<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=copper&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/copper/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:59:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Copper</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/copper/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Peru&#8217;s Quellaveco mine tied to water scarcity, contamination, investigation finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 18:13:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26174151/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-14-at-3.27.18-PM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320143</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Law, Mining, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A copper mine in southern Peru that took decades to complete environmental assessments has been contaminating local watersheds with harmful metals, critics say. In its first few years of operation, the mine has allegedly endangered wildlife, threatened the local economy, and created health concerns in communities. Developers of the Quellaveco mine in Peru’s Moquegua department [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A copper mine in southern Peru that took decades to complete environmental assessments has been contaminating local watersheds with harmful metals, critics say. In its first few years of operation, the mine has allegedly endangered wildlife, threatened the local economy, and created health concerns in communities. Developers of the Quellaveco mine in Peru’s Moquegua department spent more than 20 years conducting and revising environmental assessments to responsibly extract copper and molybdenum, a metal used in industrial alloys. But after the mine started operating in 2022, the impacts from pollution, erosion and other issues became difficult to ignore, residents say. “[The project] has exhibited the tensions that are typical of large-scale mining in the Andean south: disputes over water in fragile basins, distrust in environmental evaluation and enforcement procedures, promises of employment and local development that are difficult to verify,” said a recent investigation by several advocacy groups, including Red Muqui, a collective of 32 NGOs in Peru. The mine is operated by Anglo American Quellaveco S.A., a subsidiary of British mining company Anglo American. The company received its first environmental impact assessment approval for the project in 2000, but then spent another two decades revising it and finishing technical permitting and negotiations with local communities. The Quellaveco mine. Image courtesy of Red Muqui. More than half of Moquegua department is covered by mining concessions, some of them causing contamination and water scarcity. Residents around the Quellaveco mine said they wanted to avoid the problems that had emerged from earlier large-scale&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320143</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mining rush for critical minerals threatens Amazon land reform settlements</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 18:49:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cícero Pedrosa NetoIsabel HarariSam Cowie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09165555/para-mining-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315432</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities, Conservation, Copper, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Industry, Land Conflict, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Rainforests, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Families awaiting land reform in the Amazon now face a surge in mining that can destroy their chance at a decent life.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Leia em português. &nbsp; PARAUAPEBAS, Brazil — On a dirt road that cuts through the Rio Novo settlement in the southeast of Pará state, battered motorcycles carry small loads of organic food to sell in the city, while passing trucks loaded with minerals for export. Parauapebas, Brazil’s so-called “mining capital,” hosts numerous rural worker communities, including the 5,000 families of Terra e Liberdade, the largest landless encampment in Brazil. The city is also home to the largest open-pit iron ore mine in the world, in addition to other valuable deposits. The scene of historical land conflicts, such as the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, in which 21 people died after being shot by military police during a protest in 1996, southeastern Pará is now witnessing a new front of dispute. Driven by the energy transition, mining companies are eyeing land in already established agrarian reform settlements, seeking deposits of three minerals essential to the arms and high-tech industries: copper, manganese and nickel. These elements are used in equipment such as chips, wind turbines, electric cars, military jets and warships. An exclusive survey by Repórter Brasil in partnership with Mongabay, based on data from the National Mining Agency (ANM), identified 676 mining processes for copper, manganese and nickel in Carajás since 1969. A quarter of them (166) were filed in the last five years (2021–25). Illegal copper mining area in the Carajás region, southeastern Pará. Image courtesy of Cícero Pedrosa/Repórter Brasil. Of the total number of requests, 292 (43%) relate to 82&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315432</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>DRC plans to export 100,000 metric tons of copper to the US</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/drc-plans-to-export-100000-metric-tons-of-copper-to-the-us/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/drc-plans-to-export-100000-metric-tons-of-copper-to-the-us/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jan 2026 13:49:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/26120324/20240720_172221-1200x800-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313322</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[cobalt, Copper, Critical Minerals, Mining, and Natural Resources]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) shared with the U.S. administration a list of state-backed projects for investment consideration in which critical minerals like copper, manganese and lithium are being mined, according to Reuters. The Central African nation had already announced plans to ship 100,000 metric tons of copper to the U.S. by the end [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) shared with the U.S. administration a list of state-backed projects for investment consideration in which critical minerals like copper, manganese and lithium are being mined, according to Reuters. The Central African nation had already announced plans to ship 100,000 metric tons of copper to the U.S. by the end of January. The move operationalizes a strategic partnership between the U.S. and the DRC, one conceived alongside the peace deal the U.S. helped broker between the DRC and Rwanda. The US signed a series of bilateral agreements with the two African countries, which U.S. President Donald Trump touted not just as a diplomatic victory but also an economic win for the U.S. “Today, the United States is also signing our own bilateral agreements with the Congo and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals and provide economic benefits for everybody,” Trump said at the peace deal signing ceremony. Since February 2025, parts of eastern DRC along the Rwanda-DRC frontier have been under the control of M23, an armed group allegedly backed by Rwanda. This was a major escalation of a long-simmering dispute in the politically volatile part of the Great Lakes region. In response, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi requested assistance from his U.S. counterpart, who mediated a peace deal, the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity, between the two countries. “We&#8217;ll be involved. We&#8217;re sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/drc-plans-to-export-100000-metric-tons-of-copper-to-the-us/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/drc-plans-to-export-100000-metric-tons-of-copper-to-the-us/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313322</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Chocó, river defenders say race for energy transition threatens lifelines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-choco-river-defenders-say-race-for-energy-transition-threatens-lifelines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-choco-river-defenders-say-race-for-energy-transition-threatens-lifelines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Dec 2025 12:44:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Wallace]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/08122405/DSC02881-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310732</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation Philosophy, Copper, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Transition, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Gold Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Pollution, Renewable Energy, Rivers, Traditional People, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“People bathe in the river, they eat from the river — they live, dance and sing there,” says Dora Agudelo Vázquez. “Their whole lives are bound to the river.” Agudelo Vazquez, one of the guardians of the Atrato River, is sitting on a park bench in the main square of her hometown of El Carmen [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“People bathe in the river, they eat from the river — they live, dance and sing there,” says Dora Agudelo Vázquez. “Their whole lives are bound to the river.” Agudelo Vazquez, one of the guardians of the Atrato River, is sitting on a park bench in the main square of her hometown of El Carmen de Atrato, in Colombia’s northwestern Chocó department. “In these 30 years of mining, the river has suffered a lot,” she says. By night, this square is full of life. Beneath the stone façade of the central church, vendors sell hot food from densely packed marquees, many of which display the words “Minera El Roble —  Estamos Contigo” (“We Are With You”). Children jump between small groups of heavy-booted workers who gather around the food stalls.  Their overalls carry the same logo: Minera El Roble. El Roble, Colombia’s only active copper mine, is about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) north of the town square. It sits at the base of a valley crossed by the Atrato River, which flows over about 700 km (435 miles) and in 2016 was recognized as a subject of constitutional rights by a Colombian court. This court also ordered the creation of the Guardian Commission, consisting of 14 guardians entrusted with monitoring compliance with the ruling. But Agudelo Vázquez, along with several environmental NGOs and local community groups, allege that El Roble is harming the river’s health, accusing the mine of failing to meet conservation commitments, having weak regulatory oversight and polluting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-choco-river-defenders-say-race-for-energy-transition-threatens-lifelines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-choco-river-defenders-say-race-for-energy-transition-threatens-lifelines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What’s at stake for the environment in Chile’s upcoming election?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-chiles-upcoming-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-chiles-upcoming-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2025 18:12:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/13175706/AP23170742560995-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309501</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Copper, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Lithium, Mining, Peatlands, Politics, Pollution, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Chileans will go to the polls on Nov. 16 to vote for a new president, 23 Senate seats, and all 155 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies. The elections could be a deciding factor in how the country addresses a number of ongoing environmental issues, including the renewable energy transition, constitutional rights for Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Chileans will go to the polls on Nov. 16 to vote for a new president, 23 Senate seats, and all 155 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies. The elections could be a deciding factor in how the country addresses a number of ongoing environmental issues, including the renewable energy transition, constitutional rights for Indigenous groups, and the development of its mining sector, most notably energy transition minerals like copper and lithium. Chile has protected more than 20% of its land mass and more than 40% of its waters, and last year passed legislation with a special focus on peatlands, a major carbon sink. But it’s still short of meeting its 30&#215;30 targets, part of the Global Biodiversity Framework to protect 30% of land and water by 2030. The country is also dealing with land disputes in southern regions like Araucanía and Biobío, where Indigenous Mapuche groups often reject logging, agribusiness and an ineffective land titling process for ancestral territory. Earlier this year, the Presidential Commission for Peace and Understanding delivered a final report with recommended solutions to the land disputes, but implementation will be up to the next president. The world’s top copper producer and second largest of lithium, Chile is also a major player in the global energy transition. In recent years, numerous mining operations have been accused of abusing freshwater sources and endangering vulnerable species, raising questions about whether the country needs tighter oversight. The current president, Gabriel Boric, the millennial progressive who promised systemic change when elected in 2021,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-chiles-upcoming-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-chiles-upcoming-election/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309501</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Clean energy is just one driver of mining’: Cleodie Rickard on critical minerals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2025 08:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/23232540/2_ACASCIO_LiberoCopper_Stone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309308</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Justice, cobalt, Copper, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea Mining, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Land Rights, Lithium, Mining, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Cleodie Rickard, the policy and campaigns manager at Global Justice Now, the term “critical” minerals, commonly used to describe the metals vital for the green energy transition, can be misleading. A new Global Justice Now report, authored by Rickard, reveals that nearly one in five minerals labeled “critical” by the U.K. aren’t essential for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For Cleodie Rickard, the policy and campaigns manager at Global Justice Now, the term “critical” minerals, commonly used to describe the metals vital for the green energy transition, can be misleading. A new Global Justice Now report, authored by Rickard, reveals that nearly one in five minerals labeled “critical” by the U.K. aren’t essential for the green energy transition. In fact, more than half of the 33 minerals have little to no role in the transition, with five prioritized for aerospace and weapons instead. What makes a mineral “critical,” Rickard says, depends largely on each country’s strategic and geopolitical objectives, not just its role in clean energy. She says multinational mining companies and governments can often use the green energy transition as a pretext to ramp up mining projects, even though a lot of the minerals are intended for other purposes, such as the military sector and AI infrastructure. Countries also have differing definitions of which minerals are considered “critical” or “strategic.” “The term ‘critical minerals’ is often used to secure political and economic support for resource exploration,” Filipe Gabriel Mura, a Mura Indigenous leader from Brazil, tells Mongabay via WhatsApp. “But the problem is that [the term] groups together different minerals with very different purposes. Not all of them are essential to the energy transition, and many serve the defense or agribusiness industries.” Gabriel says this is the case in the Mura Lago dos Soares community in the Amazonas state, where a potassium project, a mineral classified as essential&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309308</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/copper-rush-pushes-vale-to-ramp-up-mining-near-amazonian-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/copper-rush-pushes-vale-to-ramp-up-mining-near-amazonian-protected-areas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2025 15:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[André Schröder]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/14062110/lula_novo_carajas-ricardo_stuckert-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307558</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities, Conservation, Copper, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Industry, Land Conflict, Mining, Pollution, Rainforests, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The metal needed in electric cars and solar panels comes with a high cost for Amazonian communities.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Carajás mining district in the Brazilian Amazon is home to the world’s largest known reserves of high-grade iron ore, and also holds other major deposits of commercially valuable minerals. Since its discovery in the late 1960s, it has made Brazil a top player in the global mining scene. Today, Carajás hosts large, active mining projects, supported by extensive industrial and logistical infrastructure, operated primarily by mining giant Vale (VALE3). Yet these sites are dotted among a mosaic of conservation areas; some mines are just a few hundred meters away from Campos Ferruginosos National Park, for example. And as is the case with large forest enterprises in Brazil, mining development in Carajás has been accompanied by significant, ongoing socioenvironmental impacts. The opening of mines, construction of dams and expansion of mining infrastructure have contributed to deforestation, ecosystem fragmentation, biodiversity loss, water stress, land conflicts, territorial pressure and disorderly urban growth. Now, amid the global race for critical minerals, Vale has redefined Carajás’s strategic role for the coming years. In February, in the presence of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the company announced a 70 billion reais ($13.1 billion) investment in the Novo Carajás program, with a particular focus on copper production. While the initiative has been praised for its economic benefits, it has also sparked concerns about the severe impacts of new mining operations on local communities and protected areas of the Amazon. The first step was taken in June, when Vale announced it had obtained a preliminary&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/copper-rush-pushes-vale-to-ramp-up-mining-near-amazonian-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/copper-rush-pushes-vale-to-ramp-up-mining-near-amazonian-protected-areas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307558</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Yet another abandoned mine erodes — this time, in a Panamanian protected area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/yet-another-abandoned-mine-erodes-this-time-in-a-panamanian-protected-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/yet-another-abandoned-mine-erodes-this-time-in-a-panamanian-protected-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2025 14:57:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/25101830/Photo-2-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294954</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Copper, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Pollution, Protected Areas, Public Health, Regulations, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ever since the Cobre Panamá mine was forced to shut down in 2023, the copper mine’s infrastructure has been eroding away in a biodiverse jungle on Panama’s Atlantic coast — a situation researchers say is all too common. Without proper maintenance, monitoring and rehabilitation, inactive mines can pose serious threats to environmental and human health. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ever since the Cobre Panamá mine was forced to shut down in 2023, the copper mine’s infrastructure has been eroding away in a biodiverse jungle on Panama’s Atlantic coast — a situation researchers say is all too common. Without proper maintenance, monitoring and rehabilitation, inactive mines can pose serious threats to environmental and human health. In 2019, the collapse of an iron ore tailings dam in southeastern Brazil led to the deaths of 272 people. Around 10 million cubic meters (353 cubic feet or 2.6 billion gallons) of toxic waste burst from the dam at the time, causing widespread environmental damage in the Brumadinho Valley, Minas Gerais. Between 1915 and 2021, 342 tailings dams failed around the world, 57% of which occurred in the Americas. It was found that these failures happen almost every year, mostly due to heavy rainfall or earthquakes. In the case of the Brumadinho dam, the mine had been shut for three years when it failed without warning. It was later discovered that the accident was caused by a phenomenon known as “creep,” which is a result of slowly accumulating imperceptible deformations in the sediment that make up the dam. Researchers from the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) analyzed the monitoring reports and audit documents of Minera Panamá, the owner of the Cobre Panamá mine and a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals. In their report, the researchers revealed that the Panama mine’s tailings dam was at serious risk of failure due to internal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/yet-another-abandoned-mine-erodes-this-time-in-a-panamanian-protected-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/yet-another-abandoned-mine-erodes-this-time-in-a-panamanian-protected-area/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294954</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Permits granted for Colombia’s Alacrán mine amid pollution, deforestation concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/permits-granted-for-colombias-alacran-mine-amid-pollution-deforestation-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/permits-granted-for-colombias-alacran-mine-amid-pollution-deforestation-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Sep 2024 21:06:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/20205504/27680251006_606679f3ec_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287618</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Copper, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Permits granted for the construction of an industrial mining project in northern Colombia are raising concerns among residents and conservationists, who say they might lose their food and drinking water to unregulated pollution, causing them to relocate to other parts of the country. Canadian mining company Cordoba Minerals won a construction permit last month for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Permits granted for the construction of an industrial mining project in northern Colombia are raising concerns among residents and conservationists, who say they might lose their food and drinking water to unregulated pollution, causing them to relocate to other parts of the country. Canadian mining company Cordoba Minerals won a construction permit last month for the $420.4 million Alacrán mining project, which will extract gold, silver and copper by early next year. While the deal would make it one of the biggest mines in the country, with significant economic benefits, the project could also increase environmental damage and uproot communities in an area that already has a long list of problems, critics say. “El Alacrán is a populated center where more than 300 families have lived all their lives,” Juan Velásquez Ruiz, a resident who’s been mining there for decades, told Mongabay. “We want the government to intervene and really support us. We don’t have any support.” Alacrán mine, located in Puerto Libertador, in the Córdoba department, is part of a 30-year mining title on around 22,000 hectares (54,363 acres). The larger land package where Alacrán mine is located, called San Matias, is still mostly in the exploration phase, according to the company. The operation is expected to extract 417,300 tons of copper, 724,500 ounces of gold and 5,930,000 ounces of silver annually from an open pit. It’s being developed jointly with the Chinese JCHX Mining Management Co. The area has abundant deposits of nickel, gold, coal, copper, silver, platinum&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/permits-granted-for-colombias-alacran-mine-amid-pollution-deforestation-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/permits-granted-for-colombias-alacran-mine-amid-pollution-deforestation-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287618</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Chile, a copper mining project tainted by environmental damage sues 32 locals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2024 09:12:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Lieberherr Pacheco]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/17112803/Los-Pelambres-mine-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287217</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Copper, Degraded Lands, Drinking Water, Environment, Glaciers, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Water Scarcity, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During the second week of October 2023, in northern Chile’s Coquimbo, Yasna Silva used social media to ask for help. She and her entire family had been sued by the Los Pelambres Mining Company. The reason? Neither she, nor the rest of the residents of her community, Pupío, had agreed to the expansion of a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During the second week of October 2023, in northern Chile’s Coquimbo, Yasna Silva used social media to ask for help. She and her entire family had been sued by the Los Pelambres Mining Company. The reason? Neither she, nor the rest of the residents of her community, Pupío, had agreed to the expansion of a road that would allow the mining company to install two new pipelines: one that would transport 1,200 liters (317 gallons) of industrial water per second, and another that would transport copper concentrate away from where the company extracts it in the Andes Mountains in the Coquimbo region. Both pipelines would be fewer than 100 meters (330 feet) from her house, and the fear that a leak could affect her home led her to oppose the project. Even though there is already a pipeline in the area, it currently only transports 400 l (105 gallons) of industrial water per second. With the 2023 approval of the company’s new Operational Adaptation project, that pipeline will be able to hold three times its current capacity, and a separate pipeline for copper concentrate will be added. The mining company told Mongabay Latam that during some conversations with property owners, “it was not possible to agree on compensation for the rights-of-way,” (or, in other words, for the construction of the road required to install the pipelines). For that reason, the company said that “it was requested that an impartial third party determine a fair price to pay for the easements,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/in-chile-a-copper-mining-project-tainted-by-environmental-damage-sues-32-locals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287217</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Polluting copper mine in Java suspended as farmers decry lost crops</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/polluting-copper-mine-in-java-suspended-as-farmers-decry-lost-crops/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/polluting-copper-mine-in-java-suspended-as-farmers-decry-lost-crops/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2024 16:04:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Asad Asnawi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/30143613/Pacitan-mining-operations-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286771</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Java, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Copper, Crops, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Mining, Poisoning, Politics, Pollution, Rice, Tropical Forests, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PACITAN, Indonesia — Indonesia’s mining ministry has ordered a suspension of operations at a controversial copper mine on Java Island following claims by local farmers that it was responsible for massive pollution wrecking the livelihoods of 200 families living downriver. Rice-farming families in Cokrokembang village, Pacitan district, have for more than a year been affected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PACITAN, Indonesia — Indonesia’s mining ministry has ordered a suspension of operations at a controversial copper mine on Java Island following claims by local farmers that it was responsible for massive pollution wrecking the livelihoods of 200 families living downriver. Rice-farming families in Cokrokembang village, Pacitan district, have for more than a year been affected by contaminated water from the Kedung Pinihan River, which irrigates the community’s rice fields. The farmers attribute this pollution of the river to waste from the copper mine operated by PT Gemilang Limpah Internusa (GLI). “We received information … that GLI was temporarily stopped by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources,” Cici Roudlotul Jannah, the head of the district environmental agency, told Mongabay Indonesia in a text message. Rice farmers across Indonesia have faced overwhelming difficulties since the severe drought caused by the 2023 El Niño and positive Indian Ocean dipole. The situation was made worse by rising input costs and limited access to affordable fertilizer following Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, two of the world’s biggest fertilizer exporters. Contamination from the mine, located in Kluwih village, is suspected of seeping into the Kedung Pinihan River. The pollution has visibly affected the water, with boulders in the river turning a yellowish orange, and farmers reporting that their crops are failing to develop. Badrul Amali, a lawyer for GLI, confirmed that the mining ministry had ordered the company to suspend operations. “I need to emphasize that this is only a temporary suspension, not a closure,” Badrul&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/polluting-copper-mine-in-java-suspended-as-farmers-decry-lost-crops/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/polluting-copper-mine-in-java-suspended-as-farmers-decry-lost-crops/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286771</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rio Tinto-linked mine still not fulfilling promises to Mongolian herders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/rio-tinto-linked-mine-still-not-fulfilling-promises-to-mongolian-herders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/rio-tinto-linked-mine-still-not-fulfilling-promises-to-mongolian-herders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2024 15:09:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/28143855/B-Battsengel-Lkhamdoorov-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286609</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, and Mongolia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Copper, Degraded Lands, Deserts, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Mining, Pollution, public lands, Rivers, Social Justice, Traditional People, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2004, nomadic herders in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert faced a daunting prospect. One of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, Oyu Tolgoi, was settling in, and herder communities were being forced to resettle without consultation. For many of them, everything fell apart that year when they faced the prospect of losing access to water and lush [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2004, nomadic herders in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert faced a daunting prospect. One of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, Oyu Tolgoi, was settling in, and herder communities were being forced to resettle without consultation. For many of them, everything fell apart that year when they faced the prospect of losing access to water and lush pasturelands. But they turned to an accountability group for help, filed two complaints against Oyu Tolgoi — and, in a rare success story, reached a deal with the mining company in 2017. Herders, local government officials and company representatives met, formed a three-party council to resolve disputes, and reached an agreement on 60 separate commitments. “It was the least we could do. The water wells and springs that the herders and animals survived on were drying right in front of our eyes after the mining operated,” says Battsengel Lkhamdoorov, one of the herders who lost his occupation and initiated the complaint. “We were not consulted before the mining operation and impacts, so we had to speak up.” But years later, experts say important commitments remain unmet. A report by the three-party council, Accountability Counsel (an NGO that advocates for communities affected by internationally funded projects) and the NGO Oyu Tolgoi Watch found that two-thirds of the commitments were either complete or in progress as of June 2020. Four years on, little has changed, they tell Mongabay. Some of the most significant commitments — on ensuring herders’ access to water, pasture and markets — are making&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/rio-tinto-linked-mine-still-not-fulfilling-promises-to-mongolian-herders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/rio-tinto-linked-mine-still-not-fulfilling-promises-to-mongolian-herders/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286609</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Andes are a key supplier of gold for the Amazon Basin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/the-andes-are-a-key-supplier-of-gold-for-the-amazon-basin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/the-andes-are-a-key-supplier-of-gold-for-the-amazon-basin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Aug 2024 17:00:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy J. Killeen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayra]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/15021931/peru_Devastation-wrought-by-an-open-pit-gold-mine-in-the-Peruvian-Amazon-Rhett-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286128</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Perfect Storm in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Copper, Deforestation, Geology, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Natural Resources, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Rivers, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the most remarkable placer gold fields in the world is found in the Andean piedmont in the department of Madre de Dios in southern Peru. Gold was discovered in the 1970s in the District of Huepetuhe, where a small stream that drains into the Río Inambari, approximately 20 kilometers downstream from the narrow [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the most remarkable placer gold fields in the world is found in the Andean piedmont in the department of Madre de Dios in southern Peru. Gold was discovered in the 1970s in the District of Huepetuhe, where a small stream that drains into the Río Inambari, approximately 20 kilometers downstream from the narrow gorge where the Inambari exits the Andean foothills. The current channel did not exist until a few tens of thousands of years ago, because it was blocked by a low ridge that deflected the main channel 90º west into the precursor of the Huepetuhe. This diversion created a near-perfect sediment trap for the gold being carried out of the Andes. Eventually, the river eroded a channel through the outlying ridge and created a depositional plain south of Madre de Dios, creating a mega gold field that stretches from the Río Colorado (West) to the city of Puerto Maldonado. Enormous amounts of alluvial gold have been funnelled into the Inambari due to the tectonic peculiarities of the Altiplano and the climatic history of the Quaternary Period. The headwaters span a 260-kilometer swath of the Andean highlands that constitute the northern border of the Altiplano, which was formed by a process known as ‘crustal shortening’ where a section of the South American plate was chipped off (rather than subducted) and relocated on top of the South American plate. The gold mining landscapes of Southern Peru and the Bolivian Yungas. Left: Industrial and wildcat mines in the context&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/the-andes-are-a-key-supplier-of-gold-for-the-amazon-basin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/the-andes-are-a-key-supplier-of-gold-for-the-amazon-basin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286128</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tía María copper mine set to open in Peru despite community backlash</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/tia-maria-copper-mine-set-to-open-in-peru-despite-community-backlash/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/tia-maria-copper-mine-set-to-open-in-peru-despite-community-backlash/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2024 16:36:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/31162546/Feature2-1-768x450.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285528</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Copper, Environment, Environmental Law, Law, Law Enforcement, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Protests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After years of delays, officials in Peru said they’re moving forward with the construction of a controversial copper mine despite concerns from local communities that the project could pollute rivers and destroy agriculture. The Tía María copper mine in Valle del Tambo, in southern Peru, will begin operations before the end of this year, President [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After years of delays, officials in Peru said they’re moving forward with the construction of a controversial copper mine despite concerns from local communities that the project could pollute rivers and destroy agriculture. The Tía María copper mine in Valle del Tambo, in southern Peru, will begin operations before the end of this year, President Dina Boluarte said during a national address, reversing her promise to protect tourism, small-scale farming and agriculture exports in the area. “The population of Valle del Tambo already has an economic activity that works and isn’t polluting and has no risk of contamination, like mining activity does, and that’s what they demand to be respected,” said Jaime Borda, executive secretary of Red Muqui, a network of activist groups supporting communities affected by mining. The fertile Valle del Tambo, located between the Pacific coast and Andes mountains, produces rice, onion, garlic, potato, sweet potato and squash, among other vegetables. Residents say copper mining will pollute the Tambo River and other waterbodies that make small-scale agriculture possible. In addition to losing the area’s traditional economic activity, residents could lose access to drinking water, potentially forcing them to move away, critics said. Copper mines, which require digging deep into the earth, pose a risk of leaching chemicals like sulfuric acid into the groundwater. They also kick up dust containing heavy metals. Miguel Meza at a protest against the Tía María copper mine. Photo courtesy of Miguel Meza/Facebook. “It could mean the disappearance of Valle del Tambo,” resident and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/tia-maria-copper-mine-set-to-open-in-peru-despite-community-backlash/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/tia-maria-copper-mine-set-to-open-in-peru-despite-community-backlash/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285528</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Sonora, communities fight mining to defend their water</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sonora-communities-fight-mining-to-defend-their-water/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sonora-communities-fight-mining-to-defend-their-water/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2024 14:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel Shailer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/26220153/Copy-of-_MWM0617-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285212</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Development, Conflict, Conservation, Copper, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Environment, extractives, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Mining, Protests, Rivers, Traditional People, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Protesters in the northwest Mexican state of Sonora are blocking the country’s largest mining company, Grupo México, from withdrawing water, in an ongoing standoff against the company and state police. Since June 2, residents of Bacoachi, a rural town 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the U.S. border, have protested in shifts along Evans Canyon [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Protesters in the northwest Mexican state of Sonora are blocking the country’s largest mining company, Grupo México, from withdrawing water, in an ongoing standoff against the company and state police. Since June 2, residents of Bacoachi, a rural town 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the U.S. border, have protested in shifts along Evans Canyon Road between the town’s thoroughfare and the Bacoachi River, a tributary of Sonora River. The blockade, which locals insist has remained nonviolent, was broken up once in July before being reinstated the following day. Only water trucks with Grupo México logos are being stopped, protesters say, while other vehicles pass through. Grupo México owns several concessions to extract water in the region to operate a copper mine an hour’s drive north of Bacoachi. But locals accuse the company of overexploiting the watershed during a period of drought, jeopardizing livelihoods in a region that depends on farms and ranches. For several years, the company has faced allegations of wider human rights violations in the region following an infamous waste spill in 2014. Residents of Bacoachi, a rural town 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the U.S. border, protest against Grupo México and what they say is abusive water extraction. Image courtesy of Fernando Ramírez. “The people never got involved with Grupo México; Grupo México got involved with us by trying to take our water,” said Fernando Ramírez, a former agricultural engineer with the government’s agriculture and rural development department, who now works as a consultant and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sonora-communities-fight-mining-to-defend-their-water/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sonora-communities-fight-mining-to-defend-their-water/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285212</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In a village divided, farmers stall massive copper mine in Colombian Andes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/in-a-village-divided-farmers-stall-massive-copper-mine-in-colombian-andes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/in-a-village-divided-farmers-stall-massive-copper-mine-in-colombian-andes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2024 15:56:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Austin Landis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/29152634/DJI_0324-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282668</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Copper, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Farming, Freshwater, Gold Mining, Mining, Pollution, Protests, Water, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JERICÓ, Colombia — Argirio Tobón Tamayo tugs down the top branch of a coffee tree covered in waxy green leaves, bending it back to reveal coffee cherries in shades of yellow, green and red — the latter ready to be picked. At less than 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, Tobón Tamayo is the perfect height [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JERICÓ, Colombia — Argirio Tobón Tamayo tugs down the top branch of a coffee tree covered in waxy green leaves, bending it back to reveal coffee cherries in shades of yellow, green and red — the latter ready to be picked. At less than 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, Tobón Tamayo is the perfect height to pick the bright coffee berries off even the lowest branches, which he’s been doing here since he was 11. “How are we not going to fight for this?” he asks. His coffee and plantain farm sits atop La Soledad, a mountain above the colorful colonial town of Jericó, in Colombia’s Antioquia department, about a three-hour drive from Medellín, the departmental capital. But for more than a decade, the same mountain, with its rich deposits of copper, silver and gold, has been the target of mining giant AngloGold Ashanti. The Quebradona project aims to extract nearly 1.4 million metric tons of copper over a construction and production period of nearly 30 years, plus 2.6 million ounces of gold and 28.1 million ounces of silver via two tunnels up to 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) deep. They’d run beneath three rural mountain neighborhoods in Jericó, where people traditionally grow coffee, plantain and newer crops like avocado. Picking ripe coffee cherries from the trees on his farmland on the outskirts of Jericó, Colombia, Argirio Tobón Tamayo, 58, explains that he&#8217;s relied on the crop for his livelihood since he was a boy. He worries that the Quebradona copper&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/in-a-village-divided-farmers-stall-massive-copper-mine-in-colombian-andes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/in-a-village-divided-farmers-stall-massive-copper-mine-in-colombian-andes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282668</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As miner quells protests in Ecuador, Canadian firms’ rights record faces scrutiny</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-miner-quells-protests-in-ecuador-canadian-firms-rights-record-faces-scrutiny/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-miner-quells-protests-in-ecuador-canadian-firms-rights-record-faces-scrutiny/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2024 16:02:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/15151339/Atico-Mining-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282137</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Copper, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Energy, Environment, Gold Mining, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Mining, Protests, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Violent crackdowns by Ecuadorian security forces on antimining protesters there have highlighted the outsize role that Canadian mining companies play in human rights abuses in other countries, and the failure by the government in Ottawa to police their conduct. The latest controversy centers on Atico Mining, headquartered in Vancouver, whose La Plata gold and copper [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Violent crackdowns by Ecuadorian security forces on antimining protesters there have highlighted the outsize role that Canadian mining companies play in human rights abuses in other countries, and the failure by the government in Ottawa to police their conduct. The latest controversy centers on Atico Mining, headquartered in Vancouver, whose La Plata gold and copper project in Ecuador’s Cotopaxi province, near Quito, has been opposed by residents for at least 15 years. At least 36 protesters were injured, one seriously, along with about 40 security personnel, in a series of protests that began on March 11 and turned violent after the company called in hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel to quell the protests. The protesters, largely campesino farmers, were opposed to a reported attempt to revive a consultation process by Atico that would put the stalled mining project back on the table. Clashes broke out again on March 18, after which 72 protesters were charged and accused of being “terrorists,” and again on March 19, when they set two security vehicles on fire, according to police. On March 25, an Ecuadorian court temporarily suspended the consultation process in response to a legal protection action filed by the mayor of Sigchos, home to the parish of Pablo Quemado where the consultation would have taken place. The mayor called for the “effective and immediate protection of the rights recognized in the Constitution and international human rights instruments, the declaration of the violation of one or more rights, as well as comprehensive&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-miner-quells-protests-in-ecuador-canadian-firms-rights-record-faces-scrutiny/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-miner-quells-protests-in-ecuador-canadian-firms-rights-record-faces-scrutiny/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282137</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental defenders paid the price during Panama’s historic mining protests &#8211; report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/environmental-defenders-paid-the-price-during-panamas-historic-mining-protests-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/environmental-defenders-paid-the-price-during-panamas-historic-mining-protests-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 May 2024 21:40:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/14212338/015-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282094</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Conservation, Copper, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Freshwater, Indigenous Peoples, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Law Enforcement, Mining, Murdered Activists, Politics, Pollution, Rainforests, Social Justice, Threats To Rainforests, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Panama is still trying to understand the extent of the violence that took place during the massive, nationwide protests last year. Groups from all corners of the country, from teacher unions to hospital workers to Indigenous communities, were targeted by law enforcement while speaking out against pollution, deforestation and water shortages allegedly caused by the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Panama is still trying to understand the extent of the violence that took place during the massive, nationwide protests last year. Groups from all corners of the country, from teacher unions to hospital workers to Indigenous communities, were targeted by law enforcement while speaking out against pollution, deforestation and water shortages allegedly caused by the Cobre Panamá copper mine. The Supreme Court eventually ruled Minera Panamá’s contract as unconstitutional, forcing the operation to close. But not before countless protesters were injured, lost their eyesight or were arrested on questionable grounds, according to a new report on the violence. “The Panamanian people have repeatedly and firmly said that they do not approve of metallic mining because of the negative impacts on biodiversity and for the quality of water for hundreds of communities,” said Damaris Sanchez Samudio of FUNDICCEP, one of the organizations that commissioned the report. “We denounce and reject all forms of aggression against environmental defenders who are protecting life, forests, rivers, coasts and mangroves.” Panama’s Ombudsman office estimated that more than 100 people were injured during the protests. But the report — which was also supported by Earthworks, MiningWatch Canada and Panama is Worth More Without Mining — said that that number is likely much higher. Injuries included burns and respiratory distress from tear gas as well as partial or total vision loss from pellets and “pepper balls” fired by law enforcement. Two of the victims with vision loss were minors, according to the Ombudsman office. Two protesters were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/environmental-defenders-paid-the-price-during-panamas-historic-mining-protests-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/environmental-defenders-paid-the-price-during-panamas-historic-mining-protests-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282094</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Impunity and pollution abound in DRC mining along the road to the energy transition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/impunity-and-pollution-abound-in-drc-mining-along-the-road-to-energy-transition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/impunity-and-pollution-abound-in-drc-mining-along-the-road-to-energy-transition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 May 2024 14:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Didier Makal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/09192731/Loading-of-minerals-from-artisanal-mines-in-Kakanda.-Photo-by-Didier-Makal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281888</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Cobalt Capital]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Business, Clean Energy, cobalt, Conflict, Copper, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Health, Human Rights, Just Transition, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Mining, Mongabay Data Studio, Mongabay investigation, Politics, Pollution, Public Health, Social Justice, Trade, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network. &#160; LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) — On Oct. 13, 2023, on National Road 39, a police officer gestures for us to slow down. The narrow road has been reduced to a single lane from the usual two. A damaged truck lies [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network. &nbsp; LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) — On Oct. 13, 2023, on National Road 39, a police officer gestures for us to slow down. The narrow road has been reduced to a single lane from the usual two. A damaged truck lies in the Dikulwe River, to the left of the bridge to Fungurume, in Lualaba province in southeast DRC. To the right, downstream of the river, the bridge’s guardrails are gone, and another wrecked truck lies overturned. A yellowish substance remains on the riverbank. The reeds in the riverbed under the bridge are burned. It’s sulfuric acid, used for cobalt and copper mining, critical minerals in the energy transition and the lifeblood of the regional economy. Agents clean the river with masks that have seen better days. Click the play button here to listen to an audio version of this article: Sulfur on the ground in Dikuluwe. Image by Didier Makal. The cleanup will take more than a week, some say. Five kilometers (3 miles) downstream in Kibangabwa, residents continue to collect dead fish following the acid spill in the river, their source of drinking water. However, on the day of the accident, Jacques Mumba, the head of the Fungurume environmental department, wanted to assure everyone that there would be no danger to the population. According to Mumba, the river would decontaminate itself 30 minutes later. The company that caused the spill faced no known consequences.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/impunity-and-pollution-abound-in-drc-mining-along-the-road-to-energy-transition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/impunity-and-pollution-abound-in-drc-mining-along-the-road-to-energy-transition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281888</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women weave a culture of resistance and agroecology in Ecuador’s Intag Valley</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/women-weave-a-culture-of-resistance-and-agroecology-in-ecuadors-intag-valley/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/women-weave-a-culture-of-resistance-and-agroecology-in-ecuadors-intag-valley/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2024 15:09:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/25004049/Coin-purse-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281337</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[INTAG VALLEY, Ecuador — In Ecuador&#8217;s lush tropical Andes, Silvia Vetancourt multitasks, her hands maneuvering crochet needles with swift precision as she navigates the rocky path to the old town of Plaza Gutierrez. &#8220;We like this craft because it&#8217;s mobile,&#8221; she says, holding out a piece of a small coin purse she’s been working on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[INTAG VALLEY, Ecuador — In Ecuador&#8217;s lush tropical Andes, Silvia Vetancourt multitasks, her hands maneuvering crochet needles with swift precision as she navigates the rocky path to the old town of Plaza Gutierrez. &#8220;We like this craft because it&#8217;s mobile,&#8221; she says, holding out a piece of a small coin purse she’s been working on on the trail. &#8220;It makes us free.&#8221; Vetancourt is the secretary of Mujer y Medio Ambiente (Women and the Environment), or MYMA, the oldest women&#8217;s group in Intag Valley, Ecuador. Founded in 1995, the artisan collective developed an innovative way to dye and stitch fibers from the cabuya plant (Furcraea andina) into products ranging from mats to hats. Silvia Vetancourt holds out a coin purse she is crocheting from cabuya fiber on the path to Plaza Gutierrez, Ecuador. Large, spiky, cabuya planta are seen in the background. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. Members of the group told Mongabay that being part of MYMA has given them confidence, camaraderie, and more control over their choices. It has also kept them organized during Intag Valley&#8217;s famed resistance movement, a nearly 30-year struggle to keep mining companies out of their forests. &#8220;We have been the first women&#8217;s organization and have been in every moment of the resistance,&#8221; says Vetancourt, who is also president of Mujeres Intag, which oversees at least a dozen women&#8217;s entrepreneurial groups in the region. An agroecological haven Intag Valley sits in the heart of the tropical Andes, the most biodiverse of the world&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/women-weave-a-culture-of-resistance-and-agroecology-in-ecuadors-intag-valley/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/women-weave-a-culture-of-resistance-and-agroecology-in-ecuadors-intag-valley/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281337</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to ‘stop mining before it starts’: Interview with community organizer Carlos Zorrilla</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/stop-the-mining-before-it-starts-interview-with-community-organizer-carlos-zorrilla/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/stop-the-mining-before-it-starts-interview-with-community-organizer-carlos-zorrilla/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2024 21:29:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/09180412/Carlos-in-DECOIN-768x465.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280683</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Carlos Zorrilla is a leader in what locals say is the longest continuous resistance movement against mining in Latin America. Zorrilla’s family fled from Cuba to the U.S. in 1962 when he was 11 years old.  He moved to the Intag Valley in Ecuador in the 1970s, citing his love for the cloud forest ecosystem [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Carlos Zorrilla is a leader in what locals say is the longest continuous resistance movement against mining in Latin America. Zorrilla’s family fled from Cuba to the U.S. in 1962 when he was 11 years old.  He moved to the Intag Valley in Ecuador in the 1970s, citing his love for the cloud forest ecosystem there. Soon after he arrived, so did the first of the mining companies. Over the following decades, Zorrilla and the organizations he co-founded, including DECOIN (Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag), helped block five transnational mining companies and a national company from developing operations in one of the planet&#8217;s most biodiverse ecosystems. In the process, Zorrilla and community members say they faced personal threats, smear campaigns, arrests and violence. But the movement also notched historic wins, including a constitutional case upholding the rights of nature against Chilean state-owned miner Codelco and the Ecuadorian national mining company in 2023. Community members holding a sign that says, &#8220;let&#8217;s save Intag.&#8221; Communities in Intag Valley have been resisting mining for nearly 30 years. Photo by Carlos Zorrilla. As a leader and public figure, Zorrilla is often sought out for advice by people facing similar threats. In response, he and two co-authors published Protecting Your Community From Mining and Other Extractive Operations: A Guide for Resistance in 2009 and an updated version in 2016. (The guide is also available in Spanish, French and Bahasa Indonesian). &#8220;After getting rid of two mining companies, I was constantly being asked how the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/stop-the-mining-before-it-starts-interview-with-community-organizer-carlos-zorrilla/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/stop-the-mining-before-it-starts-interview-with-community-organizer-carlos-zorrilla/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280683</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Proposed copper mine modifications spark community outcry in Peru</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/proposed-copper-mine-modifications-spark-community-outcry-in-peru/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/proposed-copper-mine-modifications-spark-community-outcry-in-peru/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2024 18:25:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Sax]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/11180659/Mina_Las_Bambas2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279714</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Conflict, Copper, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Land Rights, Mining, Noise Pollution, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In late December 2023, when communities in the southeastern Peruvian province of Cotabambas received a copy of proposed modifications to the Las Bambas copper mine, they were at first surprised, and then frustrated. The document, which arrived between Christmas and New Year’s, contained a proposal to almost double the mining operation but lacked detailed studies [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In late December 2023, when communities in the southeastern Peruvian province of Cotabambas received a copy of proposed modifications to the Las Bambas copper mine, they were at first surprised, and then frustrated. The document, which arrived between Christmas and New Year’s, contained a proposal to almost double the mining operation but lacked detailed studies on its environmental impact on aquifers, wetlands and rivers, which are crucial to the communities. Yet, they were given mere weeks to send in comments. In response, around a dozen organizations sent a letter to the agency of environmental certification for sustainable investment (SENACE), requesting they annul the amendment. “They didn’t consult with us at all, they only sent notifications,” said Walter Contreras, a local leader of the Cotabambas Defense Front, one of several organizations that signed the letter. It was impossible to infer from the document what exactly the impacts were going to be for communities like his, which are directly in the mine’s impact zone. The open-pit mine of Las Bambas sits at 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) above sea level. It is one of the largest copper mines in the world, producing up to 2% of the world&#8217;s copper, a critical mineral for the clean energy transition. In theory, Las Bambas can produce 320,000 metric tons  of copper concentrate a year, but widespread protests over the social and environmental impacts of the mine and the transport of minerals have never allowed the mine to fulfill that potential. Piece of copper. Image by Marta&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/proposed-copper-mine-modifications-spark-community-outcry-in-peru/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/proposed-copper-mine-modifications-spark-community-outcry-in-peru/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279714</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Java rice farmers suffer crop failure as copper mine pollutes local irrigation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/java-rice-farmers-suffer-crop-failure-as-copper-mine-pollutes-local-irrigation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/java-rice-farmers-suffer-crop-failure-as-copper-mine-pollutes-local-irrigation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2024 15:12:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Asad Asnawi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/11151134/Parno--768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279620</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Java, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Copper, Crops, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Mining, Poisoning, Politics, Pollution, Rice, Tropical Forests, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PACITAN, Indonesia — Parno looked weary at he stared out over his rice field, occasionally shaking his head as he considered prospects for the coming harvest. “How can I not be angry?” the 69-year-old told Mongabay Indonesia at his field in Cokrokembang village. “It’s been 20 days and the plants are not growing.” Like many [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PACITAN, Indonesia — Parno looked weary at he stared out over his rice field, occasionally shaking his head as he considered prospects for the coming harvest. “How can I not be angry?” the 69-year-old told Mongabay Indonesia at his field in Cokrokembang village. “It’s been 20 days and the plants are not growing.” Like many farmers here in this northern pocket of East Java’s Pacitan district, Parno has long suspected his rice plants were failing due to contamination of the community’s irrigation source. He blames pollution from a copper mine in the hills above his field operated by PT Gemilang Limpah Internusa (GLI). Rice fields in the area that use water from other sources seemed to be thriving. And the fields farther downstream were healthy enough. However, Parno’s rice plants appeared stunted, wilting under the sun with a sickly yellow tint. GLI’s copper mine is located in the upland in Kluwih village, around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) northwest of Parno’s farm. Waste from the mine appears to have seeped into the Kedung Pinihan River, which runs through a valley passing Cokrokembang’s rice fields. The pollution in the river is visible with the naked eye: some rounded boulders in the water have turned a lurid yellowish orange, while mud deposits thickened the further Mongabay followed it upstream toward the mining concession. Parno has tried planting soybeans and corn, but the results were even worse and all the plants died. He tried to replant the entire field with rice, but the new&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/java-rice-farmers-suffer-crop-failure-as-copper-mine-pollutes-local-irrigation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/java-rice-farmers-suffer-crop-failure-as-copper-mine-pollutes-local-irrigation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279620</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expansion of Ecuador mine risks ‘imminent’ collapse of waste dam, experts warn</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/expansion-of-ecuador-mine-risks-imminent-collapse-of-waste-dam-experts-warn/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/expansion-of-ecuador-mine-risks-imminent-collapse-of-waste-dam-experts-warn/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2023 14:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Collyns]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/03170923/Mirador-Mine-Oct23-Image-by-David-Chambers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275000</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Copper, Energy, Environment, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Use Change, Mining, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Shuar communities and local mayors in southern Ecuador have demanded immediate help in light of the “imminent” potential collapse of a massive dam holding mining waste, set in the high rainforest of the Cordillera del Cóndor, a key watershed of rivers in the western Amazon. The tailings dam is part of one of Ecuador’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Shuar communities and local mayors in southern Ecuador have demanded immediate help in light of the “imminent” potential collapse of a massive dam holding mining waste, set in the high rainforest of the Cordillera del Cóndor, a key watershed of rivers in the western Amazon. The tailings dam is part of one of Ecuador’s biggest mining projects, El Mirador, which holds an estimated 3.2 million metric tons of copper, 3.4 million ounces of gold and 27.1 million ounces of silver. EcuaCorriente S.A. (ECSA), a subsidiary of the Chinese consortium CRCC-Tongguan, began operating El Mirador in 2019 and has a 30-year concession to exploit the $1.4 billion mine in the Cordillera del Cóndor, a jungle mountain range straddling Ecuador’s Amazon frontier with northern Peru. Almost doubling the size of the Tundayme Dam would be very risky in an area that is prone to earthquakes and heavy rains. A failure in the dam could be catastrophic for neighboring communities and ecosystems. Image by David Chambers. In 2012, the government of then-president Rafael Correa signed a contract with ECSA for the mining concession in the southern province of Zamora Chinchipe. Since then, the local Shuar Indigenous people, in Tundayme, have been pushed off their land, which has been deforested, while their three principal rivers, the Quimi, Tundayme and Wawayme, have been polluted by mining waste. Now the mine is expanding, aiming to boost production fivefold to 140,000 metric tons of ore per day. This calls for doubling the size of the current tailings&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/expansion-of-ecuador-mine-risks-imminent-collapse-of-waste-dam-experts-warn/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/expansion-of-ecuador-mine-risks-imminent-collapse-of-waste-dam-experts-warn/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275000</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tensions flare as Ecuador’s environment consultation process is put to the test</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/tensions-flare-as-ecuadors-environment-consultation-process-is-put-to-the-test/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/tensions-flare-as-ecuadors-environment-consultation-process-is-put-to-the-test/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2023 16:58:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kimberley Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/16160912/009_Las-Naves-Ecuador_VMendez-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274331</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Copper, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Forests, Gold Mining, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Protests, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LAS NAVES, Ecuador — The small farming community of Las Naves in the center of Ecuador is surrounded by a rich variety of crops crawling up hillsides next to large patches of rainforest. Everything grows in this tropical climate, from sweet pitahayas to at least five varieties of oranges. Locals proudly talk about nine waterfalls [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LAS NAVES, Ecuador — The small farming community of Las Naves in the center of Ecuador is surrounded by a rich variety of crops crawling up hillsides next to large patches of rainforest. Everything grows in this tropical climate, from sweet pitahayas to at least five varieties of oranges. Locals proudly talk about nine waterfalls in the region that are little explored by tourists, making the place seem like a well-kept secret. But Las Naves isn’t always a quiet town. Earlier this year, violent clashes erupted between police and locals protesting a planned copper and gold mine after outgoing President Guillermo Lasso passed a controversial decree shaping how environmental consultations are carried out. The decree may fast-track consultations to green-light large-scale infrastructure projects, including the protested El Domo-Curipamba mine, set to be the country’s third large-scale mine. Today, the town is anxiously awaiting the Constitutional Court’s review of the decree. Farmers say the mine will deplete and contaminate the local water sources they depend on for their crops and livelihoods. Other locals say the mine has already created needed jobs for the community, while the Ecuadorian government maintains that Curipamba will generate more than $3.6 billion in mining exports in its first year of operation alone. Protests against the project, owned by Ecuadorian company Curimining (held by the Canadian companies Adventus Mining and Salazar Resources), have often turned violent throughout the years during clashes with police. And Las Naves isn’t the only place. “They never informed the people, the inhabitants&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/tensions-flare-as-ecuadors-environment-consultation-process-is-put-to-the-test/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/tensions-flare-as-ecuadors-environment-consultation-process-is-put-to-the-test/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274331</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chile government faces backlash after U-turn on copper mine</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2023 11:56:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Boris van der Spek]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/20104615/Campamento_minero-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270001</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Copper, Drinking Water, Environment, Freshwater, Glaciers, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Infrastructure, Mining, Politics, Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Macarena Martinic wasn’t surprised earlier this year when the Chilean government said yes to extending the life of Los Bronces, a large, centuries-old open-pit copper mine in the Andes, an hour&#8217;s drive from the capital, Santiago. &#8220;A week earlier, Chilean Economy Minister Nicolás Grau mentioned how important the mine was to the Chilean economy,” says [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Macarena Martinic wasn’t surprised earlier this year when the Chilean government said yes to extending the life of Los Bronces, a large, centuries-old open-pit copper mine in the Andes, an hour&#8217;s drive from the capital, Santiago. &#8220;A week earlier, Chilean Economy Minister Nicolás Grau mentioned how important the mine was to the Chilean economy,” says Martinic, a lawyer with FIMA, an environmental NGO. “To be fair, we already felt the storm coming. Nevertheless, I was very disappointed. This approval is a big contradiction in what this government projects.” Los Bronces was discovered and first exploited in 1867, when the mountainous region lacked adequate infrastructure, and the technology to extract minerals from the ground was limited. In the early 20th century, mining operations took off in earnest, turning Los Bronces into one of Chile&#8217;s largest copper mines, currently producing nearly 330,000 metric tons of the metal per year. In May 2022, the Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA), the Chilean government’s environmental regulator, determined that new plans by Anglo American, the U.K.-headquartered mining giant with a majority stake in Los Bronces, would threaten the health of residents of surrounding areas. It rejected Anglo American’s plans to extend its operations, warning that air quality would be severely impacted by mining and that surrounding glaciers could melt faster because of snow pollution. Dust pollution from mining could affect the life of glaciers in the vicinity of the mine as dust pollution would increase ice melting. Image by Shriram Rajagopalan via Flickr 2.0. In response to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chile-government-faces-backlash-after-u-turn-on-copper-mine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A powerful U.S. political family is behind a copper mine in the Colombian rainforest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/a-powerful-political-family-from-new-hampshire-is-behind-a-copper-mine-in-the-colombian-rainforest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/a-powerful-political-family-from-new-hampshire-is-behind-a-copper-mine-in-the-colombian-rainforest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jun 2023 16:04:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrés Bermúdez Liévano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/14155741/Portada-Una-famila-CV2-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269819</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, Investigation, and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Andes, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Copper, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Gold Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Renewable Energy, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This investigation is a collaboration between the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), NBC News, Mongabay and El Espectador, with support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network. Conservation of the Amazon rainforest is Colombia&#8217;s greatest contribution to solving the global climate crisis. In recent years, the Colombian jungle that forms part of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This investigation is a collaboration between the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), NBC News, Mongabay and El Espectador, with support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network. Conservation of the Amazon rainforest is Colombia&#8217;s greatest contribution to solving the global climate crisis. In recent years, the Colombian jungle that forms part of the Amazon, the world&#8217;s largest continuous rainforest, has climbed many rungs in official political discourse. Gustavo Petro, the current president, called it one of the four &#8220;pillars of the planet&#8217;s climate&#8221; and proposed that countries be allowed to swap their foreign debt for environmental services that would keep it standing. His predecessor, Iván Duque, said that &#8220;protecting the Amazon is not an option, but a moral duty&#8221; and the previous president, Juan Manuel Santos, created the world&#8217;s largest rainforest national park. These pledges will be put to the test by plans to open a copper mine in the highlands of Putumayo, where the Andean peaks meet the Amazon rainforest. If brought to fruition, the mine promoted by Canadian company Libero Copper in Mocoa would be the first major legal mining project in the Colombian Amazon. Incidentally, it could bring with it the felling of a forest that is protected today and that the country proposed to expand just a decade ago to safeguard it. A common squirrel monkey in Colombian Amazon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. There are substantial arguments in favor of the mine. It would be Colombia&#8217;s largest endeavor in copper, a mineral the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/a-powerful-political-family-from-new-hampshire-is-behind-a-copper-mine-in-the-colombian-rainforest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/a-powerful-political-family-from-new-hampshire-is-behind-a-copper-mine-in-the-colombian-rainforest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269819</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ecuador court upholds ‘rights of nature,’ blocks Intag Valley copper mine</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/ecuador-court-upholds-rights-of-nature-blocks-intag-valley-copper-mine/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/ecuador-court-upholds-rights-of-nature-blocks-intag-valley-copper-mine/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2023 15:40:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/08164031/Intag_RobertoPointsJunin_Romi-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267079</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Human Rights, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Communities in the Intag Valley of Ecuador have won a significant legal victory after a court ruled to halt copper mining in one of the world’s most biodiverse forests. The Imbabura Provincial Court ruled on March 29 that Chilean copper producer Codelco and Ecuador&#8217;s Empresa Nacional Minera (ENAMI EP) had violated communities&#8217; constitutional right to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Communities in the Intag Valley of Ecuador have won a significant legal victory after a court ruled to halt copper mining in one of the world’s most biodiverse forests. The Imbabura Provincial Court ruled on March 29 that Chilean copper producer Codelco and Ecuador&#8217;s Empresa Nacional Minera (ENAMI EP) had violated communities&#8217; constitutional right to consultation as well as the rights of nature, thus canceling their mining licenses. The decision represents a major victory for communities in the Intag Valley, who have been resisting mining projects in the region for nearly 30 years in what locals say is the longest continuous resistance movement against mining in Latin America. &#8220;It really seemed impossible to me to be able to achieve this. However, I knew that we were demanding what was fair and that we were telling the truth,” said Marcia Ramirez, a local community activist who has been part of the resistance since its inception. “We fought for the truth and for our rights, and today they are fulfilled.” “This is another victory for the communities of Intag against mining companies that have been trying to enter the area for several decades,” Mario Moncayo, one of the lawyers representing the Intag communities, told Mongabay. “This will likely put a stop to mining activity in Intag for several years, if not permanently.” The ruling could have significant implications for future cases involving extractive industries in Ecuador. In 2008, Ecuador adopted a new Constitution that recognizes the rights of nature, making it the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/ecuador-court-upholds-rights-of-nature-blocks-intag-valley-copper-mine/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/ecuador-court-upholds-rights-of-nature-blocks-intag-valley-copper-mine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267079</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plan to mine ‘clean energy’ metals in Colombian Amazon splits communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/plan-to-mine-clean-energy-metals-in-colombian-amazon-splits-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/plan-to-mine-clean-energy-metals-in-colombian-amazon-splits-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Mar 2023 21:34:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Natalia Torres Garzón]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/22202509/04_ACASCIO_Libero_Copper_2-scaled-e1679517721565-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266766</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Covering Climate Now, Global Commodities, Land rights and extractives, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Andes, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Clean Energy, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Copper, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fossils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Mining, Politics, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MOCOA, Colombia — “We are experiencing a profound crisis, not only in the Amazon but throughout humanity,” said Campo Elías de la Cruz, a Catholic priest and environmental activist who opposes mining activity in Colombia’s Putumayo region. “Over these three centuries, the umbilical cord of Mother Earth has been cut. Thousands of rubber trees were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MOCOA, Colombia — “We are experiencing a profound crisis, not only in the Amazon but throughout humanity,” said Campo Elías de la Cruz, a Catholic priest and environmental activist who opposes mining activity in Colombia’s Putumayo region. “Over these three centuries, the umbilical cord of Mother Earth has been cut. Thousands of rubber trees were cut down alongside 70,000 Indigenous people who died during the exploitation of rubber, timber, quinine and oil. And today, in the 21st century, they tell us they are taking the copper from Mother Earth.” Campo Elias is referring to the rubber, quinine and timber rush that happened in the Amazon region during colonization. And also of current plans to explore and mine for copper and molybdenum to feed clean energy technologies in what could be one of the largest deposits of these minerals on the continent and in the world. In this richly biodiverse region, where the cool mountains of the Andes meet the Amazon Rainforest, opinions are divided and emotions are high among communities over the environmental and social costs of hosting this green mining project and the jobs it promises to bring. A monkey known as the Andean saddle-back tamarin (Leontocebus fuscicollis), is seen in the Mocoa area. The Putumayo region is a rich area in biodiversity with more than 150 animal species. Image by Antonio Cascio for Mongabay. In 2018, Canadian multinational Libero Copper acquired four mining titles to explore for and exploit minerals such as copper and molybdenum across more than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/plan-to-mine-clean-energy-metals-in-colombian-amazon-splits-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/plan-to-mine-clean-energy-metals-in-colombian-amazon-splits-communities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266766</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Ecuador, communities protecting a ‘terrestrial coral reef’ face a mining giant</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/in-ecuador-communities-protecting-a-terrestrial-coral-reef-face-a-mining-giant/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/in-ecuador-communities-protecting-a-terrestrial-coral-reef-face-a-mining-giant/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jan 2023 20:31:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/08163402/Intag_Roberto_Romi-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264404</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation Potential]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Herps, Land Conflict, Mining, Mongabay Data Studio, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[INTAG VALLEY, ECUADOR — Hundreds of moths land on a white sheet, lit like a false moon in the still, dark forest. Elegant silver ones, fist-sized moths with spots on their wings, fuzzy little citrine fellows, some exquisitely camouflaged in neutral tones, and some announcing their toxicity in vivid colors. For three nights, we lure [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[INTAG VALLEY, ECUADOR — Hundreds of moths land on a white sheet, lit like a false moon in the still, dark forest. Elegant silver ones, fist-sized moths with spots on their wings, fuzzy little citrine fellows, some exquisitely camouflaged in neutral tones, and some announcing their toxicity in vivid colors. For three nights, we lure them with bright lamps and watch as they emerge and dance on the property of Carlos Zorrilla in the Intag Valley, Ecuador — one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. “On many nights, I see something I haven&#8217;t seen before,” Zorrilla said. “After all these years, I&#8217;m still finding new species that I haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years … You get a real sense of the biodiversity of a place when you do something like this.” For decades, Zorrilla has been a leader in the effort to conserve, restore and defend the cloud forests in Intag, and of what he and other locals say is the longest continuous resistance movement against mining in Latin America. Carlos Zorrilla &#8220;light sheeting&#8221; to observe moths on his property in the cloud forests of Intag Valley, Ecuador. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. When Zorrilla greets us at the edge of his property on a sunny day in late November, his face doesn’t betray decades of struggle. He smiles broadly under a bushy white mustache, two golden retrievers prancing at his heels. “Welcome to paradise,” he says. Paradise is an apt description. Imagine a jungle.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/in-ecuador-communities-protecting-a-terrestrial-coral-reef-face-a-mining-giant/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/in-ecuador-communities-protecting-a-terrestrial-coral-reef-face-a-mining-giant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264404</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Activists welcome decision to revoke permit for controversial Philippine gold mine</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/activists-welcome-decision-to-revoke-permit-for-controversial-philippine-gold-mine/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/activists-welcome-decision-to-revoke-permit-for-controversial-philippine-gold-mine/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2022 13:29:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bong S. Sarmiento]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/21132551/tampakan-facility-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=260537</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Development, Conflict, Copper, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TAMPAKAN, Philippines — In a move celebrated by anti-mining activists, local officials in the southern Philippine municipality of Tampakan have canceled the business permit for a controversial copper and gold mine, citing alleged fraud and misrepresentation by the operator, Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI). “The firm does not have a permit anymore from the local government [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TAMPAKAN, Philippines — In a move celebrated by anti-mining activists, local officials in the southern Philippine municipality of Tampakan have canceled the business permit for a controversial copper and gold mine, citing alleged fraud and misrepresentation by the operator, Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI). “The firm does not have a permit anymore from the local government to operate in our jurisdiction. We closed their facility here,” Tampakan Mayor Leonard Escobillo said at a press conference on Sept. 16. According to Escobillo’s order revoking the company&#8217;s permit, SMI declared itself a mineral exploration manufacturer in its permit application. But an assessment by the local government found the company to be operating as a general engineering contractor. In canceling SMI’s permit, the mayor said he was enforcing the Municipal Tax Code of 2012, which allows local authorities to revoke or deny business permits if the applicant deliberately made false statements in their application. “There’s nothing personal in this case,&#8221; Escobillo told reporters. &#8220;We are just doing our obligation, which is to implement our tax ordinance.&#8221; According to local officials, the alleged irregularities came to light during a general audit of businesses operating in the municipality. Mongabay sought a comment from SMI but the firm did not respond as of the time this story was published. Tampakan Mayor Leonard Escobillo (in pink shirt) discusses the revocation of the mayor&#8217;s permit issued to Sagittarius Mines, Inc. on Friday, Sept. 16, during a press conference at the municipal hall. Photo by Bong S. Sarmiento. Welcome news&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/activists-welcome-decision-to-revoke-permit-for-controversial-philippine-gold-mine/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/activists-welcome-decision-to-revoke-permit-for-controversial-philippine-gold-mine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-260537</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Open-pit mining ban lifted in Philippine province, clearing way for copper project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/open-pit-mining-ban-lifted-in-philippine-province-clearing-way-for-copper-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/open-pit-mining-ban-lifted-in-philippine-province-clearing-way-for-copper-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2022 12:19:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bong S. Sarmiento]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/18121635/Open-pit-mining-ban-lifted-in-Philippine-province-clearing-way-for-copper-project-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255961</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Copper, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MINDANAO, Philippines – Legislators in the southern Philippine province of South Cotabato moved this week to overturn a 12-year-old provincial ban on open-pit mining that has for years stalled the development of a $5.9 billion copper and gold mine. The May 16 decision to lift the ban came five months after the Department of Environment [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MINDANAO, Philippines – Legislators in the southern Philippine province of South Cotabato moved this week to overturn a 12-year-old provincial ban on open-pit mining that has for years stalled the development of a $5.9 billion copper and gold mine. The May 16 decision to lift the ban came five months after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) rescinded a nationwide prohibition on open-pit mining put in place in 2017. Eleven members of the South Cotabato provincial board unanimously approved the lifting of the provincial ban on open-pit mining, exactly a week after the May 9 national and local elections. (Four board members were absent for the vote.) The proposal to amend the landmark environmental code of South Cotabato, including the removal of the open-pit mining ban, breezed through easily without the board members even explaining their votes. Bishop Cerilo Casicas, who heads the Catholic Diocese of Marbel where the Tampakan project is located, said the lifting of the ban marked a sad day for South Cotabato. “The amendment allows all forms of mining, including open-pit, in the province. And the future of the province was decided in less than 15 minutes,” he said in a statement. “The saddest tragedy hitting our province is that only [11 people] decided for the fate of almost a million people of South Cotabato, not counting the future generation,” he added. South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. can still reverse the decision of the provincial board by vetoing it. But if he signs the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/open-pit-mining-ban-lifted-in-philippine-province-clearing-way-for-copper-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/open-pit-mining-ban-lifted-in-philippine-province-clearing-way-for-copper-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255961</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>