Clement Boateng
26 April 2007
NEWMONT MINING Corporation, one of the World's leading gold mining companies is under intense pressure as some of its shareholders, host communities as well as civil society groups from around the world push down its throat what tastes like a 'bitter pill' to the company at its annual meeting which commenced last Tuesday, April 24, 2007, at Wilmington, Delaware.
The content of the 'pill' is simply asking Newmont "to respect human rights and environmental concerns at its gold mining operations and investments around the globe".
The civil society groups, which include Earthworks, Western Shoshone Defense Project (both in USA), Oxfam-America, FIAN-Ghana, WACAM (Ghana), GRUFIDES (Peru), Alburnus Maior (Romania), JATAM and WALHI (both in Indonesia) on April 23, 2007, issued a joint statement to reinforce the company's host communities and shareholders' demand for reforms at Newmont.
The statement noted that Newmont's projects around the World had been overwhelmed by protests, lawsuits, and controversies, prompting shareholders this year to file two resolutions calling on the company to review its policies on community engagement and waste disposal.
It disclosed that earlier this year, the Christian Brothers Investment Services and members of the Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility, a corporate accountability organization, filed a shareholder resolution asking Newmont to review how it engaged with affected communities and addressed local opposition.
In filing the resolution, the statement explained, the shareholders cited a pattern of community resistance to the company's operations, including protests in Peru and Ghana which led to deaths and injuries.
Concurrently, the New York City Comptroller filed a resolution on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds asking Newmont to review the environmental and public health impacts of its Indonesian operations.
Both resolutions will be voted on at tomorrow's shareholder meeting, which the company moved from its headquarters in Denver to Wilmington, Delaware.
The Senior Policy Advisor for Oxfam America, Keith Slack, as contained in the statement, urged Newmont to take a serious look at how it conducted its business, suggesting that "It should call on experts who are completely independent of the company and won't just say what it wants to hear." Slack added, "It should also seek input from affected communities themselves."
"Newmont shareholders are right to be concerned about community opposition and environmental risk measures.
These issues can influence a company's reputation, share price, and ability to obtain permits," said Radhika Sarin, International Campaign Coordinator for environmental group EARTHWORKS.
In Ghana, the statement noted that rural livelihoods in Newmont 's operational areas were at stake, indicating that more than 10,000 poor farmers had been displaced to make way for Newmont's Ahafo gold mine, and another 10,000 were likely to be displaced when the mine expanded to the north.
The statement revealed that Newmont has also come under fire for trying to develop the Akyem gold mine in Ghana's Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve. Construction of the mine is on hold because Newmont has been unable to secure an environmental permit from the government of Ghana.
"Ghana's forests have been severely deforested in the last 40 years. The remaining forest reserves are invaluable and must stay off-limits to mining," said Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, Executive Director of WACAM.
From Peru, Rev. Fr. Marco Arana, a Catholic priest and president of GRUFIDES, a local group in Cajamarca, site of Newmont's Yanacocha gold mine also thinks "Newmont is not fulfilling its commitments to respect the human rights of communities affected by its projects."
"Newmont must stop dumping mining waste into our oceans," said Chalid Muhammad, National Director of WALHI, Indonesia's largest environmental group, believing that Newmont "can't use this destructive practice in its own country, and it should not do so anywhere else either."
The statement said groups in Romania were urging Newmont to divest its 19 percent stake in Gabriel Resources, a small Canadian mining company that wants to develop a gold mine on top of the historic town of Rosia Montana in Romania. Newmont's investment, which has boosted Gabriel Resources financially, has led local families to question why Newmont wants to be linked to such a highly controversial and risky project.
"We want Newmont shareholders to know that the Rosia Montana gold project is a bad investment. Over 96 percent of Romanians oppose this project so we are confident it will never be developed. Why is Newmont putting its reputation on the line by getting involved?" asked Eugen David, president of Alburnus Maior, a local association of property owners in Rosia Montana opposed to the mine.
Closer to home, in Nevada, the statement alleges that Newmont operates several mines on the traditional lands of the Western Shoshone, with neither their consent, nor compensation to the Shoshone for past and present gold extraction.
The statement said the Western Shoshone had been asking Newmont for a formal policy regarding their concerns, including disputed land, fair compensation, and the right to free, prior, and informed consent for any new mining and expansion projects.
"As long as these disputes continue under the discriminatory 1872 Mining Law, Newmont is party to violations of our human rights, including our cultural and spiritual rights. According to the Supreme Law of the Land, the Treaty of Ruby Valley, these miners are guests of this land, and they should be held accountable," said Larson Bill of the Western Shoshone Defense Project in Nevada, citing the treaty between the US government and the Western Shoshone recognizing the Shoshone as the landowners.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Ghanaian Chronicle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
