“Flin Flon Flim Flam” takes an unflinching look into the operations of one of Canada’s oldest miners
InvestigativeMEDIA’s documentary “Flin Flon Flim Flam” on the worldwide operations of Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. and its plans to construct the Rosemont Copper Mine on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson, AZ, is now available online.
Produced by Arizona-based investigative reporter John Dougherty, the film premiered Oct. 18 at the Loft Cinema in Tucson and was broadcast on Dec. 13 on KGUN-9.
Mr. Dougherty traveled to northern Manitoba to report on Hudbay’s historic operations, to the Guatemala highlands where Mayan peasants allege they are the victims of atrocities at the hands of Hudbay, and to the Peruvian Andes where Hudbay has clashed with the local community over the company’s largest operation, the Constancia Mine.
The film documents Hudbay’s history in Flin Flon, Manitoba, where the company operated Canada’s most polluting copper smelter for more than 80 years. The smelter contaminated the surrounding area with high levels of toxic metals including arsenic, mercury and lead before it was closed in 2010.
The film highlights Hudbay’s conflicts with indigenous people in Canada, Peru, Guatemala and Arizona. Hudbay is currently defending three civil suits stemming from its former operations in El Estor, Guatemala in a precedent-setting legal proceeding unfolding in Toronto. Hudbay stands accused of gang rapes, murder and a shooting that left a man paralyzed.
In Arizona, Hudbay is seeking state and federal permits to construct the Rosemont Copper Mine, which would be the third largest open-pit copper mine in the U.S. The documentary focuses on the key environmental, permitting and legal issues that Hudbay must overcome before construction could begin. The mine is projected to produce approximately six billion pounds of copper over 22 years.
The Rosemont Mine would dump waste rock and tailings on more than 3,000 acres of the Coronado National Forest in the biologically rich Santa Rita Mountains. One of several desert mountain ranges collectively know as “Sky Islands”, the Santa Ritas host a dozen threatened and endangered species that would be impacted by the mine. These include the only known wild jaguar in the United States that has been repeatedly photographed less than a mile from where the open pit would be blasted.
The documentary exposes how Hudbay is misleading its shareholders and regulators by failing to report a state court subsequently overturned a required air pollution permit was issued by Arizona regulators. The film highlights the regulatory hurdles Hudbay must clear, including obtaining a Clean Water Act permit from skeptical federal regulators.
Mr. Dougherty founded InvestigativeMEDIA in 2006 after 22 years as a financial and investigative reporter. He has been a contributor to the New York Times and named Arizona Journalist of the Year three times. He is a member of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Hall of Fame.
I HAVE YET TO SEE THE INVESTIGATIVE MEDIA’S DOCUMENTARY ” FLIN FLON FLIM FLAM ” BUT FROM ALL OF THE COMMENTS THAT I HAVE HEARD FROM THOSE WHO HAVE , I COMMEND THE EFFORTS OF ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN PUTTING THE DOCUMENTARY TOGETHER . I HOPE TO REVIEW IT IN FULL ONLINE .
IT APPEARS TO TELL THE STORY OF HOW THE MINING INDUSTRY WORKS WORLD WIDE . IT IS A DIRTY BUSINESS AND WHEN YOU ADD SMELTERS AND REFINERIES , IT BECOMES EVEN MORE DIRTY . OVER TIME , PEOPLE HAVE BECOME MORE AND MORE CONCERNED WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT TO THE POINT THAT NO ONE WANTS A SMELTER IN THEIR BACK YARD . FLIN FLON IS A REMOTE LOCATION IN CANADA AND FAR FROM THE MAJOR POPULATION CENTRES . IT MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE TO ADD VALUE WHENEVER AND HOWEVER POSSIBLE TO THE MINERAL RESOURCES BEING EXTRACTED . THIS WAS PATH THAT HUDBAY FOLLOWED IN ITS EARLY YEARS , AS HAVE MANY OTHER MINING COMPANIES WORLDWIDE . SMELTERS ARE NOT NEW TO THE USA AND CANADA BUT , MORE AND MORE , THEY ARE BEING REPLACED BY OFFSHORE FACILITIES LOCATED IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE MORE FAVOURABLE .
MINING COMPANIES ARE WELL KNOW FOR THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS WORLD WIDE . HOW MANY GOVERNMENTS HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED AND , IN SOME CASES , OVERTHROWN BY MINING COMPANIES . THE WAR OF THE COPPER KINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA ( KENNECOTT AND ANACONDA ) IS BUT ONE EXAMPLE . THE ACTIVITIES OF HUDBAY PALE IN COMPARISON .
MINING COMPANIES ARE GUILTY OF EXPLOITING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WHEREVER THEY OPERATE ON A WORLDWIDE BASIS . IT IS UP TO GOVERNMENTS TO IMPOSE RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT HOLD MINING COMPANIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS OR LACK THEREOF .
DOES ARIZONA HAVE TO FEAR HUDBAY ? NO , PROVIDED THE FOREST SERVICE TURNS DOWN THEIR APPLICATION FOR THE ROSEMONT PROJECT . THIS IS BECOMING A LONG AND DRAWN OUT SAGA THAT DOES NOT BODE WELL FOR THE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES INVOLVED . HUDBAY HAS A NEW CEO WHO MAY NOT SEE ROSEMONT IN THE SAME LIGHT AS THE OUTGOING CEO . AT THE END OF THE DAY , MARKET FORCES WILL LARGELY DETERMINE IF ROSEMONT IS PURSUED BY HUDBAY AS A MINING OPERATION . IN THE MEANTIME , THE GOVERNMENT HAS TIME TO STRENGTHEN ITS CONTROL OVER THE MINING INDUSTRY IN ARIZONA .
We simply can’t allow this mine!
Pure propaganda funded by multi-millionaires Ted and Nan Walden of FICO, who could care less how mining impacts indigenous peoples around the world. Their only interest is the financial impact Rosemont might have on their planned housing development that will be built in Green Valley once they relocate their pecan operation to Cochise county.
HAVING SPENT MY ENTIRE PROFESSIONAL CAREER IN MINERAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT I CAN TESTIFY THAT MINING , ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD , IS A VERY DIRTY BUSINESS . FROM THE LARGEST TO THE SMALLEST COMPANIES , THE DRIVING FORCE IS ALL ABOUT FAST MONEY AND PROFITS . THE DOCUMENTARY AS PRESENTED IS BASED ON FACT . IT IS NOT A HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION . HOW IT WAS FUNDED IS IRRELEVANT BUT THE MESSAGE THAT IT DELIVERS IS VERY RELEVANT . I CAN ONLY THANK ALL OF THOSE WHO MADE THIS DOCUMENTARY POSSIBLE . I TRUST THAT COPIES WILL BE SENT TO THE OFFICES OF THE APPROPRIATE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR CANADIAN MINING COMPANIES OPERATING OFFSHORE .
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT A COPY OF THE DOCUMENTARY BE SENT TO :- MINING WATCH CANADA/MINING NEWS AT info@miningwatch.ca or jamie@miningwatch.ca . THIS IS A NON-GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY THAT TRIES TO SERVE AS AN INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG CONCERNED OVER ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND THE ROLE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE RESOURCE INDUSTRY RELATIVE TO THE CANADIAN MINING COMMUNITY’S ASPIRATIONS , BOTH DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN . THEY ALREADY HAVE HUDBAY IN THEIR SIGHTS .