For the report and the companies’ responses, see http://www.business-humanrights.org/Documents/DanWatchCerrejon.

Greystar Resources is a Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but it also has a listing on London’s Alternative Investment Market.

See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3125122820100531.

See http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/9737-multinationals-on-trial-for-mining-activities-in-colombia.html.

(This article suggests that the Cerrejon Coal mine is the largest open cast coal mine in the world. Although one of the largest, it is likely that Peabody Coal’s mines in Arizona, and mines in Indonesia, are larger.)

See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1311562020100513?type=marketsNews.

The October 2009 report of Cerrejón’s [joint venture Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Xstrata] progress implementing the recommendations of the International Panel that reviewed our social engagement in 2007 stated that the company intended to conduct by January 2010 a final assessment of the activities during the past two years. Cerrejón and its shareholders have decided to continue producing progress reports in 2010 until key outstanding commitments are addressed. Today, Cerrejón has completed 16 of the 24 committed action items intended to drive relevant changes to the way we address social impacts and engagement.

See http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/1000769.

Greystar has been told by the Colombian government to file a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its gold-and-silver mine at Angostura.

The industry is claiming the new rules are essentially a ban on mining in Colombia’s “Paramo” ecosystem.

The Angostura Project is 55 km from Bucaramanga, the capital city of Santander department. Greystar’s largest shareholder is the World Bank’s IFC at 10.76%.

Read more at http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10076.

Outside the AGM, War on Want staged a protest – see report and photo at http://www.waronwant.org/news/events/previous-events/16883-war-on-war-protests-against-anglo-shame. For the information handed to shareholders as they entered the meeting, see the end of this report.

Report on the Anglo American AGM, 22 April 2010

Introduction

This was the first AGM chaired by Sir John Parker, who became Chairman of the company in September 2009.

The presentations given by Sir John Parker and Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll are reproduced in full at http://www.angloamerican.co.uk/aa/media/releases/2010pr/agm2010/agm2010.pdf.

Below are some extracts from their speeches, with comments.

Sir John Parker was obviously worried about the impact of protests against the company’s joint venture with Northern Dynasty around Bristol Bay, Alaska, from Indigenous communities and commercial and sport fishing organisations. A critical article had appeared in British newspaper The Observer the previous Sunday (See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/18/anglo-american-alaska-salmon-protest) and a large advertisement criticising the project in the Financial Times the morning of the AGM. (However, a delegation from Alaska had been unable to travel to London because of the eruption of the volcano in Iceland which had led to flight cancellations, and in fact only one Indigenous representative from Alaska, already in Europe before the eruption, had been able to come to the AGM.) Sir John Parker finished his opening remarks with the following comment.

“Finally, to any visitors from Alaska… … Your concerns involve a very early-stage project in which Anglo American has an interest. I’m sure there will be questions that you will wish to pose, but I would like to say now that, although I have not yet had the chance personally to visit the project, I do understand the concerns and interests that the Pebble project arouses and appreciate the different points of view presented. We have made it clear that the project will work on the basis of world class scientific and engineering skills and that we will use inclusive and innovative stakeholder engagement. Our bottom line remains that, if the project cannot be designed in a way that provides the proper protections for Alaska’s fisheries and wildlife, or to the livelihoods of Alaskan communities, then it shouldn’t be built. It is on that basis that we will continue to evaluate the project in full compliance with the prescribed regulatory processes in Alaska and the United States.”

[NB Rio Tinto is a minority shareholder in Northern Dynasty Minerals.]

Cynthia Carroll boasted of success in cost-cutting, including cutting the company’s total work-force by 23,400, which will not be good news to those workers or their families.

She also said: “The strategic review also identified businesses no longer core to our future: we will divest our zinc assets, Scaw Metals, and phosphates and niobium businesses, together with Tarmac. …The target we set was $2 billion of savings by 2011. We are on track for that, and have in fact restated our target upwards. We will now deliver that $2 billion just from our core portfolio – so it doesn’t take into account any contribution from businesses to be divested. In 2009, we generated more than $1.6 billion of savings, ahead of expectations.”

But she also spoke of new investment: “We’ve provided strong support to the re-capitalisation of both Anglo Platinum and De Beers in recent months. … We will invest $4.2 billion in new projects this year, out of a total planned capital expenditure for 2010 of $6.0 billion. To mention just two of these: the Barro Alto project in Brazil will produce around 40,000 tonnes per year of nickel, starting in the first quarter of 2011. It’s on budget, and it’s on schedule. Life of mine production costs will be around $3.70 / lb, and that compares to today’s nickel price of close to $12 / lb. In Chile, the Los Bronces copper expansion project is also on track and on budget and will start production in the fourth quarter of 2011. It will produce 370,000 tonnes per year of copper at the outset, and the cost per pound will be 80 cents over the life of mine – compared to a current copper price of over $3.50 / lb.”

On worker safety, she said: “In 2009 we achieved a 55% reduction in fatalities compared to the start of 2007. And we reduced our lost time injury frequency rate by 52% over the same period. In the first quarter of 2010, fatalities were 67% lower than the same period last year. We shall work to reduce accidents still further and we are relentless in striving to achieve our goal of zero harm. This is a priority in Anglo American. …

She stated that the company is “committed to environmental stewardship and minimising the environmental impact of our operations. Our sustainable development agenda progressed on several fronts during the year. One of the key elements of our strategy is the management of water: we have to find ways of using water more effectively in the communities and catchment areas where we operate. Effective water management systems are now in place across all of our operations. … Last March, we launched the Anglo Environment Way (AEW). It sets out a consistent approach to responsible environmental management, supporting our vision for minimising harm to the environment by designing and operating all of our operations in an environmentally responsible manner.”

Finally, on worker health, she said: “As for health, we’ve been dedicated to the issue of fighting HIV and AIDS since the 1990s – over 80% of permanent workers in South Africa now regularly test for HIV each year – and in 2008 we extended our policy commitment to include the dependants of our employees.”

Commitment to the health of workers and their families is to be expected as a minimum rather than applauded as a particular gesture of good will on the part of the company. But the commitment does not appear to extend to the health of former workers who have developed silicosis or tuberculosis as a result of their work and as a result are no longer working for the company. This issue arose in the first of the questions on the annual report.

Silicosis and tuberculosis among former gold miners in South Africa

The first question was from former gold miner Alpheos Blom, from South Africa. Speaking through his interpreter, he presented the following statement.

“My name is Alpheos Blom. I arrived in London at 5am this morning. This is the first time I have been out of South Africa. It was my first trip on a plane. I am 48 years old. I am a former gold miner. I worked at Anglo’s President Steyn mine in the Free State for 17 years from 1984 to 2001. I worked as a loader and a loco driver. I loaded freshly blasted rocks onto a machine and drive them through the mines. I have a very serious form of silicosis called Massive Fibrosis. I also contracted TB because of this. I developed this disease because of breathing too much dust from the mine.

“Silicosis is an incurable lung disease. I feel breathless all the time, I get tired easily and am in pain.

“The gold mining industry knew that thousands of gold miners were contracting silicosis each year. They knew that there was too much dust. Myself and the other miners I worked with were never given masks despite asking. Instead we would make our own by stealing bandages, these obviously did not work. We should have been able to wash our overalls every night and use showers in order to reduce the amount of dust we inhaled. But although white miners were given access to onsite showers and change rooms black miners were not provided with either of these things.

“As a result of my bad health I am unable to work and yet I have received no help from Anglo American South Africa, a company you own and for which I worked for 17 years. I am one of thousands of former miners in the same situation. Black miners were exposed to much higher levels of dust and therefore have a much higher risk of contracting silicosis. It is estimated that 25% of black miners from President Steyn mine contracted silicosis; this percentage applies to black miners in other gold mines. The industry employed half a million South African miners. This might give you some idea of the scope of this disaster.

“Miners who have silicosis also have a much higher risk of contracting TB because their lungs are damaged. Many miners have returned to their homes in places such as Eastern Cape and Lesotho where there are no clinics to diagnose and treat silicosis. They become very sick and many have died. Communities in these areas have been devastated. The industry knew about this for decades but simply washed its hands of ex-miners.

“I am part of a group of former miners who are suing Anglo American South Africa for failing to advise its gold mines on how to protect miners against excessive dust exposure. If our claim is successful it could lead to thousands more people coming forward. This case could help my quality of life however I worry that I may die before it is over. I would like to see a compensation scheme put into place now for silicosis victims, I would also like to see your company put into place a system for monitoring silicosis and TB and treating it promptly. Will you help us?”

Sir John Parker thanked Alpheos’ interpreter, mistaking her for his wife and referring to her as “Mrs Blom”. He said that the company is very sympathetic to the plight of the former miners but that as there is a case against Anglo American South Africa the proper place for comment is in the court in South Africa. He said that Anglo American is working with unions, government and industry to find practical solutions to the problems former miners in rural areas find in accessing medical care.

Sir John Parker did not comment on why it was that so many decades have passed since the mining industry has been fully aware of these problems, without effectively addressing them, or why it is that a company able to pay its executives and managers so generously is unable to compensate the miners whose work has created its enormous wealth and whose health has been wrecked in the process.

Anglo American has lost its way

A Mr Franklin, who said that he had been a shareholder for 44 years, said that the company had lost its way, unable to pay a dividend to shareholders while other big mining companies had been able to do so. It had slipped from number two on the list of world mining companies to number four.

Anglo American’s withdrawal from the Philippines

Andy Whitmore, of LMN member group PIPLinks, congratulated the company on quitting the Kalayaan project in the Philippines, partly as a result of community resistance. But he said that the company still appeared to be proceeding with the Connor Apoyo Project, despite community opposition. Two Philippine representatives had attended the 2007 AGM to voice this opposition. The company had agreed to an open meeting with the community but nothing had happened since.

Sir John Parker said that criticism had indeed been voiced in previous AGMs, that the company was currently not involved in any exploration activity in the Philippines and that it was in the process of exiting all its projects there. He asked Hugh Elliott, International Government Relations Manager, to confirm this, and Hugh Elliott confirmed that the company was in the process of exiting all its projects there.

Free Prior Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples

Andy Whitmore asked a further question about Indigenous rights. He welcomed the fact that company policy recognises the special status of Indigenous Peoples but pointed out that the bottom line established by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC). He offered to arrange a meeting between the company and representatives of Indigenous Peoples to discuss making FPIC operational. Sir John Parker thanked him for the “civil request” and invited him to speak to Hugh Elliott about it.

“The unacceptable face of capitalism”

A shareholder said that Anglo American represented the “unacceptable face of capitalism” because its CEO had received a significant bonus while shareholders had received no dividend. He noted that page 85 of the company’s annual report stated that Cynthia Carroll’s bonus had increased to £372,000 and her total compensation package had increased to £1.6 million. She was also able to keep her earnings as a non-executive director of BP. This, he said, was different from Legal and General [which in August 2009 was the second biggest investor in Anglo American], which had cut but not abolished its dividend, and where no executive had received a bonus in the past year. Sir John Parker defended Anglo American’s levels of executive pay as being necessary to retain the services of effective people. He said it was important to “reward executives on a proper basis”. The company was committed to restoring the dividend as soon as possible. The company had not asked shareholders for more money, as other companies had done, and which had enabled them to hand part of it back as a dividend.

Communities and workers around the world affected by Anglo American’s operations might perhaps take the view that if Anglo American is “the unacceptable face of capitalism” it may primarily be for reasons other than the current lack of a dividend for shareholders, or even the level of executive pay and bonuses.

Share buybacks

A representative of the UK Shareholders’ Association said that share buybacks had been illegal until 1987, with good reason. He criticised the company’s continuing willingness to use them. He also attacked the company’s expenditure on electronic voting devices at its AGMs while it served only water and fruit juice to shareholders after the meetings. It is interesting that, while shareholders had made no response to Alpheos Blom’s harrowing account of suffering as a worker, there was applause at the suggestion that shareholders should receive better drinks after company AGMs. Sir John Parker defended the use of electronic voting devices as an aid to transparency.

Metallurgical coal in Australia

Another shareholder asked if the company would buy the McArthur Coal Mine in Australia. Sir John Parker said at present it would not. He said that metallurgical coal is core to the company’s activities and that it would develop a number of other coal projects in Australia.

De Beers

The same shareholder asked whether De Beers would be made a non-core part of Anglo American’s operations. Sir John Parker replied that it would not.

Merger with Xstrata

The same shareholder referred to Xstrata’s proposed merger with Anglo American. Sir John Parker said that the board was very wary of big mergers, which were as likely to destroy value as to create it.

Commodity prices

Another shareholder suggested that volatile commodity prices were unhelpful. Sir John Parker agreed. Cynthia Carroll said commodity prices were being largely driven by Chinese demand, and gave a long talk noting that the company was very optimistic about prices in the short and mid-term.

Pebble Project, Alaska

Verner Wilson III, from Bristol Bay, Alaska, said that Bristol Bay is the world’s largest remaining wild salmon fishery. He thanked Cynthia Carroll for coming to visit Alaska. He said that Anglo American is partnering in the proposed Pebble Project in the headwaters of salmon streams feeding the bay. The fishery is worth about $400 million and there is tourism as well. Verner Wilson said that his people depend on the fishery for income, food and the maintenance of a tradition dating back seven thousand years. He said that his people have concerns about the project. Pebble has already violated water permits during exploration. It is a very risky project. The fact that the company has violated permits during the exploration phase means that people cannot trust the company’s assurances about the future. Verner said that his people would fight to protect this resource. The UK is the largest importer of canned wild salmon from Bristol Bay. Cynthia Carroll had made a promise last year that if local people did not want the project, the company would not go ahead with it. 80% of people in the area are opposed to the project and 100,000 Americans have signed a petition against it. The fight against it will be national. Verner urged Anglo American to divest from the project.

Sir John Parker said that he was sorry that rest of the Alaska delegation was unable to join Verner in London. He said that the Pebble project is a 50/50 partnership with Northern Dynasty Minerals. The partnership was formed in 2007 and is based in Anchorage, Alaska. The deposit is primarily copper, but other minerals are present. There is no operating mine. The project is at pre-permitting stage. It is not expected to apply for operating permits for some time. It is not located in a protected area (although, he said, from the statements of the project’s opponents one could be forgiven for believing that it was). It lies on state land designated by democratic processes for mineral exploration and development. Alaska has designated land for mining and there have been two referenda about it. There are 174 million acres of protected area in Alaska. Bristol Bay covers 40,000 square miles, and the Pebble project would cover one twentieth of one per cent of this. But it does, he said, lie on land on which there is no current industrial activity. The Chief Executive of the Pebble partnership understands the significance of water and salmon. So over the past six years Anglo American and Northern Dynasty have invested $130 million in environmental and social studies, building up the largest database of facts on any project in Alaska’s history. The permitting process will take three years and during this time local people will be able to check the facts and make their objections known, should they have any. It is not just a decision for Anglo American but also for the Alaskan authorities. The permitting process involves eleven different federal and state bodies. There is a huge process before a decision cane be made to mine or not to mine. People need to decide on facts, he said, not on rhetoric or misinformation. The Chief Executive John Shively is committed to working with local people, and not all local people are opposed to the project. Alaska has a huge and proud mining record. There are already three major mining operations in the state, and they have never had a major environmental incident. Anglo American is looking at the leaching risks of every tailings dam it owns across the world, and it has an excellent record. He said that both he and Cynthia Carroll intend to visit Alaska.

(See also the report in the Independent at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/anglo-american-confronted-by-alaskan-protest-1950489.html.)

Corporate governance

One shareholder questioned the independence of two “independent” directors, who had been on the board for fully nine years each, the maximum permitted by the combined code of corporate governance. Sir John Parker pointed out that they were both retiring at this AGM. The shareholder said that the combined code said that where there were departures from recommended practice, they should be explained in writing to the shareholders. Although this matter had been explained at AGMs, there was no explanation in the annual report. Sir John Parker agreed that this was the case.

Expenditure on the Pebble Project

Another shareholder questioned why, if there was not a strong chance of the Pebble Project going ahead, $130 million had been spent on preliminary studies and asked the value of the deposit. Sir John Parker assured him that the company believed that the value of the deposit justified the expenditure and noted that it was not unusual to spend significant sums in advance when several billions may be invested in a project. This was simply part of doing business.

The Cerrejon Coal Mine in Colombia

Richard Solly, from LMN member group Colombia Solidarity Campaign, said that he was concerned that Cerrejon Coal, in which Anglo American has a one-third share along with BHP Billiton and Xstrata, had developed a kind of institutional ‘rigor mortis’ with regard to community relocations. An Independent Panel of Inquiry into Cerrejon Coal’s operations had made a number of recommendations, accepted by the company, about the treatment of communities required to move as the mine expands. Company officials continually assured critics of the company’s good intentions, but community members continued to complain that the company was not negotiating with them in good faith. Planned meetings would be cancelled at short notice; some community members would be informed, others not, causing anger and divisions within the communities. Timetables for relocation would be published on the company’s website without consultation with the communities. There was disagreement about the quantity of land and the design of houses in the relocated settlements. Cerrejon Coal was not even fulfilling the basic requirements of the World Bank’s Operational Guidelines on Involuntary Relocation, which established that where small farming communities were relocated they should be provided with agricultural land of equal or greater value from that which they were being required to leave. What would Anglo American do to ensure that Cerrejon Coal lived up to its responsibilities to the communities facing relocation?

Sir John Parker noted that Richard had rightly referred to a third party investigation, which was commissioned partly because of the complaints that Richard had brought to the AGM. The third party panel had not found any evidence of direct abuses, but had made a number of recommendations to Anglo American as one-third shareholders in the project. The company had taken on board these points and would actively pursue the issues as it wanted to move forward on this as quickly as it can. As to more specific points he then linked up over the telephone with the operational manager responsible, speaking from the United States. The connection was a poor one, but as far as could be heard, he noted that the company shared the frustration at the slow pace of relocations. However, they were working as fast as they could while striving to maintain community relations. They had bolstered management to speed things up and to get it right on community relations. The obligations are being met in the main, and issues are either under discussion or in progress. Anglo American is committed to the process and working on relocations.

Richard responded that people were losing their livelihoods while these delays continued, including as a result of the recent impoundment and death of cattle within the mine lease area. Sir John Parker expressed concern about this matter.

Anglo Platinum in South Africa

Nick Hildyard of LMN member group The Cornerhouse said that it was right to stress the importance of good community relationships in developing growth, citing the Annual Report. He said that his question concerned Anglo Platinum in South Africa and that he understood that nine people in the community of Sekuruwe were in the process of suing Anglo Platinum, among others, challenging the alleged consent that was supposedly granted by the community for a lease agreement between Anglo Platinum and the Minister of Land & Rural Development for the Blinkwater Farm. This land was used for ploughing fields, grazing and burial sites for the Sekuruwe community and others. This is apparently the same land where graves were removed and reburied without proper consent. He said that he had been told that the South African Heritage Resources Agency is currently investigating the way graves were removed and the lack of remains in some of the new graves. Nick asked how the company, collectively, had allowed this conflict to spiral out of control in this way. How much confidence could people have that the company would get it right at Pebble Bay, as executives were claiming that they would? Rather than addressing the issues in this case, Anglo Platinum is suing the lawyer, Richard Spoor, who is representing communities in an attempt to get redress. This lawsuit, for defamation, is rooted in the company disputing some of the facts that Richard Spoor relies on. Will the company rely on lawsuits to attack those in Alaska with whom it disagrees on facts? Is it in the company’s best interests to have a three week, high profile lawsuit in South Africa in which the facts are disputed? Has the company heard of the McDonald’s libel lawsuit against campaigners in London?

At one stage, Sir John Parker invited Nick Hildyard to make his point more quickly, but Nick declined, saying that he preferred to go at his own pace.

Sir John Parker said that he would not comment on the defamation case. He said that if the company believes that someone has “engaged in defamatory behaviour” it is the company’s duty to tackle it. He said that resettlement is difficult and that the company is committed to correcting any mistakes it has made. He said that the vast majority of people whom Anglo Platinum needs to relocate have moved to new villages. Only 64 families out of over 900 have refused to move. The company is working with the South African authorities to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

Mary-Jane Morifi, responsible for Anglo Platinum’s community relations in South Africa, commented via a telephone link on the legal case brought by the Sekuruwe community. She spoke extremely rapidly, making accurate note-taking impossible. Anglo American has discontinued the practice of making transcripts of its AGMs available on its website, possibly because of the volume of criticism that it has attracted during those meetings. Readers are sadly thus deprived of the possibility of reading Anglo Platinum’s defence of its relocation programme and its response to the legal case brought by members of the Sekuruwe community. It is interesting to note that although Sir John Parker was unwilling to comment on two of the three legal cases on which he was directly asked to comment, the Anglo Platinum spokesperson was happy to comment at some length on the third such case.

Shareholders entering the meeting were handed the following information by activists from London Mining Network.

Anglo American plc

Responsibility
Reputation
Returns….

Reality

Anglo American’s wholly owned subsidiary Anglo American South Africa Ltd is being sued in South Africa by former gold miners suffering from silicosis, on the grounds that the company negligently advised its gold mines with respect to protection of miners against excessive dust exposure.

Silicosis is lung disease caused by dust. South African miners were exposed to high dust without respirators. Black miners were exposed to higher dust levels than white miners. Between 250,000 and  500,000 miners were employed in South African gold mines during the 20th century. During apartheid mines relied on “migrant labour” from South Africa (e.g. Eastern Cape and Free State), Lesotho and neighbouring states e.g. Botswana and Malawi. The test case claimants are from the Free State, Eastern Cape & Lesotho.

A 2008 study focused specifically on former miners from Lesotho who had worked at the President Steyn mine found a rate of silicosis of 24 percent. The rate of TB was also very high. This was consistent with previous studies on black gold miners, which found rates of around 25 percent. Experts estimate that tens of thousands of miners contracted silicosis in South African gold mines. Miners with silicosis also have a much increased risk of contracting TB for the rest of their lives. This additional risk has been recognised for decades. Silicosis can take from 10-30 years to develop after exposure. A large proportion of miners only develop silicosis and TB after they have left the mines and returned to their communities. Because of rudimentary or non-existent medical services in rural areas, ex-miners frequently contract silicosis and TB which is undiagnosed and untreated, resulting in serious lung damage and death in numerous cases. Ex-miners in Eastern Cape and Lesotho, for instance, have been decimated by dust-related lung disease from gold mining.

The industry has been well aware of this for many years but washes its hand of ex-miners, and makes no medical or financial provision for them. Anglo American was the largest gold mining group. Anglo American PLC was formed in 1999, whereupon it acquired the Anglo gold mining business formerly headed by Anglo American South Africa Ltd. The claim alleges that Anglo American South Africa Ltd negligently failed to advise the mines properly to take measures to protect miners against excessive dust exposure.

The primary object of the test cases is to establish the legal principles on which miners should be compensated for silicosis and silico-tuberculosis. A further objective is that the industry should establish a medical monitoring scheme to ensure that ex-miners are diagnosed and treated for TB speedily and effectively. This could be achieved by injection of resources into the existing state system.

If Anglo American plc is committed to corporate social responsibility, it should (a) establish a compensation scheme for silicosis victims; (b)co-operate in alleviating further suffering by ensuring that ex-miners are monitored for silicosis and TB and treated promptly.

Elsewhere in South Africa….

·    Anglo American is benefitting from ’sweetheart’ deals with power generator Eskom which threaten to cause hardship for low-income citizens. (1)
·    Despite the company’s efforts to reduce worker deaths, especially at its South African deep mines, it still has a high rate of work related fatalities. (2)
·    Communities in Limpopo are in conflict with Anglo American over its subsidiary Anglo Platinum’s programme of removal of villages for mine expansion. Conflicts include complaints over loss of agricultural livelihood through inadequate access to good quality farmland without creation of sufficient mining jobs to compensate, and allegations of desecration of ancestral graves. Lawyer Richard Spoor, who has represented some of the communities involved, is being sued for defamation by Anglo Platinum. (3)

Elsewhere in the world …

·    Anglo American has a 50% stake in the Pebble Mine copper gold and molybdenum project in Alaska, which is opposed by a coalition of Native communities and commercial and sports fishing organisations. (4)
·    Anglo American’s De Beers subsidiary has been criticised for the level of influence it has over government and economy in Botswana, its environmental record and its attitude to Indigenous Bushmen communities. (5)
·    Since 2000, Anglo American has been involved in the massive opencast Cerrejon coal mine in northern Colombia. Since early 2002, Anglo American has been a one-third owner of the mine (along with London-listed BHP Billiton and Xstrata). The mine has a history of forced relocation of communities. The current owners have pledged to address this legacy and improve the handling of involuntary relocations. But an agreement made in December 2008 with residents of one destroyed village, Tabaco, remains stalled, and negotiations with other communities facing relocation drag on while communities suffer loss of livelihood and complain of health problems caused by coal dust. Community leaders allege that the company is not even fulfilling the basic guidelines laid down by the World Bank and that its critics have received death threats from persons unknown. Workers at the mine complain that the Cerrejon Coal company avoids paying adequate social security contributions to compensate for the dangerous nature of their work and that subcontracted workers are denied basic union rights. (6)

For further information, contact:

London Mining Network: http://londonminingnetwork.org, LMN@gn.apc.org, 07929 023214

War on Want: http://www.waronwant.org, mailroom@waronwant.org, 020 7549 0555

Notes

(1) See http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/04/black-and-white-unite-against-dirty-south-african-coal/.
(2) See http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/01/miners%E2%80%99-efforts-fail-to-cut-death-toll/
(3) See http://londonminingnetwork.org/tag/anglo-platinum/
(4) See http://ourbristolbay.com/index.html
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/02/pebble-project-among-most-important-north-american-mining-opportunities/
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2009/10/major-us-conservation-group-joins-alaska-anti-mine-campaign/
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2009/10/class-ring-makers-join-boycott-against-pebble-mine/
(5) See http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/02/benchmarks-report-on-de-beers/.
(6) See
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/01/union-contract-workers-continue-fight-for-work-rights-at-cerrejon-in-colombia/
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2009/10/community-representatives-in-london-to-challenge-world%E2%80%99s-biggest-mining-multinational/ (notes involvement of BHP Billiton, owner of another one-third of Cerrejon Coal, but applies equally to Anglo American)
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2009/07/colombia-attack-on-labour-rights-by-contracting-agency-for-el-cerrejon-mine/
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2009/01/colombia-seven-year-long-peoples-struggle-achieves-a-victory/

This was Jan du Plessis’ first AGM as Chairman, and he gave plenty of time for questions on the annual report. There were numerous questions on the convictions of Rio Tinto officials in China for bribery (see Rio accused of abandoning Stern Hu, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/16/2874320.htm), on the clash of timing of the Rio Tinto AGM with the BP AGM, on executive pay and on the proposed Joint Venture with BHP Billiton on iron ore in Western Australia. One question was asked about the nature of the housing construction market in China, so important to Rio Tinto’s profits.

Du Plessis was asked to comment on the possibility of a UK Government Serious Fraud Office probe into Rio Tinto’s practices. He declined, saying the company would never comment publicly on any conversations with regulators anywhere in the world but would co-operate if approached by regulatory bodies.

Three questions were asked about the company’s commitment to aluminium smelting at Saguenay-Lac St Jean in Quebec, Canada. Du Plessis and Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese assured questioners of the company’s commitment to aluminium production in Quebec but would not commit to ‘downstream processing’ into engineered products, which questioners wanted. Tom Albanese said that such products are not part of Rio Tinto’s business and that he hoped other businesses in Saguenay-Lac St Jean could provide what is necessary.

London Mining Network groups were well represented inside the AGM and worked closely with trade unions supporting locked out mine workers from Rio Tinto’s Borax mine in Boron, California. Between them, they were able to raise a number of concerns, but not all those which they intended to raise, as the question period was brought to a halt after a marathon session of over one and a half hours and the whole business of the AGM was only concluded towards two o’clock, nearly an hour later than usual.

Jan du Plessis promised, as he brought the question and answer session on the annual report to a close in order to proceed with other business, that once all the other resolutions had been proposed and discussed he would give more time for questions on the annual report. He did not do so, however. As one shareholder was attempting to get the Chairman’s attention in order to ask about radioactive spills at the Ranger Uranium Mine in Australia, the Chairman declared the meeting closed, despite his earlier assurance.

The following notes cover only those matters raised by the Borax workers, LMN guests from overseas, groups with which LMN is working, and others connected with LMN groups. A video of much of the meeting is available at http://www.thomson-webcast.net/uk/dispatching/?event_id=c25341fbb0ef9398a61e0922a83d00a7&portal_id=f826a5de35b59aa5342937a4348256d3. Slides and an MP3 audio recording of the Question and Answer session are available at the same link.

Eagle Mine project, Michigan (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWtNAg8VR5A)

Jessica Koski, from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, spoke about Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott’s proposed Eagle Mine. She said that mine construction would involve destruction of Eagle Rock, which is a sacred site for her community. She said that the mine’s design plan is unfeasible and could lead to collapse, and that because the material to be mined is a sulphide ore body, there is a high risk of acid mine drainage. Kennecott is asserting its ability to move ahead without approval under the Clean Water Act. Jessica said that her community is determined to defend Eagle Rock and asked for a commitment from Rio Tinto not to destroy the rock, so that her people could continue practising their religion.

Jan du Plessis said he respected Jessica’s strong feelings. He said he was convinced that his colleagues take seriously their responsibility to respect local people’s views. As Chairman, he was well aware of the issue which Jessica had raised. He wanted to assure her that the USA has some of the toughest environmental laws in the world, as does the State of Michigan, and the company would comply with them.

Tom Albanese said that he had visited the area. The Eagle Mine project is the first to be subjected to Michigan’s new mining regulations. The company has taken each step complying with the regulations and engaging with stakeholders. They recognise that the rock outcrop which Jessica had referred to was important and so the company has moved the mine portal away from the rock. The company is required to allow safe access to the rock and will meet with the tribe to discuss how this can best be done. He said that he was aware of the litigation around the project and that the company respects the US legal process.

Jessica asked again whether the company would commit to not destroying the rock and the water.

Tom Albanese replied that a condition of the permit is to respect the air and the water and to move the mine portal. He did not explain, however, how mining operations would affect people using the sacred site – whether there would be noise, dust, blasting or visual disturbance affecting a place used for religious retreats needing silence and solitude.

Borax workers’ lockout, California (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q_jxO_hCFw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpRYwCDneyI)

In response to a question from a shareholder about the dispute with workers at the Borax mine in Boron, California, Tom Albanese claimed that the borates mine there had suffered progressive loss of market share to its Turkish competitor over the past ten years. It was a good business but had suffered progressively lower productivity and lower market share. The company must modernise all aspects of the business, including contracts, especially regarding seniority, to bring it into line with other Rio Tinto operations elsewhere in North America. He stated that lockouts are enshrined in US labour law. The company wants to talk about key issues, he said, especially seniority. They need to talk about this in the context of experience and qualifications. All other things being equal, seniority would still apply.

Dave Irish, a Borax worker, noted the company’s stated commitment to safety, reminded the Board that over the past decade the Borax mine had twice won safety awards and pointed out that by locking out experienced workers and employing less experienced temporary workers the company was throwing safety out of the window. He said that the company was getting rid of permanent jobs and health benefits. He noted that although Tom Albanese had mentioned the global recession he had not mentioned the 15% unemployment rate in Kern County California, where the Borax mine is. Borax had been a good support to the community in the past, providing a number of community facilities. Now Tom Albanese was blaming the workers for the lockout. The company had not met with the workers since the lockout until now, when the workers had sent representatives to the AGM to find out why the company is behaving the way it is. Dave said that the workers want to work but cannot because of being locked out. On 31 January, when the lockout began, they were met by security company personnel who prevented them entering the mine. Sales of borates are increasing around the world but because of the lockout the Borax mine is only producing 35 – 50% of full production.

Jan du Plessis replied that safety is important to Rio Tinto and that he was content that no proposal being discussed would impact safety. The company will not increase temporary positions but wants flexibility.

Tom Albanese claimed to remember meeting Dave Irish when he visited the mine site two years previously (Dave later said that he certainly had no recollection of meeting Tom Albanese). He said that there was a lot to be proud of at Boron over recent years and that the person in charge at Boron had gone on to head Rio Tinto’s global health and safety work. Albanese said he welcomed the fact that the union had come back to the bargaining table.

QMM Ilmenite Mine, Madagascar (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHyoc6OI6uI)

Vola Parker from Madagascar noted that the Rio Tinto Review claims that the company’s operations in Madagascar are exemplary and received an environmental award. She said that the company needs to pay attention to the report Madagascar: Voices of Change published last autumn (see http://www.andrewleestrust.org/hepa.htm and http://www.andrewleestrust.org/Reports/Voices%20of%20Change.pdf). She said that the people around the ilmenite mine in Madagascar had put their testimony into this report. She asked whether the 20/80 ownership agreement between the company and the Madagascan Government still stood or whether the company now owned 100% of the mine. She said that this is very important for the Madagascan Government. She said that she had received an email from a representative of the World Bank in Madagascar who is investigating an allegation of fraud around the transfer of land around the ilmenite mine. She asked if the Board was aware of this allegation. She also asked what was the growth outlook for mineral markets given that only 6% of the company’s profits come from diamonds and minerals. Is there hope for this ilmenite venture in terms of tax revenue for the Madagascan Government and employment?

Jan du Plessis replied that he hoped to travel to Madagascar in the last quarter of the year. He thanked Vola for recognising the mine’s environmental award. He confirmed that the ownership arrangement with the Madagascan Government is still 80/20.

Tom Albanese said that the World Bank is associated with the project through supporting the government’s 20% interest and is part owner of the port facility. The port is shown on the cover of the 2009 Annual Review. There is a dispute resolution process regarding the land transfer to ensure that the land was properly priced. USAID is also involved in this. Regarding markets, 90% of titanium dioxide is used for whitening paint. This market is driven by new construction. With the coming of the summer repainting season in the Northern hemisphere and the continued growth of construction in China there should be strong growth in titanium dioxide sales.

Yvonne Orengo of the Andrew Lees Trust said that a company representative had stated that there were no outstanding issues on the land transfer. Testimonies in the report which Vola had mentioned speak of poor land compensation, lack of forest access and extreme poverty as a result of the mine. The company has made no response to the report even though it had been sent to them. Yvonne wanted to know whether the company would show enough respect to local people to answer the criticisms which they have made.

Tom Albanese said that he could not answer individual comments but would be happy to talk further. He said that poverty and deforestation in the area were extreme before the project began. With the presence of the mine, he claimed, communities are on the whole better off – an assertion contradicted by the testimony in the report, as Vola and Yvonne pointed out after the meeting to Tom Albanese and Harry Kenyon-Slaney (CEO, Diamonds and Minerals, in charge of the Madagascar mine).

Panguna Mine, Bougainville (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb8G-x_ioBk)

Clive Porabou from Bougainville said that the company’s BCL subsidiary had caused massive destruction to land in Bougainville and its operations had led to a war which had cost 20,000 lives. A court case had been brought against the company in the USA. Would the company compensate the people of Bougainville for the destruction it had caused? BCL was now trying to go back in and reopen the mine, which would repeat the whole process. Would Rio Tinto warn them of the dangers of doing so?

Jan du Plessis said that the company had not operated in Bougainville since 1989. When it did operate, it employed 2800 people and contributed 10% of Papua New Guinea’s GDP. In 2001 a peace agreement was signed between the PNG Government and the separatists. The company understands that it cannot recommence operations without proper consultation with the stakeholders.

Tom Albanese said that the company respects the long-term peace process and the actions of the Government of Bougainville, the landholders and the Government of Papua New Guinea.

It is noteworthy that neither the Chairman nor the CEO commented on the lawsuit brought against the company in the USA.

Rossing Uranium, Namibia (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xGTEYXkLzw)

Dr Natasha Posner of LMN member group Partizans asked about the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia. She asked whether Rio Tinto planned to increase production and if so, whether studies had been done on the impact on the environment and worker health. She asked whether the company could explain why workers cannot get access to their medical records.

Tom Albanese replied that the Rossing mine is important both to Rio Tinto and to Namibia. He said that the company could like to see increased production but need access to water, electricity and skilled labour. Most workers are Namibian and there are restrictions on foreign workers. It would take 5 to 10 years before expansion can take place. He said that Rossing has worked on biodiversity. He would get back to Dr Posner on the issue of employees’ access to medical records.

Dr Posner reminded Tom Albanese that he had earlier spoken of ‘our goal of zero harm’, and asked if the company would commit to that goal.

Tom Albanese replied that everyone was doing everything they could to reduce harm.

Coal and nickel mining in Indonesia (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04t-ZpsDpaY)

Andrew Hickman (of LMN member group Down to Earth) said that, in response to questions about the recent bribery case involving company officials, the Chairman had spoken about the importance of building relationships with China. Did the company also think about the importance of building relationships with producers, including workers and communities? According to colleagues in Indonesian environmental organisation JATAM, on Tuesday 13th April the Indonesian Attorney-General’s office had found substance in corruption allegations in the divestment of Rio Tinto from Kaltim Prima Coal in 2003. Andrew asked why Rio Tinto had sold its shares in Kaltim Prima Coal for half the price being offered by the Kalimantan Government. Why did it sell all its shares to Bumi Resources, controlled by Aburizal Bakri, the second richest man in Indonesia, who was a government minister at the time and has been accused of major tax evasion, corruption and business malpractice? One of his operations controls the Lepindo mud flow, which has made 100,000 people homeless. It is reputed that he tried to sell that operation to an offshore company for as little as $2 in order to avoid compensation obligations. [NB Aburizal Bakri has recently become head of the Golkar Party, one of the two biggest political parties in Indonesia and the party of former President Suharto.]

Jan du Plessis replied that the manner in which the company does its business is of great importance and that it has to be good or the company would not be in business. Four employees in China were accused of accepting bribes from local steel magnates who wanted to make sure they got hold of steel.

Tom Albanese said that Rio Tinto had been in a 50/50 Joint Venture with BP at Kaltim Prima until 2002-03. They had been faced by Indonesianisation requirements. They went through a process of examining not only the amount of money offered but the liquidity and experience of the bodies making the offers. Rio Tinto and BP concluded that the Bumi offer was overall the better offer. Rio Tinto is no longer in Kalimantan. The company made the disposal according to the law. There is a conflict between the Governments of Indonesia and Kalimantan but the decision was made on commercial grounds.

Andrew then said that in its relationships with local elites in Indonesia the company’s operations there were all related. At present Rio Tinto is planning a nickel project in Sulawesi. Andrew said that Tom Albanese’s answer led him to believe that Rio Tinto is complicit in the corruption of local elites.

Tom Albanese stated emphatically that Rio Tinto is opposed to corruption.

Grasberg Mine, West Papua (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_nXZP-a09g)

Benny Wenda, from West Papua, said that he represented 250 tribes from that country. He said that the company said all manner of good things but ignored his people in dealing with Indonesia. He said that Rio Tinto was dealing with an occupied country and supporting the occupying power, Indonesia, and in so doing was indirectly supporting the rape, torture and killing carried out by the Indonesian military. Benny asked what guarantee the company would give for his people’s future, for the Ajkwa River which has been filled with mining waste and turned to copper, and to their scared mountain which had been dug up and turned into a lake.

Jan du Plessis said that Benny was discussing political differences which the company could not comment on.

Tom Albanese stated baldly that Papua is part of Indonesia. This, he stated, had been ratified by the United Nations in 1966. The Grasberg lease is 10km by 10km in an area the size of the UK. It makes an important contribution to jobs and taxes. Since 1995, when Rio Tinto became involved, the company had been involved in social and environmental programmes.

Roger Moody pointed out that the Norwegian Government had accused Rio Tinto of being responsible for abuses committed around the Grasberg mine. Why had the company not satisfied the Norwegian Government in its criticism of the mine?

Tom Albanese said that Rio Tinto had had discussions with the Norwegian Government about this issue and implied that the Norwegian Government now took a more positive view. Roger Moody replied that he knew from inside information that this was not the case.

Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free Prior Informed Consent (for video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vCbk68CKB8)

Geoff Nettleton of LMN member group Indigenous Peoples’ Links said that he had been a shareholder for more than twenty years and that at every AGM there were problems with Indigenous rights. He welcomed the statement in the Rio Tinto report that the company operates in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He said that the problem is that it is not true. He said that it is good as a statement of intent. But the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples gives the right to Free Prior Informed Consent and this is not being respected. It also gives protection to Indigenous Peoples’ sacred sites. Without genuinely independent monitoring, respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights will not work. There are reputational advantages to doing this. It would avoid litigation and confrontation. He asked whether the company would work with Indigenous organisations like the UN Permament Forum on Indigenous Issues to arrange such independent monitoring.

Jan du Plessis replied that it is possible for the company to make mistakes (a welcome admission) but said that he visited many operations and was impressed by the commitment of Rio Tinto personnel to working with local people. He said that in Australia, Rio Tinto is the biggest employer of Aboriginal People, and that at every Rio Tinto mine in Australia he had met with Aboriginal People and listened to their concerns.

Geoff reiterated that an independent element was necessary. He said that he believed what the Chairman was saying about Australia but that an independent element was needed.

Tom Albanese said that he respected that and stated that the company was taking a lead in the International Council on Mining and Metals about this, to develop industry standards. He said that Rio Tinto has independent assurance of its systems, though it is not as crisp black and white as a financial statement.

Pay differentials within Rio Tinto

Albert Beale of LMN member group Partizans said that Conservative Party leader David Cameron had recently said that in public organisations the ratio between the top earner and the bottom should not be more than 20:1. Albert said that there was no moral reason why this should not apply to private practice as well. Why did Rio Tinto not publish the pay differential between its top and bottom earners?

The answer given by the Board was that this information would be meaningless. Albert responded that this was for shareholders to judge rather than for the Board, who are employees of the shareholders, and that the company should do so.

A personal reflection on the AGM by Richard Solly, LMN Co-ordinator

As usual, the company’s responses to many of the concerns raised were vague or evasive. Rio Tinto continues to hold a high view of its own virtue, despite the Chairman’s admission that sometimes it makes mistakes.

Jan du Plessis was more emollient than his predecessor. But the vision of the future set out by Tom Albanese in his presentation and in his answers to questions was the stuff of nightmares.

His belief that the number of new mines that will be necessary over the coming years in order to keep pace with minerals demand, replicating themselves at an ever increasing rate, suggests a future in which more and more of the planet’s surface is scarred by this highly destructive activity, with consequent impacts on water quality and food production; and, in the case of Rio Tinto, with predictable impacts on human rights, rural and coastal livelihoods, traditional cultures and Indigenous control of land. It is a very bleak picture. Why should the world trust this company, of all companies, to make decisions on such expansion when it is clear that these decisions will influence numerous other companies and be to the detriment of so many people?

He spoke enthusiastically of the development of robotics in mining. So the increasing number of new mines would not necessarily lead to an increase in satisfying employment for mineworkers. Rather, there is the possibility that more and more jobs will be lost as robots take over from human beings in gouging more and more minerals from the earth without the inconvenience of health care costs, health and safety considerations or worker organisations demanding rights and dignity.

Albanese also spoke of hundreds of millions of rural Chinese people ‘needing’ to be urbanised. He did not say why they ‘need’ to be urbanised or whether they have expressed a wish to be moved into cities. He did not speak of the desperation that often forces people to migrate to cities even when they do not wish to do so. And the picture of future cities which he painted was horrifying. The cities of which he spoke will consist of enormous high-rise apartment blocks into which huge numbers of people can be crammed. This, he said, is ‘greener’ than traditional low-rise housing, because it takes up less space and therefore lowers the total carbon footprint. He did not speak of the carbon footprint of the steel production necessary for the construction of such towers or the carbon emissions produced in heating and cooling them.

He also spoke of the company’s desire to increase uranium production, with no mention of the legacy of deadly radioactive pollution which will be left for thousands of generations to come.

The company’s past is one of repeated and serious abuses of human rights, Indigenous rights, worker rights and local and regional ecosystems. Its present is one of continued greenwashing of its unacceptable behaviour. And its vision for the future is one which many millions of people will surely hope never comes true.

Questions which we were unable to ask for lack of time….

Oyu Tolgoi Project, Mongolia

Rio Tinto has a minority stake in this project.

Mongolian-based environmental organisations are calling for a delay in the implementation of the Project on a number of grounds.

The Investment Agreement for the Project was signed on October 6, 2009, before a technical and economic feasibility study was accepted by government, as prescribed by law.

On March 26, the Minerals Expert Council granted conditional acceptance of the technical and economic feasibility study regardless of the fact that Ivanhoe Mines had failed to demonstrate availability of, and access to, the water resources necessary for production, infrastructure and social needs of the project.

The Oyu Tolgoi deposit lies in the Gobi Desert in close proximity of the Gobi Small and Galbyn Gobi Strictly Protected Area (SPA) zones, overlapping Important Bird Area and Critical Natural Habitats. This fragile arid ecosystem does not have enough water to carry this huge mine. There is apparently the possibility that the flow of the rivers Herlen and Orhon/Onon may be reversed from north to south to provide for the mine’s needs.  There is much resistance by scholars and local residents to these ideas, which will have an adverse effect on the ecology, economy and livelihoods of people living in these areas.

There are a number of other mines in the area and scarcity of water is a problem for all of them.

Trucking of minerals from these mines is already causing significant dust pollution, affecting human health and the environment. Opening the Oyu Tolgoi mine will worsen this.

Will Rio Tinto agree to delay the start of mine construction until environmental, social and economic, and water impact assessments are carried out in compliance with international norms and standards applicable to large scale mining?

Mande Norte Project in Colombia

There is concern about Rio Tinto’s relationship with La Muriel Mining at the Mande Norte copper, gold and molybdenum project in Colombia.

In response to a question at last year’s AGM, CEO Tom Albanese confirmed that Rio Tinto had an arrangement with US-Colombian company La Muriel Mining which might lead to some kind of Joint Venture in the future. At that time, exploration had been halted because of widespread opposition from local Indigenous and Afrocolombian communities.

Shortly after last year’s AGM, in response to criticisms of the Mande Norte project submitted to a British Parliamentary inquiry, La Muriel Mining publicly implied that peace groups working with local communities, including British-based peace groups, were in league with the Colombian guerrillas. The British Government intervened to urge La Muriel Mining to withdraw these false allegations, which could have led to political assassinations of British citizens working in the area. The company withdrew them, and has not begun exploration again because of the strength of local opposition.

In March, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled that La Muriel Mining had not carried out adequate consultation with Indigenous and Afrocolombian communities, and ordered a halt to the project. Before it can continue, proper consultation must take place with these communities according to the law, and environmental impact studies must be completed.

La Muriel has proved all the points made at last year’s Rio Tinto AGM about its scant regard for human rights and the law. When will Rio Tinto pull out of this project and dissociate itself from this irresponsible company?

Ranger Uranium Mine, Australia

The Ranger uranium mine is operated by Rio Tinto  subsidiary Energy Resources of Australia.

An estimated 100,000 litres of water has been seeping from the tailings dam every day into the rock below. The Senate Committee in February this year confirmed that there is 5,500 times as much uranium in that water as there is in the surrounding environment, but so far there has been little work (at least published) on what will be done to rehabilitate it. Can you confirm what steps you have taken to effectively monitor this issue, ensure it does not reach the surrounding Kakadu National park and what will be done to rehabilitate once the dam is removed?

Recent total production for the first quarter of 2010 slid by 27 percent or down to 888 tonnes compared to the output of the same period last 2009. Some of this at least is the result of a 41 per cent drop in ore grades as the mining operations proceeded through the open-cut. Would you confirm whether this affects the plan to extend the mine life to 2021 and that you are sharing any changes to your plans openly with nearby traditional land owners?

Protests outside the AGM

Outside the AGM, Borax workers and supporters from the International Transport Federation and other trade unions demonstrated against the company, assisted by representatives of London Mining Network.

References corresponding to numbered notes in the text are listed at the end of the article.

Introduction

Mining giant Rio Tinto promotes itself as a responsible and ethical employer and good neighbour, as well as a protector of the environment.  According to The Way We Work, the company’s global code of business conduct, Rio Tinto’s “focus on sustainable development – on economic prosperity, social wellbeing, environmental stewardship and strong governance and integrity systems – provides the framework in which our business operates…”  (1)

Rio Tinto maintains that “respect is central to a harmonious workplace, where the rights of employees are upheld and where their dignity is affirmed, free of intimidation, discrimination or coercion of any kind.”(2)  With regard to human rights, the company professes to “…set out to build enduring relationships with our neighbours that demonstrate mutual respect, active partnership, and long term commitment.”(3)   Finally, with regard to the environment, the company proclaims that “excellence in environmental performance and product stewardship is essential to our business success…Wherever possible we prevent, or else minimise, reduce and remedy the disturbance of the environment.” (4)

It sounds good. But the reality is that Rio Tinto’s current operations are more in line with their past apparent collusion with fascist and racist regimes than their stated policies of respect for communities, workers and the environment. Despite the company’s claims, there are countless examples of alleged human and labour rights violations and environmental devastation perpetrated by Rio Tinto around the world and over decades.   From Papua New Guinea to Namibia, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the U.S. to Madagascar, and from Cameroon to Indonesia, Rio Tinto has a long and shameful record.  We set out below summaries of some of the previous and ongoing allegations against Rio Tinto, gathered from information in the public domain.  Please follow the links for further details of these allegations.

A Record of Consorting with Repressive Regimes

In 1930s Spain, under the rule of fascist General Francisco Franco, left-wing miners who had expressed discontent with Rio Tinto’s mines by striking were called to order by Franco’s troops.  At the company’s 1937 annual general meeting, Sir Auckland Geddes reported “since the mining region was occupied by General Franco’s forces, there have been no further labour problems… Miners found guilty of troublemaking are court-martialed and shot.”(5)  Under Franco’s influence, Rio Tinto also provided ore for Nazi Germany’s re-armament programme.(6)

In Apartheid-era South Africa, Rio Tinto’s Palabora copper mine underpaid its migrant black labour force, failing to reach even the minimum wage set by the South African Institute of Race Relations.(7)  In neighbouring Namibia, black workers constructing the Rossing uranium mine lived in appalling conditions in temporary camps, which researchers found “akin to slavery.”(8)   While Rio Tinto continues to this day to profess its code of ethics and principles it seems the company’s drive for corporate profit is its top priority.

Borax Mine, Boron, California, USA

In the tiny Mojave Desert town of Boron, California, Rio Tinto recently locked out 570 miners from its borates mine.  Since January 31, 2010, these families have been struggling to make ends meet without a paycheque from Rio Tinto.  The company took this action in retaliation for the miners’ refusal to agree to a contract that threatened to turn decent, family and community-supporting jobs into part-time, temporary or contracted jobs.

Rio Tinto has brought in replacement workers to do the jobs of long-time, experienced miners, some of whom have worked at the mine and processing plant for 30 to 40 years.  It is unclear if the replacement workers have the ability to produce the same quality product with the same reliability as the experienced Boron miners Rio Tinto has locked out. It seems that Rio Tinto is simply using the replacement workers to help the company starve out the locked-out families.

The families of Boron have paid a heavy price for their courageous decision to stand up to Rio Tinto, a multi-billion-dollar, global bully that is used to pushing people around and getting its own way.  They worry about making mortgage payments, paying for health insurance and putting food on the table. But with the support of the Boron community and of families and workers throughout California, the U.S. and the world, they are standing strong and committed to winning a fair contract at the mine in Boron.

Panguna Mine, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea

On the island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, the people fought and won a 10-year war against Rio Tinto and its Panguna copper and gold mine during the 1990s.  Resistance to the mine was so intense, the company was forced to close it in 1989 and, since that time, the mine has not been operational.  Though the people of Bougainville were ultimately successful in their battle with Rio Tinto, they paid a heavy price – both for the mine’s development and for their opposition to it.

A class action complaint on behalf of the people of Bougainville now in U.S. federal court alleges that Rio Tinto committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and racial discrimination, as well as violations of international environmental rights, among other atrocities, in its efforts to establish and operate the Panguna mine.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that:

§    In constructing its huge copper mine in Bougainville, Rio Tinto used chemical defoliants and bulldozers to destroy the rainforest that had been a key source of subsistence to local residents; the company then, allegedly, sluiced off the hillside.(9)

§    During the years of the mine’s operations, billions of tons of toxic mine waste was generated and dumped onto the land and into pristine waters, filling major rivers with tailings, polluting a major bay dozens of miles away, and the Pacific Ocean as well.” The pollution reportedly was so extensive residents of the island were exposed to toxic chemicals that have caused death and/or illness.(10)

§    Air and water pollution has caused serious health problems among the villagers, including upper respiratory infections, TB and asthma. In addition, because they could no longer farm, fish or hunt, villagers’ traditional diet was replaced with processed foods, leading to an increase in the incidence of obesity.(11)

§     Rio Tinto “viewed the people of Bougainville as inferior due to their colour and culture and, therefore, intentionally violated their rights.”(12)  As part of its discriminatory treatment of the local people, the company allegedly paid “slave wages” to black workers.(13)

§    The company’s behaviour sparked an uprising among the Bougainvillian people that resulted in the closing of the mine. In response, the Papua New Guinea government brought in troops to reopen it. Rio Tinto allegedly provided vehicles and helicopters to transport troops and played a role in instituting a military blockade that lasted for almost 10 years, causing the deaths of 10,000 people between 1990 and 1997.

Rio Tinto has been fighting the class action for a decade, seeking to have the complaint dismissed. Recently, however, the Obama Administration’s Department of Justice refused to side with the company in its legal argument, thereby paving the way for the suit, which could cost Rio Tinto millions in reparations, to proceed in the U.S. court system.

Grasberg Mine, West Papua, Indonesia

The Grasberg mine in West Papua is another example of a Rio Tinto mining project gone terribly wrong. A joint venture between Rio Tinto (40% of joint venture production (14)) and Freeport-McMoRan, a U.S. corporation headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, the Grasberg Mine is one of the world’s largest single producers of both copper and gold, and contains the largest recoverable reserves of copper and the largest single gold reserve in the world, according to Freeport McMoRan.(15)

§    The mine reportedly has caused “massive environmental destruction” in West Papua due to the dumping of waste, including toxic metals, into Indonesia’s river system.(16)   According to WALHI, a leading Indonesian environmental group, the mine has already disposed of one billion tons of tailings into the local river system, resulting in copper concentrations in local rivers that are double the Indonesian legal fresh water limit. Over the life of the project, the mine reportedly will dump up to 3.5 billion metric tons of waste, despite the fact that riverine disposal is expressly prohibited under Indonesia’s water quality control regulation.(17)

§    In 1996, local people rioted, destroying $3 million in equipment and shutting the facility down for three days.  Shortly thereafter, Freeport-McMoRan, Rio Tinto’s partner, reportedly started providing significant support to the Indonesian government and military to ensure the protection of the mine.(18)   The company reportedly made an initial investment of $35 million in military infrastructure and vehicles and paid at least $20 million to military and police in Papua between 1998 and 2004.(19)

§    Serious human rights violations have reportedly occurred near the Grasberg Mine and Rio Tinto and Freeport-McMoRan have been accused of complicity due to their reliance on the military and police for security at the mine.  According to Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights, “in the mid-1990s the Indonesian security forces indulged in indiscriminate killings, torture and disappearances of local people in their safeguarding of the mine operations and their campaigns against West Papuan secessionists.” (20)

§    In 2008, Norway eliminated Rio Tinto from its Government Pension Fund due to concerns about the way the Grasberg mine was being operated.  The holdings the Fund divested itself were valued at $850 million. (21)

Kelian Gold Mine, Indonesia

Kelian Equatorial Mining (PT KEM), which closed in 2005, was a mining company jointly owned and operated by Rio Tinto (90%) and PT Harita Jayaraya Inc. (10%), an Indonesian company in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province.(22)  As at the Panguna mine in Bougainville and the Grasberg mine in West Papua, local opposition to the mine and the human rights violations and environmental degradation associated with it was very strong.

§    Hundreds of indigenous villagers were forcibly evicted from their land and 4,000 more reportedly had assets destroyed in the construction of the mine in the 1980s.(23)

§    According to the Indonesian Commission on Human Rights, protestors of the mine were arrested and detained on numerous occasions during the 1990s and some Kelian staff reportedly raped local community members.  Local people also reported that mine security guards shot at and attacked them and local police ran a terror campaign intended to squelch protests. (24)

§    In its 13 years of production the mine reportedly dumped 100 million metric tons of waste rock into the environment, much of which was contaminated.(25)   Rio Tinto acknowledged that there was “acid mine drainage” from the mine site; further, the company’s own environmental report said that in 1996 almost 1,100 kilogrammes of cyanide were discharged from the mine into the Kelian River.(26)

§    Due to the pollution of the river local residents reportedly lost their source of clean water for drinking and bathing and began to suffer from skin rashes and eye infections; in addition, the river fish virtually disappeared, depriving residents of an important source of food.(27,28)

Kennecott Eagle Mine, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA

California is not the only location in the U.S. where Rio Tinto is involved in controversy.  There are at least two environmental battles underway in the Great Lakes states of Michigan and neighbouring Wisconsin.  Both involve Rio Tinto subsidiary, Kennecott.

§    Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. is seeking to develop a nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; the mine is expected to yield 250 to 300 million pounds of nickel and about 200 million pounds of copper.(29)

§    Opponents of the mine have filed a lawsuit, seeking to overturn the state permit granted Kennecott; they contend the project does not meet legal requirements for protecting the environment and cite concerns including the mine’s potential to harm local rivers and groundwater. In addition, opponents say they fear the mine’s ceiling could collapse beneath the Salmon Trout River, which is home to the coaster brook trout.(30)

§    A lawyer for the National Wildlife Federation, one of the parties in the lawsuit, said the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) (since renamed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment), which approved the project, “has not required adequate applications, much less that there be adequate protections.”(31)

§    Kennecott also reportedly must obtain a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in order to discharge treated wastewater.(32)  In addition to concerns about damage to the environment, local residents note that Eagle Rock, a traditional site of worship for the indigenous Anishinabe (Ojibwe) people, will be blasted through to construct the mine.(33)

§    ”Last year a judge recommended that Eagle Rock be protected as a place of worship. However, the director of the DEQ, ignored this recommendation and approved Kennecott’s mining permit alleging that Eagle Rock is not legally a place of worship because it does not consist of any built structures.(34)

Flambeau Mine, Ladysmith, Wisconsin, USA

Opponents of the Eagle Mine in Michigan cite environmental problems at the Flambeau Mine in Wisconsin as part of their argument against the development of the project.

§    Flambeau Mining Co., a subsidiary of Kennecott Minerals Co.,(35)   (wholly owned by Rio Tinto)(36)  operated the mine between 1993 and 1997, producing 181,000 tons of copper, as well as gold and silver.(37)  Although the Flambeau mine site has been “reclaimed” since it was closed, local residents and environmental groups assert that it continues to contaminate local water.

§    A conservation organization in Wisconsin announced in 2009 its intention to sue the Flambeau Mining Company, as well as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The notice of intent to sue submitted by the plaintiffs’ attorney notes that an independent analysis of the company’s own monitoring data “shows that the partially reclaimed mine is causing both surface water pollution and groundwater pollution.” According to the study, monitoring data prove that some groundwater does not meet the Flambeau Mine Permit standards or current Wisconsin groundwater quality standards.(38)

§    The notice of intent also cites a second independent analysis of the company’s data, which concluded, among other things, that “statistically significant increased copper concentrations in crayfish (whole-body specimens), walleye (liver tissue) and sediment … have been observed downstream from the Mine, raising the possibility of a causal relationship.”(39)  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources also confirmed that water samples from the site taken during regular monitoring had shown elevated levels of copper, sulfate, manganese and iron.(40)

§    In 2007, when an agreement was reached stating the mine site was suitable for wildlife habitat and recreation, additional monitoring of a 32-acre portion of the site was mandated for five years to ensure no contamination of water or soil, etc. An attorney for the National Wildlife Federation said at that time “Despite Kennecott’s numerous attempts to clean up the source, it continues to pollute.” She added, “They (Kennecott) have publicly admitted through their actions that the Flambeau Mine is polluting. Kennecott has broken its promise to Wisconsin’s citizens not to pollute.”(41)

QMM Mine, Fort-Dauphin, Madagascar

The island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean provides yet another example of Rio Tinto’s apparent disregard for the communities and environment in which it operates.

§    Rio Tinto operates an ilmenite(42) mine on the east coast of the island. The entity on the ground, QIT Madagascar Minerals S.A. (QMM), is a joint venture between Rio Tinto’s wholly owned Canadian subsidiary QIT Fer et Titane (80%) and the government of Madagascar (20%). The project, which began construction in 2006, has received funding from the World Bank and infrastructure support from the government, including a new port. (The World Bank contributed $35 million to the port and QMM $110 million).(43,44)   The mine reportedly contains at least 75 million tons of ilmenite deposits, which are found in mineral sands, and could be operational for up to 40 years.(45)

§    Thousands of local people reportedly were displaced by the mine development and many received either inadequate compensation or no compensation at all for their customary land rights. People also allegedly have lost access to the food, firewood and medicines they had relied upon from the forest, which has affected both their livelihoods and their local culture and customs. Reportedly grave sites also were destroyed in the mine’s construction.(46)

§    Local people report that Rio Tinto has not hired as many workers from among the local population, depriving them of jobs and income they desperately need; in addition, the influx of workers from elsewhere has increased demand for food and housing, driving prices up beyond what local residents can afford.(47)

§    The mine reportedly has attracted opposition from conservationists since its inception because the mine site is located within the last remaining fragments of coastal forest in Madagascar; since this forest type is unique to the country – for example, QMM has reported 64 species of endemic flora found nowhere else – its fate is considered of global importance.(48)

§    Rio Tinto reportedly plans to  restore the natural environment once the dredging of the sand is complete and has established two conservation areas to protect forest biodiversity; however, experts have said these areas are too small to sustain the numbers of species currently found in the forest, which will result in a reduction of species diversity.(49,50) ,

Lom-Panger Dam, Cameroon

In the West African nation of Cameroon, Rio Tinto Alcan is working with the government to accelerate the construction of the huge Lom-Pangar Dam, a project that reportedly will displace an estimated 28,000 people.(51)  The government apparently is backing the dam because the country is in desperate need of new energy supplies and heavily dependent on hydroelectric power. Rio Tinto Alcan, the company’s aluminium group, wants the power for a new smelter project;(52) Rio Tinto Alcan already partners with the government in Alucam, an aluminium facility.(53,54)

§    The Bank Information Center (BIC), an NGO that partners with civil society in developing and transition countries to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions, has voiced concern that the dam would have “significant environmental and social impacts,” including “flooding over 30,000 hectares of tropical hardwood forest, threatening the Deng Deng reserve and its biodiversity, and submerging a portion of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline.”(55)

§    In addition, the BIC noted that the dam project “appears to respond to the energy demands of the expanding aluminium sector rather than the energy needs of the majority of the country’s population lacking access to electricity.”(56) Reportedly the Alucam smelter already consumes about half of Cameroon’s electricity and is seeking to more than double its production while receiving favorable electricity rates far below what residential users pay.(57)

§    According to the World Bank, the draft Environmental Assessment for the dam “states that the project will have significant environmental impact, particularly on natural habitats and physical cultural heritage, as well as health impacts (spread of malaria and other diseases). There also could be short-term adverse economic impact on local activities (agriculture, fishing, tourism, forestry and artisanal commerce,” according to the agency.(58)

Rössing Uranium Mine, Namibia

The Namib Desert in Namibia is home to the Rössing Uranium Ltd. mine, one of the world’s largest open pit uranium mines.  Rio Tinto owns about 69% of the mine, which produced more than 9 million pounds of uranium in 2009(59) and is expected to remain in operation until at least 2023.(60)  Like so many of Rio Tinto’s operations, the mine has a history of controversy.

§    In 1970 the company received a licence to mine uranium at Rössing, but the licence apparently was illegal because it was given by the then-Apartheid regime in South Africa, an investor in the mine, which at that time was occupying Namibia; Rio Tinto reportedly mined at Rössing in defiance of the United Nations and findings of the International Court of Justice.(61)

§    Iran, which has had an ownership stake (15%) in the mine since it opened in 1976,(62)  is another controversial investor in the mine. The U.S. and other countries have expressed concern that Namibia may provide Iran with uranium for its nuclear programme.(63)

§    Rio Tinto’s labour rights record at the Rössing mine has been abysmal.  According to the United Nations Council for Namibia, in the 1970s uranium was being mined “by virtual slave labour under brutal conditions.” As recently as 2000 the company reportedly continued to discriminate against black workers, paying them much lower wages than white miners.(64) The company also reportedly maintained a well-armed “private army” to handle labour or civil unrest at the mine and civilians were killed by the military, which was assisted by the mine’s security forces.(65)

§    Reports show that the Rössing workforce has suffered malignant diseases at higher rates than the general population or are at a much higher risk of ill-health and cancer because of past radiation exposures.(66)  Former workers at the mine and family members have pursued legal remedies for serious illnesses suffered related to their work at the mine, which they allege was caused by exposure to uranium, a radioactive and toxic heavy metal, and silica dust – both known health hazards if inhaled. According to one former miner, workers were not offered facemasks to prevent inhalation, nor did they ever receive information about health hazards at the operation.(67)

§    Environmental concerns at the Rössing facility also are abundant.  The mine produces 20 million tons of crushed, sulphuric-acid-soaked, slightly radioactive rock on an annual basis.  In addition, the plant consumes millions of cubic metres of fresh water annually in a region where rainfall totals only about 3 centimetres per year.(68)

Tainted Past is Affecting Rio Tinto’s Future

As is the case at many of its operations around the globe, Rio Tinto also is facing opposition to projects it would like to get up and running. For example, in the U.S. state of Arizona, the company is pursuing a land swap with the U.S. government which will allow it to develop a copper mine on what is now federal land.  However, the land deal is being stalled in the U.S. Congress based largely on concerns about Rio Tinto’s horrendous human rights record.(69)

In the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, there is heavy opposition to the development of the Pebble Open Pit Gold and Copper Mine in which Rio Tinto is a minority partner.  The project would include what would reportedly be the largest dam in the world, which would be used to contain toxic waste produced in the mining operation.  Native groups, commercial and sport fishermen and environmental groups are concerned about the threats the mine poses to salmon fisheries, moose, bear, caribou and other animals, and to the ecosystem as a whole.(70)

In March 2010, the  Colombian Constitutional Court ordered a halt to the country’s largest copper mining project, Muriel Mining’s Mandé Norte project, citing lack of proper consultation with local Indigenous and Afrocolombian communities over the mine’s potential environmental and cultural impact.  “Adequate action was not taken to ensure the communities were aware of the nature of the Mandé Norte project and subsequently able to make a decision with full awareness and understanding,” the court said in a ruling. Because Muriel’s project will inevitably alter the area’s ecological balance, the company must comply with its obligation to consult with the communities that inhabit that region and that will be affected by the mining activity, the judges said.(71)  Rio Tinto reportedly has a partnership stake in the project.(72)

For more information:

International Longshore and Warehouse Union
1188 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 USA
Craig Merrilees, +1 (0) 415-775-0533, x113; craig@ilwu.org
Amy Willis, +1 (0) 415-775-0533, x147; amy.willis@ilwu.org

To send messages of support to the locked-out miners, contact boronfamilies@gmail.com.

Notes

1  December 2009. The Way We Work, p. 5; http://www.riotinto.com/documents/The_way_we_work.pdf
2  December 2009. The Way We Work, p. 12; http://www.riotinto.com/documents/The_way_we_work.pdf
3  December 2009. The Way We Work, p. 14; http://www.riotinto.com/documents/The_way_we_work.pdf
4  December 2009. The Way We Work, p. 16; http://www.riotinto.com/documents/The_way_we_work.pdf
5  Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 3.
6  Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 4.
7  Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 7.
8  Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 8.
9  Sarei. v. Rio Tinto, p. 31.
10 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.  3.
11  Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.35.
12 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.54.
13 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.40.
14 Rio Tinto, 2009 Annual Report, p. 40.
15 Freeport McMoRan company website, http://www.fcx.com/operations/asia.htm
16 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
17 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25, citing The environmental impacts of Freeport-Rio Tinto’s copper and gold mining operation in Papua, WALHI, Jakarta, 2006.
18 Perlez, Jane and Raymond Bonner, December 28, 2005. Freeport-Rio Tinto: Gold’s Other Price, The New York Times.
19 Perlez, Jane and Raymond Bonner, December 28, 2005. Freeport-Rio Tinto: Gold’s Other Price, The New York Times.
20 Curtis, Mark. Fanning the Flames: The Role of the British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
21 Acher, John, September 9, 2008. Norway fund drops Rio Tinto on ethical grounds, Reuters; http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USL872852220080909
22 Nyompe, Pius Erick, Executive Secretary, LKMTL, April 15, 2003. Indonesia Case Study, The Closure of the Kelian Gold Mine and the Role of the Business Partnership for Development/World Bank.  Presentation to the EIR’s Eminent Person and participants at the meeting on Indigenous Peoples, Extractive Industries and the World Bank Oxford, England; http://dte.gn.apc.org/Ckl03.htm
23 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
24 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
25 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 26, citing The closure of the Kelian gold mine and the role of the Business Partnership for
Development/World Bank, Forest Peoples Programme, April 2003; Undermining Indonesia: Adverse social and environmental impacts of Rio Tinto’s mining operations in Indonesia,WALHI, Jakarta, 2003
26 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997. Rio Tinto Tainted Titan, The Stakeholders Report, p. 48; http://www.cfmeu.com.au/storage/documents/rio/RT.pdf
27 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
28 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997. Rio Tinto Tainted Titan, The Stakeholders Report, p. 48; http://www.cfmeu.com.au/storage/documents/rio/RT.pdf
29 Flesher, John, March 15, 2010. Opponents Ask Court to Overturn U.P. Mining Permit, Salon.com; http://www.salon.com/wires/allwires/2010/03/15/D9EFC65O0_mi_kennecott_mine/index.html
30 Flesher, John, March 15, 2010. Opponents Ask Court to Overturn U.P. Mining Permit, Salon.com; http://www.salon.com/wires/allwires/2010/03/15/D9EFC65O0_mi_kennecott_mine/index.html
31 Flesher, John, March 15, 2010. Opponents Ask Court to Overturn U.P. Mining Permit, Salon.com; http://www.salon.com/wires/allwires/2010/03/15/D9EFC65O0_mi_kennecott_mine/index.html
32 Flesher, John, March 15, 2010. Opponents Ask Court to Overturn U.P. Mining Permit, Salon.com; http://www.salon.com/wires/allwires/2010/03/15/D9EFC65O0_mi_kennecott_mine/index.html
33 Caplett, Gabriel, February 17, 2010.  New U.P. Mine is a Bad Deal (editorial), The Detroit News, p. A12.
34 Koski, Jessica L., April 11, 2020. UP mine threatens sacred tribal rights, Detroit Free Press (opinion); http://www.freep.com/article/20100411/OPINION05/4110426/1322/UP-mine-threatens-sacred-tribal-rights
35 June 6, 2007. Pro-Anti-Mine Forces Focus on Flambeau, The Mining Journal.
36 The company had been called Kennecott Minerals Co. Now it is known as Kennecott Eagle Minerals http://www.eagle-project.com/about.php
37 2004, Rio Tinto. Sustainable Development Case Studies Updated; http://www.riotinto.com/SustainableReview/common/pdfs/Flambeau.pdf.
38 June 16, 2009. Notice of Intent to File Citizen Suit under Wis. Stat. § 293.89, p. 8.
39 June 16, 2009. Notice of Intent to File Citizen Suit under Wis. Stat. § 293.89, p. 8.
40 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/wm/mining/metallic/flambeau/.
41 June 6, 2007. Pro-, Anti-Mine Forces Focus on Flambeau, The Mining Journal; http://www.eagle-project.com/documents/CurrentNews/Mining%20Journal.pdf
42 Ilmenite is used in the manufacture of titanium dioxide, a whitener used in a range of products.
43 Friends of the Earth, October 2007. Mining Madagascar – Forests, Communities and Rio Tinto’s White Wash, p. 2; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/mining_madagascar.pdf
44 Bannister, David, March 2009. A Promise Fulfilled, Review, p. 9; http://www.riotinto.com/documents/Library/Review89_March09_A_promise_fulfilled.pdf
45 Harbison, Rod, 2007. Development Recast? A Review of the Impact of the Rio Tinto Ilmenite Mine in Southern Madagascar, Panos London report for Friends of the Earth, p. 6; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/development_recast.pdf.
46 Friends of the Earth, October 2007. Mining Madagascar – Forests, Communities and Rio Tinto’s White Wash, p. 3-4; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/mining_madagascar.pdf
47 Friends of the Earth, October 2007. Mining Madagascar – Forests, Communities and Rio Tinto’s White Wash, p.5; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/mining_madagascar.pdf
48 Harbison, Rod, 2007. Development Recast? A Review of the Impact of the Rio Tinto Ilmenite Mine in Southern Madagascar, Panos London report for Friends of the Earth, p. 45; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/development_recast.pdf.
49 Friends of the Earth, October 2007. Mining Madagascar – Forests, Communities and Rio Tinto’s White Wash, p. 2,5; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/mining_madagascar.pdf
50 Harbison, Rod, 2007. Development Recast? A Review of the Impact of the Rio Tinto Ilmenite Mine in Southern Madagascar, Panos London report for Friends of the Earth, p. 50; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/development_recast.pdf.
51 Inter Press Service, August 4, 2009. Construction; Fears for Forest as Dam Construction Begins, Africa News; http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=47946
52 Aluminum Association, February 13, 2009. Rio Says Cameroon Projects, Hydropower Dam on Track, Reuters.
53 Inter Press Service, August 4, 2009. Construction; Fears for Forest as Dam Construction Begins, Africa News; http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=47946
54 Ohlden, Anna, November 30, 2007. Rio Tinto Alcan and the Government of Cameroon Sign an Agreement for a Potential Hydro-Power Project and Greenfield Smelter, PRNewswire;
55 Lom Pangar Dam, Bank Information Center, http://www.bicusa.org/EN/Project.30.aspx.
56 Lom Pangar Dam, Bank Information Center, http://www.bicusa.org/EN/Project.30.aspx.
57 International Rivers, http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/africa/lom-pangar-dam-cameroon
58 World Bank Comments – Draft Environmental Assessment for Proposed Lom Pangar Dam, p. 1.; http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCAMEROON/Resources/Lom_Pangar_Matrix.pdf
59 Rio Tinto, 2009 Annual Report, p. 47.
60 Rio Tinto, 2009 Annual Report, p. 49.
61 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997.Rio Tinto, Tainted Titan, the Stakeholders Report, p. 45.
62 McCrystal, Michael, May 28, 2004. Landmine of a Decision, CorpWatch.
63 The Namibian, February 3, 2009. Namibia; Govt Holds its Line on. Iran And Uranium, Africa News.
64 Boland, Sue, September 6, 2000. Rio Tinto: Founded on Blood, Green Left.
65 Asia-Pacific Human Rights Network, July 13, 2001. Associating with the Wrong Company, citing United Nations Council for Namibia and the Australian Council on Overseas Aid, respectively.
66 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997.Rio Tinto, Tainted Titan, the Stakeholders Report, p. 45;.Citing 23 Zaire, R. et al (1995) ‘Analysis of white blood cells from uranium mineworkers in Namibia for chromosomal and phenotypic alterations’ Free University: Berlin. 24 International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1995 “Nuclear Wastelands” London. p.143-145.
67 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997.Rio Tinto, Tainted Titan, the Stakeholders Report, p. 45, citing Edwards, R. Op cit. 27 BBC Newsnight, 22 July 1997.
68 McCrystal, Michael, May 28, 2004. Landmine of a Decision, CorpWatch.
69 Davis, Tony, December 17, 2009. Superior’s Huge Mine Gets a Win in Congress, Arizona Daily Star, p. A1.
70 Renewable Resources Coalition, http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/pebble_mine.htm.
71 Mines and Communities, March 31, 2010. Muriel Up Against the Wall in Colombia, Court Rules Company Failed to Consult Local People; http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10008
72 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: http://www.business-humanrights.org/Documents/MandeNorte

A highly controversial new mining project in Colombia has been halted by court order, because the operating company failed to consult with local communities. Over the past year Muriel Mining’s Mande Norte operations have been vigorously attacked by a number of organisations inside and outside Colombia.

So, too,  has Rio Tinto’s association with Muriel: the UK-Australian giant has an option agreement to “farm-in” to a future mine or its profits.

See: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10008.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/marketforceslive/2010/mar/05/xstrata-marketforces.

GBI states that its aim is to advance human rights in business around the world. Core membership of the Initiative now includes: ABB, Cerrejon, Flextronics, GE, HP, Mansour, Novo Nordisk, Shell, The Coca-Cola Company and Total.

Many involved in London Mining Network may be surprised at the involvement in this human rights initiative of companies which have widely criticised records in this matter.

See http://www.global-business-initiative.org/.

For more information, see http://notiwayuu.blogspot.com/2010/02/leaders-of-colombian-wayuu-people-go.html

The Colombian organizational alliance, Force of Wayuu Women [La Alianza Organizativa Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu,] calls upon the Peoples of Latin America and the World, and on public opinion throughout the world, to denounce the recent harassment that the collective is experiencing. The situation has resulted in members of this movement being forced to leave Colombia and move to Venezuela.

BACKGROUND:

1. Risk Report No. 002 [Informe de Riesgo No. 002] for Maicao, dated the 27th January 2009 (from now on referred to as IR. No. 002-09) issued by the Defonsoria del Pueblo’s Early Warning System [Sistema de Alertas Tempranas (SAT) de la Defensoría del Pueblo] explicitly mentions the fact that the women and men leaders of the Fuerza de Mujeres Wayúu (FMW) movement, are vulnerable to aggression and attacks by armed groups. This is due to the organizational work that they are carrying out, involving their participation in various national and international fora where where they have denounced the human rights situation of the Wayúu people. The report also highlighted the fact that some of the organization’s activists have been systematically subjected to threats and intimidations, already for some time.

2. In the same vain, with Risk Report No. 017 of the Intermediate Reach for Riohacha and Dibulla, dated 9th July 2009 [Informe de Riesgo No. 017 de 9 de julio de 2009 de Alcance Intermedio para Riohacha y Dibulla] (from now on referred to as IR. No. 017-09-A.I), the Defensoría del Pueblo reiterated once again that the women and men leaders of the SJW-FMW are at high risk. In particular, the report concludes that one particular section of the Wayuu communities especially warranted protective measures, namely the women and men leaders of the movement Sütsüin Jiyeyu Wayúu – Fuerza de Mujeres Wayúu (SJW/FMW) who live, and carry out their political activities, in Riohacha and Dibulla. In the last weeks, every time that they carried out political and organizational work in La Guajira concerning defence of territories and the rights of the Wayúu victims to access the truth, justice and reparations, as well as when they were critical of megaprojects, the leaders were followed more often and experienced an increase in harassment, intimidation and threats by the illegal armed structures that exist in the wake of the demobilization of the AUC. These armed actors perceived their demands and struggles as getting in the way of their interests.

3. Furthermore, the above mentioned IR. No.017-09-A.I indicates that the Wayúu communities located in the area of the Caribbean Trunk Road [Carretera Troncal del Caribe] especially on the route between Riohacha y Dibulla and Wepiapaa, Santa Rosa and Las Delicias Reserve, to mention just a few places, are at risk. This is due to the serious territorial dispute which is currently underway between rival illegal armed structures that exist following the demobilization of the AUC. According to the IR. No. 002-09, and for reasons cited above, this means that the Wayuu communities in the corregimientos in the border area with Venezuela, Carraipía and La Majayura are especially at risk, as well as some other different neighbourhoods. [note: this is a Colombian legal administrative term, that approximately translates in English to village level authority]

THE FACTS:

The reports issued by the Defensoría del Pueblo by way of its Early Warning System [Sistema de Alertas Tempranas] warned of the risk faced by members of FMW. In May 2009, two women from this organization received death threats. This led to their decision to leave the territory. Despite the fact that one of the women has now returned, they have both had to restrict their movements. The recent threats have meant that three other members of the organziation also find themselves forced to leave the territory. With its complicit silence, the state institutions have shown complete apathy concerning the recommendations contained in these reports. Such behaviour is very typical of the Colombian “democratic security” government.

Levels of fear are increasing. The following members of the organization Force of Wayuu Women [Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu] have become victims of extrajudicial investigations and are being followed by the Colombian army, because of “supposed links with groups classified as terrorist”: Karmen Ramírez Boscán, Leonor Viloria and Linnei Ospina. This is due to their international work denouncing and intervening about the impacts of transnational companies, the armed conflict and the destructive policies that the Colombian government pursues against indigenous peoples. The fear of losing their freedom or of being killed by armed actors, due to the seriousness of these false accusations has forced these members of the organization to leave their territory. Some remain in Colombian, others have left the country. In this respect, Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Envoy about the situation of human rights defenders, issued these preliminary conclusions following her visit to Colombia in September 2009: “a fundamental reason for the insecurity experience by human rights defenders lies in them having false accusations levelled against them and their systematic targeting by government functionaries [which accuse them of being] “terrorists” or “members of the guerrilla”.

We denounce the systematic extermination and marginalization of indigenous peoples in Colombia and the persecution and murder of their leaders, in a country where genocidal and repressive operations occur against these peoples. By way of an example, it is worth drawing attention to the fact that according to the Constitutional Court’s auto 004, 34 indigenous Peoples are at risk of being displaced, due to factors relating to the war. The Wayuu are amongst these peoples. 4 million people throughout the country have been forcibly displaced and are victims of massacres by the paramilitary, the army or the guerrilla.

In July 2008, the Peoples’ Tribunal [Tribunal de los Pueblos] in Colombia levelled charges against the Alvaro Uribe Vélez government consisting of genocide against the indigenous peoples and for criminalizing their resistance movements. It must be emphasised that indigenous peoples have been, and continue to be, repressed and threatened, suffering assaults, raids and the loss of their liberty.

DEMANDS:

- For the above reasons, we call upon the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights (CIDH) to seriously consider implementing Medidas Cautelares for the board members of Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu, as well as the local Wayuu communities which belong to FMW in La Guajira. [note: Medidas Cautelares is a specific legal mechanism to formally ensure that Protective Measures are applied].

- We demand that the Colombian government puts in place protective measures for those members of the Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu organization who remain in the territory at high risk, and also that it guarantees the safe return of the 4 members who have been forced to leave the territory. In this sense we demand that the Colombian Cancillería convenes an urgent meeting to concretize follow up to the Medidas Cautelares.

- We demand that the government of the Bolivarian Repúblic of Venezuela offers protective measures and the due assistance as envisaged in international agreements concerning refugees to the members of FMW who are already in Venezuelan territory. In the same way, we also demand that they receive appropriate differential treatment that not only takes into account the fact that they are women, but also that they are indigenous Wayuu People, where the women experience different levels of treatment and participation..

- Finally we make a fraternal appeal to national and international human rights organizations, to Diplomatic Missions and Corps accredited to work in Colombia, and to the Peace and Human Rights Commissions in the Colombian Senate that they write to the Colombian Authorities to demand that they act in accordance with the Constitution and honour the country’s international commitments in terms of human rights and that they monitor the serious situation of the Wayuu People.

“Porque en Wounmainkat, los Únicos Gigantes Somos los Wayuu”
“Becuase in Wounmainkat, the Only Giants are We the Wayuu”
Campaign for the Elimation of all forms of Violence Against Our Earth, Wounmainkat
Casa de la Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu
Cuatro Vías, Maikou (Wajiira)
19th Febraury 2010

Please direct your correspondence to the following addresses:
Interamerican Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos)
cidhoea@oas.org

President of the Republic (Presidencia de la República)
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez,
Cra. 8 No..7-26, Palacio de Nariño,
Santa fe de Bogotá.
Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co

Defensoría del Pueblo
Dr. Volmar Antonio Pérez Ortiz.
Calle 55 No. 10-32
Santa Fe de Bogotá.
Fax: (+571) 640 04 91
E-mail: secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

UNHCR, Colombian Office (Oficina del ACNUR en Colombia)
Oficina en Bogotá D.C
Cll 113 N° 7-21 Torre A Of 601 Edificio Teleport
Tel (091) 6580600 Fax 6580602
colbo@unhcr.org

UNHCR, Venezuela
Parque Cristal, Piso 4, Oficina 4/4
Urbanización Los Palos Grandes
Avenida Francisco de Miranda
Caracas, Venezuela
Tel. (58 212) 286-3883
Fax (58 212) 286-9687
E-mail: venca@unhcr.org

EMBASSY OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA IN COLOMBIA
Central Telefónica: (0057-1) 644.55.55
Embajador/Embajada: embajada@embaven.org.co

Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Presidencia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela
dggcomunicacional@presidencia. gob.ve
drsociales@presidencia.gob.ve
dasociales@presidencia.gob.ve

Defensoría del Pueblo de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela
denuncias@defensoria.gob.ve
secretariared@defensoria.gob. ve

Original Spanish text at:

http://colombia.indymedia.org/news/2010/02/111712.php

Communiqué to national and international public opinion:

Continued extermination of members of Fedeagromisbol

Two artisanal miners have been assassinated in the south of Bolivar.

We, the organizations below, reject and denounce to public opinion the following facts:
1. On the 10th February 2010 towards 7 in the morning the brothers OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA and JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO, 26 and 40 years old respectively, both artisanal (smallscale) miners and members of FEDEAGROMISBOL, and OMAR ALONSO also president of the Community Action Committee in the hamlet of Dorado, left Montecristo municipality in the direction of Caucasia Antioquia, in order to buy parts for their vehicle. They arrived at Nechi at about 10a.m. that same day and continued their journey to Caucasia.

2. According to the locals the brothers were accosted by a group of armed men about 20 minutes from Nechi municipality and taken to an unknown place. Some versions of the events held the paramilitaries that operate in the area responsible.

3. Some people from Dorado went to the municipality of Nechi to find out the whereabouts of the Restrepo brothers and the police informed them that they knew of a place where there were two bodies, a place known as Parcela de Londres. However this place was too large to find them.

4. Yesterday, 12th February, during the night, the dead body of OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA was found in the Cauca River in the municipality of Achi, and today in the early morning, the dead body of JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO RESTREPO was found in the Cauca River, in the municipality of Guaranda. Both bodies were found with visible signs of torture.

5. These assassinations are part of a long string of acts of aggression against the people of the south of Bolivar, such as the assassination of ALEJANDRO URIBE CHACON on the 19th September 2006 and others which we consider to be actions which are part of a strategy to force us to leave our territories, as part of a larger more macabre alliance between the national government and the gold mining multinationals such as ANGLO GOLD ASHANTI and palm companies such as Grupo Dabon who are trying to take control of the natural resources in the south of Bolivar.

6. We hold the Colombian state responsible for these occurrences. The state has refused to continue dialogue with the communities in the south of Bolivar in the form of the Forum for Dialogue and, on the contrary, has continued to militarize the region and openly permit the actions of paramilitary groups.

We condemn outright these assassinations and all actions which try to force the people of the south of Bolivar from their land.

We are calling out to all sister organizations to denounce this to the authorities, demanding firm responses to, and investigations of, the assassinations, and an immediate end to the aggression against the people of this region.

We also ask that the relevant departments of state do everything in their power to clear up the questions around these crimes and punish those responsible.

FEDERACION AGROMINERA DEL SUR DE BOLIVAR
COMISION DE INTERLOCUCION SUR DE BOLIVAR
MOVICE – CAPITULO SUR DE BOLIVAR – SUR DEL CESAR
CORPORACION SEMBRAR
REDHER – COLOMBIA
ORGANIZACIÓN FEMENINA POPULAR
COORDINADOR NACIONAL AGRARIO-CNA
ORGANIZACIÓN INDIGENA DE COLOMBIA – ONIC
RED FRENTE A LA GRAN MINERIA
CORPORACION AURY SARA MARRUGO
INSTITUTO NACIONAL SINDICAL – INS
NOMADESC
CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
RECALCA
COMISION INTERCLESIAL DE JUSTICIA Y PAZ
AIDA
RED ANTORCHA
RED REVUELTA
CENSAT- AGUA VIVA
ASOCIACION MINGA
CORPORACION COLECTIVO DE ABOGADOS LUIS CARLOS PEREZ
OBSERVATORIO DE TRANSNACIONALES
ECOTIERRA
CORPORACION COMPROMISO
CONCIENCIA CAMPESINA
OBSERVATORIO SOCIAL Y AMBIENTAL

13 February 2010

COMUNICADO A LA OPINION PUBLICA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL
CONTINUA EXTERMINIO CONTRA FEDEAGROMISBOL
ASESINADOS DOS AGROMINEROS EN EL SUR DE BOLIVAR

Las organizaciones abajo firmantes denunciamos y rechazamos ante la opinión pública los siguientes hechos:

1. El día 10 de febrero de 2010 hacia las 7 de la mañana los hermanos OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA Y JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO de 26 y 40 años respectivamente de profesión agromineros y socios de FEDEAGROMISBOL y OMAR ALONSO presidente de la Junta de acción comunal del corregimiento el Dorado y fiscal de la Asociación agrominera del corregimiento el Dorado ; salieron del municipio de Montecristo hacia Caucasia Antioquia, con el fin de comprar unos repuestos para un vehículo de su propiedad. Llegaron a Nechi hacia las 10 de la mañana del mismo día y continuaron el viaje hacia Caucasia.

2. Según versiones de pobladores de la región los hermanos fueron abordados por un grupo armado a 20 minutos del municipio de Nechi y llevados con rumbo desconocido. Algunas versiones señalaron como responsables a paramilitares que operan en la región.

3. Pobladores del Dorado se trasladaron hacia el municipio de Nechi con el fin de Indagar sobre el paradero y la suerte de los hermanos Restrepo la policía les informe que conocían de la presencia de dos cadáveres en el sitio conocido como Parcela de Londres pero que el sitio era muy extenso para ubicarlos.

4. Ayer 12 de febrero en las horas de la noche en el rio Cauca a la altura del municipio de Achi fue hallado sin vida el cuerpo de OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA y hoy en las horas de la mañana en el río cauca a la altura del municipio de Guaranda fue hallado sin vida el cuerpo de JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO RESTREPO. Ambos cuerpos fueron encontrados con visibles signos de tortura.

5. Estos asesinatos hacen parte de una larga cadena de hechos de agresión contra los pobladores del sur de Bolívar como lo fue el asesinato de ALEJANDRO URIBE CHACON el 19 de septiembre del 2006 y otros tantos que se vienen presentando en el marco de lo que consideramos una estrategia integral para el despojo del territorio por parte de una alianza macabra entre el gobierno nacional y las multinacionales del oro como la ANGLO GOLD ASHANTI y palmicultoras como el Grupo Dabon que pretenden apoderarse de los recursos naturales del sur de Bolívar.

6. Responsabilizamos de estos hechos al estado colombiano que se ha negado a continuar dialogando con las comunidades del sur de Bolívar en el marco de la Mesa de Interlocución y al contrario continua militarizando la región y permitiendo abiertamente la acción de los grupos paramilitares.

Rechazamos rotundamente estos asesinatos y todas las acciones tendientes a despojar a los pobladores del sur de Bolívar de su territorio.

Llamamos a las organizaciones hermanas a que se pronuncien ante las autoridades exigiendo acciones firmes de esclarecimiento de los asesinatos ocurridos y que cesen inmediatamente las agresiones contra los pobladores de la región.

A los organismos de control del estado a ejercer los mecanismos necesarios para que estos crímenes sean esclarecidos y los responsables castigados.

FEDERACION AGROMINERA DEL SUR DE BOLIVAR
COMISION DE INTERLOCUCION SUR DE BOLIVAR
MOVICE – CAPITULO SUR DE BOLIVAR – SUR DEL CESAR
CORPORACION SEMBRAR
REDHER – COLOMBIA
ORGANIZACIÓN FEMENINA POPULAR
COORDINADOR NACIONAL AGRARIO-CNA
ORGANIZACIÓN INDIGENA DE COLOMBIA – ONIC
RED FRENTE A LA GRAN MINERIA
CORPORACION AURY SARA MARRUGO
INSTITUTO NACIONAL SINDICAL – INS
NOMADESC
CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
RECALCA
COMISION INTERCLESIAL DE JUSTICIA Y PAZ
AIDA
RED ANTORCHA
RED REVUELTA
CENSAT- AGUA VIVA
ASOCIACION MINGA
CORPORACION COLECTIVO DE ABOGADOS LUIS CARLOS PEREZ
OBSERVATORIO DE TRANSNACIONALES
ECOTIERRA
CORPORACION COMPROMISO
CONCIENCIA CAMPESINA
OBSERVATORIO SOCIAL Y AMBIENTAL

13 febrero de 2010

See http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/2584.

For background on community opposition to the proposed mining project, see http://londonminingnetwork.org/?s=Mande+Norte.