On Tuesday, June 16th, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be screening MAXIMA, a documentary chronicling the incredible fight of Peruvian farmer, Máxima Acuña de Chaupe, who stopped Newmont Mining from building the Conga open pit mine on her… More »
Standing together with frontline communities to confront Newmont Mining Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, indigenous people across the globe must risk everything to defend their land, water and clean air from harmful mining projects. This Earth Day,… More »
Last year, Earthworks attended Newmont’s annual shareholder meeting in Denver, and asked CEO Gary Goldberg to end the company’s harassment of subsistence farmer Máxima Acuña de Chaupe and her family. We demanded that he follow through on his commitment not… More »
We have been informed by the Chaupe family that on the morning of July 9th, unknown people illegally entered the Chaupe family’s property in Tragadero Grande, Cajamarca, Peru. The individuals took notes and left, refusing to identify themselves to the… More »
Partners in Pollution Since 2000, the Batu Hijau copper-gold mine on Sumbawa Island in Indonesia has dumped 720 million tonnes of toxic tailings into the Senunu Bay in the Indian Ocean. Until 2016, the mine was majority owned and operated… More »
As Newmont shareholders gathered near Denver for the company’s annual meeting yesterday, so did protesters concerned about the company’s ties to human rights abuses in Peru. For nearly a decade, Newmont has faced widespread community opposition to its Conga project… More »
Stop the abuse. That is what Máxima Acuña de Chaupe and her family have asked of US District Court judge in a lawsuit recently filed against Newmont Mining. For more than six years, Máxima and her family have stood up… More »
Washington, DC -- Today, the Supreme Court of Peru upheld a lower court decision in favor of local farmer Máxima Acuña de Chaupe and her family in their fight to protect their land near the proposed Conga gold mine. The Conga mine is a proposed project of the Peruvian subsidiary of US-based Newmont Mining, who brought the aggravated assault suit against Máxima.
Media Releases
World’s 2nd largest gold mining company’s own investigation shows it violated international standards, and its own
Washington, D.C., Sep 28 -- A year-long investigation commissioned and funded by the world’s second largest gold producer, Newmont Mining, today reports that its Peruvian subsidiary ignored human rights standards, “prioritized eviction and litigation over dialogue,” and violated its own standards in its land dispute with Peruvian subsistence farmers.
Washington, D.C., -- 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Máxima Acuña de Chaupe was hospitalized after being attacked, allegedly by security forces hired by Minera Yanacocha, a subsidiary of Denver-based Newmont Mining, according to information provided by the Chaupe family. The attack took place on Máxima’s property in northern Peru that the mining company has been trying to obtain for its Conga gold mine project
This week we’re celebrating two momentous wins for environmental justice and human rights in Peru.
First, we’re toasting the victory of Máxima Acuña de Chaupe, a subsistence farmer from the Andean highlands of northern Peru, who has been awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her brave stand against Newmont, the mining company that has tried to evict her from her land to build the giant Conga gold and copper mine.
Media Releases
Peruvian farmer wins 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for fighting world’s 2nd largest gold miner to a standstill
Cajamarca, Peru & San Francisco, CA -- Peruvian farmer Máxima Acuña de Chaupe today won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her ongoing fight to protect her home and community from the Conga mine. The announcement came as Newmont (NYSE: NEM) removed its proposed Conga gold mine in northern Peru from its list of reserves in its annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We are happy that Newmont has finally faced facts and abandoned Conga,” said 2016 Goldman Prize winner Máxima Acuña de Chaupe, who has been embroiled in a struggle with the multinational mining company for control of her land. She continued, “The fact is our way of life, and the clean water we need to sustain it, is more important to us than Newmont’s new gold mine ever could be. We know from Newmont’s Yanacocha mine that, no matter their promises, we can’t have both the mine and our way of life.”
A recently published investigative report by Peruvian investigative news site OjoPúblico traced some of the dirtiest gold — illegally extracted, mercury processed gold from the Amazon — to large American and European companies — including two certified by the Responsible Jewelry Council, a controversial, industry-exclusive gold and diamonds certification system.
Mirtha Vasquez, an attorney based in Cajamarca, Peru, has two young kids and a full caseload protecting communities from irresponsible mining activity in the mineral-rich Andean region. Yet she made the long trip to Wilmington, DE to join Earthrights International and Earthworks to attend Newmont’s Mining Company’s annual shareholders’ meeting. Together, we called on CEO Gary Goldberg to address the armed repression of protesters, untreated pollution, threats to water availability and other issues of concern to communities in the area.