"Report investigates human rights abuse linked to Kinross Gold's Brazilian mine"11 December 2017 ...A report released...[on 11 December 2017]...by Above Ground and Brazilian organization Justiça Global documents human rights abuse tied to a Canadian mine in Brazil...operated by a subsidiary of Kinross Gold, a Canadian company financed by the government of Canada. The report comes amidst expectations that the Canadian government will soon announce the creation of an ombudsperson office to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Canadian extractive companies in their operations abroad.
Swept Aside: An Investigation into Human Rights Abuse at Kinross Gold's Morro do Ouro Mine shows that, among other harms, Kinross's dramatic expansion of the mine displaced the residents of traditional communities formed over a century ago by former African slaves. "These communities have land rights under Brazilian law, and the process to formalize their collective title was well underway when Kinross announced its expansion plan and Export Development Canada provided financing...Despite sustained legal action by federal prosecutors, state authorities gave Kinross the green light to use community land for its expanded operations...The families living and farming there felt they had no choice but to leave."...[Karyn Keenan, director of Above Ground]...The report also raises concern about environmental oversight of the mine, which is located within 500 metres of neighbourhoods where hundreds of families live, as well as safety measures to keep people from entering the mine site. Last year four men were found dead in the mine's waste effluent pipes, which they reportedly entered to extract remnants of gold left in the tailings. Another was found dead at a tailings dam in February 2017. Kinross has received up to $850 million in financing from the Canadian government through its export credit agency, Export Development Canada, since acquiring the Morro do Ouro mine..."Mining projects are routinely associated with human rights and environmental harm in Brazil," says Daniela Fichino of Justiça Global. "The expansion of the Morro do Ouro mine was overseen by the same state regulatory system that failed to prevent the Mariana mining disaster." Above Ground and Justiça Global's recommendations include the suspension of Kinross's operations at Morro do Ouro until community land rights are protected, and the adoption by Canada of a legal framework to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights risks in Canadian business activity abroad...