After what was called the nation’s worst mining environmental disaster last year, Brazilian regulators say they will tighten rules on tailings dams – those classified as “upstream”. Under regulations to take effect in July, mining companies will have to pay for an extra annual audit to check for so-called “liquefaction”; a limit will be set to the height of dams; companies will have to specify from the outset how much waste the dam will hold and set a date for closure. Existing dams which don’t comply could be forced to close.
On June 9th, at the Thessaloniki Court of Appeal, begins the trial of 21 of our fellow-strugglers, for the case of arson at the Skouries construction site on February 17, 2013.
Talvivaara is the former owner of the mine which leaked waste water in 2012 and faced serious production problems, prompting the government to take control of it last year in a bid to protect local jobs and the environment.
Representatives from mineworkers’ unions across the world met in Leipzig, Germany from 30 May to 1 June for IndustriALL’s World Mining and DGOJP Conference, hosted by German Mining, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Union (IG BCE).
Approximately 1,400 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 5795 at the Rio-Tinto-owned Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) in Labrador City are increasingly frustrated by the company’s lack of trust and respect after repeated efforts at goodwill have failed.
