Canadian Mining Companies Are Responsible For Numerous...

Canada is home to some of the largest mining corporations in the world. In fact, seventy-five percent of the world’s mining companies are based in Canada (Dean, 2013). These companies are involved in the extraction of numerous resources, including silver, petroleum, bitumen and coal. Canadian mining operations also have a particular focus in gold, as twenty-one of the country’s top forty mining companies are involved in gold extraction. With billion dollar annual revenues and interests in almost every continent, these multinational companies are making a large impact around the globe (Canadian Mining Journal, 2014). However, these impacts are not necessarily positive. Canadian mining corporations have failed to implement CSR policies and†¦show more content†¦Since these firms have such an extensive presence in Latin America, the management of these companies is having a direct impact on the environment and on the lives of those who live there. Environmental and Human Rights Violations Most mining projects aim to â€Å"exploit territories of great ecological richness and/or the lands inhabited by†¦ ethnic minorities† (U.S. Office, 2013). Many times, when mining operations commit environmental violations, they commit human rights violations as well. For this reason, it is hard to separate these two types of violations. Large scale, open pit mining by Canadian corporations is responsible for a myriad of environmental infractions, not only affecting ecosystems, but also having a profound, direct or indirect, impact on the lives of millions living in Latin America. 1.1 Water Violations Water is one of the most affected resources in the region due to mining operations as mass mining extractions are having detrimental effects on surface and ground water (Cereceda, 2007). First, there is the problem of Acid Mine Drainage, or AMD. Naturally, sulphuric acid is produced when sulphides in rocks are exposed to water and air. AMD, however, is a result of this process being greatly magnified. Large quantities of rocks containing sulphides are excavated in these open pit mines, reacting to water and air and creating sulphuric acid. This acid leaches out of the rock, sometimes for