Mark Brennae of CFAX radio in Victoria, Canada interviewed InvestigativeMEDIA’s John Dougherty and Jen Moore, Latin America program coordinator for Ottawa-based MiningWatch, Canada on Wednesday, May 10 about their April 21 detention by the Peruvian National Police and Peruvian immigration authorities after a Cusco, Peru screening of Dougherty’s documentary “Flin Flon Flim Flam” on the worldwide operations of Hudbay Minerals.
The 30-minute interview can be heard here:
InvestigativeMEDIA is republishing its 2012 series of stories on the original investors of the Rosemont Copper Mine and their role in a failed Sardinian gold mining project through a Vancouver, B.C. based mining company called Sargold Resource Corp.
One of the original Rosemont investors, Richard Warke, remains a key player in Arizona by seeking permits to develop a massive open-pit silver mine near Patagonia. Warke is now chairman of Arizona Mining Inc., which is seeking state and federal permits to develop the Patagonia mine.
Warke runs an array junior mining companies from Vancouver, B.C. and also serves as Executive Chair of NewCastle Gold Ltd., a company focused on exploring its multi-million ounce gold deposit in California.
These businesses are part of the Augusta Group of Companies, a conglomerate that Warke founded in 2006 comprised of Arizona Mining, NewCastle Gold Ltd. and Armor Minerals.
As detailed below, Warke’s management of Sargold Resources and its Sardinian gold mine raise serious questions. For additional information on Warke’s history of failing to disclose personal and corporate bankruptcies, cease trade orders and stock exchange delistings click here. A video timeline of Warke’s business history is here.
Warke is also featured in InvestigativeMEDIA’s 2012 award-winning documentary Cyanide Beach.
InvestigativeMEDIA’s series of stories on Warke and his business partners including the Sargold investment was later featured in Global Mining Observer.
Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. purchased Rosemont Copper when it acquired Augusta Resource Corp. in 2014 in a $550 million stock deal. Warke was Chairman of Augusta Resource at the time of the purchase. Augusta Resource, under Warke’s direction, purchased the Rosemont copper prospect for $20 million in 2006.
Hudbay is now seeking state and federal permits to develop the Rosemont mine. InvestigativeMEDIA released its documentary Flin Flon Flim Flam on Hudbay’s worldwide operations and plans to develop the Rosemont mine in October 2015.
InvestigativeMEDIA’s original 2012 story on Warke’s investment strategy in the Sardinian gold mine through the now defunct Sargold Resource Corp. follows below.
Introduction
Augusta Resource Corporation is seeking government approvals to construct a massive 
open-pit copper mine and dump waste rock and mine tailings on more than 3,000 acres of the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Rita Mountains 35 miles south of Tucson.
The mine would be operated through Augusta’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Rosemont Copper Company. 
Augusta, a Vancouver, British Columbia speculative mining company, has never operated a mine and has a very limited business history.
Five of the eight current members of Augusta’s board of directors, however, do a have mining history.
Between 2003 and 2007, these executives were on the board of directors of Sargold Resource Corporation. Sargold owned and operated an open-pit gold mine near the small farming village of Furtei in south-central Sardinia.
InvestigativeMEDIA reviewed Sargold’s publicly available business records and traveled to Sardinia and Vancouver to conduct interviews. The reporting lead to the video documentary “Cyanide Beach”.
InvestigativeMEDIA also prepared the following report on Sargold’s business history that includes a detailed analysis at the end of the historical narrative.
InvestigativeMEDIA offered to meet Augusta officials in Vancouver, but Augusta declined interview requests with the five current Augusta board members to discuss their actions as Sargold directors.
The history and analysis is annotated with links to Sargold’s press releases, regulatory disclosures, court records, Canadian mining claim reports, news articles and scientific studies on the unfolding environmental disaster left behind after the Sardinian gold mine was abandoned. [Read more…]
| Canadian Tour Press Release | Click Here |
| Film Synopsis | Click Here |
| Filmmaker’s Biography | Click Here |
| Hi-Res Image of the Filmmaker | Click Here |
| Trailer | Click Here |
| Movie Poster | Click Here |
| Still Images | Click Here |
| Download Full Press Kit | Click Here |
TORONTO—Arizona independent filmmaker John Dougherty on Thursday personally invited Hudbay Minerals’ top executives, directors, and shareholders to attend the Canadian premiere of his documentary film “Flin Flon Flim Flam” on the company’s troubled worldwide operations.
Mr. Dougherty extended the invitation during Hudbay’s annual shareholder’s meeting and offered an opportunity for Hudbay to answer questions following the upcoming screening of the film at 7:00 p.m., May 24, at the Royal Cinema in downtown Toronto.
Alan Hair, Hudbay’s President and CEO, brushed off the offer saying, “Thank you for the infomercial.” He then immediately adjourned the meeting.
Toronto is the first stop of a 13-city tour spanning Canada that will include stops in Montreal on May 25 and Ottawa on May 26 before heading west to Winnipeg on June 7 and Flin Flon on June 10.
The film documents Hudbay’s history of pollution in Flin Flon, conflict with First Nations in Manitoba, alleged atrocities at a nickel mine in Guatemala, brutality in Peru, and plans to construct a massive open-pit copper mine in Arizona in an environmentally-sensitive area that is the home to the only known wild jaguar in the United States.
The Canadian release of the film comes shortly after the New York Times in a front-page, Sunday story reported on allegations of Hudbay committing serious human rights abuses in Guatemala.
Hudbay is the subject of three civil suits in Toronto from Guatemalan peasants who allege the company committed gang rapes, murder and a shooting that left a man paralyzed.
Canadian author Alain Deneault will join Mr. Dougherty for the Montreal screening to answer audience questions following the screening. Mr. Deneault is the co-author of Imperial Canada Inc.: Legal Haven of Choice for the World’s Mining Industries.
Publication of the book was delayed two years after Vancouver-based Barrick Gold threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against the authors and publishers.
The Hon. John McKay, a Liberal Member of Parliament, is sending his Legislative Assistant to attend the Ottawa screening. Mr. McKay called for stronger oversight of Canadian mining operations abroad in the wake of the New York Times story.
-30-
Film highlights miner’s record of human rights and environmental abuses
(Phoenix, Ariz) Arizona investigative journalist John Dougherty will begin a 10-city Canadian tour on May 24 at the Royal Theatre in Toronto to screen his documentary “Flin Flon Flim Flam” on the worldwide operations of Hudbay Minerals, Inc.
The Canadian release of Mr. Dougherty’s exposé comes shortly after a New York Times April 2 front-page story reported on Hudbay’s dismal human rights record in Guatemala and pending civil litigation in Ontario that has national consequences for Canadian mining companies operating abroad.
Hudbay stands accused of murder, a shooting and gang rapes in connection with conflicts with indigenous communities in Guatemala. The film includes interviews conducted in September 2014 with many of the same Guatemalans featured in the Times story.
“Hudbay has a long history of tightly controlling information released to the media and the public,” Mr. Dougherty says. “This film produced in the United States provides a rare glimpse into the operations of one of Canada’s oldest mining companies without the threat of a defamation lawsuit that has been used by Canadian mining companies to stop publication of information in Canada. [Read more…]
