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August 2005
Welcome to the August 2005 No Dirty Gold campaign update.
Oxfam America and EARTHWORKS distribute this quarterly bulletin to update No Dirty Gold campaign members on the campaign's progress and the opportunities to get more involved.
In This Issue
LEAD STORY:
NO DIRTY GOLD CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY:
NEWS FROM THE FIELD:
Lead Story
Community Representatives Voice Concerns at Newmont Annual Meeting
In April, representatives from five countries visited the headquarters of Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation, the worlds largest gold producer, to voice their concerns about the companys operating and proposed mines to the companys senior management and to shareholders. Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, the representatives demanded that Newmont fully respect human rights, stop intimidating farmers and other critics of its operations, and stop dumping mining wastes into the ocean. They also called on the company to cancel plans for new open-pit mines on densely populated farmland in Romania, in a Ghanaian forest reserve, and on a mountain in Peru that is a source of community drinking water.
Learn more:
Read statements by representatives from each country
No Dirty Gold Campaign Activity
Goldsmiths Discuss Dirty Gold at Annual Conference
On June 23rd, No Dirty Gold campaign co-director Payal Sampat joined jewelers Christina Miller and Susan Kingsley, Native American activist Tom Goldtooth, and mining expert Glenn Miller in a panel discussion titled "The Price of Gold" at the annual conference of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) in Cleveland, Ohio. Miller and Kingsley had organized the panel to educate fellow jewelers and goldsmiths about gold minings impacts. They urged SNAG members to join them in promoting reforms to ensure that the gold they use to fashion jewelry and artwork is not produced at the expense of communities, workers, and the environment. The panel received strong support from the audience of over 500 goldsmiths, and Miller and Kingsley are coordinating a forum for goldsmiths and small-scale jewelers who support the responsible production and sourcing of gold.
Learn more: www.ethicalmetalsmights.org
News from the Field
AFRICA: CONGO:
Gold Mining Linked to Human Rights Abuses
Like oil and diamonds extraction, gold mining bears the scars of conflict in communities around the world. The Curse of Gold, a new report by Human Rights Watch, documents human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo where local warlords and international companies are among those benefiting from access to gold rich areas while local people suffer from ethnic slaughter, torture, and rape. The report details how AngloGold Ashanti, a leading gold mining company, established links with a murderous armed group to gain access to a gold-rich mining site.
The No Dirty Gold campaign asks that mining companies not operate in areas of armed or militarized conflict; and calls on jewelry and other retailers to not use gold in their products that comes from conflict areas or the production of which causes contribute to human rights violations.
Learn more about mining and conflict
AFRICA: GHANA:
Environmental Monitoring Training for Communities Living Near Mines
In May, No Dirty Gold partner Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) invited Dr. Bob Moran, a hydrogeologist with many years of experience assessing mining projects, to train communities to use simple equipment for water monitoring and testing. The spate of cyanide spills in Ghana in recent years has increased community concerns about drinking water supplies. WACAM director Daniel Owusu-Koranteng urged the Ghanaian government to adopt enforceable environmental standards that would hold companies accountable for the pollution they are causing. We are being faced with a global water crisis and serious steps must be taken to avoid ground water pollution through mining, free use of water for mining operations, and pollution of streams through cyanide spillage and other mine wastes, he said.
Learn more:
"Check activities of mining companies," Ghana News Agency, 5/15/2005
International Mining Expert arrives in Ghana Accra, Ghana News Agency, 5/15/2005
AFRICA: GHANA:
Mining-affected Communities Face Violence, Human Rights Abuses
No Dirty Gold partner WACAM has called attention to two incidents of human rights abuse in recent months by mining companies Bogoso Gold and AngloGold Ashanti. Both companies are members of the World Gold Council, an international gold mining association that devotes millions of dollars each year towards the promotion of gold consumption. On June 16, a police and military team opened fire on a peaceful demonstration by community members who were airing grievances against the operations of Bogoso Gold. The police and military action injured seven people including a twelve-year old boy, according to Ghanaian news reports. Bogoso Gold has a checkered environmental record and has contaminated several rivers and streams with cyanide-laced waste. A cyanide spill in October 2004 resulted in fish kills and the hospitalization of several people.
A few days later on June 21, AngloGold Ashanti security shot a small-scale miner who was on the companys Obuasi concession and then tried to cover up the shooting by saying that AngloGold Ashanti security guards do not possess bullets. The physician who treated the injured, however, confirmed the gun shot wound. WACAM has called upon the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice to launch a full-scale investigation into the human rights abuses being inflicted upon mining-affected communities.
Learn more:
Press Release: WACAM Condems Attempt by AngloGold Ashanti to Cover Up Shooting of Galamsey Suspect, 7/3/05
Press Release: WACAM Condemns the Shooting of Small-Scale Miners by AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine, 6/29/05
"AngloGold Ashanti and Obuasi Police lied," 7/3/2005, Ghana News Agency
Indonesia: Buyat Bay Community Relocates, Company and Executive Face Pollution Trial
 Indonesian prosecutors announced that the pollution trial of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) and its president began on August 5th in a North Sulawesi court. NMR is the Indonesian subsidiary of Denver-based Newmont Mining, the worlds largest gold mining company. The company and its president have been charged with the illegal dumping of mine waste into the ocean and causing pollution in Buyat Bay. The Indonesian government is in settlement talks with the company over a civil suit seeking compensation from the company. Villagers of Buyat Bay, meanwhile, completed their relocation in June. Humanitarian groups purchased land for the community and supported their relocation to another fishing village so that the villagers can resume their traditional livelihood which they allege had been destroyed by NMRs operations in Buyat Bay.
Learn more:
Pollution Trial of Mining Company to Begin in Indonesia, 8/5/05
Indonesia group says case against Newmont to succeed if all evidence submitted, 8/5/05
About EARTHWORKS and Oxfam America  The No Dirty Gold campaign is supported by EARTHWORKS and Oxfam America. We work with local organizations and communities around the world on issues related to mining, human rights, and the environment. To learn the objectives of the No Dirty Gold campaign, please visit our website at www.nodirtygold.org, and download our report Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities, and the Environment.
Many thanks for your support! Please send in your suggestions or comments to info@nodirtygold.org.
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