Supporters of communities affected by the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia (jointly owned with Anglo American and BHP Billiton) called for just resettlement agreements with affected communities, a halt to legal proceedings to take possession of the community of Roche, and abandonment of plans to reroute the areas only major river – echoing concerns raised at Anglo American’s London AGM on 19 April (see http://londonminingnetwork.org/2012/04/5590/).

A webcast of Xstrata’s AGM, including questions and answers, can be accessed at http://www.media-server.com/m/p/s88xdvn4.

See also Xstrata woos waverers to back $39bn Glencore deal, http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=150559&sn=Detail&pid=92730.

Knowing that it would face heavy criticism for its treatment of former mine workers dying of silicosis, for its proposals to open a massive copper-gold mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska, and for continuing problems for communities affected by its 33% owned Cerrejon Coal mine in Colombia, Chairman Sir John Parker and CEO Cynthia Carroll got in first by welcoming all the company’s critics and telling them how much they sympathised with them.

Dying in South Africa

The company is so sympathetic to the plight of former mine workers in South Africa that it is funding the medical costs of the first sixteen such workers to sue it, on the grounds that their claims have taken so long to resolve.

Meanwhile, it is denying any legal liability and fighting both those sixteen cases and those of the other 1200 plus former workers suing them in the English courts (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/apr/18/anglo-american-sued-miner-tuberculosis).

Professor Tony Davies, former Director of the National Institute for Occupational Health, Johannesburg, spoke about the impacts of dust on workers in deep gold mines. Sir John Parker attempted to curtail his contribution on the grounds that it was a statement rather than a question – despite having allowed nearly half an hour to deal with lengthy statements and multiple questions from the first two shareholders who spoke. Professor Davies finished his contribution and the Chairman asked whether there were any more issues to be raised on the same subject. Former mineworker Daniel Seabata Thakamakau then pointed out that, long after the paltry sum paid out in state compensation for losing his job on health grounds in 1991 has been exhausted, he cannot support his family. He asked for help from the company for himself and for all the former mineworkers suffering as he is. Peter Bailey from the South African National Union of Mineworkers appealed to the company to compensate the dying miners over and above the level of statutory compensation, which is clearly inadequate. He pointed out that this is a matter of simple justice for the people whose labour made the company so profitable.

Sir John Parker expressed his sympathy for all the workers dying of silicosis and then explained that the company does not believe it is liable and that the English courts are not the appopriate forum for the cases to be resolved. Company medical officer Dr Brink spoke at some length about everything Anglo American is doing to help workers suffering from tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS – carefully avoiding mentioning silicosis or the dust levels in company-owned gold mines which are believed to have caused it.

What part of “No” does the company not understand?

Sir John Parker welcomed representatives of Indigenous and fishing communities around Bristol Bay, Alaska, and their allies in US organisations Earthworks and the Natural Resources Defense Council, telling them how much he enjoyed their company.

They pointed out that CEO Cynthia Carroll had promised them that the company would leave if it was not wanted in a community; that opposition to the company’s proposed open pit copper and gold mine, the Pebble Mine, was overwhelming, documented and growing; and that Anglo American continues to deny the legitimacy of local opinion polls and is challenging some of its local opponents in court. (See http://ourbristolbay.com/ for background.)

CEO Cynthia Carroll responded by accusing the project’s opponents of providing people with inaccurate information and being emotional rather than scientific – a claim supported by Alaskans who had come to the AGM to oppose the company’s critics. Sir John Parker offered to visit the area if the company’s critics thought it would help. He insisted on the trustworthiness of local management and the integrity of the State and Federal permitting processes. He said that people could not judge the project until all the scientific studies were completed and all the information assembled.

So it is perfectly clear that, however massive the regional opposition to the project and whatever promises the company has made, Anglo American is determined to ram the project through, come what may.

Hot air

Questions were also asked about the company’s contribution to damaging climate change through its massive coal production.

Sir John Parker spoke of the need for long-term pricing of carbon in a manner which would not jeopardise jobs, economic development and shareholder value. Hasty action is to be avoided, because the company must not become uncompetitive.

In other words, the company will do as little as possible for as long as possible, while the world hastens towards ecological apocalypse.

Colombia again

So many were the critical questions fielded by the Board that the company’s involvement in the troubled Cerrejon mine in Colombia nearly escaped comment. But at the last moment, Colombia Solidarity Campaign representative Richard Solly was able to speak on behalf of communities displaced by the mine. His question concerned the level of competence of community relations officials at Cerrejon and went on to make the following points.

“The community of Roche, currently being removed for mine expansion, has been split by the company’s approach. The majority of families have moved, despite the inadequacy of the process, because they could not wait any longer. The families remaining are unwilling to move to the new site when they know full well that there is inadequate land in the new community for them to continue their traditional cattle-herding way of life. Now the community is being legally expropriated. They ask us to ask you: when will their houses be demolished? Where will the residents go if they have not been given houses in the new town site, houses constructed without these residents’ agreement? Why will the company not negotiate with them in good faith?

“The families still at Roche tell us they are willing to negotiate once the company recognises their right to continue, or to be compensated adequately for the loss of, a way of life which they have followed for seven generations. Can you not prevail on Cerrejon Coal to abandon this expropriation process? Everyone would lose out if it comes to another eviction like that at Tabaco in 2001.

“And speaking of Tabaco, it is now more than three years since Cerrejon coal signed an agreement with the community’s relocation committee to buy land and help reconstruct the village. This still has not happened. Why not?

“In addition to this, we are told that the company refuses to listen to or meet with former residents of the displaced community of Manantial and other such communities.

“Will Anglo American insist on a root and branch reform of community relations at Cerrejon to ensure that community members and workers negatively affected by the company’s activities are treated with justice and respect?”

Sir John Parker replied that there is no question that since the independent review of Cerrejon Coal’s operations in 2007 significant progress has been made – both at Roche and at Tabaco. He said that only eight families remained at Roche and that negotiations were continuing.  Norman Mbazima, Head of Thermal Coal, added that the people of Roche had to be resettled as the mining footprint meant there was going to be coal dust on the community. All but nine families had moved after voluntarily signing an agreement (though he did not mention the massive pressure which those families had been placed under to encourage them to sign). The remaining families had held out for a long time. There had been frequent meetings. Cerrejon Coal officials had discussed a number of issues at these meetings and continued to do so. Anglo American thinks there has been some progress, that more families out of the nine have now agreed to move, and the company does not want to have to implement a forced relocation. International Government Relations Manager Hugh Elliot said that negotiations were continuing on the Tabaco resettlement. These were complicated as the community had been dispersed but the company working very hard to move things forward, believing that serious advances had been made since the 2007 review.

Communities facing relocation are unlikely to take much comfort from these responses, given the level of distrust they feel towards Cerrejon Coal.

For background, see http://londonminingnetwork.org/2011/08/creation-of-civic-committee-of-la-guajira-against-large-transnational-mining/. For a complete list of LMN’s articles on the Cerrejon mine, see http://londonminingnetwork.org/?s=cerrejon.

Question by John McDonnell MP

John McDonnell MP, who also wanted to question the Board about the Cerrejon Mine, had to return to the House of Commons before his question was called. London Mining Network undertook to post the question on its website and Norman Mbazima undertook to answer it in the near future. LMN will post the answer once its is received.

My question concerns the rerouting of the River Rancheria for the expansion of the Cerrejon Coal Mine in Colombia.

Last October I met in Westminster with a representative of a community federation in the area, who outlined the massive and growing opposition to the re-routing of this river, the only major river in the arid region of La Guajira.

Unionised mine workers are supporting communities in opposing this project.

Despite the existence of a consultation process, we are told that company officials are arrogant and show a grave lack of respect for communities.

One Wayuu Indigenous community at Provincial has apparently opted out of the company’s consultation process because they feel it was imposed on them. They plan their own internal consultation procedure. Communities along the river fear destruction of traditional livelihoods through serious disruption to river flow levels.

Colleagues at Colombia Solidarity Campaign have even received news that a general strike is being planned in the department if the company insists on pressing on with its plan.

Will Anglo American ensure that Cerrejon Coal abandons this ill-conceived project?

See http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/1011499.

See http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/10539469/613361253/name/111120+Guajira+communities++statement+-+English+version.pdf.

See http://www.cerrejon.com/site/Portals/1/Documents/pdf/policies/Cerrejon-%20Human%20Rights%20Policy.pdf.

For background, see articles at http://londonminingnetwork.org/?s=cerrejon.

If you live in the UK, PLEASE URGE YOUR MP TO SIGN EARLY DAY MOTION 2396 ON CERREJON. See http://londonminingnetwork.org/2011/11/please-urge-your-mp-to-sign-early-day-motion-2396-on-cerrejon-coal/.

If you live in the UK, please contact your MP and ask him or her to sign this EDM.

If you do not know how to contact your MP, go to http://www.writetothem.com/.

For the text and signatories, see http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2396.

CERREJÓN COAL COMPANY MINE, COLOMBIA

That this House expresses concern about the devastating social and environmental impacts of the Cerrejn Coal company’s huge opencast coal mine in Colombia, owned in equal parts by London-listed multinationals Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata; notes with concern that communities forcibly dispersed before these companies bought the mine have yet to receive justice in the form of adequate compensation or community resettlement; further notes with concern that an agreement to reconstruct the evicted community of Tabaco remains unfulfilled and that communities currently facing involuntary resettlement accuse Cerrejn Coal of inefficiency and injustice in its dealings with them; is concerned that the proposed deviation of the River Rancheria, the main river in La Guajira, for mine expansion, will threaten water security for the region; further notes that some of these communities have formed a federation to seek justice from the company; further notes that the President of this federation has sought the support of British parliamentarians and that unionised mineworkers at Cerrejn fully support this federation; and urges the Government to require the London-listed companies involved to ensure that the federation’s demands are accepted in full by Cerrejn Coal.

Colombian community leader confronts BHP Billiton at their London AGM
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2765
Julio Cesar Gomez, President of FECODEMIGUA, the Federation of Communities Displaced by Mining in La Guajira, recently visited Scotland to exchange stories of resisting coal extraction, and to rally support for his communities efforts to stop the expansion of the world’s largest open cast coal mine, El Cerrejón, in Colombia. Longannet Coal Fired Power Station, the 3rd largest in Europe, burns coal mined at Cerrejón, and Clydeport imports millions of tonnes of Cerrejón coal into Hunterston Port every year to be distributed throughout the UK and Europe. As Julio says, this coal is “stained with blood”. A few stops later on his UK tour, Julio confronted BHP Billiton shareholders, one of three UK-listed mining companies who own the Cerrejón mine, at ther AGM yesterday.

The CCS bubble finally bursts: Too expensive, no one wants it and it just won’t work
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2761
Under the somewhat unlikely title of “Government reaffirms commitment to CCS”, the Department of Energy and Climate Change finally had to admit in their press release that they’re stopping funding for the Longannet Carbon Capture pilot project. Reading between the lines, what is clear is that the £1 billion set aside for CCS at Longannet was no where near enough or that they didn’t even have it in the first place, that the technology for achieving CCS is far from being a reality, and that government policy both at Westminster and Hollyrood has now been shown up for the greenwash that we always said it was.

What a mess: 3 power stations, pantomime planning, a clean-coal collapse and a climate disaster
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2753
Scotland’s 3 coal-fired power stations – one online (Longannet), one ready to be decommissioned (Cockenzie) and one in the pipe-line (Hunterston) are all making headlines, for very different, and all the wrong reasons. This week campaigners lost a legal challenge against the proposed and hugely unpopular Hunterston coal-fired power station, ScottishPower announced that their flagship carbon capture project at Longannet, UK’s 2nd largest power station, is about to collapse, and the Scottish Government approved plans to swap a coal-fired power station at Cockenzie for a “clean fossil fuel” (!?) gas-fired power station, much to the dismay of local residents.

Community Consultations Ignored By Council Planners
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2731
Significant oversights have been identified in South Lanarkshire Council’s initial planning documents relating to local mineral industries. Coal Action Scotland has carried out a critical examination of the Health Impact Assessment Report commissioned by planners at South Lanarkshire Council, revealing inadequate solutions for significant issues relating to the health and well being of residents in and around existing and proposed mineral industries. The numbers of effected residents are to be further exacerbated by the many new proposals for mineral workings covered by the Local Minerals Development Plan.

photo: Jane Calliste

Protesters from the Occupy LSX demonstration marched from St Paul’s cathedral to join anti-nuclear campaigners, supporters of London Mining Network member group Colombia Solidarity Campaign and others outside yesterday’s BHP Billiton AGM. See short video at http://vimeo.com/31028821 and report at http://london.indymedia.org/articles/10589.

Inside the AGM, Julio Gomez from Colombia confronted the company over its activities in Colombia. Julio is President of the Federation of Communities Affected and Displaced by Mining Exploitation in La Guajira (FECODEMIGUA).

This Federation was constituted because of the disappearance of communities, the loss of lands and the violations of people’s rights over the last thirty years by the Cerrejon mine, one-third owned by BHP Billiton.

Julio said:

“The benefits obtained in this part of the world from coal mining in La Guajira, such as electrical power and shareholders’ dividends, are stained with blood. This is because of
· the displacement and uprooting of communities neighbouring the Cerrejon mine;
· the humiliations, threats, and persecution suffered by leaders of these communities;
· the destruction and pollution of nature;
· and the exploitation of mine workers.

Many of you may be aware of the forced eviction of the community of Tabaco ten years ago, of the situation of other communities and that of the workers. What you are probably not aware of is that many other communities were destroyed completely before BHP Billiton bought into the mine – among them indigenous and Afro-descendant communities including Manantial, Palmarito, El Descanso, Caracolí, Sarahita and others located along the railway line between the mine and the port.

BHP Billiton has not accepted responsibility for the disappearance of these communities, but it ought to do so, because it has acquired the rights and benefits generated by this business and with it the responsibility for past and future activities.

It is unfair that while you are obtaining massive profits, we suffer from high rates of respiratory illness and cancers, malnutrition, high infant mortality, violations of our rights, land rendered infertile, loss of livelihood, and descent into poverty…

Meanwhile, Cerrejon Coal is carrying out publicity campaigns trying to show how generous it is. It uses the slogan ‘responsible mining’, which is completely inaccurate. Cerrejon seems to spend substantial amounts of money on publicity about social responsibility, but not enough on social responsibility itself.

My question, therefore, is, how long do we, the communities affected by Cerrejon, have to wait for BHP Billiton to take action and demand that its subsidiary Cerrejon Coal act with justice, respect and equity towards us, and that it have an effective and honest department of social responsibility?”

BHP Billiton Chairman Jac Nasser replied that some of the issues raised by Julio were of long standing but that others were new and alarming. He said that not everything the company did was perfect but that they had good intent and that he believed the company was making good progress and contributing to the local and national economy through taxes and social investment. He said that he would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Julio to discuss the issues with Julio in more detail. (Julio took him at his word, conversing with him after the AGM – though they were unable to ‘sit down’ for lack of available seating.) Julio made clear that if Cerrejon Coal’s activities were so beneficial to the communities in La Guajira, he would not have come from Colombia to raise these issues at the company’s AGM.

Representatives of LMN member groups PIPLinks and Down to Earth challenged the Board about BHP Billiton’s plans for uranium mining at Yeelirrie in Western Australia, the massive expansion of its enormous Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia, its plans for coal mining in forested areas of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and its refusal to accept Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free, Prior Informed Consent under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Statements were presented from Aboriginal Elders in the areas of BHP Billiton’s uranium projects in Australia.

19th October 2011: To BHP Billiton’s London Shareholders and the Parliament of Great Britain

In 2010 and again in 2011 we instructed our representative body- the Central Desert Native Title Services (CDNTS) Ltd that we, the Traditional Custodians of Yeelirrie, are strongly opposed to the development of uranium mine at Yeelirrie in Western Australia. Yeelirrie is currently under occupation from BHP Billiton who is pursuing a uranium mine application with the State of WA.
After extensive discussion at the meetings between the Traditional Custodians and the CDNTS in 2010 and 2011 the group arrived at the decision to oppose the development. In 2011 this decision was unanimous among the group.

Traditional Custodians have strong concerns about the safety and management of radiation and the effects that mining Yeelirrie will have on the well-being of our country and our people.

The place Yeelirrie, in our language, means the place of death. We are custodians of that place; it is our responsibility to keep that poison, the uranium, where it is. If that uranium leaves our country and does damage to someone, that’s our responsibility and we take that very seriously.

We have been to the BHP Billiton Annual General Meetings two years in a row, in Brisbane and in Perth and will go again this year to Melbourne to tell the company and their shareholders that we don’t want uranium mining on our country. Despite our position they continue to pursue the uranium mine and avoid engaging with us. We have been very clear about our position.

Kado Muir – Chairperson of the West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance and Ngalia Traditional Custodian
Richard Evans – Koara Tribal elder

I, Kevin Buzzacott, Arabunna elder from Lake Eyre, make the following statement to the BHP Billiton AGM and shareholders:

We never did want Olympic Dam to develop in the first place under Western Mining.
The same thing applies to you. We don’t want you to continue with Olympic Dam.
In fact we want you to shut up shop immediately and leave that area.
By your influence, the State and Federal Governments have sold us out.

For over 40,000 years we’ve been able to maintain and look after our country.
Under the ancient culture and law, digging up and destroying sacred sites is prohibited.
The desert to us is just as important as the cities.

Because of the lack of consultation and understanding in the first place, and because of greed and selfishness, it seems easy to you people who are foreign to this land to destroy the ancient structure.

We have no alternative but to continue to expose you as wrongdoers. It is a criminal offence  that you people are committing, and you are already branded as criminals.

We are telling you to reverse the decision to expand and make an open cut mine, and cease this operation at Olympic Dam immediately.

Find a good use to spend your money. You will feel better as human beings.
I hope this message gets through to you.

I am inviting you to come and talk to reach a better understanding of the ancient dreamtime structure.

Kevin  Buzzacott.  19 October 2011

Meanwhile, there were protests in Adelaide, South Australia…

MEDIA RELEASE, 20 October 2011

A giant radioactive waste barrel has just been erected on Grenfell Street opposite City Cross Arcade to mark the introduction of the new Roxby Downs Indenture Agreement into SA Parliament.

“This barrel can be used to conceptualise the volume of radioactive tailings that will leak from the tailings dams of the newly approved Olympic Dam open-pit uranium mine” said Riley Ashton of Protest BHP Adelaide.

“This leak will contaminate the aquifer with radioactive isotopes and heavy metals, and threaten groundwater dependent ecosystems for thousands of years” said Mr Ashton.

“BHP Billiton’s Environmental Impact Statement states that the maximum rate of seepage from the radioactive tailings dams in the first decade will be 8 million litres per day.  That’s over 90 of these barrels each day, amounting to over 33 000 of these barrels each year (approximately 2922 million litres per year), and equivalent to more than 7.5 barrels every 2 hours,” said Mr Ashton.

“At 40 years of operation, the new tailings dams at Olympic Dam will have leaked well over 47.5 billion litres of radioactive waste into the underlying rock and groundwater, approximately 540 000 of these barrels” said Mr Ashton.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” continued Mr Ashton.

This coincides with a community rally at BHP Billiton’s Adelaide office, protesting the recent approval of the Olympic Dam Mine.

For comment, more information or photos contact:
Riley Ashton:  0421 593 902
Nectaria Calan: 0432 388 665

and in Perth, Western Australia…

Peaceful protest calls for an end to big exemptions for the Big Australian

More than 40 people from all over Perth gathered at BHP Billiton’s city offices on 20 October to protest the proposed Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion and remind the mining giant that there is no social license to mine uranium in Western Australia.

Despite BHP sending dire warnings of protestor violence to its Perth-based employees, the event took on a carnival atmosphere with a cheeky BHPeep Show featuring doubles of BHP CEO Marius Kloppers and Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke.

Part of a national day of action timed to coincide with the BHP Billiton Annual General Meeting being held in London, the protest followed Minister Burke approving the expansion of South Australia’s Olympic Dam uranium mine last week. The multinational mining giant is also pursuing a uranium mine at Yeelirrie, 70kms South West of Wiluna in central WA.

See http://ccwa.org.au/media/peaceful-protest-calls-end-big-exemptions-big-australian.

See also http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/bhp-warning-is-ridiculous-protest-group-20111020-1m96y.html
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/10502297/bhp-warns-staff-of-protest-fear/
and http://www.smh.com.au/wa-news/bhp-warning-is-ridiculous-protest-group-20111020-1m96y.html.

Greens tying up Olympic Dam with new parliamentary inquiry, $30 billion project faces delays

News reports from Australia say BHP Billiton may face delays in getting approvals for its $30 billion Olympic Dam expansion, as Greens and other minor parties holding the balance of power in the South Australian Parliament push for an inquiry into the project. See http://www.mining.com/2011/10/18/greens-tying-up-olympic-dam-with-new-parliamentary-inquiry-30-billion-project-faces-delays/.

Back in Britain, Julio Gomez accompanied his visit to the BHP Billiton AGM with meetings with Coal Action Scotland in Edinburgh, UNISON North East in Newcastle, Latin American community groups, workers’ organisations and solidarity campaigns in London and the South East, officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Peers and Members of Parliament, and the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group. He spoke at a well-attended public meeting in the Houses of Parliament the evening before the BHP Billiton AGM. His visit to Britain was organised by London Mining Network and the Colombia Solidarity Campaign.

Among the communities visited have been those suffering as a result of the expansion of the Cerrejon coal mine, owned by Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata.

Contributors to the delegation’s blog write:

‘Cerrejon claim to be the largest open cast coal mine in the world. It also claims to be a pioneer in exceeding social, environmental and labour standards. At our meeting today with Cerrejon executives, which included a tour of the central zone, a Cerrejon official confided to us: “We mine responsibly not only because we want to, but also because it is makes business sense. We believe that customers from Europe and North America will opt for our responsibly mined coal, compared to our competitors with less stringent standards.” Cerrejon’s owners recently announced an expansion of the mining operations from 30 million tonnes last year to 40 million tonnes by the end of 2015. This would involve redirecting the Rancheria river, the main river that flows from the Santa Marta mountains and provides La Guajira department with water, over a 26Km stretch.’

Read more at http://csc-delegation.blogspot.com/

BHP, Xstrata’s Cerrejon Coal Mine Says CEO Teicher Resigns

Cerrejon Coal has announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Leon Teicher, is resigning, effective 31 December. Teicher, who has been the Colombian mine’s CEO since May 2006, is leaving for personal reasons, according to an e-mailed company statement today. Melbourne-based BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s largest mining company; London-based Anglo American Plc (AAL) and Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata Plc (XTA) each own 33.3 percent of Cerrejon. Teicher oversaw the design of a $1.3 billion plan announced last month to expand production at Cerrejon to 40 million metric tons in 2017 from 32.5 million tons this year. Under Teicher, the mine in the northern Colombian province of La Guajira made its first shipments of coal to China last year.

See http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-06/cerrejon-says-colombia-ceo-leon-teicher-resigns-as-of-december.html.

It’s currently one of the most successful companies anywhere, with a market capitalisation that puts it among the world’s top five corporations.

But, as London-listed BHP Billiton looks forward to presenting shareholders with its annual results in October, many questions remain unanswered. Will it proceed with a massive expansion of its Olympic dam uranium-copper mine, or a major coal project in rainforested Kalimantan? How will it account for the impacts of a US$1.3 billion expansion of Colombia’s Cerrejon coal mine – where it’s partnered with Anglo American and Xstrata? Why has the company recently invested to heavily in shale gas extraction, using so-called “fracking” – a process which heavily-criticised  for its potential chemical pollution?

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11141&l=1.

See http://coal.energy-business-review.com/news/bhp-billiton-to-invest-437m-to-expand-colombian-coal-mine-190811.

Cerrejon is the largest coal producer and exporter in Colombia, the world’s No. 4 exporter of the material, and its expansion plans are key for the Andean country as it hopes to double coal output in the coming years.

See http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/18/uk-angloamerican-brief-idUKTRE77H4ID20110818.

A company spokesperson assured critics at a meeting in London in April that the expansion would not go ahead if communities opposed it. An alliance of communities and workers does oppose it. But it is going ahead anyway.

See also http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-18/xstrata-says-cerrejon-expansion-project-approved-by-shareholders.html, which also mentions Glencore’s expansion plans in Colombia.

El Cerrejón is comprised of the companies AngloAmerican, Xstrata* and BHP Billiton, each owning 33.3% of the mine.

Inhabitants from the community of Tabaco were violently and forcefully displaced on the 9th August 2001 to make way for the out of control expansion of El Cerrejón. In the last ten years this expansion has also encompassed the communities of Oreganal, Roche, Chancleta, Patilla, Las Casitas, Barrancón and also led to the struggle and organized process of the Wayuu communitiy in the south of the department.

Today the company is planning to continue its expansion by diverting 26 Km the course of the Rancheria River, the main water source for the whole department of La Guajira, as underneath the riverbed there are 500 million tonnes of coal . This would leave thousands of Guajiros without water and without the right to life.

As a result of the high impact on the ecosystem and the displacement of communities, Fecodemigua, Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Sur de la Guajira, AACIWASUG, Movimiento  Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu, Comité de Residentes de Cañaverales, Reclame Guajira and Sintracarbon, organized a meeting on the 8th August 2011 and formed the La Guajira Civic Committee Against Large Transnational Mining.

Read more at http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/component/content/article/25-news/551-civic-committee-of-la-guajira-created-in-the-face-of-large-transnational-mining.

* Xstrata is itself one-third owned by London-listed Swiss company Glencore.

Faced with a large delegation opposing the Pebble project in Alaska, the company ensured that Native Alaskans who favour the project were also present, and company Chair Sir John Parker stressed differences of opinion in the state as justification for proceeding with studies to enable people to make decisions based on ‘facts’ rather than ‘fears’. He also took all questions and comments on the Pebble project in one go and offered one inadequate response to all, preventing any further discussion of the matter. Native Alaskan critics, pointing to a documented 80% opposition to the project in the area around Bristol Bay, whose pristine waters and salmon fishery would be threatened if mine development went ahead, asked what level opposition had to reach before Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll kept her promise not to go ahead with the project if a majority opposed it. This question was dodged.

More surprisingly, both the Chair and the CEO announced in their introductory remarks that the company would assist former miners in South Africa who are ill with silicosis and tuberculosis and who are suing the company for health care costs. Refusing to admit any liability, the company said that as a humanitarian gesture it would propose to the claimants’ lawyers that it would pay for existing claimants’ health care, as far as independent health checks establish that they are suffering from silicosis or silico-tuberculosis, until the court case is completed. This was apparently because of the company’s concern for the wellbeing of claimants in a case that has been dragging on since 2004. It may also have had something to do with a press conference held the day before in South Africa, which received massive coverage in the South African press and threatened to cast the company in a very unfavourable light; and with a letter to the company the day before that from British Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Avebury and others.

Challenged on the conduct of the company’s Cerrejon Coal joint venture with BHP Billiton and Xstrata, the Chair and the Chief Executive of Anglo American’s thermal coal operations were vacuous, asserting that community relocations were occurring according to international standards in the face of reports from the communities that they are not.

Chairman’s address

Sir John Parker began the AGM by thanking Nicky Oppenheimer, now retiring as a non-executive director, for his 43 years of service on the board. The Chair said that the legacy of Nicky’s grandfather Ernest Oppenheimer lives on. [Anglo American is insistent on presenting its history of profiting from apartheid as a lengthy, enlightened struggle to abolish apartheid and to forge the new South Africa. It is happy to take credit for its contribution to a post-apartheid legacy that has included the rise of a new Black moneyed class and the perpetuation of massive inequalities between rich and poor.]

The Chair then praised the heroism of Anglo American workers and management in Queensland, where metallurgical coal workers had helped in the rescue operations during the New Year floods, and in Chile, where help had been given in rescuing survivors of the 2010 earthquake and in rebuilding schools.

He spoke about improvements in mine safety and said it showed that the goal of zero harm is possible.

He talked about the company’s work on climate change and water scarcity. In addition to increasing production of coal, [which, when it is burnt, will of course make an enormous contribution to damaging climate change] the company is, he said, working on Carbon Capture and Storage, the use of platinum in clean fuel cell technologies, and the use of algae to produce sustainable fuels.

He also spoke about the company’s commitment to the UN Global Compact, the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative, the Investment Climate Facility for Africa and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, and its new partnership with NGO International Alert.

Pebble project, Alaska

Jeweller Greg Valerio asked how the company would prevent the spread of controversy around the Pebble project to the company’s other projects, implying that the move among jewellers to boycott any gold produced at a future Pebble Mine may be widened. Several speakers pointed out that significant investors have pulled out of the Pebble project and that 80% of people in the Bristol Bay area oppose it. Native leader Bobby Andrew said that CEO Cynthia Carroll should honour her publicly made promise not to move forward with the project without the support of the Bristol Bay communities. Another speaker said that Section 404c of the Clean Water Act would close the project down. Bob Waldrop of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, representing most of the Bay’s commercial fishermen, asked whether Anglo American would pull out of the project if studies showed that it would have a damaging impact on salmon. Bonnie Gestring of US organisation Earthworks said that the Federal Government is assessing the appropriateness of the development and asked whether the company would honour its promise to abandon the project if there were damage to salmon.

Other speakers, from Native communities close to the site of the Pebble project, said that there were many people in the area who had not yet made a decision, and did not accept the right of others to speak for them. One said that it was irresponsible to circumvent due process because of opposition from jewellers from outside Alaska. This was a violation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Communities close to the possible mine site are economically depressed and want the right to control their own resources, and some favour mineral development. The Alaska Peninsula Corporation, involving five Native villages in the Bristol Bay region, takes the view that Section 404c of the Clean Water Act, which mine opponents hope may halt mine development, may also ban Native people from developing their own resources, and therefore violates their Indigenous rights. They believe that the National Environmental Policy Act will protect the salmon. They do not wish to swap salmon for mining but want to have all the information before making a decision for or against mining.

Sir John Parker, replying to all questions and comments in one go, said that the company was listening to people’s views. The company wants the project to enhance life in local communities. Alaskans are welcome to visit any of the company’s operations elsewhere, for instance in Chile, to see the way in which the company conducts its operations. Pebble is still an exploration project. No mine is planned yet. A pre-feasibility study is needed before the board could approve a mine plan. Pebble lies on land designated by the Alaskan government for mineral exploration and development. Alaska has protected 174 million acres, an area five and a half times the size of England. The Pebble project team is 75% Alaskan. The company wants to hire and train Alaskan people. They want the Alaskan people to judge the project on facts, not rhetoric or scaremongering. They are employing some of the best scientists in the world to establish the facts, and will give the Alaskan people, and not just the government, full access to their scientific findings and to the mine plan. There is a long process before any plan is approved. It needs to obtain sixty different kinds of permits from state and federal agencies. Fish and mining can coexist. Good examples are at the Red Dog, Fort Knox and Greens Creek mines. The Fraser River shows that fish and industrial activity need not threaten each other. This year, 35 million sockeye salmon returned to the river, despite the presence of largescale copper mining. The Pebble Partnership can design a mine which can bring benefits to all.

[Sir John did not refer to the precautionary principle. No mine can ever be failsafe. Bristol Bay’s waters are pristine. A single major spillage would end that. But it is clear that the company is not willing to accept the judgement of 80% of the people in the area, and will continue attempting to persuade them that its mine plans will be infallible.]

The Cerrejon coal mine, Colombia

Richard Solly, of Colombia Solidarity Campaign, spoke about community relocations around the Cerrejon mine in La Guajira, Colombia. Anglo American owns one third of the mine. Richard had met two weeks previously with representatives of Cerrejon Coal to learn about the company’s plans for mine expansion and the process of community consultation. He was concerned about how people could feel free to express opinions about the mine in the context of human rights abuses and impunity. Mine workers have suffered because of attacks on the mine by some armed groups, and critics of the mine have been threatened by others.

There is also concern about the existing relocation process for communities affected by current mining operations. Cerrejon Coal’s account of the process differs from the account given by the communities involved. They speak of divisions in the communities caused by the pressure to move quickly. The community of Roche has been split between those who have moved to the new site and those who want their concerns about economic security dealt with before they move. Economic projects are not yet in place and there is insufficient land in the new community for people to keep their cattle, so a move will lead to loss of livelihood. The company frequently cuts the electricity supply to the village and is threatening to close the school and the health centre as a way of pressuring residents to move. What was meant to be a collective relocation has degenerated into family by family removal. Families without title to their land will lose what they have without being provided with anything in the new settlement. The company has now stopped paying independent advisors, Indepaz, and the communities lack the advice they need.

What will Anglo American do to ensure that Cerrejon Coal improves its handling of the distressing process of relocation?

Sir John Parker stated that Anglo American worked closely with the other two shareholders, BHP Billiton and Xstrata. Mine management has worked to improve security. Head of Thermal Coal, Norman Mbazima, said that Anglo American does exert influence over Cerrejon’s operations. He said that relocations had been going on for some time. Some communities were moved before the current consortium took over, and remedial work had to be done. Discussions at Roche have taken place over several years and relocations will occur in accordance with international standards. The Independent Third Party Review will sign off with regard to communities still to move. He said that communities would have more land than they had before.

[If what Mr Mbazima says is true, then Cerrejon Coal has been spectacularly unsuccessful in communicating it to many villagers facing relocation. But it is also possible that Mr Mbazima has been misinformed. Accounts given by the company and by community representatives continue to diverge widely.]

South African former mineworkers with silicosis

Rachel Nkumanda spoke on behalf of Alpheos Blom, one of the former mineworkers suing the company for health care costs. She asked for confirmation of two points. The Chairman had suggested that changes in the exact nature of the claims being brought against the company would mean that they would take longer to resolve. Was this the case, and if so, does the company have no influence in this matter? And was the company really committing to a humanitarian response regarding the financial cost of medical help for the duration of the court process?

Sir John Parker repeated that the legal position had not changed but that the company had been influenced by the speech given at the 2010 AGM by Ms Nkumanda on behalf of Alpheos Blom, who was present on that occasion. The company had agreed on purely humanitarian grounds that Anglo American would offer to help the 24 individuals who had claimed to date. The company would pay for an independent medical check and would meet medical bills arising from it until the court cases were settled.

Other shareholders’ questions

In response to a lengthy question about acquisition strategy, the Chair said that few ‘transformational deals’ were available. The company had looked at Riversdale’s Mozambique operations but was not willing to pay what Rio Tinto paid for them, partly because of problems with transportation. The company was expanding its nickel operations and actively interested in copper deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A tribute to the Oppenheimer family led to a question about what might happen to the family’s shareholding in the company. The Chairman would not comment.

And finally, one shareholder called for better refreshments after AGMs, particularly the serving of wine from the company’s South African vineyard. There was more audible support for this than for protection of the waters of Bristol Bay, or the livelihoods of Colombian farmers, or the health of former mineworkers dying of silicosis in South Africa.

On 8 February, the SINTRACARBON coal workers’ union in Colombia signed a new contract with the Cerrejon Coal Company, owned in equal parts by London-listed Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata.

The agreement came after an overwhelming majority of the workers at the mine voted for strike action. Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon then offered to mediate, and an agreement was reached.

The agreement includes pay rises of 6.5% for 2011 and around 5% for 2012; improvements in access to medical care; greater assistance with education costs for mineworkers’ children; assistance with accommodation costs; greater commitment to assisting communities affected by the mine; and a commitment to respect the right of subcontracted workers to join a union.

The union attributes its victory to its absolute determination not to give in to unreasonable demands from Cerrejon Coal.

Cerrejon sees Colombia coal pushed to Europe by Asia demand

Asian demand will pull Colombian coal to Europe, says Cerrejon. Company to present expansion plan in next few months.

See http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=120815&sn=Detail&pid=92730.