About Mines and Communities (MAC)

The MAC website seeks to exposes the social, economic, and environmental impacts of mining, particularly as they affect Indigenous and land-based peoples. Global in scope, the site was set up in 2001 by organisations and individuals from seven different countries who met in London to demand far greater accountability and transparency on the part of the minerals' industry.

All content of the site is monitored by an Editorial Board, currently comprising women and men from fourteen countries who are pledged to work on behalf of numerous mining-affected communities around the world. Members of the editorial board work, inter alia, with the following organisations:

• Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) http://www.mpi.org.au (Australia)
• MiningWatch Canada http://www.miningwatch.ca/ (Canada)
• Latin America Observatory of Environmental Conflicts - OLCA (Chile)
• Down to Earth http://www.gn.apc.org/dte (England)
• Partizans (England)
  
• Indigenous Peoples Links http://www.piplinks.org (England)
• Society of St. Columban http://www.columbans.co.uk/ (England)
• Third World Network Africa http://twnafrica.org(Ghana)
• Mines, Minerals and People http://www.mmpindia.in (India)
• JATAM (Mining Advocacy Network) http://www.jatam.org (Indonesia)
• Cooperaccion http://www.cooperaccion.org.pe/ (Peru)
• Cordillera Peoples Alliance http://www.cpaphils.org (Philippines)
• DCMI http://www.dcmiphil.org/ (Philippines)
• LRC-KSK/FoE-Phils http://www.lrcksk.org/ (Philippines)
• Tebtebba Foundation http://www.tebtebba.org/ (Philippines)
• Kalikasan-PNE (Philippines)
• Network Movement for Justice and Development http://www.nmjd.org (Sierra Leone)
• The Halifax Initiative (Canada)
• Environmental Council of New Brunswick (Canada)
• BIRSA (India)

Our key demands are encapsulated in The London Mining Declaration, originally launched in 2001 and revised in 2008. The Declaration is also open to signature by those who concur with its objectives (please email us).

Why MAC?

There are dozens of organisations concerned about mineral extraction and processing; they provide much valuable information. The main difference between most of these and the MAC network is our commitment to respond directly to the needs of mining-affected communities (including workers bodies), and ensure that these reach the widest possible audience.

Over the past dozen years, the MAC web site has expanded to become the largest single electronic source of documentation of its kind. However, due to limited capacity, we realise that some important issues may still not receive the attention they deserve.

We therefore invite readers to propose additional content, and warmly welcome suggestions as to how we can improve our site in any way.

Funders

All content on the site is freely available to users. However, donations are welcome (see: "Donate") and we could not have survived without the support of several charitable organisations, including:

The Sigrid Rausing Trust

Columban Fathers Peace & Justice Committee

The Polden Puckham Charitable Trust (PPCT)

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT)

The Network for Social Change

The Ryklow Charitable Trust 1992

The Rowan Charitable Trust

The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust

The Marmot Trust

The Tinsley Foundation