The Heart of Our Earth

In April this year, a delegation of representatives from mining-affected communities in Minas Gerais, Brazil came to London, on a mission to raise awareness of abuses committed by transnational mining companies – including two with connections to the UK.

Bolivia is a major importer of mercury on a world-scale. Pollution caused by the gold business has reached the most important urban areas of the country, while the authorities look the other way.

Former MiningWatch Canada researcher Jen Moore reports on Global mining companies which have used the pandemic to push unwanted projects on vulnerable communities, who are fighting back — and sometimes winning.

The mine tailings dam disasters in 2015 and 2019 in Minas Gerais, Brazil, killed many and affected thousands more. Members of affected communities came to London in April 2022 to meet with London Mining Network and described how the mining companies are still evading responsibility and failing to pay meaningful compensation.

It's not all plain sailing for mining companies. Communities at Cerro Colorado in Chile have put up stiff opposition to BHP, whose mine threatens water supplies from a key a key aquifer. And peasants in Huamachuco, Peru, staged a massive protest against mining in their province.

Shady River (Río Turbio), named after the mining town in northwest Argentina in which it is set, explores the gendered space of the mine, giving voice to a collective of marginalised women and shedding light on the tragedies that haunt the town of Río Turbio. 

In The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved A Country from Corporate Greed, Robin Broad and John Cavanagh tell the harrowing, inspiring saga of Salvadorans' fight — and historic victory — to save their water, and their communities, from Big Gold.

As the drive to expand renewable energy capacity speeds up, there is a rush for lithium and other materials around the world. What will the expansion of rare earth mining in Latin America mean for the indigenous communities and workers who have historically borne the harms of extractivism?

At Espinar in Peru and on Chile's Colina river, major international mining companies are once more in the spotlight, suspected of causing pollution, denying responsibility and failing to consult local communities

he crowdfunding campaign for The Heart of Our Earth, our project dedicated to community resistance to mining in Latin America, came to an end on 23 December. The Crowdfunding campaign raised just under £9,000, while two separate large donations to the project added a futher £7,250 yielding a magnificent total of approximately £16,250.