Dear friends,

Lawyers have been busy recently. BHP is facing a class action suit by shareholders over the Samarco tailings dam disaster in 2015. Zenú Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Cordoba, Colombia, have won a legal case against London-listed BHP spinoff company South32 for the violation of their fundamental rights – but the violations took place also while BHP was in charge of the Cerro Matoso nickel project.

In the past few weeks LMN and our member groups have attended the AGMs of Glencore, Anglo American and Drax. We have also posted online a video of the protests at the Lonmin AGM in March.

Lonmin continues to be in the spotlight as the company that wants to buy it, Sibanye-Stillwater, is refusing to accept that buying the company would give it responsibility for the Marikana Massacre of 2012. Maybe it won’t buy Lonmin: the UK regulatory authorities are concerned about competition rules and there are those in South Africa who want to stop the deal.

Glencore is under fire from mine workers’ unions across the world for its treatment of workers and from local residents and environmental activists for the pollution around the Cerro de Pasco mine in Peru. Now it’s under investigation from UK authorities over bribery allegations as well.

Anglo American has pulled out of deep sea mining after a campaign in which we played a part. It is also part of an out of court settlement in South Africa aimed at providing medical support to former gold mine workers dying of silicosis. But it is still under fire for pollution and human rights abuses at its Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil and its involvement in the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia. And Drax is under fire for having bought coal from that mine, for prolonging coal burning by converting part of its operations to biofuel, and for the damage done by biofuel use.

Member group Coal Action Network has been super-busy supporting local people trying to prevent construction of an opencast coal mine in the Pont Valley in County Durham in northern England. LMN has co-signed an open letter to the new Housing, Communities and Local Government minister to get him to stop this senseless project. At the same time, Coal Action Network has published the results of a research trip to Siberia last year, looking into the appalling impacts of the UK’s coal burning habit on Shor Indigenous People.

But it is not only the mining of coal (or other fossil fuels) that causes loss of land and livelihoods for land-based communities. Renewable energy involves mining of the minerals necessary to construct turbines and solar panels, and this also can have an appalling impact on the people directly affected, and the ecosystems on which they rely. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has published articles on the impacts on Indigenous Peoples of mining minerals for renewable energy. Researcher Alexander Dunlap argues that industrial-scale renewable energy projects perpetuate the same unhealthy and destructive relationships between people and with the planet that we need to move away from. LMN member group Gaia Foundation‘s Beyond Extractivism project is working precisely to promote ways of moving beyond a system which relies on extracting ever more material from a finite planet. The related Yes to Life No to Mining movement exists to support communities that want to say no to all mining, whatever the mineral.

Hal Rhoades of the Gaia Foundation represented LMN at an international gathering in Northern Ireland in opposition to Canadian company Dalradian‘s plans to mine gold in Mid-Ulster. People from around the world shared experience of the damage done by gold mining and how to stop it.

Mining is a hugely destructive industry and produces phenomenal quantities of waste. The mine waste disposal method that prompted Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund to exclude Rio Tinto is back in the spotlight, with the Indonesian government pressuring Rio and its partner Freeport McMoran to reduce the amount of mine “tailings” they tip into rivers around their Grasberg copper mine. The dumping of mine waste into oceans has, for some years, been condemned by groups around the world. Now the campaign has grown and, for the first time, a major commercial bank has added its voice in opposition.

Other banks are not doing so well: an excellent new report from Facing Finance highlights the investments of ten European banks in ten extractive companies (among them several that we work on ourselves) which continually violate human rights and damage the environment. Meanwhile, DeSmog has published a report, Taking AIM: London’s Wild West Stock Market, showing how the lack of regulation of London’s Alternative Investment Market allows extractive companies to get away with outrageous behaviour around the world.

And what about the elephants in the room? Well, the elephant in this case is Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta and now also the largest shareholder in Anglo American. He congratulated himself for supposedly persuading Anglo not to sell its South African assets. There was talk of this at the Anglo American AGM. For all the blots on Anglo American’s copy-book (and there are very many) the company may find its close association with Agarwal embarrassing, given, among other things, popular mobilisation against Vedanta’s Sterlite subsidiary and tax problems in Zambia.

There is much more to read below. If you would like to keep up with mining news and struggles for justice in the mining industry, you can always take a look at our tweets. You don’t have to sign up to Twitter to see the material we send out several days a week – just go to the bottom right hand corner of webpages and scroll down the tweets listed there.

All the best,
Richard Solly, LMN Co-ordinator.

In this mailout

Corporate news
1) News about BHP and its South32 spinoff
2) Anglo American in the news, and related matters
3) Glencore and its AGM
4) The struggle against the Bradley opencast coal mine
5) The impacts of the UK’s coal use on Indigenous Peoples in Siberia
6) Drax AGM
7) Lonmin, the Marikana Massacre and the Sibanye-Stillwater takeover
8) Rio Tinto in the news
9) Tanzania cancels licence of Barrick, Glencore nickel project
10) Armed with evidence: Zambia requires mining companies to cough up records
11) Canadian explorer looking to restart Europe’s last tin mine to list in London
12) Leave the gold in the hills
13) Celebrations with Warning Signs on the First Anniversary of the Metallic Mining Ban in El Salvador
14) When a mining giant ignored censure by a London agency
15) The anti-Sterlite movement: Saga of a struggle
16) Lydian is facing a collapse
17) Over 200 million tonnes of mine wastes are dumped into world oceans

Reports
When the dam breaks: European Banks investing over €100 billion in dirty extractive companies.
Taking AIM: London’s Wild West Stock Market
PADDD Tracker mapping tool

Problems with renewable energy
Commentary: Respecting the rights of indigenous peoples as renewable energy grows
End the “Green” Delusions: Industrial-scale Renewable Energy is Fossil Fuel+
Beyond Extractivism
Yes to Life No to Mining

Corporate news

1) News about BHP and its South32 spinoff

BHP faces shareholder class action over Brazil mine disaster

Australian law firm Phi Finney McDonald said it plans to sue world’s No.1 miner BHP, arguing the company misled investors over the 2015 collapse of a dam at the Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil, which killed 19 people and became the country’s worst ever environmental disaster.

Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples Win Court Case against Multinational Mining Company

The Zenú Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Cordoba, Colombia, won their legal case against Cerro Matoso S.A., a ferronickel mining company owned by South32 for the violation of their fundamental rights. South32 is a company that was spun-off by the mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP) in May 2015 after BHP had mined the concession for over 30 years. Both companies are registered on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

2) Anglo American in the news, and related matters

Smiling, frowning, and elephants in the room: the 2018 Anglo American AGM

Spills and death threats in Brazil, community removals in Colombia, mine workers dying in Southern Africa: the 2018 Anglo American AGM.

Death threats against critics of Anglo American’s Minas-Rio project in Brazil

On the eve of Anglo American’s 2018 AGM on 8 May, threats continued against critics of its Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil.

Campaigners bring demands of affected communities to Anglo-American AGM

Despite breaking news of its divestment from the Nautilus deep sea mining project, Anglo-American, one of the world’s largest mining companies, still faced a barrage of criticism over the devastating impacts of its operations worldwide.

Update on spills at Anglo American’s Minas-Rio mine in Brazil

A pipeline in Brazil carrying iron ore more than 500 kms from Minas Gerais State to a terminal on the Atlantic Ocean burst twice during March 2018 in the District of Santo Antônio do Grama, leading to the suspension of the use of the pipeline for at least three months.

Anglo American divests from Nautilus deep sea mining risks

The major mining multinational Anglo American has divested from the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project following concerted campaigning.

Solwara 1 Project Is a Dangerous and Bad Investment

The maritime communities from the Bismarck and Solomon Seas have been resisting Nautilus Minerals experimental projects since 2008.

Vedanta chairman told Anglo not to sell South African assets

The chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc, who is also Anglo American’s biggest shareholder, said he had convinced Anglo not to sell off key assets in South Africa.

Anglo American to spin off unit to encourage platinum demand

Anglo American will spin out its internal venture capital unit, it said on Tuesday, as the world’s biggest platinum producer seeks to spur investment in fuel-cell technology to boost demand for a commodity in oversupply.

Justice for miners with silicosis: Out of court settlement agreed

An out of court settlement of approximately USD400 million (5 billion rand) in relation to the class action, which was first brought in 2012, for mineworkers with silicosis and TB in southern Africa has been agreed. At present the settlement has been agreed between several of the mining companies and lawyers representing the mineworkers, however, this is yet to be approved by the mineworkers themselves and the High Court in South Africa. Amongst the key factors regarding the impact of the settlement are to what extent this is publicized and testing is available in rural areas of South Africa and neighboring countries, where many former mineworkers are now living.

Coal miners in South Africa next in line for compensation claims

As sick gold miners won a settlement against gold mining companies, South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Justice and Peace Commission and Spoor Attorneys revealed that coal miners are the next on the line for compensation claims.

3) Glencore and its AGM

Glencore’s Casino Trial: A Tragi-comic affair

Report on the Glencore AGM, 2 May

International trade unionists stage Glencore demo

The demonstration took place on the occasion of Glencore’s annual general assembly in Zug, and included protestors from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Canada, Australia, as well as other countries, according to a statement by Swiss trade union Unia.

Glencore, below the surface

Our friends at global union IndustriALL published a briefing on Glencore to coincide with the company’s AGM in Switzerland today, 2 May 2018.

The city built around a mine

In a city that has been dealing with historic pollution from mining for years, health problems associated with lead and other heavy metal poisoning are part of life. At least 2,000 children in the Pasco region live with chronic heavy metal poisoning, according to a report by local officials published last year. The company which operates the mine in Cerro de Pasco, Volcan Compañia Minera, says that pollution in the area stems from previous operations. And now with Volcan, which counts commodities giant Glencore as its major shareholder, looking to develop new mines in the surrounding area, the city is once again in the spotlight.

Glencore Is Said to Take Congo Rift With Gertler to London Court

Glencore Plc’s clash with former partner Dan Gertler over unpaid royalties at a key Congolese copper mine deepened as the legal battle spread to a London court.

Glencore drops as British regulators looming probe adds to Congo issues

Glencore’s copper operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo will soon be the target of British regulators, which are planning to open a formal bribery investigation into the company and its deals Dan Gertler, an Israeli mining tycoon implicated in the payment of bribes to the country’s leader Joseph Kabila.

4) The struggle against the Bradley opencast coal mine

UK’s major campaign groups unite against Bradley opencast

London Mining Network signed an open letter to Housing Communities and Local Government Minister James Brokenshire to urge him to stop new opencast mine in County Durham.

County Durham residents take direct action against new opencast

Banks Group is trying to complete an access road and start extracting coal and the local people are trying to hamper its efforts.

5) The impacts of the UK’s coal use on Indigenous Peoples in Siberia

Slow Death in Siberia

At the end of 2017 researchers from forestry and forest people’s organisation Fern and London Mining Network member group Coal Action Network travelled deep into Siberia to the Kuzbass, Russia’s main mining region for export. Fern and Coal Action Network have just released Slow Death in Siberia, a report looking at how Europe’s coal dependency is devastating Russia’s forests and the indigenous Shor people.

UK Causing Slow Death in Siberia

Anne Harris reports on how the UK’s coal dependency is devastating the lives of indigenous Shor people.

Coal mining is not a ‘governmental need’, rules Russian court

Activists have for the first time in Russian history succeeded in cancelling permission for new coal mining in a Russian court. London Mining Network has just received the press release below (translated from Russian) from our friends at Ecodefense.

6) Drax AGM 

Forest, coal and environmental justice activists gathered outside Drax Plc’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in York on 25 April. There was a simultaneous protest in Liverpool, where biomass wood pellets arrive at Peel Port from the southern US before being taken to be burnt at Drax Power Station by train.

7) Lonmin, the Marikana Massacre and the Sibanye-Stillwater takeover

VIDEO: We demand justice for Marikana

In March 2018, community leader Thumeka Magwangqana, lawyer Andries Nkome and Reverend Johannes Seoka travelled to London to attend mining company Lonmin’s Annual general meeting, that was held on 15 March. In the AGM, they asked uncomfortable questions to the CEO and chairperson of the company. Outside, people were protesting Lonmin’s lack of accountability for the killings of 34 mine workers who were shot dead while on strike at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in South Africa, on 16 August 2012. Watch our visitors demand justice for the Marikana mine workers, their widows and families, and the community still pushing Lonmin for better working and living conditions as they struggle with the effects of trauma and poverty.

Sibanye-Stillwater vows to start on a clean slate at Marikana

Sibanye-Stillwater, which is in the process of buying out Lonmin, has vowed to do things differently when it finally takes over the company, but won’t take responsibility for the Marikana massacre.

Sibanye-Stillwater will close loss-making output at Lonmin 

Sibanye-Stillwater plans to shut loss-making production at Lonmin when it takes over the platinum miner, the chief financial officer of Sibanye’s U.S region said.

Spanner in the works of Sibanye-Lonmin deal

The Mining Forum of South Africa is throwing a spanner in the works of the Sibanye-Lonmin takeover deal.

Lonmin tanks as UK competition watchdog looks into Sibanye takeover

Shares in struggling South African platinum producer Lonmin collapsed Tuesday after Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was examining whether the company’s takeover by Sibanye-Stillwater would reduce competition.

8) Rio Tinto in the news

Funds with £1.8 trillion declare they will support shareholder resolution on lobbying at Rio Tinto Limited

Funds totalling £1.8 trillion declared they would support a shareholder resolution regarding the funding of lobbying organisations co-filed at Rio Tinto Limited’s AGM in Sydney, Australia.

Trade associations and climate: shareholders make themselves heard

In the wake of shareholder resolutions at Rio Tinto in both the UK and Australia over its links with climate-lobbying trade groups, new research from UK thinktank InfluenceMap identifies the 10 major global companies who maintain extensive networks of trade associations and lobbyists whose aggregate positions on climate are most misaligned with their own. It also unpicks Rio Tinto’s trade association network and assess its coherence with the company’s own climate change agenda.

Australia corporate watchdog expands legal action against Rio Tinto, former executives

Australia’s corporate watchdog said on Tuesday it has expanded legal action against miner Rio Tinto and two former top executives, alleging a failure to recognize an impairment in its Mozambique coal assets in 2012 financial statements.

Rio Tinto, Freeport told to stop putting Grasberg mine waste in Indonesian river

The mine waste disposal method that prompted Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund to blacklist Rio Tinto is back in the spotlight, with the Indonesian government pressuring Rio and its partner Freeport McMoran to reduce the amount of mine “tailings” they tip into rivers around their Grasberg copper mine.

9) Tanzania cancels licence of Barrick, Glencore nickel project

Tanzania has revoked a retention licence for an undeveloped nickel project jointly owned by Barrick Gold Corp and London-listed miner Glencore Plc as part of enforcement of a new mining regime.

10) Armed with evidence: Zambia requires mining companies to cough up records

In a move that will hopefully reduce corporate tax avoidance in Zambia’s mining sector, multinational companies must now document all their “related party transactions” to show they aren’t using them to reduce their tax bill. Among those potentially affected are Glencore and Vedanta.

11) Canadian explorer looking to restart Europe’s last tin mine to list in London

Strongbow Exploration, a Canadian firm trying to reopen one of England’s most iconic tin mines, announced Monday it planned to list in London’s AIM exchange for growing companies next month.

12) Leave the gold in the hills

At the end of March, a group of international visitors with experience of resisting gold mining in Romania, Honduras and Spain, hosted by Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, travelled to Greencastle in mid-Ulster, where people are resisting plans to mine gold by Canadian company Dalradian, to learn more and share solidarity.

13) Celebrations with Warning Signs on the First Anniversary of the Metallic Mining Ban in El Salvador

On March 29th, 2017, the small country of El Salvador became the first nation in the world to exercise its sovereign right to say “no” to metallic mining after carefully analyzing the costs and benefits of this industry. This historic decision was the result of a persistent 12-year struggle (the length of the civil war in the 80s and early 90s) on the part of threatened communities accompanied by the Catholic Church, environmentalists, academic institutions, broad-based social movements and a variety of other actors.

14) When a mining giant ignored censure by a London agency

One of the biggest scandals on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in recent years centred on the abrupt departure from the UK of a mining enterprise called Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC). And why it was forced to leave.

15) The anti-Sterlite movement: Saga of a struggle

In Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, protests against (Vedanta-owned) Sterlite’s copper smelter plant get a second wind as local residents’ health and environmental concerns over the company’s expansion plan lead to the revival of a long-forgotten people’s movement.

16) Lydian is facing a collapse

One can conclude this judging by the comments that can be found on Toronto Stock Exchange page of Lydian International offshore company. Here, a number of shareholders of the company are concerned with the company’s activities since they do not get replies to their phone calls or emails from the company. Lydian is registered in the UK-controlled tax haven of Jersey.

17) Over 200 million tonnes of mine wastes are dumped into world oceans

The dumping of mine waste into oceans has, for some years, been condemned by groups around the world. Now the campaign has grown and, for the first time, a major commercial bank has added its voice in opposition.

Reports

When the dam breaks: European Banks investing over €100 billion in dirty extractive companies

The Dirty Profits 6 report released by Facing Finance highlights the investments of ten european banks in ten extractive companies which continually violate human rights and damage the environment.

Taking AIM: London’s Wild West Stock Market

London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has a record of attracting small oil, gas and mining companies hoping to raise money to fund their business, and has been denounced by critics for its weak regulation and lack of means of enforcement.

PADDD Tracker mapping tool

Mapping tool shows where, why and how “Protected Area Downgrading, Downsizing, and Degazettement” is happening around the planet, threatening ecosystems & custodian communities. Mining and other extractive interests are a major driver of this trend.

Problems with renewable energy

Commentary: Respecting the rights of indigenous peoples as renewable energy grows

Indigenous peoples are among the first and worst affected by climate change and often advocate for a just transition to low-carbon economies. Yet, paradoxically, there is a growing resistance to large renewable energy projects among many indigenous communities. Many of these groups do not have official land titles where they live, but the government does, and it too often grants titles to renewable energy companies without consultation, consent, or compensation. Since 2010, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has witnessed growing allegations of displacement, harm to livelihoods, and violence against communities, and has approached companies 94 times to respond to allegations from local and international NGOs regarding renewable energy projects.

End the “Green” Delusions: Industrial-scale Renewable Energy is Fossil Fuel+

Industrial-scale renewable energy does nothing to remake exploitative relationships with the earth, and instead represents the renewal and expansion of the present capitalist order.

Beyond Extractivism

Supporting communities and social movements on the front line of struggles to protect land, water and life, and to build regenerative alternatives to mining and extractivism.

Yes to Life No to Mining

Those communities who wish to say No to mining should be able to. This movement is of and for them, in recognition that when we say no to mining, we stand in solidarity with the planet, with precious ecosystems and with the future generations of all species. Join us by showing your support…