Cajamarca, Peru – 6th February 2015

Minerals are ruining lives. For several years now, in conversations about conflict and crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this has been a common refrain.

In his book ‘Extracted – how the quest for mineral wealth is plundering the planet’ (2014), Ugo Bardi looks at the depletion process of mineral resources. He gives an overview of how the earth’s valuable resources were formed in a delicate process that took billions of years. He also looks at the history of mining and the close relation between resources and society, showing how important empires in the course of human history have always depended on wealth created by the extraction of relatively cheap minerals.

There are stunningly many similarities of mining in Romania and other places. Therefore CATAPA volunteers joined international activist gatherings in Romania earlier this year, and recently a demonstration in Brussels bringing the message “No cyanide mining and no fracking!” from the Romanian people to parliamentarians in Brussels. The event was spearheaded by activist Alexandru Popescu who set a sign by walking 3000km to claim his rights as a European citizen.  EU legislation and resource strategies that favour new extraction directly impact on all member states.

Griet Juwet and Marjolein Lyssens

THE IMPACT OF MORE THAN ONE CENTURY OF GOLD-MINING IN THE WEST RAND

Mining in the West Rand