For an industry that routinely makes multi-billion dollar deals with developing-world governments and an array of sometimes controversial leaders, the mining sector has been remarkably free of political scrutiny.
No longer. World leaders gathering in Northern Ireland for the Group of Eight summit had mining transactions and companies in their cross hairs. They were proposing tighter oversight by requiring companies to disclose all payments made to foreign governments.
The new rules, aimed at exposing corruption, come as U.S. and British regulators probe mining companies including Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) and a firm backed by Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12345&l=1.