FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19th, 2006
TIBET ACTIVISTS TARGET CANADIAN MINING COMPANIES, PROTESTS MAR CONTINENTAL MINERALS’ ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Vancouver – Tibetans and their supporters will protest today at Continental Minerals’ Annual General Meeting, calling on the company to cease the development of a gold-copper mine in Chinese occupied Tibet. The company, a subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson, is conducting exploratory drilling at the Shethongmon mine site in central Tibet. HDI/Continental and five other junior Canadian mining companies recently came under fire from Tibet advocacy groups over plans to aggressively exploit gold and copper resources in the politically volatile region.
“Tibet’s natural resources belong to the Tibetan people,” said Pema Lhalungpa, Regional Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet. “Until Tibetans are free to determine the use of their own mineral wealth, as protected by international law and human rights covenants, extraction of Tibet’s resources by HDI/Continental and other Canadian mining companies amounts to looting and stealing.”
Continental Minerals started exploratory drilling in Tibet last year and recently acquired control of an additional 100 square kilometers at the Shethongmon site from its merger with Great China Mining. The other Canadian companies involved in Tibet are Inter-Citic Minerals Inc, Eldorado Gold Corp, GobiMin Inc, Dynasty Gold Corp and TVI Pacific Inc.
“There are enormous financial and reputational risks attached to controversial business projects inside Tibet and we have seen foreign companies like Sino Gold and Holiday Inn, as well as the World Bank, withdraw in the face of international controversy” said Ray Yee, spokesperson for the Canada Tibet Committee -Vancouver Branch. “We are deeply concerned about HDI/Continental’s activities given that Tibetans have no voice when it comes mining on their own land, an activity that poses a direct threat to the preservation of their culture and environment, with little to no benefit to the Tibetan people.”
The protest comes just days after the Canadian government held a roundtable forum in Vancouver on issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian extractive industry in developing countries. Tibetan representatives present at the meeting urged the government to withhold political assistance and support from Canadian mining companies involved in Tibet.
An international coalition of Tibet Support Groups, including Students for a Free Tibet, Canada Tibet Committee, International Campaign for Tibet, Free Tibet Campaign, Australia Tibet Council and Comité de Apoyo al Tibet are opposed to the extraction of Tibet’s resources, especially non renewable resources, while the China-Tibet issue remains unresolved. The coalition is urging HDI/Continental and the other Canadian mining companies to immediately halt all operations and withdraw from Tibet.
Contact:Pema Lhalungpa, Students for a Free Tibet Canada (604) 876-1974
Ray Yee, Canada Tibet Committee (604) 240-5215
