Resources industry

Transparency laws will release money to tackle poverty

Topics: 
Europe, Anti-corruption efforts, Legislation, Resources industry, Oil & gas industry
Rating: 
2

The European Council and Parliament has reached a historic agreement on transparency legislation so that extractive industry companies will publish what they pay in countries where they operate.

The legislation will help in the global fight against corruption, as well as releasing resources for development in an international context where alternatives to aid are increasingly needed. Natural resource revenues are crucial in the fight against poverty. In 2010 exports of oil, minerals and gas to Africa were nearly seven times what the continent received in international aid.

Africa's battle against corruption: which side is the west on?

Topics: 
Africa, Resources industry, Corruption, Legal ethics
Rating: 
2

The sharp lawyers who counter the effort for clean governance are not based in Guinea: they are in London, Paris, New York

Paul Collier – November 15, 2012

Across Africa democratically elected leaders are fighting against corruption in the natural resource sector. But by various means, corruption fights back.

Those under investigation hire highly paid legal guns to sue and silence, and highly paid public relations gurus to twist and smear. Impecunious governments trying to impose the rule of law find it subverted into the rule of lawyers and trial by media.

PM's chief of staff faces conflict of interest questions over Barrick Gold links

Topics: 
Conflict of interest, Political misconduct, Resources industry
Rating: 
3

Joan Bryden – August 28, 2012

The federal ethics watchdog is considering whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, improperly used his influential position to further the private interests of friends at Barrick Gold Corp.

Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson has discussed the matter with Wright and is now pondering whether the one-time Bay Street titan broke any conflict of interest rules by allowing himself to be lobbied twice in May by Barrick.

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.

Tough EU transparency laws could change lives in resource-rich Congo

Topics: 
Africa, Resources industry, Developing countries, Anti-corruption efforts
Rating: 
0

Joseph Banga – April 30, 2012

We don't know how much money the Democratic Republic of the Congo government gets from the exploitation of our oil, gas, minerals and timber. That must change.

New EU legislation introducing mandatory transparency for multinational companies could do a lot to help billions living in poverty in resource-rich countries. It could contribute to turning their natural resource wealth from a curse to a blessing if approved in its current form, but it would fail to make a difference if it is watered down.

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.

OSC unveils sweeping insider trading case

Topics: 
White-collar crime, Financial industry, Resources industry
Rating: 
3
Ian Telfer

Janet McFaland, Andy Hoffman and Tim Kiladze – February 7, 2012

Ontario’s stock market watchdog has unveiled a sweeping insider trading case involving one of Canada’s most prominent mining executives and an employee at a leading independent Bay Street firm.

The sprawling set of allegations announced on Tuesday includes a charge that Goldcorp Inc. chairman Ian Telfer helped disguise ownership of some shares to assist an old friend who is now at the centre of an insider trading and tipping scheme. The Ontario Securities Commission has accused Mr. Telfer, whose Vancouver-based company is one of the world’s largest gold producers, of acting against the public interest.

Goldcorp chair named in OSC probe

Topics: 
White-collar crime, Financial industry, Resources industry
Rating: 
3
Ian Telfer

Vanessa Lu – February 8, 2012

The Ontario Securities Commission has accused prominent Canadian mining executive Ian Telfer of helping a friend disguise ownership of securities and circumvent email records.

Telfer, chairman of Vancouver-based Goldcorp, was named in a 27-page statement of allegations by the OSC in a probe into an illegal tipping and trading scheme involving his friend of two decades, Eda Marie Agueci.

Canadian Mining Companies Lack Accountability

Topics: 
Corporate ethics, Resources industry
Rating: 
4

The following is an excerpt from a report by NewsWatch Canada identifying the top 25 underreported stories of 2010-2011. This is just one of the 25 topics identified in the report.

Canada is home to the majority of the world’s mining companies. The following are examples of environmental and human rights abuses that have been occurring around the world as a result of actions of Canadian mining companies:

Goldcorp’s mining project in Peñasquito, Mexico is depleting water supplies in the area. The mine, which uses an irrigation system known to cause environmental problems, is also negatively impacting local residents. Adjacent communities have reported increased health issues involving cancer and nervous system disorders most likely caused by exposure to toxic materials from the mine. Furthermore, Goldcorp has not been paying taxes on their mining profits, taxes that should be going to the local community as required by Mexican law.

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