Dear friends,

It has been six weeks since our last full news mailing, and there has been so much news we cannot fit it all in a mailing! I hope you’ll find the news below interesting, but remember also that you can find our full news output by following us on Twitter or, if you do not have a Twitter account, you can find everything that we send out via Twitter on our website at https://twitter.com/londonmining.

People’s Tribunal on Lonmin

In our events mailout last Tuesday, we inadvertently gave the day and date of the People’s Tribunal on Lonmin as Monday 28 May. In fact, it will be held on TUESDAY 28 May. Sorry for the mix-up! I hope you can join us in support of the families of the mine workers murdered by police at Lonmin’s Marikana operations in 2012, and in protest against the multiple injustices associated with this company’s long history.

Deaths and death threats in Latin America

Lonmin is not the only mining company whose operations have been associated with violence and intimidation. On the eve of the Anglo American AGM last month, a number of our friends in La Guajira, Colombia – including indigenous Wayuu and African descent community leaders and trade unionists – received fresh death threats from the paramilitary organisation Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles) because of their criticisms of Cerrejon Coal, owned by London-listed multinationals Anglo American, BHP and Glencore. Cerrejon Coal has itself condemned these threats, but the Colombian government, far from showing any concern for those under threat, has refused protection to some and withdrawn protection from others. The Colombian Ministry of Defence responded to one email sent in response to our recent urgent action by asking, “What do you expect us to do about it?” (I translate and paraphrase, but that was the gist of what they said.) It is an outrage that our dear friends struggling for basic respect in the face of hugely destructive opencast mining have to live with this level of intimidation against themselves and their families, in the face of the utter indifference of the Colombian government. These threats against our friends are made for no other reason than that they challenge the conduct of multinational mining companies. I urge you to write to the Colombian government and encourage others to do so. Those who wish to murder our friends must never be allowed to get away with it.

Sadly, in Brazil, Dilma Ferreira Silva, one of the leaders of MAB, the Movement of People Affected by Dams, an organisation with which we have been working for the past three years, has recently been assassinated because of her work for justice and defence of the earth. Below you will find a denunciation of this murder. One of the things that Brazil has in common with Colombia is the fact that they are both run by Presidents who are openly opposed to the kind of ecological justice for which we and our friends are working.

 

The Rivers Are Bleeding

Coincidentally, our friends in LMN member group War on Want have updated their excellent report on British mining companies in Latin America, The Rivers Are Bleeding.

Vale: another of our dams might fail next week

Brazilian mining company Vale, responsible for the terrible Brumadinho tailings dam collapse in January this year and (with BHP) for the Samarco tailings dam collapse in November 2015, has just announced that there is a grave risk that another of its tailings dams will collapse this week. I wonder if this will coincide with next week’s AGM of Antofagasta, which controls one of the highest tailings dams in the world in the earthquake-prone mountains of Chile – and wants to make the dam higher still. We include two articles below reflecting on the need for mining companies to improve their accountability. One of the articles note that mining companies are worried about the presence of campaigning shareholders at their AGMs. Good: perhaps the many airless hours of boredom and disgust have all been worthwhile. There will be a play about Vale’s Brumadinho disaster at Toynbee Hall, London, on 4 June.

More on mine waste

Speaking of mining waste, you’ll find information below about BHP’s legacy at Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea, Rio Tinto’s continuing pollution in Madagascar and the clean-up of its subsidiary ERA’s Ranger uranium mine in Australia.

Reports on company AGMs

In the past few weeks we’ve attended the Rio Tinto and Anglo American AGMs to raise issues of concern to our friends in communities affected by these companies’ operations.

Too much coal in Britain but companies want to dig up even more

Our friends in LMN member group Coal Action Network are challenging continued opencast mining and importation of coal into the UK when, quite apart from climate considerations, we already have a massive stockpile of the stuff.

World Bank: watch what you’re doing on renewables

LMN has joined many others in warning the World Bank that the urgent and necessary move away from fossil fuels must not lead to an increase in the hugely damaging and destructive mining of metals used in renewable energy: we simply have to reduce energy use and move towards efficient reuse and recycling of minerals.

Opposition everywhere

It’s good to see the great upsurge of protest and opposition against the forces tearing the planet to pieces. As well as all the activity around Extinction Rebellion, a new international alliance of women working against mining injustice has been formed: GAGGA is the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action and we report below on their work on Women’s Resistance to Mining: Articulating, strengthening and building solidarity.

As well as this, legal processes continue against BHP and Vedanta; a legal settlement has been reached over Gemfields’ activities in Mozambique; a local municipality has clipped Atalaya’s wings in Galicia; friends in Northern Ireland are challenging Dalradian Gold; Glencore has been forced to accept prior consultation processes in Peru; and Pope Francis has spoken up strongly against mining injustice.

LMN events

Finally, do join us for two events next month: on 3 June for an evening on African feminist efforts on energy and climate justice and on 26 June for our annual gathering and learn more about Rio Tinto’s destructive legacies in Bougainville and Indonesia and about the work we are doing with mining-affected communities around the world to hold the industry to account. There’s an awful lot of bad news to report, but an awful lot of inspiring news about the global response to it. Resistance is fertile! Come and join us!

And there’s even more news below…

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

In this mailout

Take Action!
Paramilitary death threats to indigenous critics of Cerrejon mine
End opencast coal for good

Events
Tuesday 28 May, Lonmin in the dock: the People’s Tribunal
Monday 3 June, Building Power: African feminist efforts on energy & climate justice
Tuesday 4 June, Mining Stories theatre performance
Wednesday 26 June, LMN’s annual gathering

New on the LMN blog
Death, destruction and dividends: the 2019 Anglo American AGM
Debate rages over future of La Guajira’s Bruno river
Statement on the assassination of Dilma Ferreira Silva, leader of MAB
Not the whole truth: the Rio Tinto AGM, 10 April 2019

Other news
1) Coal, climate change and the UK
2) Resident to launch new goldmine legal action
3) Vale says another dam may collapse next week
4) Iron ore mining in Brazil: a damning tale
5) South African court clears way for Sibanye’s acquisition of Lonmin
6) Other news about Rio Tinto
7) News about BHP
8) SolGold confident in new major copper-gold find in Ecuador
9) Glencore in the news
10) Settlement of the human rights claims against London-listed Gemfields Ltd
11) Vedanta in the news
12) Atalaya Mining knocked back in Huelva, weakened in Galicia, sent tumbling in London
13) Women’s Resistance to Mining: Articulating, strengthening and building solidarity
14) Old boys’ club LME appoints first female chair in its history
15) Mining companies need to start thinking seriously about ESG
16) Pope: mining activities should ensure integral sustainable human development
17) World Bank, Germany, Rio and Anglo set up “climate smart” mining fund
18) World’s biggest banks routinely hide links to human rights and environmental abuses behind client confidentiality – study
19) The Rivers are Bleeding: British mining in Latin America – updated

Take Action!

Paramilitary death threats to indigenous critics of Cerrejon mine

Our friends in La Guajira, Colombia, have received fresh death threats. They have been constant in their calls for justice for communities affected by the Cerrejon coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. The mine is owned by London-listed multinationals Anglo American, BHP and Glencore. The most recent threats were issued on Monday 29 April, the day before the AGM of Anglo American in London. The last time such serious threats were issued was just before the October 2018 London  AGM of BHP. It is unclear whether the timing was deliberate.

End opencast coal for good

Petition to James Brokenshire, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Don’t give permission for any new opencast coal mines. Refuse Banks Group’s permission to extract 3 million tonnes of coal at Druridge Bay, Northumberland and revoke planning permission at Bradley, Pont Valley, County Durham.

Events

Tuesday 28 May, Lonmin in the dock: the People’s Tribunal
Carlton House Terrace, London SW1, 10-11.30am

Join us outside mining company Lonmin’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for a People’s Tribunal.

Monday 3 June, Building Power: African feminist efforts on energy and climate justice
UCL Students Union, Clarke Hall, Breakdown 2, IOE Bedford Way (20) 305, WC1H 0AY, 5.30-8pm

Learn about feminist approaches to energy and climate justice by listening to women organising against mining companies in Africa and beyond.

Tuesday 4 June, Mining Stories
Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6AB, 8pm. £10/£8 concessions.

A documentary theatre performance by Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere exploring memory, politics and storytelling in the aftermath of a mining disaster in Brazil. On the 5 November 2015, a dam containing toxic mining waste collapsed in the mountains of the Brazilian mining region Minas Gerais. A devastating flood of mud destroyed several villages before flowing into the 400-mile long river Rio Doce. In a region where more than three out of four people work in the mining industry, the disaster resembled a complete tabula rasa.

Wednesday 26 June, LMN’s annual gathering
Room SWLT, SOAS Senate House, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG, 6.30-8.30pm

Find out about our work and hear from visiting speakers talking about the legacy of London-listed Rio Tinto’s mining in Bougainville and Indonesia. Environmental damage caused by Rio Tinto’s Panguna mine on the island of Bougainville helped spark a war for independence from Papua New Guinea in the early 1990s – this year there will be a referendum on independence. Clean-up of wastes from the company’s closed Kelian mine in Indonesia has been presented as a good example but research by our colleagues in Indonesia shows it in a different light. More information and sign-up here.

New on the LMN blog

Death, destruction and dividends: the 2019 Anglo American AGM

Anglo American’s 2019 AGM was another marathon meeting, like last year’s. A number of us from London Mining Network raised issues and so did institutional investors concerned about climate change and about tailings dam safety, and other investors concerned about worker safety and the links between Anglo American subsidiary De Beers and Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Meanwhile, outside, demonstrators drew the attention of passers-by to the company’s impacts. Our friends from Medact concentrated particularly on the health impacts of the company’s activities, especially around the jointly-owned Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia.

Debate rages over future of La Guajira’s Bruno river

Cerrejon opencast coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia, is the largest in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. Cerrejon is owned by Carbones del Cerrejón – made up of three London-listed companies: Anglo American, BHP and Glencore. Over 30 indigenous Wayuu communities suffer the effects of Carbones del Cerrejón’s neo-colonial policies, which include violations of their human rights, ill-health and environmental destruction. To further the project, the company has already started diverting the course of the communities’ vital water source, the Arroyo Bruno, and further exploit it, but Colombia’s constitutional court has ruled that there are grave uncertainties regarding the diversion.

Statement on the assassination of Dilma Ferreira Silva, leader of MAB

In the face of the brutal crime committed on March 22nd against a coordinator of the Movement of Dam-Affected Peoples in Brazil, the undersigned human rights and environmental organizations call on Brazilian authorities and multilateral organizations to ensure that the country’s provisions regarding the protection of human rights and environmental defenders are enforced.

Not the whole truth: the Rio Tinto AGM, 10 April 2019

At Rio Tinto’s 2017 AGM, I was impressed by the energy of the company’s self-presentation, which contrasted so markedly with the sleep-inducing delivery of former company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Walsh. Last year, we were enthralled by new Chairman Simon Thompson’s repeated embarrassed excuses for Rio Tinto’s negative impacts, which were always someone else’s fault. But this year the company was back on form: Simon Thompson smoothly denying responsibility for the appalling consequences of company decisions, CEO Jean Sebastien (“J-S”) Jacques supremely confident even when (in my opinion) he was talking balderdash, and the whole meeting conducted with extreme courtesy and affability. The overall effect was a triumphant reaffirmation of the somnolescent Sam Walsh’s policy of boring everyone into a state of near catatonia.

Other news

1) Coal, climate change and the UK

All coal mining and imports can end today. Here’s why. 

New government figures show that the UK has more than double the coal for electricity than it will ever require. This coal is sitting in stockpiles at power stations, while more of it is still being dug up from the ground and imported.

Barclays urged to stop coal and oil investments

Heavyweight investment management firms have backed a letter to the bank’s boss Jes Staley from campaign group ShareAction.

UK government urged to focus aid money on climate change

Britain must overhaul its aid strategy and focus on climate change if it wants to have a meaningful impact, a cross-party committee of lawmakers said in a report.

2) Resident to launch new goldmine legal action 

Greencastle resident Martin Tracey is taking action after a planning application by Canadian firm Dalradian Gold was submitted to the Department of Infrastructure (DFI). Department officials were sent a pre-action letter last month but have yet to respond.

3) Vale says another dam may collapse next week

Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA told prosecutors in the state of Minas Gerais that a dam is at risk of rupturing at its Gongo Soco mine, about 40 miles from where its Brumadinho dam collapsed, killing more than 230 people.

4) Iron ore mining in Brazil: a damning tale

Jonny Buckley discusses the recent mining dam collapses in Brazil and the lessons that must be learnt by the mining industry in order to prevent another tragedy

5) South African court clears way for Sibanye’s acquisition of Lonmin

South Africa’s Competition Appeal Court said Friday that Sibanye-Stillwater’s planned takeover of Lonmin could go ahead, clearing the way for shareholders to vote on the transaction that would create the world’s second-largest platinum producer.

6) Other news about Rio Tinto

Over 40% of minority shareholders of Turquoise Hill oppose independent directors

A large proportion of the minority shareholders in Rio Tinto Plc-controlled Turquoise Hill Resources voted against the re-election of the company’s independent directors on Tuesday.

BHP to keep Nickel West, Rio looks to Jadar lithium for battery boom

Global miner BHP will hold on to the Australian nickel operations it previously put up for sale, while Rio Tinto is working on copper and lithium projects as the mining industry bets on demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Unfinished business: Kakadu needs a new approach to cleaning up an old mine

How well the Rio Tinto-controlled Ranger uranium mine in Australia is cleaned up is key to the long-term health of Kakadu. At its London AGM last month Rio again committed to make sure ERA has the financial resources to deliver its rehabilitation obligations, however the financial mechanism to do so remains undisclosed.

Rio Tinto ‘admits buffer breach’

Rio Tinto has finally admitted that its local operator QIT Minerals Madagascar has breached an environmental buffer zone at its Mandena site. More information and report available on the Andrews Lees Trust website.

7) News about BHP

BHP hit by $5 billion lawsuit over 2015 dam failure in Brazil

The collapse of the Fundao tailings dam in 2015 killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers. The world’s largest miner BHP is facing a $5 billion lawsuit in England, which claims the company was “woefully negligent” in the run-up to the 2015 Samarco dam failure in Brazil, the country’s worst environmental disaster. The suit, filed by law firm SPG Law, was served to BHP on behalf of 235,000 Brazilian individuals and organizations, including municipal governments, utility companies, indigenous tribes, and the Catholic Church.

BHP to keep Nickel West, Rio looks to Jadar lithium for battery boom

Global miner BHP will hold on to the Australian nickel operations it previously put up for sale, while Rio Tinto is working on copper and lithium projects as the mining industry bets on demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Life after Ok Tedi – can it compensate for huge mining sacrifices?

One of the world’s largest – and most destructive – mines is nearing closure. It’s taken years since BHP Billiton sold out of the project, ascribing this at least partially to the use of river (and sea) tailings disposal. Following BHP’s controversial exit, a Papua New Guinea foundation [OTDF] was established, in an attempt to satisfy demands to “create economic self-reliance” for some 158 village communities in the area.

8) SolGold confident in new major copper-gold find in Ecuador

London-listed Ecuador-focused Australian miner SolGold said that recent results from the Porvenir project, held by its wholly owned subsidiary Green Rock Resources, suggest the presence of a “significant” copper-gold system. BHP is a big investor.

9) Glencore in the news

Glencore in Peru: an important consulta previa begins to move in Espinar

On 10 May, a firmly-worded press release by FUCAE (Federación Unificada de Campesinos de Espinar Domingo Huarca Cruz) and the communities directly affected by the Antapaccay expansion at Tintaya (controlled by Glencore), put down a strong marker in regard to the prior consultation promised by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Francisco Ismodes.

Zambian president threatens Glencore, Vedanta with `divorce’

“We know they are liars, they are cheats and they take us for fools,” he said. “Let me conclude by saying that sales tax is here to stay. We are not going to be blackmailed by the investors, no. Those who are uncomfortable to stay in our house can go out.”

10) Settlement of the human rights claims against London-listed Gemfields 

Leigh Day represents 273 Mozambicans who allege that they, or their relatives, were the victims of serious human rights abuses at or around Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada’s (MRM’s) mine in northern Mozambique (a joint venture in which Gemfields is the majority stakeholder).

11) Vedanta in the news

‘Close down Vedanta refinery without delay’: Fact-finding tream urges Odisha government

A 16-member fact-finding team comprising members of the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations that investigated  violation of human rights in the villages in Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district has urged the Odisha government to close down the Vedanta alumina refinery at Lanjigarh without delay.

‘They Were Meant to Protect Us. Instead They Killed Us’: Thoothukudi Prepares to Vote

A year after police fired on protesters who were challenging Vedanta’s Sterlite plant, bereaved and wounded families mull over voting as an alternative to despair.

Supreme Court rules Zambian villagers’ case against Vedanta to be heard in English courts

The Supreme Court has ruled that a case brought by almost 2,000 Zambian villagers against Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and its parent company Vedanta Resources Plc can be heard by the English courts. KCM is a Zambian company which is a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta. See a legal briefing on the case.

Vedanta v. Lungowe Symposium: Beyond Vedanta–Reconciling Tort Law with International Human Rights Norms

The unanimous jurisdictional ruling of the United Kingdom Supreme Court in Vedanta Resources PLC and another v Lungowe and others, issued April 10, is the most important judicial decision in the field of business and human rights since the jurisdictional ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum in 2013.

Zambian president threatens Glencore, Vedanta with `divorce’

“We know they are liars, they are cheats and they take us for fools,” he said. “Let me conclude by saying that sales tax is here to stay. We are not going to be blackmailed by the investors, no. Those who are uncomfortable to stay in our house can go out.”

12) Atalaya Mining knocked back in Huelva, weakened in Galicia, sent tumbling in London

Galicia’s Regional Environment Minister has promised to meet with citizens opposing copper mining in Touro and O Pino, while Andalucia’s High Court has annulled environmental and mining authorisations at Atalaya Mining’s Rio Tinto Mine, as the company faces multiple set backs.

13) Women’s Resistance to Mining: Articulating, strengthening and building solidarity

Throughout the three continents of Africa, Asia,and Latin America, there is no dearth of stories where communities have been forced to leave their lands to make way for government-sanctioned and corporate-driven natural resource extraction. You would not need to look far to find communities in areas where such projects are taking place in the name of development and progress. Communities that are forced to live under increasingly insecure conditions; in which their main source of life and livelihoods, access to communal lands, water, and forests, as well as their safety and security, are threatened by extractive industries and mega-infrastructure projects.

14) Old boys’ club LME appoints first female chair in its history

The 142-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME) has appointed former banker Gay Huey Evans as chair of the board, the first female to have that role in its history. Huey Evans, who is a Standard Chartered, ConocoPhillips and Itaú BBA International board member, previously worked at Citi, Barclays Capital and the UK’s Financial Services Authority. She will replace Brian Bender when he retires from the board in December, the LME said.

15) Mining companies need to start thinking seriously about ESG 

The introduction of new, tougher standards together with recent case law, point to a harsher, less forgiving approach to enforcement and larger fines for regulatory non-compliance and failings in relation to environmental and social governance. Regulatory non-compliance and perceived failures to implement and uphold ethical practices have led to a spate of litigation on ESG-related matters against mining companies, particularly on health and safety and environmental issues. Activist shareholders staging protests at AGMs and other company meetings has also become a real concern for mining businesses.

16) Pope: mining activities should ensure integral sustainable human development

Pope Francis on April 3 addressed participants in a meeting on “Mining for the Common Good”, promoted by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. See commentary from Churches and Mining Network and Nostromo Research.

17) World Bank, Germany, Rio and Anglo set up “climate smart” mining fund

The World Bank launched the Climate-Smart Mining Facility recently, the first-ever fund dedicated to making mining for minerals climate-smart and sustainable. See the accompanying infographic.

LMN co-signs letter to the World Bank cautioning over investment in extraction of metals for renewable energy

The co-signing organizations support a just and rapid transition away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable energy economy. We recognize this essential shift is necessary in order to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees and avert the most disastrous impacts of climate change.  And yet,even as new renewable energy infrastructure ramps up, we are concerned about the impacts of extracting minerals like copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt on communities, workers and ecosystems.

18) World’s biggest banks routinely hide links to human rights and environmental abuses behind client confidentiality – study

Some of the world’s biggest banks are routinely hiding behind client confidentiality to conceal investments in companies and projects that infringe human and environmental rights, the first study of its kind reveals.

19) The Rivers are Bleeding: British mining in Latin America – updated

The vast expansion of British mega-mining in Latin America is displacing communities, destroying ecosystems, costing lives and polluting our planet. The Rivers are Bleeding: British Mining in Latin America documents 56 UK-mining operations – 32 of which have ongoing conflicts –to produce a damming indictment of one of the world’s most powerful industries. The report has been written in collaboration with the Observatory for Mining Conflicts in Latin America (OCMAL) with the support of the London Mining Network and Gaia Foundation. It is available in Spanish and English.