Latest news with #diamondmining
Bloomberg
17-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Diamond Mine in Canada's North Halted With Hundreds Laid Off
Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd. laid off 'several hundred' workers after halting part of its Ekati operations in northern Canada, adding another blow to the country's struggling diamond mining industry. Chief Executive Officer Jeremy King said the company has temporarily suspended its Point Lake open-pit mine after record-low global diamond prices made the operation uneconomical.
Zawya
16-07-2025
- General
- Zawya
From diamonds to dirt: Sierra Leone youth bring land back to life
Craters filled with muddy water pocket the landscape of the Kono district in Sierra Leone – the result of past diamond mining ventures which sparked a vicious local battle over resources. But now, parts of the land have been restored. Crops are beginning to flourish and bees are buzzing around once again. The people responsible for this change are a hodgepodge group – former taxi drivers and miners, people who barely finished secondary school and some with higher education degrees. The unifying factor? Most have youth on their side. 'There is life beyond mining [but] we all grew up with the mentality that diamond is the only solution,' said Sahr Fallah, chairman of the Youth Council in Kono. Over 44 percent of the 1.3 billion people aged 15-24 are employed in agrifood systems. However, this group often does not have the same access to resources as older generations. Moreover, they are sidelined in the conversations which might change this systemic exclusion. 'A lot of the time, what we find is that young people are included in policy processes but it is a little bit tokenistic. They don't feel like their voice really matters,' said Lauren Phillips, a deputy director at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Decent work = economic growth The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York has been convened this week and next, to discuss progress – or lack thereof – towards the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which guarantees decent work for all. Despite this commitment, over half of the global workforce remains in informal employment, according to the Secretary-General's report on the SDGs released Monday. This means that they do not have adequate social or legal protections. 'Decent work must be at the heart of macroeconomic planning, climate and diesel transitions and social recovery strategies,' said Sangheon Lee, director of employment policy at the International Labor Organization (ILO). Don't ignore youth Like other vulnerable groups, young people face unique challenges in the agrifood sector. Specifically, they often lack land rights and will struggle to act collectively to protect their interests. 'If you are not looking at data with a lens of age or gender, you are actually missing part of the story,' Ms. Phillips said. Among these assets are land titles – which the elderly may be reluctant to pass down because of insufficient social protections. Youth also are less able to access credit so they can invest in themselves and their families. Betty Seray Sam, one of the young farmers in Kono, said that her family never used to come to her when they were going through a crisis – they knew that she had no money and a child to support. But now, through an agricultural job in Kono, she can support her family during times of crisis. 'This project has had a rippling effect for the youth in terms of not only improving their livelihoods but also the livelihoods of their families,' said Abdul Munu, president of Mabunduku, a community-based farmer's organization in Kono. Bee a farmer Providing training to young people in agrifood systems is absolutely essential to ensure that they can practice sustainable agriculture. In Chegutu, Zimbabwe, FAO has helped establish Bee Farmers Schools where young people are taught how to support apiaries through hands-on training activities. 'The idea is that one of the apiaries can be turned into a classroom where youth from different parts of a district can come just like a school,' said Barnabas Mawire, a natural resource specialist at FAO. This training has helped support local youth beekeepers to move beyond local and small-scale honey production to a fully-fledged business model that has the potential to not just fight poverty but actually create local wealth. Evelyn Mutuda, the young entrepreneurs representative in Chegutu, aspires to plant Jacaranda trees which she says will improve the quality of the bees' honey and enable the beekeepers to export beyond local markets. 'We want to maximize all the profits so we can become better and bigger,' Ms. Mutuda said. From Facebook to TikTok Being able to form labour associations is one of the key factors of decent work. This sort of collective action is even more important for youth in agrifood who often lack the social capital to enact real policy change. 'Young people are just starting out, making bonds within their group but also with people outside of their group. Those bonds are important…because there is power in numbers,' Ms. Phillips said. She also noted that young people are forming these bonds across geographic distances, often by using technology. Agrifood influencers on Instagram and TikTok, for example, are increasingly shaping conversations about the sector. Ms. Phillips also noted that it is important to think of collective action for youth as intergenerational. 'While the report is focused on young people, it's not ignorant of the fact that young people live in families…There is a lot which talks about the need for solidarity between generations,' Ms. Phillips said. Youth optimism The next generation will be the stewards of the food we eat, so integrating them into that system now is essential for future food security and sustainability. 'Many youth integrate tradition with innovation, creating sustainability and community resilience,' said Venedio Nala Ardisa, a youth representative at the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, at an online side event during the high-level forum. Angeline Manhanzva, one of the beekeepers in Chegutu, said that the opportunity to become a beekeeper changed her life. One day, she dreams of owning her own bee farm. 'I will be an old person who has so much wealth and is able to buy her own big land to keep my hives and process my own honey.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.
New York Times
15-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The Mennonite Colony That Made a Deal With a Diamond Company
Not long ago, the field where Charlotte Itala picks corn with her friends was a hunting ground where people in her small African village caught antelope, boar and forest buffalo. Now that land has been plowed over by her new employers, a group of Old Colony Mennonites. The Mennonites, adherents of a Christian sect founded in the 16th century, number nearly 60 people in all, most of whom set out from Mexico almost a year ago to establish a settlement in northeastern Angola. As part of an agreement with a diamond mining company, they have cleared and cultivated nearly 2,000 acres, hoping to build a community that other Mennonites from the Americas can join. DEMOCRATIC REP. OF CONGO Cambanze Luanda Lunda Norte Angola Zambia namibia 200 miles By The New York Times The new families, who use shipping containers as makeshift homes, have impressed some Angolans but raised fears among others. In Ms. Itala's village, Cambanze, some worry that the Mennonites may be just the latest outsiders to move in with little regard for the people who live there. 'If they take our land, we won't be able to grow our cassava — and then what are we going to eat?' said Ms. Itala, who makes $2.50 for seven hours of work in the Mennonites' field. The money does not make up for the loss of her village's hunting ground, she said. 'We are worried for our future.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Indigenous development corps. will be hit hard by N.W.T. diamond mine closures, report says
With the N.W.T.'s diamond mines facing an uncertain future, some Indigenous businesses are warning of the impact the mines' closures could have on local communities. Diamond mining brought in over $104 million in revenue to three N.W.T. Indigenous development corporations and created 355 jobs for local Indigenous people in 2023, according to a new report analyzing the impact of the diamond mines. The report was commissioned by the Det'on Cho Group of Companies, Tłįchǫ Investment Corporation, and Metcor Inc., and done by economist Graeme Clinton. The companies are the economic arms of Tłįchǫ Government, Yellowknives Dene First Nation and the North Slave Metis Alliance, respectively. Clinton found that jobs, both directly and and indirectly related to diamond mining, generated $39.6 million in income for Indigenous workers. Those jobs were spread across the communities of Yellowknife, Ndilo, Dettah, Behchoko, Whatì, Wekweeti, and Gameti. Paul Gruner, CEO of Tłı̨chǫ Investment Corporation, called the figures "alarming." Gruner said with all three N.W.T diamond mines potentially approaching closure, the financial hit could be huge. He says it is like removing the major block that Indigenous corporations rely on to continue to function. "It's kind of like having a three-legged stool. If you remove one of those do you now overcome major revenue line items and employment?" Gruner said. He said over the years, the revenue generated from mining increased the capacity of the Indigenous corporations to support other key projects and initiatives to support the communities. This includes multi-year housing projects in the Tłįchǫ region, a community freezer project by North Slave Métis Alliance and Det'on Cho Logistics' expansion into Nunavut and Saskatchewan. "I think there's been a really great deal of benefit that's been gained by the Indigenous communities and the corporations," Gruner said. Gruner said the purpose of Clinton's report is to raise awareness and engage with both territorial and federal governments to show the financial impact of the mines' closures at the community level. "It puts a face to it. It's not just a line item. These are very real people, families that put food on their table every day," Gruner said. "Now we've got something that we can bring forward to the federal government." Gruner said the territory needs to consider what its economy might look like going forward. He said that includes looking at developing new mines for base metals, precious and critical minerals, and addressing infrastructure gaps to help get those minerals to market, he said. That includes advancement of critical infrastructure like the Slave Geological Province Corridor, a $1.1-billion project that would see an all-season road built between mineral-rich areas northeast of Yellowknife and western Nunavut. The territory is currently preparing to enter the environmental assessment phase for the proposed project. Outlook isn't great Leigh-Anne Palter is the CEO of Denesoline Corporation, the economic arm of Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation. She says her community is small, remote and has already suffered at the hands of its former CEO, Ron Barlas, who was found by the N.W.T. Supreme Court last year to have "abused" his position by funnelling millions of dollars from the Denesoline Corporation. "The outlook isn't great for this community in particular," Palter said. The First Nation has about 800 members, and around 300 live in the community itself, which is on the east arm of Great Slave Lake, about 150 kilometres from Yellowknife. Lutsel K'e is one of the closest communities to the N.W.T. 's three active diamond mines and it has some form of impact benefit agreement with each one. Palter said without an active and viable mining industry or similar sort of industry to take its place, "it would be a very significant impact." She said the workers who are already trained and working in the mining industry could go elsewhere if the territory doesn't have an industry to provide opportunities to support them. That would then make it even more difficult to reconstitute a viable mining industry in the North. "We don't want to lose all the gains of past decades in terms of training people, creating good businesses to have them," Palter said. Palter says with new government policies and tax breaks aimed at propping up the territory's diamond mines, things are looking more hopeful. She also pointed to some northern MPs, including N.W.T.'s Rebecca Alty, being named to the federal cabinet. "With the election now behind us...I see those as all great signs," she said. The territorial government's decision to temporarily reduce property taxes paid by N.W.T. mines is also "very helpful," she said.
