Dear friends,

I hope you had a good break at the end of 2017, and wish you all the best for 2018.

Late last year, we were involved in protesting against the Mines and Money Conference in London and challenging coal company GCM Resources at its AGM. We report on both of these below.

There has been continuing conflict around Anglo American’s Minas Rio iron ore mine in Brazil. (Indeed, a recent study suggests that the more mining there is, the more conflict there is.) The European Parliament has just called for a moratorium on deep sea mining, which could add to the pressure on the project off the coast of Papua New Guinea being developed by Nautilus, in which Anglo American is a shareholder.

London-listed platinum mining company Lonmin is to be taken over by South African Sibanye Stillwater. Lonmin has postponed its January AGM sine die. LMN Co-chair Saranel Benjamin reflects on the significance of the recent election of Cyril Ramaphosa as leader of the ANC: Ramaphosa was a director of Lonmin at the time of the August 2012 massacre of striking mine workers at the company’s Marikana operations in South Africa.

The U.K. government is phasing out coal use over the next few years, but seemingly not halting opencast coal mining. LMN member group Coal Action Network points out that if we want a real coal phase out, we have to make it happen.

Glencore remains under pressure for alleged wrongdoing in DRC. BHP is reconsidering its membership of mining industry associations and under continuing pressure over the Samarco disaster.

And there’s plenty more mining news below.

All the best,
Richard Solly, Co-ordinator, London Mining Network.

In this mailout

Protesting the Mines and Money Conference
New on the LMN blog

Flogging a Dead Horse: the 2017 GCM Resources AGM
Delays and conflict at Minas Rio, Brazil
South African Catholic bishops ask mining corporations to explain why they use tax havens
Other news
1) Seabed mining
2) Lonmin and the Marikana massacre
3) Coal in the U.K.
4) Update on Lydian International’s gold mine project in Amulsar, Armenia
5) Glencore in the news
6) Acacia Mining’s Q4 output down on Tanzania export ban
7) News about BHP
8) Workers at Colombia’s Cerrejon coal mine say they could strike over wages
9) Rio Tinto’s legacy in Bougainville
10) Patagonia Gold to pay $15 million for gold/silver project in Argentina
11) Why mine closure matters and why it gets ignored
12) Academic research confirms – more mining leads to more fighting

Protesting the Mines and Money Conference

Late last November, the annual Mines and Money Conference took place in London, bringing together mining companies and mining financiers. London Mining Network and member groups Gaia Foundation and War on Want, assisted by member group Colombia Solidarity Campaign and others, hosted activists Camila Mendez from Colombia and Clemente Bautista from the Philippines in protest against the event. Our friend Alice Kazimura from Uganda was denied a visa to visit the UK for the event – the second time in a year that friends of ours making a living as small-scale farmers in Africa were denied entry to the UK, which we consider an outrage and an injustice.

A demonstration was held outside the Conference venue while Nigel Farage gave the keynote speech to the conference, and a tour of mining and finance company offices in London’s West End was held. Our visitors also met with journalists, NGOs and parliamentarians while in London. We made a short video of the protests.

Against arguments that ever more, ever larger industrial mining projects are needed to support the ever growing population of the world, it may be worth reading, or re-reading, a report produced in 2016 by the Gaia Foundation: Mining – when is enough, enough?

New on the LMN blog

Flogging a Dead Horse: the 2017 GCM Resources AGM

At the AGM, GCM’s Executive Chairman Datuk Michael Tang characterised the state of official Bangladesh government support for the project by saying, “The overall indication from various departments has not been entirely negative…” Goodness, what a ringing endorsement of so many years of work!

Delays and conflict at Minas Rio, Brazil

Anglo American has recently announced  that it will close its Minas Rio iron ore mine in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, if the licence for the third stage of mining development is not issued soon. The Minas Rio mine has been a source of grave concern for some residents in the neighbouring community of Conceição do Mato Dentro.

South African Catholic bishops ask mining corporations to explain why they use tax havens

The Justice and Peace Commission for Southern African Catholics Bishops Conference (SACBC) wrote an open letter to 21 mining companies operating in South Africa asking each to explain why it is using tax havens.

Other news

1) Seabed mining

European Parliament adopts resolution on seabed mining

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on international ocean governance. It requests an international moratorium on deep sea mining and asks EU countries to invest in sustainable consumption and production instead.

The writing is on the wall for Solwara 1 – PNG should withdraw

Amid financial strife and looming litigation, Sir Arnold Amet, former Papua New Guinean Attorney General and Minister for Justice, advises the PNG Government to terminate its joint partnership agreement with Nautilus, recoup its 15% stake in the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project and decline to renew the licences for Solwara 1. Anglo American is a shareholder in Nautilus.

2) Lonmin and the Marikana massacre

Forgetting Marikana: What does Ramaphosa’s rise mean for poor South Africans?

On 16 August 2012, 34 miners from Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana were shot and killed. They were on strike demanding a living wage. At the time, Ramaphosa was a director and shareholder in Lonmin PLC, a platinum mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange and with deep roots in apartheid South Africa’s mining industry.

South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater to be No. 2 platinum miner with Lonmin buy

South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater agreed to buy troubled miner Lonmin for about 285 million pounds ($382 million) to create the world’s No. 2 platinum producer in a bid to ride out depressed prices for the metal.

3) Coal in the U.K.

Will the UK coal phase-out live up to the hype? That’s in our hands… 

Last week the government announced its response to the coal phase-out consultation with an overview of how they plan to implement an end to coal by 2025. Coal Action Network looks at some of the pros and cons of this plan and whether or not the ‘Powering Past Coal’ rhetoric matches the action…

UK government spells out plan to shut down coal plants

Government unveils phase-out plan, with one of eight remaining power stations to stop generating electricity this year

4) Update on Lydian International’s gold mine project in Amulsar, Armenia

On December 24, 2017, international independent experts declined the invitation of Armenia’s Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan to participate in the trilateral meeting with Lydian International’s consultants to discuss the problems of the gold mine project in Amsular. Lydian is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange but registered in the UK-controlled tax haven of Jersey in the Channel Islands.

5) Glencore in the news

Glencore shrinks job of billionaire copper head amid Congo probe

Glencore Plc reduced the role of its billionaire head of copper, Aristotelis Mistakidis, shaking up the business after a review in the Democratic Republic of Congo raised questions about accounting and management.

Xstrata in Peru

In May 2012 a number of Peruvian citizens were allegedly severely injured and unlawfully detained by the Peruvian National Police (PNP) during an environmental protest at the Tintaya copper mine in the Espinar Province, Peru. Two Peruvians were shot and killed by the PNP. At the time of the protest, the mine was owned by Xstrata Tintaya S.A. (since renamed Compañía Minera Antapaccay S.A.), a subsidiary of the London-based Xstrata Limited, which became part of Glencore in 2013. Glencore’s head office is in Baar, Switzerland. In May 2013, a number of those injured, and the families of the men killed, instructed Leigh Day to file civil claims for compensation against Xstrata Limited and its Peruvian subsidiary in the High Court in London. The case is listed for a full trial on liability only in June 2018.

6) Acacia Mining’s Q4 output down on Tanzania export ban

Acacia Mining said fourth-quarter production fell by a third on the previous year due to a ban on exports of gold and copper concentrates in Tanzania.

7) News about BHP

The ground is shifting under BHP

We have recently marked the second anniversary of the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil. On November 5, 2015, 19 people died when two iron ore tailings dams collapsed at a Brazilian mine, co-owned by BHP. Entire villages were swept away in a torrent of toxic mud. Two years on, a report by the London Mining Network estimates that 1.4 million people continue to seek urgent action to remediate  ecosystems and restore livelihoods.

Vale is said to be negotiating BHP exit from Samarco venture

Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd. are in talks over the future of their Samarco iron-ore joint venture, including the possibility of the Brazilian miner taking full ownership, according to people familiar with the matter.

BHP to fund $181m for more Samarco dam cleanup

BHP has agreed to fund a total of up to US$181 million (BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda (BHP Brasil) share) in financial support for the Renova Foundation and Samarco Mineração S.A. (Samarco) until 30 June 2018.

BHP is building an EV hub it doesn’t want to keep

The world’s top miner is accelerating plans to transform Nickel West in Western Australia into a linchpin of the global supply chain for electric vehicle batteries. The switch in focus promises to woo new suitors after an aborted 2014 attempt to sell the business, a supplier to the stainless steel sector for about half a century.

8) Workers at Colombia’s Cerrejon coal mine say they could strike over wages

Union workers at Colombia’s largest coal mine, Cerrejon (owned by Anglo American, BHP and Glencore), could strike if disagreements at negotiations for wages and benefits are not resolved by Jan. 19, the main union’s president said on Tuesday.

9) Rio Tinto’s legacy in Bougainville

Bougainville Panguna mine: Indefinite moratorium imposed at troubled site

The Bougainville Government has imposed an indefinite moratorium on mining at the troubled Panguna site — once the world’s biggest open-cut copper mine.

Bougainville landowners say no return for miner BCL

The Bougainville landowners association that controls the former copper mine at Panguna says it is pleased the mining company Bougainville Copper Limited, or BCL, will never be welcomed back.

10) Patagonia Gold to pay $15 million for gold/silver project in Argentina

London-based Patagonia Gold Patagonia’s plans have reignited a long-standing debate in Río Negro, related to the environmental risks of open-pit operations that use of cyanide leaching technology and that consume water resources. According to local media, between 2003 and 2005 community concerns around Calcatreu ended up with the passing of the so-called “anti-cyanide law,” which affected the project despite the fact that it was repealed later in 2011.

11) Why mine closure matters and why it gets ignored 

“It’s the single most important thing that our industry does,” said Douglas Morrison, president and CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation. “Nobody in the public could care less what our productivity levels are, what the return on investment is. They absolutely care what we do with our waste streams – waste water and solid waste. This is where our industry interacts with the public.”

12) Academic research confirms – more mining leads to more fighting

A recent academic study examined the data relating to growth in mining exports and the growth in environmental conflicts across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The correlation is almost perfect. MARIO PEREZ-RINCON and NICK MEYNEN examine how ‘victims’ of such conflict can become environmental ‘warriors’.