Lake Superior Mining News

From a link on the Front Forty’s Website.  HudBay, the majority owner of the Back Forty zinc-gold mine proposed along the Menominee River, is being sued for killing a citizen in Guatemala who got in the way of their mining plans:

HudBay burns a home to the ground while forcibly evicting citizens in Guatemala; James Rodriguez

• On September 27, 2009, fears of forced violent evictions of several Mayan communities located near the Fenix mining project sparked a series of community protests.

• In the early afternoon of September 27, 2009, Adolfo Ich was with his wife at his house in La Uníon when he heard gunshots being fired from the direction of mine buildings, located not far from his house. Adolfo went to find out what was going on, to warn people to stay back and to see if he could help restore calm. He was not carrying any weapons.

• When Adolfo Ich arrived, private security forces of the mine recognized him as a prominent community leader and appeared to invite him to speak with them about the community protests.

• As Adolfo Ich approached, approximately a dozen armed security forces surrounded him, beat him and hacked at him with a machete, before shooting Adolfo in the head at close range. Adolfo Ich died of his wounds shortly after. Read the rest of this entry »