Dear friends,

We’ve been busy again! Last month, we helped host a delegation from South Africa for the AGM of Lonmin plc, the company associated with the Marikana massacre in August 2012. Thumeka Magwangqana from Marikana women’s organisation Sikhala Sonke, Bishop Jo Seoka from the Benchmarks Foundation, and Andries Nkome, a lawyer representing miners injured during the massacre, spent several days meeting with various groups in London as well as presenting community demands at the AGM and at the vibrant protest outside. We were happy to work with our friends from Decolonising Environmentalism, German Ethical Shareholders, Marikana Miners’ Solidarity Campaign and War on Want.

Last week, we hosted our friend Pius Ginting, an environmental activist from Indonesia, for the Rio Tinto AGM. He brought evidence of the appalling environmental damage being done by the Grasberg mine in West Papua and spoke of the killings which continue to occur in the area as a result of Indonesian military involvement. The company tried to avoid taking responsibility for the conflict which this mine has caused – reminding me of the schoolboy who tells his teacher that the reason he hasn’t brought his homework to school is that the dog ate it. We include a full report of the AGM and an analysis from member group Partizans.

In between times, we supported LMN member groups War on Want, Gaia Foundation and Colombia Solidarity Campaign with a speaker tour about the successful campaign against AngloGold Ashanti in Tolima, Colombia, and the development of viable economic alternatives to mining.

Acacia has its AGM tomorrow, and we’ve signed a joint letter with RAID and other organisations calling for improvements in the company’s community grievance procedures.

Now we are preparing for next month’s Anglo American AGM. There have recently been two disastrous spills from its iron ore pipeline at its Minas Rio iron ore mine in Brazil. This will not have pleased the company.

Anglo American may not be awfully pleased, either, by the increasing interest being taken in it by its major shareholder, Anil Agarwal, Chairman of the notorious Vedanta plc, even though he’s offering to help. There are some people you really wish wouldn’t offer, frankly. There have recently been massive protests in India and in London against Vedanta’s Sterlite subsidiary. Sterlite’s request to renew its Tuticorin smelter operations have been rejected, protests have continued and now a government minister has accused Sterlite of trying to bribe him. Agarwal has just appointed AngloGold’s CEO to run Vedanta, thus completing an odd and rather scary circle, given that Anglo American used to own AngloGold Ashanti – and as you’ll see from paragraph 3 above, there are plenty of people who are not that keen on AngloGold Ashanti either.

In other news, BHP spin-off South 32 has at last been held legally accountable for damage to Indigenous and African-descent communities in northern Colombia. About time too. Rather than accepting this with good grace, however, the company is appealing. Meanwhile, BHP itself is the subject of a complaint by global mining union IndustriALL. Glencore is being accused of flagrant human rights violations with Swiss government complicity.

And there’s plenty more news below.

All the best,
Richard Solly, LMN Co-ordinator.

In this mailout

Events and actions
Petition: Stand with Mining Affected communities and demand the Right to say NO!
Monday 23 April, Mining, social conflict and alternatives in Colombia and Peru
Saturday 28 April, Fair, Green, London. Get Involved.

News
1) Letter to Acacia Mining as its AGM approaches
2) The Rio Tinto AGM and related news
3) Colombian campaigners in UK to talk about successful resistance to mining, and viable economic alternatives
4) The Lonmin AGM
5) Disaster at Anglo American’s Minas Rio mine in Brazil
6) Historic Court Case on the Right to Say No to Mining
7) Statue unveiled to protest opencast coal
8) Fabergé owners face London High Court battle over alleged human rights abuses
9) Mass protests against Vedant subsidiary Sterlite
10) Billionaire Agarwal hires AngloGold’s CEO to run Vedanta
11) Agarwal offers Anglo help in tapping India’s 1.3 billion people
12) South32 to appeal damages ruling in Colombia
13) Mining tensions in Peru
14) Extracting Metals from E-Waste Costs 13 Times Less Than Mining Ore
15) Workers come out worst in Responsible Mining Index
16) Glencore in Flagrant Violation of Human Rights – Swiss Government Complicit
17) Dutch support for reconciliation in mining region where Glencore operates
18) BHP in the news
19) Prospects for steam coal exporters in the era of climate policies: a case study of Colombia

Events and actions

Petition: Stand with Mining Affected communities and demand the Right to say NO!

Mining-affected communities are repeatedly denied what is known as the right to free prior and informed consent (FPIC) when it comes to mining developments in their backyard. You can help them fight for a Right to say NO to mining developments that do not address their interests.

Monday 23 April, Mining, social conflict and alternatives in Colombia and Peru
6pm to 8.45pm UCL Roberts Building (Lecture Theatre 106), Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE.

Large-scale mining projects are strongly backed by the Colombian and Peruvian state as a source of revenue and jobs. However, they have a long record of damaging social and environmental impacts. They harm people’s health and disrupt food production. They contribute to biodiversity loss and pollute water sources.

Saturday 28 April, Fair, Green, London. Get Involved.
3pm to 6pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Cruciform Building, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT

While frontline communities are rising up, London is continuing to provide social and political cover for the most toxic industry on the planet. We need to change that.

News

1) Letter to Acacia Mining as its AGM approaches

London Mining Network has joined the Legal and Human Rights Centre, RAID, CORE and MiningWatch Canada in signing an open letter to the board of Acacia Mining, calling for an improvement in the company’s human rights record in Tanzania.

2) The Rio Tinto AGM and related news

Indonesian campaigner calls for Rio Tinto to exit Papua

Indonesian mining campaigner visiting London for Rio Tinto AGM calls for company to exit Papua, and for accountability.

Death and destruction caused by mining in West Papua, but Rio Tinto denies responsibility

Pius Ginting, from Indonesian environmental organisation Action for Ecology and People’s Emancipation (AEER), told Rio Tinto’s board and shareholders at the AGM that he had recently visited coastal areas affected by the Grasberg mine’s waste disposal. Residents of Pasir Hitam have had to abandon their village because it is surrounded by mine waste. The mine is now discharging 200,000 tonnes of tailings into the river every day.

When an April shower starts turning into a perfect storm

Analysis of the Rio Tinto AGM

The dog ate my homework: another year at Rio Tinto

Full report of the Rio Tinto AGM

Mimika’s Coastal Dystopia – report

Indonesian organisation AEER, coordinated by LMN partner Pius Ginting, has just launched this report into mining waste (tailings) at Grasberg mine, a controversial mine in occupied West Papua, co-owned by British-Australian Rio Tinto and US company Freeport-MacMoRan.

A withhold up in Mongolia?

Rio Tinto is accused of “illegitimately lowering” its withholding taxes paid to the government of Mongolia in relation to the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

Rio Tinto defends executive bonus structure

Rio Tinto defended its executive salary policy on Wednesday after proxy adviser Glass Lewis urged shareholders to vote against it and criticised the firm for paying out bonuses in 2017, a year when two employees died at work.

Rio Tinto’s Thompson deals with misconduct allegations at AGM

Mining major Rio Tinto has again denied allegations of withholding information from shareholders regarding its Mozambican coal assets, with chairperson Simon Thompson saying that the company would “vigorously” defend itself against these allegations.

Bougainville president elaborates on ‘No’ to mining

The President of the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville has elaborated on why his government is saying no to mining at Panguna for the foreseeable future.

3) Colombian campaigners in UK to talk about successful resistance to mining, and viable economic alternatives

Resistance to the ‘La Colosa’ gold mine

After a 10-year nonviolent campaign coordinated by grassroots activists and international support, the town of Cajamarca in Colombia voted with a 97.9% majority to say “No” to the world’s third largest mining company’s (South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti) plans for the development of what was thought to become the world’s fifth highest gold producing mine (per annum) in the world:  the “La Colosa” gold mine.   The company has now halted its project entirely, is pulling out, and says that it accepts the validity of the vote.

Podcast: Yes to Life, No to Mining in Tolima

Extractivism meets democracy & a forward thinking business provides the uplifting narrative of ‘alternative development’. Thanks to: Yes to Life – No to Mining, The Gaia Foundation, Crepes & Waffles, Global Synapses & Schumacher College.

4) The Lonmin AGM

Video: we demand justice for Marikana

Protest at the Lonmin AGM

Smile please! It’s the Lonmin AGM!

London Mining Network worked with student organisation Decolonising Environmentalism, ethical investment association Ethical Shareholders Germany, solidarity organisation Marikana Miners Solidarity Campaign and LMN member group War on Want, to host a visit to London by representatives of the community at Marikana so that they could attend the Lonmin AGM and present their demands.

5) Disaster at Anglo American’s Minas Rio mine in Brazil

Update on spills at Anglo American’s Minas Rio mine in Brazil

A pipeline in Brazil carrying iron ore more than 500 kms from Minas Gerias State to a terminal on the Atlantic Ocean burst twice during March 2018 in the District of Santo Antônio do Grama, leading to the suspension of the use of the pipeline for at least three months.

Serious incident at Anglo American’s operations in Minas Gerais, Brazil

On 12 March, London-based Anglo American halted iron ore production at its mine in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state after a mineral duct used to transport the product to an export terminal broke down. The impacts of the pipeline rupture were serious. This is the kind of problem which critics of the mine have been warning about for years.

Anglo gives 30-day leave to workers at suspended Brazil iron ore mine

Anglo American Plc said on Monday it was giving 30 days’ leave to 766 workers at its suspended Minas-Rio mine in Brazil.

6) Historic Court Case on the Right to Say No to Mining

On 23 April 2018 the Amadiba Crisis Committee, represented by their lawyers Richard Spoor Inc. and the Legal Resources Centre, is taking the South African Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to court over attempts to mine their land in Xolobeni on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. The applicants will request the court to rule that the DMR cannot issue a mining license without the community’s consent. If successful this case will set a precedent for other communities affected and threatened by mining in South Africa and across the African continent.

7) Statue unveiled to protest opencast coal

On 10 April, Secretary of State for Communities, Sajid Javid and his colleagues were greeted with a life-size statue depicting the Secretary of State ‘turning a blind eye’ to the imminent expansion of opencast coal mining in the UK.

8) Fabergé owners face London High Court battle over alleged human rights abuses

Law firm Leigh Day has issued proceedings at the High Court in London against Gemfields Limited, a London-based mining company which owns Fabergé and whose celebrity endorsements have included Mila Kunis and Sophie Cookson. In the legal claims, over 100 Mozambicans allege serious human rights abuses on or around the Montepuez Ruby Mine in Northern Mozambique which is owned by Gemfields Limited’s Mozambican subsidiary, in which it holds a 75% controlling stake.

9) Mass protests against Vedanta subsidiary Sterlite

London and Tuticorin mass rally to ban Sterlite

24th March 2018: A noisy protest took place at 42-44 Hill Street in Mayfair, London, today, as British Tamils armed with traditional Parai drums joined with major demonstrations in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, India, against the expansion of British company Sterlite’s copper smelter in the State. The London protest, which took place at the $20 million home of company boss Anil Agarwal, was called by Foil Vedanta, Tamil People in UK and Parai – Voice of Freedom.

As Sterlite plant expands, an Indian city erupts in protest

“[The Indian] government should order Vedanta Ltd. to cease operations in Thoothukudi, make the company clean up the ecological damage it has wrought, and ensure that victims receive fair compensation. Only that will be a real deterrent”.

Vedanta’s request to renew copper smelter operations in India rejected

Vedanta Resources Plc said its application for renewal of consent to operate its copper smelting plant, one of India’s biggest, in the South Indian town of Thootukudi was rejected by the state pollution regulator.

Protesters block trucks carrying ore to Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin

Activists and villagers, who are demanding closure of Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin, on Tuesday night blocked three trucks that were carrying tonnes of raw material (ore) to the plant. The protesters alleged that the plant was functioning despite not receiving clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).

Sterlite tried to bribe: Union minister

Beleaguered Sterlite has a new thunderbolt striking it. This time it is the union minister of state for shipping Pon Radhakrishnan alleging that the copper smelting giant made an attempt to bribe him.

10) Billionaire Agarwal hires AngloGold’s CEO to run Vedanta

Anil Agarwal hired AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.’s Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan to run his Vedanta Resources Plc in a move that may hint at the Indian billionaire’s plans for his global commodity portfolio.

11) Agarwal offers Anglo help in tapping India’s 1.3 billion people

Anglo American Plc’s biggest shareholder, billionaire Anil Agarwal, has offered to help the mining giant expand into India.

12) South32 to appeal damages ruling in Colombia

Perth-based, London-listed South32 has announced that it plans to appeal the ruling issued on March 16, 2018, by Colombia’s Constitutional Court demanding that the company pay damages to Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities affected by its operations in the northern Cordoba province.

13) Mining tensions in Peru

The new government in Peru has its hands full on many fronts in the mining sector. Several major projects face serious issues.

14) Extracting Metals from E-Waste Costs 13 Times Less Than Mining Ore

Recovering gold, copper, and other metals from electronic waste isn’t just sustainable, it’s actually 13 times cheaper than extracting metals from mines, researchers report in the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science & Technology.

15) Workers come out worst in Responsible Mining Index

A comprehensive new index, ranking large-scale mining companies in six different performance areas, has found that companies are scoring lowest on working conditions.

16) Glencore in Flagrant Violation of Human Rights – Swiss Government Complicit

Violent attacks have been carried out by the copper mining giant Glencore’s security forces and Glencore-contracted national police on defenseless women and even children, on the poorest of the poor segment of Peru’s population. Glencore is a Swiss registered Anglo-Swiss mining corporation, exploiting mineral resources in developing countries around the globe, where they pay almost no taxes, as their profit center is in Switzerland, in Baar, Canton Zug, one of the Cantons, that has the lowest tax rates in Switzerland.

17) Dutch support for reconciliation in mining region where Glencore operates

Dutch Minister Blok visited Colombia bringing along a message of support for peace and for a reconciliation dialogue between mining companies, including Glencore, and victims of human rights violations in the coal mining region of Cesar.

18) BHP in the news

BHP says to quit global coal lobby group, stick with U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Global miner BHP Billiton said it had made a final decision to leave the World Coal Association (WCA) over differences on climate change but would remain a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

IndustriALL and BWI file OECD complaint against BHP Billiton and Vale

The complaint is related to the consequences of the collapse of the Fundão Dam near Mariana in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on 5 November 2015. The dam, which stored millions of litres of waste from the Germano iron-ore mine, is operated by Samarco Mineração S.A., a joint venture between mining companies BHP Billiton and Vale S. A..

19) Prospects for steam coal exporters in the era of climate policies: a case study of Colombia

New report argues Colombia needs to plan for a just transition away from reliance on thermal coal exports as climate policies are increasing risk of stranded assets.