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Rio Tinto Agrees to Buy BHP’s Stake in Richards Bay Minerals

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:16:48 +0000

Rio Tinto Group, the third-biggest mining company, will gain control of Richards Bay Minerals, or RBM, on South Africa’s east coast in a deal that sees BHP Billiton Ltd. exiting the titanium minerals industry. Rio, operator of the RBM venture, will double its stake to 74 percent after BHP exercised an option to sell 37 percent, the companies said, without disclosing the value of the deal. RBM produces mainly titania slag, which is mostly titanium dioxide, used to make products from paint to toothpaste.

See http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-02/rio-tinto-agrees-to-buy-bhp-s-stake-in-richards-bay-minerals.html.

Rio firms up a pipeline jewel

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:15:47 +0000

While it may only be a formality, Rio Tinto’s $US302 million purchase of another two per cent of Ivanhoe Mines finally cements its control of the group and its prize asset, the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold prospect in Mongolia. By moving to 51 per cent of Ivanhoe, and with anti-dilution rights to protect its position, Rio has finally buried the already-remote prospect that Ivanhoe’s founder, Robert Friedland, might devise yet another plan for preventing Rio from securing absolute control.

See http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Rio-Tinto-Oyu-Tolgoi-Ivanhoe-Friendland-control-sh-pd20120125-QU2BR?opendocument&src=rss.

Mining threatens herders in Mongolia: report

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:14:52 +0000

Mining in southern Mongolia is threatening the livelihoods of herders and straining water supplies, a report said recently, as foreign companies race to exploit the country’s rich mineral deposits. Mongolia has opened up it vast reserves of natural resources to foreign investors in the hope of pulling thousands out of poverty, but activist groups said herders, townspeople and the environment were paying a heavy price. In 2009, Mongolia sealed a long-awaited multi-billion dollar deal with Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines and Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto to develop Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world’s richest copper deposits and a key gold source.

See http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ggU5a5myh4ewO_qJ9P-8EasAa_YQ?docId=CNG.b16557cdf41a87e85d20681fb83362ab.31.

Read the Bankwatch report at http://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/spirited-away-mongolia-mining.pdf.

See the video at http://bankwatch.org/news-media/blog/video-spirited-away-mongolias-mining-boom-and-people-development-left-behind.

Indigenous landowners want Rio Tinto’s Bougainville Copper Agreement repealed

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:13:07 +0000

LANDOWNERS of the Bougainville Copper Mine have called on the government for the Bougainville Copper Agreement (BCA) Act 1969 to be repealed. Panguna Landowners Association (PLA) stated that if Panguna Mine is to be re-opened, this has to be negotiated under a totally new agreement.

See http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120124/news18.htm.

Canadian Rio Tinto lockout nears one month

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:11:40 +0000

On January 1, 2012, Rio Tinto’s aluminium subsidiary Alcan locked out 780 members of United Steelworkers at its smelter and refinery in Alma, Québec. The company refuses to negotiate limits on contract work.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11463&l=1.

See also Rio Tinto’s lockout of Alma workers looks set to drag on,

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=144916&sn=Detail&pid=92730.

Largest Open Pit Copper Mine in the World Pollutes Utah

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:10:40 +0000

For at least the last five years, Kennecott Utah Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, violated the federal limits on ore and waste rock production at its Bingham Canyon Mine, the largest open pit copper mine in the world. Kennecott agreed in 1994 to limit production to 150,500,000 tons of ore and waste rock a year at the Bingham Canyon Mine. The EPA approved the limit, and adopted it into federal regulations. Every year since 2006, Rio Tinto violated the production limit, reaching levels up to 192,684,252 in 2009 — more than 40 million tons over the limit, according to data submitted to the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining.

Tell the Utah Division of Air Quality what you think. Sign the petition: Clean Up the Bingham County Mine. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/largest-open-pit-copper-mine-in-the-world-pollutes-utah.html#ixzz1lc0BaML3.

Australia’s mining industry muscling into media

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:09:34 +0000

She’s the richest female in the Asia-Pacific region and bidding fair to become the wealthiest woman of the world. This year, Gina Rinehart’s estimated personal pickings are likely to double – to at least $20 billion. This is thanks to a 15% investment recently made by POSCO in her Roy Hill iron ore mine; her 50-50 joint venture with Rio Tinto in the Hope Downs operations; and $125 million in iron ore royalties she banks each year. Late last month Ms Rinehart also acquired around 13% in the Australian Fairfax Media group, potentially making her the country’s second most powerful media mogul after Rupert Murdoch.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11476&l=1.

The organisation Get Up! Action for Australia believes it is part of a strategy by the mining industry.

They said: “This week mining billionaire Gina Rinehart became the largest shareholder in Fairfax, having already bought a stake in Channel Ten. But this new video (http://www.getup.org.au/minersmediaplan) reveals this move is bigger than one woman’s ambition – it’s part of a coordinated and very deliberate strategy, with climate skeptic ‘Lord’ Monkton seen here advising a room full of mining executives on how the industry must gain control of Australia’s media.

“We’ve seen what happened in the USA when coordinated, super-wealthy corporate interests set about deliberately reshaping the media landscape to suit their agendas. It’s bad news for democracy and it’s bad news for the issues we care about. And while this most recent purchase was a brazen move, it’s hardly the first time a mining industry executive has used their vast wealth to push an agenda.

“Last year, Rinehart helped set up a new lobby group calling for a special ‘Northern Economic Zone’ demanding lower tax, government concessions and cheap migrant labor from Asia. She helped bankroll the campaign against Government efforts to ask the mining industry to pay their fair share of tax through the Mining Super Profits tax and she’s been actively sponsoring prominent climate skeptics like Monckton, Ian Plimer and Andrew Bolt, who got his own TV show weeks after she invested in Channel Ten.”

Big miners must be reined in

Richard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:08:06 +0000

Nearly 10 years of a mining boom has made big changes to Australia’s economy and environment. Resource companies have made record profits. This has given Australia’s rich mining billionaires an inflated sense of entitlement. When the Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT) was proposed we saw Gina Rinehart speaking to an anti-tax rally from the back of a truck along with fellow billionaire Andrew Forrest, who wore a high-visibility work shirt as though he was just another struggling worker. Having helped sink the RSPT (and its proponent Kevin Rudd), Rinehart went on to become the richest person in the country. But these prominent individuals are only the tip of the iceberg. The big three players are BHP, Rio Tinto and Xstrata. Their combined value, internationally, is more than the size of Australia’s federal budget. They were not shy of throwing their weight behind the moves to sink the RSPT. Mining interests spent $22 million on its advertising campaign against the RSPT. BHP spent $4.2 million.

See http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49930.

Asia’s Tainted Literary Fest

Richard — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:57:07 +0000

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival opened in India on 20 January 2012, and concludes today. Billed as “the largest literary festival in the Asia-Pacific” it had already provoked heated debate before it got underway – the Festival is sponsored by two of the world’s most heavily criticised mining/mineral companies, Rio Tinto and Tata.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11452&l=1.

Amungme leader warns Freeport it could be closed down

Richard — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:56:09 +0000

The vast Grasberg copper-gold mine in Indonesian-occupied West Papua is a continuing source of tension between the Indonesian government and those campaigning for West papuan independence. London-based Rio Tinto helped to finance the mine’s expansion and continues to profit from it. The mine is operated by PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based Freepor McMoRan. West Papuan Amungme Indigenous leader Anthonius Alomang, is now threatening to close the mine down.

See http://westpapuamedia.info/2012/01/24/amungme-leader-warns-freeport-it-could-be-closed-down/.

Rio Tinto hits a snag in US copper mine clean-up

Richard — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:54:44 +0000

In November 2001, Rio Tinto secured a “Notice of Completion (COC)” from Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirming that it had successfully reclaimed its Flambeau copper mine. This enterprise generated massive opposition by a coalition of Native Americans, environmental groups, hunters and fisherfolk from the late eighties onwards. Nonetheless, Rio Tinto was allowed to mine thousands of tonnes of copper, gold and silver between 1993 and 1997.

Over the past 10 years a number of those who led the earlier unsuccessful struggle have asserted that the COC was based on unreliable, if not fraudulent data. They said the UK company should not be allowed to walk away from the project claiming it had done everything legal and necessary to clean up its mess.

In particular, the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (WRPC), along with the Center for Biological Diversity, pointed out that one of the small rivers (“Stream C”), downstream of the mining operations, continued to contain unacceptably high levels of toxic metals. Now the state Department for Natural Resources (DNR) has issued a statement which appears to back this claim.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11433&l=1.

Rio Tinto subsidiary ERA expects flooding to hit uranium output again

Richard — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:52:33 +0000

The company warned that recent flooding caused by heavy rainfall in northern Australia will continue to restrict its uranium production for the year.

See http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=143022&sn=Detail&pid=92730.…
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Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott Utah Copper Blamed By Doctors And Moms For Pollution

Richard — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:27:23 +0000

When winter comes to Utah and atmospheric conditions trap a soup of pollutants close to the ground, doctors say it turns every resident in the Salt Lake basin into the equivalent of a cigarette smoker.

They have filed a lawsuit against Kennecott Utah Copper, accusing it of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act. The company operates with the consent of state regulators who enforce the federal law.

The company is the No. 1 industrial air polluter along Utah’s heavily populated 120-mile Wasatch Front and operates heavy trucks and power and smelter plants.

See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/26/kennecott-utah-copper-lawsuit_n_1169915.html.

Rio Tinto Initiates Lockout in Canada

Richard — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:26:07 +0000

Rio Tinto Alcan, an aluminium-production unit of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, locked out about 800 union workers at a Quebec smelter.

See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203550304577136533843111036.html.

Rio Tinto makes diamond foray in India

Richard — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:25:12 +0000

According to Daily News and Analysis, Rio Tinto has received approvals-in-principle from the Ministry of Mines to begin diamond mining operations in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Rio Tinto’s maiden venture in India — in the form of a diamond mine — will come up in the Bunder region of the state where the company had established a diamond prospect way back in 2004.

See http://www.mining.com/2012/01/06/rio-tinto-makes-diamond-foray-in-india/.