Dear friends,
The world’s biggest mining company, BHP, has announced that it intends to terminate its dual-listed status, with BHP plc incorporated in the UK and BHP Ltd in Australia, and simplify its structure by becoming primarily an Australian company, with its main listing in Sydney and a subsidiary listing on the London Stock Exchange. It would no longer hold Annual General Meetings in both countries – only in Australia.
Some large Australian shareholders have been pushing for this move for some time. It is tempting to think that BHP might be attempting to avoid the problems caused by the bad publicity we give them around their London AGMs – but our colleagues in Australia do the same around their Australian AGMs.
If the decision is approved by shareholders, the cessation of London BHP AGMs will alter LMN’s work, as they have been a major annual focus of our solidarity and we have usually hosted delegations of representatives of communities affected by the company’s operations. However, our solidarity with those communities will continue, and as BHP intends to continue with a listing in London, we shall continue to put pressure on it to change its ways. Cutting and running from London cannot be allowed to let BHP off the hook for cutting and running elsewhere – we must continue to hold it to account for the damage it has done or plans to do in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the USA and elsewhere. For a summary of this damage, see our BHP corporate profile and timeline.
One of the outrageous injustices for which BHP shares responsibility is the violent eviction of the community of Tabaco in Colombia on 9 August 2001 to make way for expansion of the Cerrejon coal mine. Twenty years later, the people of that community have yet to receive justice.
Do join us and friends in Latin America on 10 September for an event discussing BHP’s impacts in Chile, Colombia and Peru. This is part of a film festival on the theme of extractivism in the Americas.
There are a number of articles below on BHP’s current activities and their effects.
Others waiting for justice are the people of Phulbari in Bangladesh. On 26 August 2006 three children were shot dead by police during a protest against plans by a London-listed company (then Asia Energy, now renamed GCM Resources) for a huge opencast coal mine. LMN worked with Phulbari Solidarity Group, XR Youth and others to commemorate the event and call for GCM to be delisted from the London Stock Exchange and abandon its Phulbari project. See below for further information
Then there are the families of the mine workers murdered by police on 16 August 2012 while striking for better pay at London-listed Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine. They, too, are still waiting for justice. LMN worked with the Marikana Solidarity Collective and others to commemorate the massacre. There are a number of articles below analysing the massacre and the structural injustices which helped cause it. We have been working with women at Marikana who are trying to respond to the basic needs of their community as they seek the justice they deserve. Please consider donating to the financial appeal for their work.
The world’s second biggest mining company, Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto, remains mired in controversy. It has made an agreement with people in Bougainville affected by the operations of its Panguna mine but is yet to pay compensation to the Aboriginal group whose ancient rock shelters it destroyed for an iron ore mine in Western Australia last year and there are calls for a judicial inquiry over its Marandoo mine and intensifying protests over its planned lithium mine at Jadar in Serbia.
Finally, we pay tribute to one of our own founders and founder of member group TAPOL, Carmel Budiardjo, who lived a long life of exemplary solidarity with the people of Indonesia and territories controlled by Indonesia. Carmel was part of the discussions in 2006 which led to the establishment of London Mining Network and provides a model for others of us to follow. May she rest in peace after her life of loving labour.
There is a great deal of news at present about the current Extinction Rebellion activities, which of course are of great relevance to LMN’s work on coal and just transition. I have not included this material below, but recommend that you check the Extinction Rebellion website. But there is plenty of other news below. And remember that you can find all the material we send out on Twitter at https://twitter.com/londonmining.
All the best,
Richard Solly, Co-ordinator, London Mining Network
In this mailout
Events
A show of public opinion against the coal mine on the first day of the public inquiry
The BHP disaster in Latin America: Experiences of resistance and solidarity
I Believe That We Will Win: Launch of Creative Imaginings
Day of action: Corporate Courts vs The Climate
Take Action
Support Sinethemba Women, Marikana South Africa Workshop
News
1) GCM Resources and Phulbari Day 2021
2) Commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Marikana Massacre
3) Tabaco: 20 years since eviction and still no justice
4) News about Glencore
5) Anglo American in Chile and Brazil
6) News about BHP
7) Danakali Ltd to leave London Stock Exchange
8) Rio Tinto in the news
9) Credibility Crisis: Brumadinho and the Politics of Mining Industry Reform
10) Protests against Dalradian’s Northern Ireland gold project
11) Chile’s drought forces Antofagasta to cut copper guidance
12) Recording: Droplet & Wagtail’s Tailings Tale Book Launch
13) Deep Sea: Readings from the Abyss
14) Death by a thousand treaties
15) How Barclays and other banks are funding climate change
16) Most miners are falling short of carbon cuts needed for UN goal
17) Obituary for Carmel Budiardjo, one of the founders of London Mining Network
Waiting for justice for 9, 12, 20 years, BHP to cut and run from LSE, and other London mining news
Events
A show of public opinion against the coal mine on the first day of the public inquiry
Date: Tuesday 7 September, 2021
Time: 09:00-10:00
Location: outside the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, 2 Marsham St, London SW1P 4DF.
The BHP disaster in Latin America: Experiences of resistance and solidarity
Date: Friday 10 September
Hours: 6 pm UK / 1 pm Chile / 12 noon Colombia, Peru
The event will have simultaneous translation from Spanish to English.
This event is part of the development of the Global Extraction Film Festival 2021, which will focus mainly on the extractive impact faced by communities in Latin America, women, indigenous peoples and nature. From the London Mining Network we want to discuss the impact that transnational extractive companies, such as BHP, based in London, have degraded the life of communities, peoples and nature in Latin America. The main objective is to know the experience of resistance and solidarity of the peoples that face these threats, as well as the actions to protect the territories from these environmental predators. Finally, reflect on how the extractive impact has generated the global crisis that we face today.
I Believe That We Will Win: Launch of Creative Imaginings
Canada’s Mining Injustice Solidarity Network put out a call for imaginings in the spring with the prompt: What would a world without extractivism look like for you? They were thrilled with the submissions they received – paintings, collages, poems, music videos. They now invite you to a virtual launch on Sunday, September 12 at 6:30pm EDT (that’s 11.30pm in the UK and Ireland). There will be art, live music and poetry readings, and more from the artists who responded to our call. For the first time, the artists and their work will be in conversation with one another and will collectively vision a different future. The event will be bilingual in English and Spanish.
Day of action: Corporate Courts vs The Climate
Corporate courts are an obstacle to a clean energy transition and to achieving climate justice. Join Global Justice Now on Saturday 18 September for a day of action to help expose the links between corporate courts, dirty fossil fuel giants and climate action.
Take Action
Support Sinethemba Women, Marikana South Africa Workshop
Sinethemba means ‘We have hope’ in isiXhosa. Sinethemba is a self-organised grass roots group that has set up a sewing and handicraft cooperative, making products to provide some income for Marikana women, but Covid has hit them hard – on top of the continuing suffering caused by the 2012 Marikana massacre. Please donate to support them.
News
1) GCM Resources and Phulbari Day 2021
Phulbari Day 2021 – Marking the 15th Anniversary
To mark the 15th Phulbari Day in 2021, London Mining Network collaborated with Phulbari Solidarity Group on two commemorative events. On the morning of 26 August, we held a rally outside the Bangladesh High Commission in London with XR Youth Solidarity, Fossil Free London, and other supporters.
41 Climate Justice Organizations Urge Bangladesh High Commission to Take Action on Coal, Honour the Dead on 15th Phulbari Day
Activists from XR Youth Solidarity, Fossil Free London, London Mining Network, Phulbari Solidarity Group etc. gathered at Bangladesh High Commission at 10:30, 26 August. The rally marked the 15th anniversary of the Phulbari Massacre, where three young people were killed and hundreds injured protesting British financed coal mine. XR Youth Solidarity held a placard making session, inspired by speeches on Phulbari and the climate crisis. Campaigners delivered memo demanding end to coal mine construction and coal fire power plants in Bangladesh to the office of the High Commissioner.
We Call on the Bangladesh Government to Implement Phulbari Verdict, Take Legal Actions Against GCM Resources, and End Coal Power Now!
Memorandum of 15th Phulbari Day Remembrance Rally, 26 August 2021, Bangladesh High Commission, London
Protesters ask Bangladesh High Commission to end coal mining for Phulbari Day
On the anniversary of the Phulbari Massacre, international solidarity and climate groups call on the High Commissioner to stop the displacement of communities for coal, as agreed by the Bangladesh Government fifteen years ago.
2) Commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Marikana Massacre
Nine Years On, Still No Justice for the Dead of Marikana
On the 9th Anniversary of the Marikana Massacre, campaigners prepare to gather in remembrance of the dead and in solidarity with those still fighting for justice.
The Marikana Massacre: Neo-colonialism, Extractivism, Resistance
Connor Hayes speaks with Dr Andy Higginbottom, about the killing of 34 miners on 16 August 2012 in Marikana, South Africa, an event since known as ‘the Marikana Massacre’, who were on strike while working for a mine owned by the British company Lonmin.
The Marikana Massacre in South Africa: the Results of Toxic Collusion
This article reflects on Marikana five years after the massacre and after the state convened Farlam Commission.
Marikana Unchanged Despite Reparations Paid by South African Government
Marikana still finds itself largely undeveloped and at the mercy of the mining companies that populate the platinum belt.
R170m of Marikana claims settled, but legal wrangles continue
Despite the government paying more than R170.7-million to victims of the brutal August 2012 Marikana massacre, it is still embroiled in a legal wrangle over the “once and for all” rule related to payment.
‘The only way to honour massacred miners of Marikana is for miners to own 51% of mines’ — Xolani Dube
‘Remember Marikana, 16 August 2012. Our democratic government massacred workers protesting for economic emancipation. Their blood still cries from the ground’. These words were emblazoned on a banner behind the podium at this year’s Marikana commemoration.
‘I don’t feel like a citizen of this country’
The wives and children of the miners murdered in 2012 during a strike at Marikana’s Lonmin mine wait for justice that never comes while languishing in a town with few opportunities.
Commemorating the Marikana massacre
For nine years Marikana family members have been reeling in pain from their loss.
They’ve filed civil cases to compel the president to act on their promised compensation which is still delayed. Breadwinners are dead and some widows still live in shacks.
Marikana – mountains and massacres
Of the 44 people who were killed at Marikana during the strikes, 31 were migrant workers from the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape, and emaMpondweni specifically, has been a primary source of cheap labour for mining in South Africa since the opening of the first gold mines on the Witwatersrand in the late 1800s.
3) Tabaco: 20 years since eviction and still no justice
On 9 August 2001, the residents of the village of Tabaco in La Guajira, Colombia, were violently evicted from their land and their village was destroyed to make way for the expansion of the Cerrejon opencast coal mine. Cerrejon was then part-owned, and since 2002 has been completely owned, by multinational mining companies Anglo American, BHP and Glencore. All three companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange.
4) News about Glencore
Australia: NT government reduced scope for monitoring Glencore’s McArthur River Mine, documents reveal
Since the McArthur River was diverted to make way for the McArthur River zinc and lead mine in 2007, Indigenous leaders including Jack Green living downstream at Borroloola depend on an annual independent monitor report on the mine to alert them to problems.
Glencore acquires stake in UK battery maker Britishvolt
Mining giant Glencore Plc acquired a stake in Britishvolt Ltd., allowing the U.K. battery maker to secure long-term supplies of key material cobalt.
5) Anglo American in Chile and Brazil
Anglo American’s impacts on glaciers in Chile put the water security of the population at risk
It is widely known that Anglo American is negatively and irreversibly impacting glaciers in Chile, as well as the most important water reserves for the territory. Local communities and territorial organizations have denounced the irresponsible actions of the London-based mining company. Under the NO + Anglo movement, the communities of Lo Barnechea, El Melón, Til TIl, Colina and Lampa have joined in solidarity to stop the actions of the mining giant. Likewise, organizations such as Greenpeace have publicly denounced the looting and destruction of glaciers in Chile, caused by the company.
Anglo American accused of manipulating community election in Brazil
Anglo American attempts to manipulate elections by limiting wide participation of people affected by the Minas Rio mine in Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
6) News about BHP
BHP extracts itself from the London Stock Exchange
The move comes after two decades as part of the index.
BHP in trouble again in Chile
BHP does not respect indigenous consultation: the Complementary project for the Cerro Colorado Mine will be re-evaluated for its impact on communities and environment
BHP will not be able to extract more water from the Lagunillas aquifer in Chile due to the negative impact it has generated
BHP has two major mines in Chile, the Escondida mine and Pampa Norte. Pampa Norte consists of two wholly owned operations: Spence and Cerro Colorado. Both mines are in the Atacama Desert and both have severely depleted local water resources at a time when Chile is experiencing a megadrought.
Dust at BHP’s iron ore mines poses health hazard
High levels of dust at two of BHP Group’s iron ore mines in Western Australia are impairing the health of workers and nearby residents, a union said, as BHP said it had undertaken a raft of measures to limit dust in the arid region.
Brazil prosecutors compel Vale, BHP to pay $9.5bn in Samarco’s debt
Brazilian prosecutors asked a bankruptcy court on Wednesday to compel miners Vale SA and BHP Group Ltd to fully pay off their Samarco joint venture’s 50.7 billion reais ($9.47 billion) debt, according to a court document reviewed by Reuters.
BHP shareholders to vote on fossil fuel production detail at AGM
BHP Group Ltd said it would allow a vote at its next shareholder meeting on whether the world’s biggest listed miner should disclose details such as capital allocation and life of its fossil fuel assets.
BHP signs agreement with Aboriginal group on new terms
BHP Group has signed a framework deal with traditional landowners at a coal business in Queensland state, in its first deal since revising its policies following a rival’s destruction of historic rock shelters for an iron ore mine last year.
7) Danakali Ltd to leave London Stock Exchange
London Mining Network member group Eritrea Focus, in partnership with Freedom United and other partner organisations, has campaigned for many years for Danakali Ltd and others to divest from Eritrea. Eritrea is a country that enslaves its people in perpetuity in the ineptly called “National Service”, which the UN Commission of Inquiry asserts to be modern day slavery.
8) Rio Tinto in the news
Rio Tinto should face judicial inquiry over Marandoo mine, Indigenous groups say
Traditional owners say loss of Aboriginal artefacts and unpaid royalties show miner has lost its social licence.
Rio Tinto yet to pay compensation over sacred site destruction
Mining giant Rio Tinto is yet to pay compensation to the Aboriginal group whose ancient rock shelters it destroyed for an iron ore mine in Western Australia last year.
Rio Tinto to cut rates on loans to Mongolia for Oyu Tolgoi expansion
Rio Tinto is said to be ready to cut interest rates on loans to the Mongolian government, given to fund its share of the construction costs of an underground expansion at the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in the Gobi Desert.
Rio Tinto-led plan for major lithium mine stirs protests in Serbia
Opposition to the project is growing because of concerns about possible environmental damage and protest rallies have become more frequent.
Guinea rail builders blast in chimp habitat, no plan to protect apes
A consortium is developing the mine in the West African country’s Simandou mountains. Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto has permission to mine an adjacent part of the deposit, the world’s biggest, and has said it plans to export the ore using the railway and port being built by the consortium, Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS).
Bougainville communities secure commitment from Rio Tinto to assess environmental and human rights impacts of former mine
Rio Tinto has publicly committed to fund an an independent environmental and human rights impact assessment of its former Panguna mine in Bougainville in response to a human rights complaint filed by Bougainville communities.
Rio Tinto commits to assessment of Panguna mine legacy
The giant mining multinational Rio Tinto is finally willing to face the environmental catastrophe its former Panguna gold and copper mine left behind on Bougainville. This is a huge success for the people of the mine-affected communities and their international supporters. It represents a significant first step in the process of environmental and social rehabilitation.
Rio Tinto: We Demand Answers
London Mining Network works with groups around the world challenging Rio Tinto over the impacts of its operations. Together, we raised numerous issues at the company’s April AGM, but the company’s responses were evasive and incomplete. Together, we have written to Rio Tinto to demand adequate responses to the questions we have been raising for years.
9) Credibility Crisis: Brumadinho and the Politics of Mining Industry Reform
In June 2020, LMN supported a report by US-based organisation Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada, Safety First – Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management. This was a response to industry recommendations about mine tailings management. The process by which those recommendations were made is analysed in a book, Credibility Crisis – Brumadinho and the Politics of Mining Industry Reform . One of the Safety First report’s authors, Dr Steven Emerman, has now written a review of this book.
10) Protests against Dalradian’s Northern Ireland gold project
“We will stop this toxic industry”: Protesters march against mining
“Ireland is not for sale” was the rallying cry from demonstrators as they protested against a proposed mine in Northern Ireland.
Communities march on Irish parliament to say no to mining
On Saturday 21 August, community groups, activists, and environmentalists from north and south of the border in Ireland marched on Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament). They decided to march on the parliament in Dublin having already marched on the parliament in Belfast in June.
11) Chile’s drought forces Antofagasta to cut copper guidance
The miner now expects to produce between 710,000 tonnes and 740,000 tonnes of copper this year, down from its previous forecast of 730,000 tonnes to 760,000 tonnes.
12) Recording: Droplet & Wagtail’s Tailings Tale Book Launch
At our 3rd Resisting Mining Book Club, we launched a new children’s book – Droplet and Wagtail’s Tailings Tale! Watch the event on video.
13) Deep Sea: Readings from the Abyss
One of these latest works dramatically and pictorially argues the insanity of deep sea mining, while the second marvellously evokes the contradictory nature of the planet’s largest cosmos, covered in eternal darkness.
14) Death by a thousand treaties
The Energy Charter Treaty is the world’s most dangerous investment agreement.
15) How Barclays and other banks are funding climate change
Think you know your climate villains? One thing you might not know is that banks such as Barclays have earned themselves a place at the top of the list. They’re funding the companies fuelling climate change – whether it’s drilling for oil, clearing forests or violating human rights.
16) Most miners are falling short of carbon cuts needed for UN goal
The mining industry is falling short on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions enough to limit global warming, even after stepping up efforts to help combat climate change.
17) Obituary for Carmel Budiardjo, one of the founders of London Mining Network
Carmel was a campaigner for human rights in Indonesia from soon after independence and for freedom in regions it controlled.