[Viva] mail out - mining justice & media coop

Fri May 6 16:46:51 PDT 2011

Hola peoples!

This is Tami Starlight.
Admin of the listserv, activist & organizer.
I am posting important information of up and coming mining justice events
here in Vancouver.
Concluding with some important information about mining justice & Media coop
membership call out.
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca
http://dnchome.wordpress.com

-- 
Meegwetch/Thank you/Merci
*Tami M. Starlight*
Vancouver, Canada
tamistarlight at gmail.com
tami.cosmic (facebook)
tami_starlight (twitter)
604-200-2445home
604-790-9943cell

#1
Here is important info for up and coming actions regarding the terrible
affects of irresponsible and criminal mining on communities. To which most
are indigenous peoples. (many of these mining companies have their head
offices here in Vancouver & Toronto)
http://miningjusticealliance.wordpress.com/

#2
Hola todos,

You want to CRASH and tell stories across the street of each event of Mining
Week?

We have:
- 30' long cloth-mural (done by 65 youth in Guate commenting on Goldcorp,
check out video: www.goldminingart.com)
- LIVE painting: another 35' long mural inviting public to paint, chat,
learn, watch...
- we also have an amplifier and a microphone for anyone who wants to
perform, speak...

I am open to do all of the events, BUT I NEED CONFIRMATION ON WHO WOULD BE
THERE WITH ME. I don't really know much about mining inside BC, so having
people on site that KNOWS the stories from here is crucial. This would also
be a good space to promote the mining-resistance events, and handout
pamphlets w info...

Below are the Dates, Type of event, Time, and Places. I am DEFINITELY doing
the one on the 12th (Fundraiser for BC's Children Hospital), there is a
direct connection with the Gatemalan project seeing that Goldcorp is another
funder of bc's children hospital foundation. But again, I AM open to do all
of them and spread out the local stories.

SO, WHO's IN?

pa'delante, Melanie

....CRASHING MINING WEEK, with big strong images, color, live performing,
live painting...

MON MAY 9TH ---- 4:30PM UNTIL 9:ish... ---- PAN PACIFIC PLAZA

 CRASHING *Opening Reception “BC Mining Week Kick-Off & Mining Person of the
Year Award”* (friends and colleagues of all segments of mining industry in
BC are opening ‘mining-week-kick-off’ with a night of “jazz, nibble on
delicious food while taking in spectacular views of Vancouver Harbour!”)* *5:30
pm – 8:30 pm @  Five Sails Restaurant <http://www.fivesails.ca/index.html>,
Pan Pacific Hotel

MAY 10th ---- 11:00AM UNTIL 3ish ---- PAN PACIFIC PLAZA

 CRASHING *Vancouver Board of Trade Distinguished Speaker Luncheon (*The
provincial mining sector is growing at a rate not seen in a generation.
Mines and smelters that have been operating for many years are making major
investments in modernization, while new mines are under construction, and
several operators are in advanced permitting and exploration stages.)*
*11:45 am  Lunch and Program: 12:15 – 2 pm. Crystal Ballroom,  Pan
Pacific Hotel<http://www.panpacific.com/en/Vancouver/hotel_information/location.html>

 CRASHING *Mining Suppliers Association of British Columbia Annual General
Meeting* 2:00pm Location: Pan Pacific Hotel <http://tinyurl.com/3prsfnp>

MAY 11th

 CRASHING *Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) – MABC Press Conference*

(...Now more than ever, it is prudent that industry operators demonstrate
sustainable management by identifying new and better ways to extract the
minerals that are critical to a clean and green economy...) 10:00 am Burrard
Suite, Fairmont Waterfront Hotel <http://tinyurl.com/3v4yoyz>, 900 Canada
Place Way

MAY 12 at 11ish ...VAG

* CRASHING Teck’s Annual Celebrity Pie Throw Fundraiser*

*Thursday, May 12 from 11:30am – 1:30pm* (“Part of the Mining for Miracles
campaign* in support of BC Children’s Hospital, BC’s mining industry Charity
of Choice for 24 years”) Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza, bordered by Georgia,
Hornby & Howe Streets.

#3
==============================================================================

This is from one of the leading groups of experts and activists on economics
from a Global South perspective:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DAWN <info at dawnnet.org>
Date: Thu, May 5, 2011 at 6:57 PM
Subject: Bauxite Mining in Fiji - 7 Deadly Steps?
To: wings at wings.org

Article available at
www.dawnnet.org<http://www.dawnnet.org/advocacy-appeals.php?signon=141&id=141>

*Noelene Nabulivou, DAWN Associate, Gender, Economic and Ecological Justice
(GEEJ)/Rio+20
(29/03/2011)*

There is a need to situate any discussion about mining in Fiji and the
Pacific within a deeper and more complex discussion that touches on issues
of regionality, trade, aid, militarisation, gender and ecological
sustainability.

While this can happen over time, there is currently a more immediate and
pressing need. The final public submission process for the planned bauxite
mine in Vanua Levu, Fiji is on RIGHT NOW. Provisional mining licences have
already been granted to Aurum Exploration Limited, a Chinese mining company.
It is also clear that Fiji, with other Pacific countries such as Papua New
Guinea, Solomon Islands and Bougainville are keen to continue and upscale
further partnerships with Chinese, Australian and other companies. Harvey
Probert, the Chairman of Fiji's Mining and Quarrying Council has predicted,
for example, that mining will be Fiji's number one export earner within 5
years.[1]

So let’s begin with some information on bauxite mining, itself. This is the
first planned bauxite mine in Fiji. What processes does this type of mining
involve? [2]

Step 1 usually involves bulldozing large areas of local growth and existing
wildlife habitat. Bauxite is the name given to the ore body for aluminium.
In order to get to the bauxite deposits, vast areas of forests must be
cleared with bulldozers and giant chains.

Step 2 usually then involves turning the masses of trees into huge bonfires.
It is not yet clear if this will occur in Vanua Levu, or if there will be an
alternative clearing process. Much of the land was already monoculture pine
plantations, but there are also some pristine areas of indigenous forest
that will be affected.  Usually at such mines, forests, flora and fauna are
simply regarded as waste, wildlife are killed and/or flee the area if they
can, and massive amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the air.

Step 3 generally involves removing topsoil and digging a huge hole in the
ground. This is how they get to the underlying bauxite (and the soil is
stockpiled for later use in “rehabilitation”, which we will come to
later...) The amount of bauxite removed is generally 4 or 5 metres deep, but
can go deeper than 10 metres.  So the landscape becomes basically a huge red
pit. This affects the way water moves across the land and into springs and
streams. The exposed earth also creates problems of erosion and poor water
quality.

Front end loaders and dump trucks take the bauxite to processing centres, so
of course this puts pressure on local roads, especially in Vanua Levu with
its generally single main roads. In other global south mining sites there
have also been child deaths from transport accidents due to increased heavy
traffic, falls into extraction and tailing pits, and more.

At this point we must note that as much as local employment has been
emphasised in public communication on this project, there will come the
inevitable concerns about gender based violence and other social issues
arising with fast inundations of external short-term workers. It is also
unclear how many of these will be Chinese workers specifically brought in
for the project, but in the other instances in Fiji and abroad of Chinese
initiated infrastructure and development projects the use of Chinese labour
is integral to the project contract. Is that the case here? In any case, any
large number of male non-local workers into small rural communities has
worrying consequences. Will there be trafficking of foreign and local women
as sex workers? Increased sexual abuse and violence against women and
children? A rise in sexually trasmitted diseases including HIV as seen in
other mining locations around the world? There will definitely be scarce
local resources from government and civil society in Vanua Levu to handle
any major health and social issues that may ensue. Our health and social
welfare sector has its own scarce resources and urgent priorities, as it is.

Step 4 involves massive use of water to process the bauxite. It is still
unclear as to the water supply that will be used by the Vanua Levu mine. Is
it going to be taken from the existing water table and what is the
consequence on local water supply for surrounding villages? How else will it
be sourced? How will it be extracted?  And if rivers are utilised, what
impact will this have on personal and household washing, drinking water,
sewage systems, etc?

At the onsite processing facilities, the bauxite will be crushed, screened
and washed with this precious water. The Wilderness Society estimate that
Rio Tinto Alcan used about 1,100 megalitres per tonne of bauxite for its
operations in Australia, most of it extracted from finite groundwater! Often
mining companies also set up huge extra tailings dams to store ‘leftovers’,
with further risks of contaminating nearby water sources, and also increased
dust.

At Step 5, the bauxite is sent off by ship to aluminium smelting plants. The
smelting process is a major greenhouse gas emitter, and consumes major
electricity. The mine requires significant port facilities and this pristine
area in Vanua Levu could soon be a noisy, smelly, industrial centre. The
communities involved in the mining include not just the mine site and
accommodation quarters, but also those around the access roads and the port
facilities.

Earlier this year at Lovonidalo settlement in the district of Navakasiga the
then Minister for Lands and Mineral Development Netani Sukanaivalu presented
lease documents to Aurum Exploration (Fiji) Limited allowing for the
construction of a wharf.  The 60 acres of pristine land which belongs to the
Mataqali Nalutu will now be used to construct an 800 metre wharf where ore
will be shipped directly to China.  At a leasing ceremony, Commissioner
Northern Lieutenant- Colonel Inia Seruiratu handed over a cheque of
FJD$101,930 as premium and lease payment to the Mataqali Nalutu. FJD$275,000
was presented to the Vanua Navakasiga and Vanua Lekutu as compensation for
the loss of fishing rights at Galoa Bay, the proposed construction site for
the new wharf.  Yes, the profit of the mine will possibly be in the 100s of
millions. Yes, the government has arranged Trusts for local landowners. But
it is unclear to the public just what future profits will flow to the
national government, and of critical importance, to local landowners. Surely
this is of urgent public interest.

It is also still unclear as to the extent to which local landowners are
really, fully aware of the scope of potential changes to the physical
landscape of the area, potential biodiversity loss, changed land and
shoreline access to ‘iqoliqoli’ (designated fishing grounds), and the huge
amounts of water required for processing needs. How full and open were the
consultations? Were women part of those discussions as it is they who are
the primary fisherwomen of the beaches and coasts?

Step 6. So after the bauxite supplies are exhausted (perhaps after 15-20
years) there will of course be rehabilitation projects. In Cape York
Peninsula the stockpiled topsoil was spread back across mining pits, and
planted with native trees. But by then the water flows had dramatically
changed and the soil structure was degraded. The Wilderness Society states
that  the “rehabilitated” forest is prone to fire damage, and completely
lacks the old, big trees important for nesting birds and other wildlife.
Ecologists in Cape York say that the area has been changed forever.

Step 7 is where the mining company ‘walks away with millions of profits’
The mine in Vanua Levu may only be  planned to last 10-15 years, but the
long-term scar it will leave is potentially enormous. What will the people
of Vanua Levu walk away with? What will the government and people of Fiji do
in 15 years when faced with the consequences of decisions made today?

There are important community dialogues already being held, but as the final
weeks of the public submission tick by there is an urgent need for more
community submissions to the Ministry for Land and Mineral Resources, from
affected individuals, communities and civil society.

Why? This issue of whether to have extractive industries in Fiji is not just
a decision about immediate job creation and addressing the national debt. It
is not merely about land productivity and landowner compensation. Some see
this project as an example of a politically progressive development to
provide payments to indigenous landowners after decades of neglect, and
internal and external corruption.
But at what cost this so-called development? This struggle to end all
extractive industries in Fiji, the Pacific and indeed around the globe is
about our ecological sustainability in the face of what global south
feminist network DAWN call 'the fierce new world' [3] which is one of urgent
and interlinked crises of food, fuel, finance and ecology (including
biodiversity loss and climate change).

Governments all over the world are struggling to make those longterm
economic decisions that do not compromise the future through short-term
gains. These are not easy times, nor easy political decisions! Human rights
and social justice gains are often sacrificed in the name of profit, and
indeed are encouraged by the neoliberalist multilateral systems that always
put profit first.  This is made more difficult for communities in times such
as this where the state is heavily militarised.

We have not even really hit our stride yet on national and regional
dialogues on ecological sustainability, much less plans and policy
development reflecting the level of transformation required... But meanwhile
the entire globe must already urgently move to development alternatives with
a core that is ecologically sound.
Meanwhile Fiji would do well to listen to our Pacific neighbours in PNG,
Cape York and Bougainville because many local communities can already show
and tell us just how dangerous is this extractive mining path we now seem to
be on...We must choose another, safer path.

Footnote:
1. Radio Australia. 'Mining predicted to be Fiji's biggest future income
earner'.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/201101/s3110384.htm
2. The Wilderness Society', Australia. 'Bauxite Mining Threatens Wild
Rivers'.
http://www.wilderness.org.au/regions/queensland/bauxite-mining-threatens-wild-rivers[This
article draws heavily from yours. Thank you!]
3. Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)
http://www.dawnnet.org/research-analyses.php

--
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Telefax: +63-2-434-6440
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-- 
Frieda Werden, Series Producer
WINGS: Women's International News Gathering Service www.wings.org

-- 
Frieda Werden,
Public Affairs/Spoken Word Coordinator
CJSF Radio 90.1 FM
TC-216 Simon Fraser University
Burnaby BC V5A 1S6
Canada
778-782-4423 (direct)
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www.cjsf.ca     cjsfpa at sfu.ca

#4
==============================================================================

Dear Friends of the Media Co-op,

May *is* Membership Month <http://www.mediacoop.ca/MMM_2011> for the Media
Co-op and we’d like to kick off spring with a huge thank you for all your
support as readers, contributors, and sustainers.

*If you haven’t already, now is the time to own your media by becoming
a **sustaining
member* <http://www.mediacoop.ca/join/sustainer>* of the Media Co-op.*

This past year we've seen explosive growth including the launch of two new
Locals in Toronto and Montreal (our first bilingual local!). We've also seen
a series of successes, from *The Dominion*'s special issue on climate
justice, to winning the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation's Best Practices
award.

None of this would be possible without our many sustaining members who are
the backbone of the Co-op.

This Membership Month, we want to sign up 100 new sustainers at $20 per
month and continue to build a sustainable, alternative, grassroots media
movement across Canada.  Help us get off on the right foot—become a member
today <http://www.mediacoop.ca/join/sustainer>!

When you sign up this month, not only will you be joining hundreds of
Canadians in building co-operative grassroots media, but you'll be entered
into our weekly raffles for great gifts. Join this week and you'll be
entered in a draw to win one-year subscriptions to five rad magazines (*
Briarpatch*, *This! Magazine*, *Upping the Anti,* *Canadian Dimension* and *
Maisonneuve*). Click here <http://www.mediacoop.ca/join/sustainer> to become
a member now!

With your support we will break more stories, do more hard-hitting
investigations and pay journalists competitively for their grassroots
reporting. We will build capacity in our Locals in Montreal, Toronto,
Halifax and Vancouver. And we will answer the calls of communities who want
the Media Co-op to help them tell their stories, from Newfoundland to
Nunavut and from Indigenous territories across Turtle Island.

To do this, though, we need you! Become a sustaining
member<http://www.mediacoop.ca/join/sustainer>of the Media Co-op and
own your media!

Together, we are building independent, co-operative media in Canada.

Thank you!

Hillary

Editor Member of the Media Co-op

hillary at mediacoop.ca

-- 
Meegwetch/Thank you/Merci
*Tami M. Starlight*
Vancouver, Canada
tamistarlight at gmail.com
tami.cosmic (facebook)
tami_starlight (twitter)
604-200-2445home
604-790-9943cell
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