Roger, who lived in London, worked with Fr Frank Nally and others when mining justice activists from various parts of the world attended a conference in London in 2001 and the Mines and Communities Network was established. In 2019, Mines and Communities was awarded the UK-based Gandhi Foundation’s prestigious Peace Prize for its support of communities in the global south who feared that mining was damaging their health and livelihoods.
Roger was involved in the founding of the London Mining Network (LMN) in 2006. Roger was amongst those who felt that a dedicated organisation was needed in the UK to put pressure on London-listed mining companies. Roger wrote much of LMN’s 2012 report on UK-listed mining companies and the case for stricter oversight.
He wrote many articles and books. Among his major books on mining are ‘Plunder!’ (a history of Rio Tinto Zinc to 1991), ‘The Gulliver File’ (an encyclopaedic history of world mining companies to 1992), ‘Into the Unknown Regions’ (about submarine tailings disposal), ‘The Risks We Run’ (about mining political risk insurance), and ‘Rocks and Hard Places: The Globalisation of Mining’. His massive influence in the creation of networks of activists against mining injustice across the world, and his personal influence on Columbans campaigning on extractive industries, is a tribute to his dedication to the cause.
Columbans are members of the London Mining Network.
