London Mining NetworkSurvival International | London Mining Network

Indian tribe stands firm as Vedanta mine appeal adjourned

Richard — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:55:27 +0000

One of the world’s most controversial mines is back in the spotlight after hundreds protested against renewed efforts to mine India’s Niyamgiri Hills. Dongria Kondh and Niyamgiri supporters held their own ‘public hearing’ in Orissa state, where they restated their resolve not to allow mining on their sacred mountain. The meeting coincided with a Supreme Court appeal in Delhi, which sought to overturn a 2010 ruling preventing UK mining company Vedanta from building an open-pit bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills. See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8253.

See also Indian tribe’s Avatar-like battle against mining firm reaches supreme court, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/08/indian-tribe-avatar-supreme-court?newsfeed=true

and Court to rule on mining plan, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/court-to-rule-on-mining-plan-7626978.html.

Borehole breakthrough for Botswana’s Bushmen

Richard — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:25:52 +0000

Survival International has been speaking to Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve as they celebrate drinking water from the Mothomelo borehole for the first time in nine years. It marks a significant step towards their full return to their ancestral lands following a landmark court ruling in 2006.

Survival believes the Bushmen were evicted from their land due to its rich diamond reserves. De Beers, one of the world’s largest diamond companies held the mining concession at Gope, a Bushman community for 25 years. However following the negative publicity from Survival’s campaign it sold its diamond deposit at Gope to Gem Diamonds in 2007. Gem Diamonds is now developing its mine within the Kalahari Reserve, whilst funding projects to re-instate and drill new boreholes.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7662.

HIV/AIDS rates in West Papua rocket, partly thanks to Freeport-Rio Tinto

Richard — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:42:05 +0000

Official figures released this month show that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in West Papua has grown by more than 30% in just four months. The figure now stands at more than 17,000. However, doctors and others working in the region contest this number, believing it to be far higher. HIV infection rates in West Papua are 15 times Indonesia’s national average. The Papua AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) revealed that the area with the highest increase and overall infection rate was Mimika, home to the giant Grasberg copper and gold mine. The American and British-owned mine, involving Freeport McMoRan and Rio Tinto, which has destroyed the land of the Amungme and Kamoro tribes, brings many outsiders, including sex workers, into the area.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7294.

Vedanta in a spin as it digs hole for itself

Richard — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:05:21 +0000

Ah, the desperate whiff of worried PRs. London-listed mining giant Vedanta Resources had a bruising encounter with tribal rights charity Survival International last year.

Now, says the charity, “it appears that Vedanta has sent down its spies”.

See http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23927570-vedanta-in-a-spin-as-it-digs-hole-for-itself.do.

Victory for Kalahari Bushmen as court grants right to water

Richard — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:54:52 +0000

In a case which may have implications for London-listed Gem Diamonds, the Botswana government has been judged guilty of ‘degrading treatment’. The case was described as ‘a harrowing story of human suffering and despair’.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6925 utm_source=Survival+International&utm_campaign=a032628180-enews_special_Bushmen_success_1_27_2011&utm_medium=email.

Botswana approves $3bn mine as Bushman water case gets underway

Richard — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:59:06 +0000

Botswana’s government has green-lighted a massive $3bn mine in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve – in the middle of the Kalahari Bushmen’s appeal against the Botswana authorities’ refusal to allow them access to water there.

London-listed Gem Diamonds announced that its application to open a huge diamond mine near the Bushman community of Gope in the reserve has been approved. The company claims to have secured the consent of the Bushmen on whose lands the mine will be located.

Survival, however, has repeatedly told Gem Diamonds that the Bushmen are entitled to independent advice on what the likely impact of the mine will be. No such advice has been given, and many Bushmen whose lands will be affected still live outside the reserve in resettlement camps after their 2002 eviction, as the government refuses to allow them to hunt or even access water in the reserve. Survival and the Bushmen have always maintained that the Bushmen were evicted to make way for diamond mining. The government long denied this, claiming the diamond deposit at Gope was ‘sub-economic’.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6859.

Botswana government rejects high-profile court ruling

Richard — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:22:05 +0000

Four years on from a court victory which saw the Kalahari Bushmen win the right to live on their ancestral lands, the Botswana government has issued a statement flouting the ruling.

Survival International believes that the government’s attitude to the Bushmen is affected by the presence of diamonds in the traditional territory. Diamond companies active in Botswana include De Beers (45% owned by London-based Anglo American) and London-based Gem Diamonds.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6766.

Celebrities back Survival’s call to boycott Botswana diamonds

Richard — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:34:11 +0000

Gillian Anderson, Quentin Blake, Joanna Lumley, Sophie Okonedo, and Mark Rylance are amongst the celebrities who have pledged not to travel to Botswana or wear its diamonds until the Bushmen are allowed to live on their ancestral lands in peace.

Celebrated jeweller, Pippa Small, said, ‘As jewellers we have for years made sure that we do not use blood diamonds. Now we also need to boycott Botswana diamonds until the Bushmen are allowed to live and hunt freely on their land’.

Both De Beers (controlled by Anglo American) and Gem Diamonds are involved in Botswana.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6587.

Finsbury wins ‘PR Disaster of the Year’ award 18 October

Richard — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:03:04 +0000

On the eve of the PR Week Awards, Survival has presented its ’PR Disaster of the Year’ Award to Finsbury PR and its founder Roland Rudd for their work with FTSE-100 mining company Vedanta Resources.

Finsbury is the retained PR agency for Vedanta Resources, which has been the target of a worldwide campaign to stop it building a bauxite mine in the hills of Niyamgiri, Orissa, India. The mine would have had a devastating effect on the Dongria Kondh tribal people who live there.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6586.

Vedanta’s controversial mine gets backing of India’s PM

Richard — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:27:30 +0000

In a highly unusual move, India’s Prime Minister has intervened directly in the approval process for one of the world’s most controversial mines.

The office of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has written to the Environment and Forests Ministry urging it to clear Vedanta’s proposed Niyamgiri mine in Odisha. The mine cannot go ahead without official clearance from the Ministry.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6152.

Universities Superannuation Scheme faces ethical dilemma over strip-mining operation

Richard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:29:47 +0000

Investment by the Universities Superannuation Scheme in a British mining company could damage an ancient forest sacred to an Indian tribe, activists say.

Survival International, a charity that supports tribal peoples, has been lobbying the main pension provider for academics to pull its investment from Vedanta for two years.

The company plans to open a bauxite mine on Niyamgiri Mountain in the state of Orissa, eastern India.

The Dongria Kondh tribe, about 8,000 of whom live in the area, have left the trees on the mountain untouched as they believe that a god inhabits the forest.

See http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410629&c=1.

Vedanta takes on critics of mining at India tribal site

Richard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:27:54 +0000

London-based resource giant Vedanta has decided to take on its critics who have been attacking from all sides over its plans to mine an area in India held sacred by a tribal group.

See http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100304/wl_sthasia_afp/indiabritainminingvedantarights…
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The Sun supports the Dongria Kondh, attacks Vedanta

Richard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:25:55 +0000

Tribe’s fight to save their Pandora

British tabloid The Sun has joined those comparing the story of James Cameron’s film Avatar to that of the Dongria Kondh people resisting London-based Vedanta Resources in the Niyamgiri Hills in the Indian state of Orissa.

See http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/2880779/Oscars-week-The-real-life-story-like-that-in-Avatar.html.

Rowntree trust pulls out of Vedanta

Richard — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:35:07 +0000

Trust sells Vedanta shares over human rights abuse

After the Church of England, another British investor has decided to sell its shares worth 2.2 million pounds (Rs.159 million/$3.5 million) in the Indian-owned mining company Vedanta Resources, citing serious concerns about the company’s approach to human rights and environment in Orissa. International NGO ActionAid said that the Joseph Rowntree Trust withdrew its support to Vedanta, becoming the fourth high profile company to do so since 2007 on the same grounds.

See http://ibnlive.in.com/news/trust-sells-vedanta-shares-over-human-rights-abuse/110335-7.html?from=tn and the Trust’s press release (‘JRCT sells its Vedanta shares’) on its website, http://www.jrct.org.uk/.

Survival International applauds Rowntree decision to sell Vedanta shares over ethical concerns

Survival International welcomes the news that the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is selling its shares in Vedanta Resources due to concerns over the company’s human rights record. Two other shareholders, the Marlborough Ethical Fund and Millfield House Foundation, have also sold their shares. Survival is campaigning for all shareholders to pull out of the company, and has been lobbying the Rowntree Trust since July 2009.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5563.

Indian tribe appeals for Avatar director’s help to stop Vedanta

Richard — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:52:58 +0000

The Dongria Kondh say plot of James Cameron’s blockbuster reflects their plight as they struggle to stop company from opening bauxite mine on sacred mountain.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/08/dongria-kondh-help-stop-vedanta.…
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