"Nicaragua: Discover the Mining Opportunities"
Submitted by sball on Fri, 2012/02/17 - 12:22.
Nicaragua will be participating in this year's Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention, the world's leading mining event, with the objective of showcasing the successful development of the country's mining sector and its investment opportunities.
Egads, the government is promoting it too. "Nicaragua: Discover the Mining Opportunities" is a seminar title.
Nicaragua: Discover the Mining Opportunities
Nicaragua: Discover the Environmental Catastrophes
Along those lines
"Peruvians take to the streets in Lima to protest mine developments"
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1132500--peruvians-take-to-the...
So what is the world prepared to go without...
Or pay hideous amounts for to have it extracted safely, environmentally and within labor and human rights codes?
That is the question.
A lot of people want to "flap lips", as RalphR would say. (Mind you, he would have every 15 year old girl working down a mine and thoroughly enjoying it!), but really, its supply and demand both of the products and the mine sites.
There, that shouldn't be too inflammatory should it?
What I've heard or read
...is that the FSLN demonized the mining interests and lost considerable good will in the mining triangle. Extractive mining as a base for the economy tends to be problematic, but if a small country is going to have any metal extracted and processed elsewhere, gold is actually not the worst metal to have lots of.
There are problems with pollution (cyanide extraction), but given that gold is an addictive metal, paying for the clean-ups or alternative mining methods are more likely to happen than with something like coal (where even very poor localities in the US have had very nasty pollution problems and are not interested in seeing mountain top removal and more pit mining).
Gold does have some industrial applications in making computer chips and circuit boards, and jewelry, but it's more the idea of investing in gold that makes it so valuable.
Rebecca Brown
...
"Or pay hideous amounts for to have it extracted safely, environmentally and within labor and human rights codes?"
What price does the world pay now for companies that extract natural resources in a manner which depletes the resource and which damages the health of their workers, their families, members of surrounding communities, and people who live thousands of miles away whose health and well-being are affected by the way in which natural resources are extracted in supposedly remote locations?
Who pays for that damage, how much do they pay for it, and how do they pay for it? Who profits from the damage and how much do they profit from it?
Also, if a developing country tolerates practices which violate minimally-acceptable labour and human rights, will that country develop more completely than a country that takes steps to protect the rights of workers?
Correct, its two part "Payment"...
Pay now or pay later as in cheap minerals followed by expensive or even 'priceless' damage.
Pay now or pay later as in its cheaper now but in years to come, gold, tar sands, cement (for example) may be environmentally outlawed or heavily controlled.
Its also a contradiction as countries say "not in out back yard" but we will lobby and help you get one going in Nicaragua (for example).
Nicaragua will go for the revenue and jobs and there is no shortage of Trade Ministers presenting good reliable companies from back home that can't wait to "do it here".
So whats the solution?
...
"Pay now or pay later as in cheap minerals followed by expensive or even 'priceless' damage.
Pay now or pay later as in its cheaper now but in years to come, gold, tar sands, cement (for example) may be environmentally outlawed or heavily controlled.
Its also a contradiction as countries say "not in out back yard" but we will lobby and help you get one going in Nicaragua (for example).
Nicaragua will go for the revenue and jobs and there is no shortage of Trade Ministers presenting good reliable companies from back home that can't wait to "do it here".
So whats the solution?"
What is your solution?
Errr..
You don't need to copy and paste my posts...I wrote them.
...
And so your solution is ... ?
To accept the status quo as unchangeable, or to change it?
So now you want to speak for me as well....
Go ahead and finish the job.
BTW, My comment was "So whats the solution?", not "your solution".
So you may remember
So you may remember John McKay the Canadian MP who was trying to get a bill passed to govern how Canadian companies in the extractive industry behaved in developing countries.... Instead of passing the bill, the Canadian government started an Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor, and three year's later...
Full Article
I do find that after the
I do find that after the Bre-x scandal in the 90's that Canadian mining companies operating abroad tend to come under a lot of scrutiny here at home. Much more so than than most countries, this may be why the Nicaraguan government is courting canadian companies. And on a side note for other Canadians, the CBC calling another agency a money pit? Wow a pot and kettle situation for sure lol.
Canada is a big player for sure
..."Canadian listed companies are responsible for as much as one-half of all global equity raised for mineral development. Almost 60 percent of the world’s publicly listed mining companies list on Canadian exchanges. Here in Canada, there are more than 200 active mines. Mineral production in 2010 alone totalled more than $41 billion."...
From:
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/media-room/speeches/2012/17/3764