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 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.

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.

South32 to appeal damages ruling in Colombia

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