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Fall 2006
Welcome to the Fall 2006 No Dirty Gold campaign update.
Oxfam America and EARTHWORKS distribute this periodic 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:
TAKE ACTION:
Lead Story
A Dialogue Begins on More Responsible Mining
Thanks to building consumer pressure, more and more jewelry retailers are looking for cleaner, more responsible sources of gold. In June, a multi-stakeholder group of retailers, mining companies, and NGOs met to begin a discussion of higher environmental, human rights, and social standards in the mining sector.
This discussion led to the establishment of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), whose goal is to establish best practice standards for mining operations, as well as a system to independently verify compliance with those standards.
IRMA members include mining companies like BHP-Billiton, Newmont, and AngloGold Ashanti; jewelry retailers like Tiffany & Co. and Wal-Mart; trade associations like the International Council for Mining and Metals, Jewelers of America, and the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices; and NGOs like EARTHWORKS, Oxfam America, World Wildlife Fund, and the Center for Science and Public Participation. Learn More: www.responsiblemining.net
No Dirty Gold Campaign Activity
Protecting Clean Water in Alaska and Beyond
Sockeye salmon spawning in southwest Alaska. Photo: Bert Katzung | In August, a US appeals court issued an injunction halting Kensington gold mine's destructive dam construction activities at Lower Slate Lake in southeast Alaska. If allowed to proceed as planned, the Kensington mine would be the first North American mine in a generation to dispose of its chemically-treated mine tailings in a lake or stream. This decision protects Lower Slate Lake while the court examines the legality of Kensington's plan to use the lake as a tailings dump. In September, EARTHWORKS and Oxfam America together with seven other organizations filed an amicus brief in support of the Alaskan groups who have challenged the decision allowing tailings disposal into the lake.
If Coeur Alaska (a subsidiary of Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation) is allowed to carry out its waste dumping plan at Kensington, it will set a major precedent for future mines across the country. A particular concern is that Kensington could lay the legal groundwork for the massive, controversial Pebble mine at Bristol Bay, which sits at the headwaters of one of the world's most productive salmon fisheries and is critical habitat for caribou, moose, and freshwater seals. There, Northern Dynasty Minerals wants to dump an estimated billion or more tons of waste into the Bristol Bay watershed. Because this watershed is vital to Alaska's commercial, subsistence, and recreational economies, the Pebble mine is opposed by a strong and diverse constituency including commercial salmon fishing businesses, hunting and fishing lodges, and the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, a consortium of 231 federally-recognized tribes in Alaska.
NDG opposes the dumping of mining wastes into water bodies such as lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans.
Learn More: http://www.nodirtygold.org/CV_BernersBay.cfm.
NDG Partner Brokers Settlement at Peruvian Mine
Marco Arana |
NDG partner Marco Arana helped negotiate a settlement between Peruvian Newmont subsidiary Minera Yanacocha and the community of Combayo that ended a week of protests at South America's largest gold mine.
Members of the Combayo community blocked access to the Yanacocha mine over concerns that a planned expansion, called Carachugo II, would strain and contaminate local water resources. Minera Yanacocha agreed to compensate the family of a community member fatally shot during the protest. Other concessions included the state's commitment to build a highway nearby and test local water, and Minera Yanacocha's commitment to construct a water treatment plant.
In 2004, the community of Cajamarca raised similar concerns over water usage and contamination leading Newmont to defer expansion of the Yanacocha mine to Cerro Quilish.
NDG Targets Dirty Mines and Class Rings this Fall
NDG activist Ana Wolfowicz tables on UT Austin campus | This summer and fall the No Dirty Gold campaign asked you to reach out to the following retailers, mining companies, and industry associations: Jostens, Target Corporation, Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, Coeur Alaska, and the World Gold Council. Together we sent tens of thousands of e-mails and faxes.Your actions amplified the voices of communities in Rosia Montana (Romania) and Juneau (Alaska) and brought retailers to the table to discuss the Golden Rules.
This fall NDG student activists at the University of Texas at Austin, the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Utah, the University of South Florida, George Washington University, American University, Bucknell University, Villanova University, Franklin & Marshall University, St. Lawrence University, Coastal Carolina University, and others started local NDG groups, tabled during class rings vendor visits, screened Choropampa: The Price of Gold, wrote columns and letters to the editor, and spoke on behalf of NDG. To learn how you can get involved email Paul Bugala at pbugala@oxfamamerica.org.
Learn More: A Ring Without Much Class
NDG in Oprah magazine! Activist letters in local papers!
The September issue of O, The Oprah Magazine featured NDG in an article called "The Good Shopper" about socially and environmentally conscious consumption. The article praised those retailers that support the campaign's Golden Rules and have pledged to source from more responsible mining operations. Read the article at: http://www.nodirtygold.org/pubs/oprah.pdf
Also in September, letters written by NDG activists were published in The Savannah Morning News, the Ottawa Citizen, the Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) and the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal World. These letters called attention to the destructive impacts of gold mining and urged jewelry retailers to endorse the Golden Rules. Thank you to all our supporters and activists for their hard work!
Take Action!
Tell Jostens You Can't Take Pride in a Class Ring Made of Dirty Gold
Please take a moment to send a letter to Jostens and urge them to provide students with an alternative to dirty gold!
Sign the No Dirty Gold Pledge
If you haven't already, please sign the No Dirty Gold pledge. Use your consumer power to tell retailers and manufacturers that they must provide an alternative to dirty gold.
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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