VIDEOS

BhA interview series: Indigenous people and mining for critical raw materials

#6 | Mining in Latin America: Raising awareness in the Catholic Church and beyond

Valentina Vidal, social worker and member of the Latin America-wide network Churches and Mining & Asamblea en defensa del Agua y el Territorio, Argentina, interviewed by Herbert Wasserbauer, Dreikönigsaktion der Katholischen Jungschar/DKA Austria. October 2024

BhA interview series: Indigenous people and mining for critical raw materials

#5 | ‘Green’ transition: Whose transition? Brazil: Mining. Colonialism. Sacrifice.

Ytaxaha Braz Pankararu, Indigenous leader from Minas Gerais, Brazil & Christian Crevels, anthropologist and activist with Indigenist Missionary Council – CIMI, Brazil/Switzerland, interviewed by Herbert Wasserbauer, Dreikönigsaktion der Katholischen Jungschar/DKA Austria. October 2024.

BhA interview series: Indigenous people and mining for critical raw materials

#4 | Kuusamo: Sámi struggles to protect lakes, rivers, and watersheds in the face of mining

Mika Flöjt, NGO SLL Lappi, Sápmi/Finland, interviewed by Ellen Marie Jensen, Austrian Polar Research Institute (APRI). May 2024.

Kuusamo is a highland, forested area in Lapland province in Finland and also a historical Sámi area. The place name means “the Spruce Sámi.” The people of this area identify strongly as fishers, and have also hunted and gathered here since time immemorial. In the video, Mika Flöjt, activist and local politician, tells us about the ongoing struggles to protect the lakes, rivers, and watersheds of the Kuusamo area, which are heavily sought after by mining companies for gold, cobalt, and uranium.

BhA interview series in cooperation with the conference “Towards Fair Resource Policies for a Global Just Transition!”

Business and human rights: The influence of multinational corporate power on Indonesian resource policy

Kania Mezariani Guzaimi, FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (GER), interviewed by Marlene Auer, Uni Vienna & Austrian Polar Research Institute (APRI). January 2025.

Kania Mezariani Guzaimi shares insights from her work with advocacy organizations and international NGOs on business and human rights issues in Indonesia, and her research on the influence of multinational corporations on Indonesian politics. The interview looks at the corporate landscape of mining in Indonesia – particularly the nickel industry -, the interconnections between politics and corporate power, and how this impacts on human rights issues related to resource extraction in Indonesia.

BhA interview series in cooperation with the conference “Towards Fair Resource Policies for a Global Just Transition!”

Shaping raw materials policy: Addressing underlying structures of extraction and the role of civil society

Elisa Thomaset, INKOTA network (GER), interviewed by Gerti Saxinger, Uni Vienna & Austrian Polar Research Institute (APRI). January 2025.

Elisa Thomaset shares insights from her work on resource justice and raw materials policy at INKOTA, a network that focuses on building links between the Global South and the Global North, and comprehensively addressing the underlying structures of resource extraction and its socio-ecological costs. The video discusses the role of Global North politics and corporations in global resource governance, co-operation between the Global South and the Global North, and the role civil society can play in influencing resource policies.

BhA interview series in cooperation with the conference “Towards Fair Resource Policies for a Global Just Transition!”

Raw materials extraction in Southern Africa from a global union perspective

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Global Union, Geneva, interviewed by Gerti Saxinger, Uni Vienna & Austrian Polar Research Institute (APRI). January 2025.

Glen Mpufane shares insights from his decades of experience in the global mining industry, which includes working in the mines of South Africa, the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa and currently IndustriALL Global Union, a global union federation representing millions of workers in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. The video looks at the role of the African continent in global raw materials extraction – with a particular focus on South Africa – and the key challenges for global unions and labour rights. He also discusses the historical context of mining under the apartheid regime.

BhA Lecture #1, at Montanuniversität Leoben, AT

On the Work of Political Geology in the Age of Critical Minerals

A talk by Dr. Adam Bobbette, University of Glasgow, School of Geographical & Earth Sciences moderated by Prof. Frank Melcher, Montanuni Leoben, Economic Geology. November 2024.

See also Adam Bobbette’s related blog post “What is Political Geology?”.

BhA interview series: Indigenous people and mining for critical raw materials

#3 | Strange Lake Rare Earth Mining Project/Nunavik, Canada

Maggie Emudluk, Mayor of Kangiqsualujjuaq interviewed by Thierry Rodon, Laval University, Canada. May 2024.

Strange Lake Rare Earth Mining Project

Torngat Metals Ltd. proposes constructing, operating, decommissioning, and abandoning an open‐pit rare earth mine located approximately 235 kilometres northeast of Schefferville, Quebec. The mine is in the George River Watershed, which has no industrial development and is the breeding ground for the George River Caribou Herd. The project would impact three Indigenous communities. Kangiqsualujjuaq, an Inuit community, is located 300km downstream from the mine and uses the river to provide drinking water. The Innu community of Matimekush Lac‐John and the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach are situated outside the George River watershed, but the mine could impact both community’s traditional territory. Notably, the Mushuau Nipi site, located 20 km from the mine, is an ancestral gathering site designed as a protected area. The mine would have a production capacity of up to 36,000 tonnes per day and a lifespan of 30 years. The proposed project would include a 1,500‐metre‐long airstrip at the mine site, a new metal mill with an ore input capacity of 17,000 tonnes per day, waste rock and tailings piles, and associated buildings. It would also include a road about 170 kilometres between the mine site and the new port facilities on the Labrador coast.

BhA interview series: Indigenous people and mining for critical raw materials

#2 | Mining on Indigenous lands: legal contexts and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) explained

Jennifer Hays, Professor in Social Anthropology, Arctic University of Norway UiT, interviewed by Gerti Saxinger, Uni Vienna & Austrian Polar Research Institute APRI, May 2024.

BhA interview series: Indigenous people and mining for critical raw materials

#1 | A Sámi intervention on the energy transition

Stefan Mikaelsson, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Sámi Parliament of Sweden, interviewed by Ellen Marie Jensen, Austrian Polar Research Institute APRI, May 2024.

BhA Workshop Day 2 – Panel #2

“Let’s keep on talking across stakeholders and society”

This is a recording of the panel held during the public online sessions of the workshop “Beyond Hot Air – Conversations around critical raw materials supply for the ‘green’ transition”, University of Vienna, 15-18 May 2024. To learn more about the workshop click here.
Panelists:
Frank Melcher, Montanuniversität Leoben, AT
Xander Dunlap, Uni Boston, US
Karin Küblböck, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE)
Julia Loginova, University of Queensland, AUS
Magdalena Pupp, BMF Austrian Ministry of Finance, Section Mining
Moderator: Matthias Kowasch, University College of Teacher Education Styria & Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

BhA Workshop Day 2 – Panel #1

“Indigenous perspectives on broader political and local societal issues“

This is a recording of the panel held during the public online sessions of the workshop “Beyond Hot Air – Conversations around critical raw materials supply for the ‘green’ transition”, University of Vienna, 15-18 May 2024. To learn more about the workshop click here.
Panelists:
Ragnhild Enoksen, Árres, NGO in Kvaenangen, NOR
Stefan Mikaelsson, Sámi Parliament in Sweden
Jean-Louis Thydejepache, Koniambo Nickel SAS, New Caledonia
Maggie Emudluk, Northern Village of Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik/Canada
Anna Preiser, Uni Vienna, AT
Moderator: Jennifer Hays, Arctic University of Norway UiT

BhA Workshop Day 1 – Panel #2

“Critical Raw Materials. Geology, engineering, social sciences & research’s societal impact”

This is a recording of the panel held during the public online sessions of the workshop “Beyond Hot Air – Conversations around critical raw materials supply for the ‘green’ transition”, University of Vienna, 15-18 May 2024. To learn more about the workshop click here.
Panelists:
Michael Tost, Montanuniversität Leoben, AT
Holger Paulick, GeoSphere Austria
Ellen Marie Jensen, Austrian Polar Research Institute APRI
Felix Kolb, University of Halle, GER
Moderator: Gerti Saxinger, Uni Vienna & Austrian Polar Research Institute APRI

BhA Workshop Day 1 – Panel #1

“The Critical Raw Materials Act and practical challenges”

This is a recording of the panel held during the public online sessions of the workshop “Beyond Hot Air – Conversations around critical raw materials supply for the ‘green’ transition”, University of Vienna, 15-18 May 2024. To learn more about the workshop click here.
Panelists:
Britta Bookhagen, German Mineral Resources Agency (DERA)
Karin Küblböck, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE)
Mika Flöjt, NGO SLL Lappi, FI
Willem Odendaal, Gai-as Consultancy Services CC, Namibia
Moderator: Johannes Waldmüller, Uni Vienna, AT

Mining on First Nation Land – The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun in Mayo/Yukon Territory

Mining for critical raw materials (CRM) often takes place on the lands of Indigenous Peoples, such as in the (sub-)Arctic. Stories of historical and contemporary mining in settler-colonial places can teach us about the claims for full participation in environmental decision making and what is at stake for local and Indigenous inhabitants of extractive zones in times of booming CRM mining. This film tells the stories and portrays the views of people from the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun in Mayo/Yukon Territory in Canada about mining on their traditional territory.

Produced by the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun, 2017. A film by Gertrude Saxinger, Robert Gebauer, Jörg Oschmann, Susanna Gartler. 13 min