a few months ago to help committee members get their message across. He says, during his time in the province, he has heard from several northerners concerned about safety issues at mine sites -- and that's why the line was set up:

Story of Westray dangers should have been told

Topics: 
Mining, Resources industry, Media
Rating: 
0

Andrew Mitrovica – May 9, 2012

I owe the people of Pictou County, N.S., an apology. In particular, I owe a long overdue apology to the families of the 26 miners who perished in the Westray coal mine explosion that took place 20 years ago Wednesday.

I need to apologize because for two decades I have harboured a regret. I have carried this regret with me from the morning I heard via a news bulletin by former CBC newsman Knowlton Nash that there had been a devastating explosion at the mine.

Canadian mining project under attack from Romanian revolution figure

Topics: 
Mining, Resources industry
Rating: 
0

Agence France-Presse – March 12, 2012

A key figure of Romania's 1989 revolution, MEP Laszlo Tokes, resigned from his party on Monday over a controversial Canadian gold mine project in northwestern Romania. His stand centres on a particular method of extracting gold which uses cyanide to leach the precious metal from excavated material.

"As the initiator of a resolution from the European Parliament banning the use of cyanide in the mining industry, I cannot accept the attitude of my party towards the mining investment in Rosia Montana" (northwestern Romania), Tokes said in a press release.

Canadian government silent on Blackfire case of corruption and murder

Topics: 
Foreign Affairs, Corruption, Access to information, Mining, Resources industry
Rating: 
3

Press Release: Canada NewsWire – March 15, 2012

Two years after filing a complaint with the RCMP for corruption allegations against Calgary-based Blackfire Resources, a group of Canadian civil society organizations would like to know where Canadian authorities stand on the company's controversial operations in Chiapas, Mexico.

But, after an eighteen-month wait, a request for information to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade under the Access to Information Act is still unanswered.

RCMP raid Calgary miner over bribery allegations

Topics: 
Corruption, Mining, Resources industry, Foreign corrupt practices legislation
Rating: 
3

Greg McArthur – August 29, 2011

The RCMP has raided the office of a Canadian mining company in Calgary alleging in an affidavit that the company funnelled bribes into the personal bank account of a small-town Mexican mayor to ensure protection from anti-mining protesters.

On July 20, a team of Mounties executed a search warrant on the office of Blackfire Exploration Ltd., a privately owned junior whose operations in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas have been embattled since 2009, when a vocal opponent of its barite mine was murdered in a drive-by shooting.

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