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

Among London-listed mining companies active in Colombia are Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, BHP Billiton, Glencore, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11381&l=1.

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

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

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

To read the alternative report, see http://bhpbillitonwatch.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/bhpb_report_sml.pdf.

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

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

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

CERREJÓN COAL COMPANY MINE, COLOMBIA

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

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11274&l=1.

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

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

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

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

photo: Jane Calliste

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

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

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

Julio said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kevin  Buzzacott.  19 October 2011

Meanwhile, there were protests in Adelaide, South Australia…

MEDIA RELEASE, 20 October 2011

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

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

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

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

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

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” continued Mr Ashton.

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

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

and in Perth, Western Australia…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nearest tube: Knightsbridge.

Organised by:

Colombia Solidarity Campaign

Movimiento 22

COLOMBIA, the second most BIODIVERSE country in the world, home to 105 INDIGENOUS CULTURES, is under theat by MINING MULTINATIONALS.  Mining titles now cover 8% of national territory.  London-listed ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI holds the majority of them, many in Indigenous or Afro-Colombian lands, or areas with UNIQUE or IRREPLACEABLE ECOSYSTEMS.  Land is being handed over to mining companies with the blessing of the Colombian state.

On 3 June this year, 13,000 people marched in the streets of Tolima to say YES TO LIFE, and NO TO LA COLOSA MINE.  Unless stopped, La Colosa will become the largest open cast gold mine in South America.  Nestled in the Colombian Andes in an area of strategic importance as a ‘water factory’, the CYANIDE used to process the ore will contaminate water for drinking and irrigation for the wider region.  Colombians are demanding the right to continue living in a clean and safe environment.

The people of Tolima will march again on 14 OCTOBER. They would like Colombians and Friends of Colombia throughout the world to show their Solidarity, by convening at their closest Colombian Embassy on the day to say YES TO LIFE, and NO TO THE MINE.  Our solidarity is of utmost importance as recently, threats have been received by opponents of the mine in Anaime, near Cajamarca, Tolima.

Bring Placards, Banners and let’s make a noise!!

More info:

Report: LA COLOSA: The Quest for El Dorado in Cajamarca, Colombia
http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/mining/548-la-colosa-the-quest-for-el-dorado-in-cajamarca-colombia

Documentary: Gold Fever in Cajamarca http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxcZZ50opU

Documentary: AngloGold Ashanti in Ghana http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Mz4hsCEpk

Threats to opponents of the mine: http://www.elnuevodia.com.co/nuevodia/tolima/regional/112789-campesinos-de-anaime-amenazados-por-coincidencias

But this is threatened by AngloGold Ashanti‘s mining plans.

See http://www.towardfreedom.com/americas/2549-colombia-to-the-congo-lust-for-gold-threatens-environment-a-human-rights

AngloGold May Lift Output 68% by 2020 Excluding Acquisitions

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (ANG), the third- largest producer of the metal, may increase output 68 percent by 2020 excluding any acquisitions as it seeks to reverse declines.

See http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-26/anglogold-ashanti-says-production-could-rise-to-7-6-million-ounces-in-2020.html.

The Brazilian government is reforming royalty rates, and this will affect, among others, Anglo American.

Meanwhile, although newly-elected Peruvian president, Humala, has been criticised by some indigenous leaders for failing to grant their communities a veto over new mining projects, others are praising a recently-promulgated law, requiring extractive companies to “consult”  about them with their communities. London-listed companies with operations in Peru include Anglo American, Monterrico Metals, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/11170.

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

Contributors to the delegation’s blog write:

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

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

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

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

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

The exploration for the Mande Norte project in the Departments of Choco and Antioquia is being carried out by Muriel Mining Corporation (recently bought-out by Sunward Investments Inc.).

The British registered mining company Rio Tinto has an 80% option for a joint venture and has been essential in bankrolling the exploration stage of the project.

The Colombian NGO the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission filed a lawsuit on behalf of communities affected by these plans, to stop the project; this was supported by a decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court in favour of the communities. This decision established a key precedent regarding the right of indigenous and tribal communities to free, prior and informed consent.

However, the Court’s decision has subsequently been appealed by the Muriel Mining Corporation and various government departments.

In July this year, the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) submitted an amicus curiae (Court Brief) supporting the position of the Constitutional Court.

See http://www.abcolombia.org.uk/subpage.asp?subid=410&mainid=23.

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

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

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

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