[London and New York] Hundreds of Tibetans rioted last month against a Chinese mining project, which is extracting lead and zinc from Yala Mountain, one of nine mountains considered sacred by Tibetans in the region situated in Tawu County, Kardze Prefecture, Kham [Ch: Sichuan] in eastern Tibet. Reuters reported that in late May over 400 Tibetans gathered in protest outside the local branch of the Chinese mining company. Local government officials were reportedly attacked when they attempted to intervene and around twenty vehicles were smashed. The report quoted a Tibetan lama as saying: “For us, the Yala mountain is sacred. When the mine owner began exploiting it, people were enraged and tried to stop it.”(1) According to the Reuters report, a local official said that the unrest had since “subsided”.

“The riots in Tawu [Ch: Bamei] are evidence of the very real resentment felt by Tibetans towards mining activity on the Tibetan Plateau for which their free, prior and informed consent has not been sought, and which instead plunders their natural resources” said Matt Whitticase, Campaign Spokesperson for Free Tibet Campaign. "As the recently launched China-Tibet railway opens up more areas to mining, we are likely to see an upsurge of unrest amongst Tibetans living in mineral-rich areas and whose communities are impacted."

The riots are part of a growing trend of local opposition to the increasing presence of Chinese and overseas mining companies in Tibet. Canadian and British firms in particular are leading the rush to exploit Tibet’s mineral reserves without the consent of and increasingly in conflict with rural Tibetans living near the project sites.

 “As long as Tibet remains an occupied territory with no rule of law and where mineral exploitation is so clearly opposed by local Tibetans, no mining companies – Chinese or foreign – should be operating there.” said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Foreign companies have no business colluding with the Chinese Government as it ransacks Tibet’s vast mineral wealth for its own benefit (2).”

The global extractive industry has a dismal track record when it comes to mining in politically volatile areas like Tibet, where local people often have no say over the exploitation of their own natural resources and suffer the devastating social, economic and environmental consequences of these projects.

There are currently nine foreign mining companies known to be operating in Tibet, seven Canadian and two British. Canadian company, Continental Minerals, holds its Annual General Meeting in Vancouver on June 21st, where its Shetongmon mine in Tibet is certain to be protested by Tibet activists.(3) In June 2006, reports from Tibet indicated that local villagers living near the Shetongmon site protested outside the company’s site offices. The Tibetan Government in Exile based in Dharamsala, India has called for a halt to Continental’s operations, which fail to meet the Government’s guidelines for sustainable development projects in Tibet.

An international coalition of Tibet Support Groups has urged Continental Minerals and the other firms to immediately withdraw from Tibet until Tibetans in mine impacted areas are in a position to give free, prior, and informed consent to these projects.

Notes to Editor:
(1)Reuters also reported that eight Tibetan village elders from Bamei had been missing since they attempted to petition the Sichuan provincial government in the capital, Chengdu, according to residents.
(2) Extraction of valuable Tibetan minerals such as copper, zinc and lead reduces China’s dependence on costly imports, commodity prices for which have soared on the back of Chinese industrial demand.
(3) The following is a list of those companies operating in Tibet, their activities and location:
HDI/Continental Minerals (CAD): Copper and Gold mining at Shenthongmon Gold Mine (Ch: Xientongmen) Shigatse (Ch: Rigaze), U-Tsang / Tibet Autonomous Region (Ch: Xizang)
Company website: http://www.hdgold.com/kmk/Home.aspInter Citic Minerals Inc (CAD): Dachang Gold Project, Mato Township (Ch: Maduo),Churmarleb County (Ch: Qumalai)Yulshul Prefecture (Ch: Yushou) , Kham, (Ch: Qinghai)
Company website:  http://www.inter-citic.com/
Eldorado Gold (CAD): Tanjianshan Gold Project, near Tsadamche (Ch: Dachaidan), Tsonub Prefecture (Ch: Haixi), Dachaidan, Amdo (Ch: Qinghai)
Company website: http://www.eldoradogold.com
Dynasty Gold (CAD) : Red Valley Gold Project, (Ch: Hongguo Village, Datan Township), Semnyi County, (Ch: Menyuan), Tsobyang Prefecture (Ch: Haibei), Amdo (Ch: Qinghai Province)
Company website:  http://www.dynastygoldcorp.com
TVI Pacific (CAD): Gold and mineral exploration at 60 sites across Tibetan Autonomous region
Company website:  http://www.tvipacific.com
GobiMin (CAD): Huangshan deposit drilling, Xianshang mine, Tagtse County (Ch: Dazi), Lhasa, Tibetan Autonomous Region (Ch: Xizang)
Company website:  http://www.gobimin.com
Sterling Group Ventures Inc (CAD): Produce lithium carbonate (Ch: Dangxiongcuo Lake) in Nagqu Prefecture (Ch: Naqu), Tibetan Autonomous Region (Ch: Xizang)
Company website:  http://www.sterlinggroupventures.com/
China Central Goldfields (UK): De Ming Ding Copper Project, 60 km east of Lhasa (Ch: De Ming Ding area), Tibetan Autonomous Region (Ch: Xizang)
Company website: http://www.ccgoldfields.com/
South China Resources (UK): Zhunuo copper project, (Ch: Zhunuo), Shigatse (Ch: Rigaze), U-Tsang / Tibet Autonomous Region (Ch: Xizang)
Company website:  http://www.southchinaresources.com/