Dear friends,
This will be the last London Mining Network news mailout this year, so I wish you all a happy festive season and every good thing for the New Year. Thank you for your continuing interest in our work. In case you would like to make a donation and are in a position to do so, please see our website for details.
In the last few days, the UK government has approved a new deep coal mine in Cumbria in north western England. This has rightly caused outrage, not only in the UK but elsewhere. There is the danger that coal mining may also be expanded in Wales: please sign the petition from LMN member group Coal Action Network.
At the end of last month, several of us from LMN protested at the Mines and Money conference in London in support of our friends in Galicia, Spain, who are trying to hold Australian company Rafaella Resources, now renamed Pivotal Metals, to account for pollution. Pivotal Metals was presenting inside the conference, so we drew attention to its shortcomings.
Earlier in November, we worked with communities affected by BHP in Latin America and with friends in Australia to ensure that the communities’ concerns and demands were heard at the company’s AGM in Perth, Western Australia. By ending its London AGMs and opting to hold its Australian AGM far from that country’s centres of anti-mining activism, BHP may have hoped not to have to deal with those concerns and demands. We ensured that they did have to do so.
Meanwhile, BHP is also trying to fight court action on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people affected by the 2015 Samarco tailings dam collapse in Brazil.
Glencore has agreed to pay the Democratic Republic of Congo $180 million to settle corruption claims. Glencore has quite a track record in Africa. We also look at its recent track record in Cesar, Colombia. Proposed changes to mining regulation in Colombia may offer some signs of hope.
Lonmin’s legacy in South Africa also comes under scrutiny, just as the UK and South African governments announce even closer collaboration in the British plunder of the country and exploitation of its workers.
Below you can also read news about Rio Tinto’s operations in Australia, Bougainville, Guinea, Madagascar and Mongolia; the dangers posed by Antofagasta’s tailings dam at Caimanes in Chile; the aftermath of Petra Diamonds’ tailings dam collapse in Tanzania; the struggle to prevent new tin mining in Cornwall, south west England; the latest news involving Adani, which sponsors a gallery at the Science Museum in London; Indigenous Peoples’ involvement in the current COP15 talks on biodiversity; the latest successes in the campaign by our friends at People and Planet to get mining and fossil fuel company recruitment out of UK university campuses; and plenty more!
Remember too that we have just published a major report on major London-based mining company Anglo American. Should Do Better: Anglo American’s mining operations and affected communities in Latin America examines the difference between how the company reports on its operations and how communities with which we work in four countries – Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru – have been experiencing those operations. There is a stark difference between the company’s self-image and the experiences of the people affected by its mines. The report makes numerous recommendations which might act as a starting point for improvement. This report is essential reading for investors, legislators and activists.
All the best,
Richard Solly,
Co-ordinator, London Mining Network.
In this mailout
Take Action!
Petition to Welsh Government/Llywodraeth Cymru
Events to come and recordings of events past
Webinar on restoration in South Wales, Tuesday 13th December, 12 noon to 1pm.
Enforcing Ecocide
Ensuring transition mining doesn’t replicate abuses of the past – voices from communities
One year on: Watch our ‘Toxic Tour’ of London
News
1) Coal mine approved in UK
2) Rafaella’s Re-brand: Mines and Money Conference 2022
3) BHP AGM
4) Other BHP news
5) Glencore in the news
6) News about Rio Tinto
7) Puerto Rican Cities Sue Fossil Fuel Companies in Major Class-Action, Climate Fraud Case (involves BHP, Rio Tinto among others)
8) News about Antofagasta
9) Adani in the news
10) Indigenous Peoples’ rights at COP15 on Biodiversity
11) UK, South Africa seek deeper cooperation on critical minerals
12) Closing the open veins: international solidarity 10 years after the Marikana Massacre
13) Changes to mining regulation in Colombia
14) Double Trouble for The Metals Company: Divestment and Delisting
15) Most UK universities failing to hit carbon reduction targets
16) Fossil fuel recruiters banned from three more UK universities
17) Protect Wheal Vor
18) Lawsuit Filed in Canada Against Barrick Gold, for Killings, Torture and Violence at Barrick Mine Site in Tanzania
19) LME draws takeover interest from rivals after nickel crisis
20) Phase out crude bauxite exports to save the Cockpit Country
21) Petra Diamonds to keep Williamson mine idled until mid-2023
22) Pandora’s Box of Nuclear Progress
23) Revealed: secret courts that allow energy firms to sue for billions accused of ‘bias’ as governments exit
Take Action!
Petition to Welsh Government/Llywodraeth Cymru
Don’t expand UK’s biggest opencast coal mine/Peidiwch ag ehangu pwll glo brig mwyaf y DU
Events to come and recordings of events past
Webinar on restoration in South Wales, Tuesday 13th December, 12 noon to 1pm.
This webinar marks the launch of a report, ‘Coal Mine Restoration in South Wales’, revealing the injustices and broken promises surrounding the restoration of 7 opencast coal mines in South Wales. It serves as a stark warning for any future coal mine proposals.
The webinar will offer a whistle-stop overview of the desk-based and primary research findings, with key analysis and recommendations. You’ll see photo evidence that’s been exclusively shared with us of the current state these former coal mines are in.
Enforcing Ecocide
Recording of LMN’s Resisting Mining Book Club held on 30 November
Ensuring transition mining doesn’t replicate abuses of the past – voices from communities
Event organised around COP27 by groups including LMN
One year on: Watch our ‘Toxic Tour’ of London
On December 1st 2021, London Mining Network hosted a ‘Toxic Tour’ with students from Goldsmiths, University of London. We visited the offices of some of London’s biggest mining companies and the government departments they work with to show how London is at the centre of a global system of destructive and exploitative extractivism. To mark the anniversary of this occasion, we’ve created a playlist featuring our stops at the offices of BHP, Serco, the Ministry of Defence and more. If you want to learn more about London’s deep and entangled connections with international mining, these videos are a great primer.
News
1) Coal mine approved in UK
UK Government approves massive underground coal mine at Whitehaven, West Cumbria
Since 2014, West Cumbria Mining Ltd has been looking to extract 2.78 million tonnes a year of coking coal off Whitehaven. Today, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities approved the mine following a public inquiry in September 2021. Both South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) and Friends of the Earth presented evidence as formal participants at the inquiry. There will likely be further legal action by one or both organisations against the approval.
Cumbria coalmine plan is ‘backward step’, says Alok Sharma
Tory party’s most respected figure on climate says mine will damage UK’s international reputation as well as environment
UK coal mine approval: Is this the worst ever climate policy decision?
“An incomprehensible act of self-harm”, “the UK’s climate credibility on the world stage is in tatters”, “like celebrating the opening of a Betamax factory”. Those are just a tiny fraction of the furious responses to the government’s decision to approve plans for the UK’s first new deep coal mine in 30 years. There are plenty more, a fair few of which are not fit to print.
UK coal mine approval sparks global fury and hypocrisy claims
The decision to allow a new coking coal mine goes against official climate advice and the UK’s international rhetoric on fossil fuels
High fossil fuel prices mean UK cannot delay transition to low emissions steel
Steel production accounted for 2% of the UK’s emissions in 2019 and ranks second for energy consumption among the country’s heavy industries. Roughly two-thirds of this energy comes from coal.
2) Rafaella’s Re-brand: Mines and Money Conference 2022
The annual Mines and Money Conference is, aside from being the most on-the-nose named event of the year, where mining company executives come to mingle with and win over investors. This year LMN paid the conference a visit to talk to attendees about the impact the San Finx and Santa Comba mines have had on the local communities and environment in Galicia. Both of these mines have been operated by a company called Rafaella Resources but, in what looks like a desperate act to get away from the bad press and ongoing charges of pollution and corruption, the company changed its name at the conference to Pivotal Metals.
3) BHP AGM
Opposite side of the world, same old story: the 2022 BHP AGM
Full report of the BHP AGM held on 10 November in Perth, Australia
BHP shareholders vote against resolution to lobby Australian government on climate
BHP Group shareholders voted against a resolution calling on the mining giant to lobby the Australian government on its climate change policy at its annual general meeting.
4) Other BHP news
BHP says Vale must share damage costs in Fundao dam collapse lawsuit
BHP Group said that Vale SA must share liability should it lose a UK class action lawsuit over the deadly 2015 Fundao dam collapse in Brazil. Although Samarco, a joint venture between BHP and Vale, operated the dam, the class action involving around 200,000 people does not name Vale.
Workers for Chile’s Escondida mine accept BHP’s offer and will not strike-union source
Workers represented by the Sindicato No. 1 union at the Australian company’s mine in northern Chile, the largest copper deposit in the world, had been threatening to strike over safety concerns.
BHP clinches $9.6 billion bid to buy OZ Minerals to gain more control over EV battery metals
BHP is to take the lead on some of Australia’s most significant clean energy projects after securing agreement to buy fellow Australian miner Oz Minerals, and boosting its reach over copper and nickel resources that are essential to meet growing demand from global EV battery makers.
5) Glencore in the news
Prodeco closure plan: Organisations, communities and mining workers unions demand judicial oversight of the mechanism for the protection of their rights.
After more than 6 months of legal struggles before the institutions and justice, the communities and unions of the mining corridor achieved a historic sentence on September 14, 2022 when the Administrative Judge 7 of Valledupar ordered the installation of the first large public round table to be carried out with all the communities, national and local authorities and with the oversight of the control institutions, the accountability and dissemination of the environmental and social duties that this company must comply with before definitively withdrawing from the area and that will be agreed in its plan for partial closing of obligations.
Glencore scraps $1.3 billion Australian coal project
Miner and commodities giant Glencore has shelved plans for a giant A$2 billion ($1.3 billion) coal mine in Australia’s Queensland state, which would have become one of the country’s largest.
Glencore says this time is different for coming copper shortage
Glencore CEO Nagle said that Glencore, which is one of the world’s top copper miners and traders, will wait to lift its own output of the metal until the world is “screaming” for it. “We want to see that deficit,” he said.
Glencore pays $180 million to Congo to settle corruption claims
Miner and commodities giant Glencore said on Monday it will pay the Democratic Republic of Congo $180 million to settle all alleged corruption claims in the country between 2007 and 2018.
Glencore to pay $180 Million to Democratic Republic of Congo
Swiss mining and commodities titan Glencore announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with the government of DRC to pay $180 million to make up for ten years of titanically corrupt behavior in the country. This comes seven months after Glencore pleaded guilty to bribery in eight countries including DRC.
The Money Show Explainer: How Glencore bribed its way across Africa
Prof Patrick Bond, Political Economist And Distinguished Professor of Sociology at University of Johannesburg discuss the long history of bribery by Glencore and shady deals on the African continent. Glencore has been ordered to pay R5.7bn over African bribes.
Glencore’s new-mine taboo may finally end with Argentina copper
Glencore Plc is moving closer to building a giant copper project in Argentina in a move that would reverse a long-held aversion to developing big new mines.
6) News about Rio Tinto
Villagers demand Rio Tinto compensation
Rio Tinto faces new unrest at Madagascar mine as procedural dance delays promised compensation.
Independent assessment of former Bougainville mine due to open
An independent environmental and human rights legacy impact assessment of Rio Tinto’s former Panguna mine in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region Bougainville is due to begin this week.
Rio Tinto plays chancy round of Mongolian roulette
December 9 is shaping up to be a big day for Jakob Stausholm. Just ahead of his two-year anniversary as Rio Tinto’s chief executive, he will learn the fate of the mining giant’s tortuous efforts to buy out minority investors in Turquoise Hill Resources, the majority owner of a flagship project in Mongolia. Success would give the growth strategy a real boost; failure could mean senior heads roll.
Turquoise Hill shareholders approve Rio Tinto’s $3.3bn buyout bid
Shareholders of Canada’s Turquoise Hill on Friday voted in favour of Rio Tinto’s $3.3 billion bid to take it private and gain direct control over a giant Mongolian copper mine.
Guinea: Ensure Respect for Rights in Massive Iron Ore Project
Simandou, reportedly the world’s biggest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit, is being developed by consortia led by Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian mining corporation, and Winning International Group, a Singapore-based company with roots in China. Rio Tinto and Winning say that the project will generate “a sustainable source of wealth for the people of Guinea for generations to come,” with mining in 2018 providing a third of Guinea’s state budget. But the Simandou project also threatens surrounding communities’ access to land and water, and will release large quantities of carbon emissions.
Rio Tinto reaches historic agreement with Juukan Gorge group
The destruction of the Juukan Gorge sites that showed evidence of human habitation stretching back into the last Ice Age 46,000 years ago caused deep distress to the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti, Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) peoples.
Australia to beef up laws to safeguard Aboriginal heritage
Australia will strengthen laws to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Thursday, following a review of mining standards after Rio Tinto’s destruction of the sacred Juukan Gorge rock shelters.
7) Puerto Rican Cities Sue Fossil Fuel Companies in Major Class-Action, Climate Fraud Case
Municipalities aim to hold industry liable for damages from catastrophic 2017 hurricanes. Among the companies cited are BHP and Rio Tinto.
8) News about Antofagasta
Antofagasta faces charges, fines for environmental breaches in Chile
Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has filed charges against Antofagasta’s Centinela copper mine in the country’s north, citing environmental damage on a water source and local wildlife.
Serious Danger: Emergency plan in the event of a possible collapse of the El Mauro dam was prepared with false information provided by Minera Los Pelambres
The information given by Minera Los Pelambres is completely false, the serious thing is that it is the basis of the entire plan, which was approved by SERNAGEOMIN (National Geology and Mining Service) and by ONEMI (National Office of Emergency). To make a valid safety plan, it is necessary to base it on the total collapse of the dam at its moment of greatest tailings content, that is, the worst possible case.
9) Adani in the news
Adani sponsors a gallery in the Science Museum in London.
Prominent TV news anchor resigns as Adani deals another blow to press freedom in India
A prominent and popular news anchor has resigned from an Indian TV network that has effectively been taken over by Adani. The ‘hostile takeover’ ends the independence of NDTV India and is yet another blow dished out by the ruthless Adani Group to press freedom in India. The takeover has been lamented by figures from India’s opposition parties.
Dangerous conflict erupts at Adani’s port project in Kerala while government makes $5 million concession to Adani
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, the conflict caused by Adani’s massive port project has escalated to dangerous levels. Police and protesters have been injured in clashes. Thousands of citizens have been charged by the police. The destruction of a police station has been blamed on agents provocateurs. A pro-Adani group has introduced a potent religious element into the fray. And the state government has waived a US $5-million bill to the Adani Group.
10) Indigenous Peoples’ rights at COP15 on Biodiversity
Jennifer Tauli – Corpuz Talks about the Important Factors for Indigenous Peoples at COP15
The UN Biodiversity Conference is taking place from December 7 – 22, 2022, in Montreal, Canada. Cultural Survival’s delegation is in Montreal to follow the negotiations and report on the most important issues concerning the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the future of biological diversity. In this podcast, Cultural Survival speaks to Jennifer Tauli-Corpuz (Kankana-ey Igorot), Global Policy and Advocacy Lead for Nia Tero, who tells us about the Post 2020 Framework, Resource Mobilization, and The Working Group on Article 8j.
Indigenous Peoples on the Ground Are Doing Much for Biodiversity
At the Opening of the 5th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, parties reviewed the proposed organization of work and agreed to use the Outcomes of the Work of the Informal Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework coming out of the Nairobi meetings held in June 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. Indigenous leaders representing the International Indigenous Forum for Biodiversity have been actively participating in the discussions of the text that will be sent to the COP15 for its approval, to ensure that Indigenous Peoples’ rights are upheld and that adequate language is included in the text that safeguards the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In this podcast, Cultural Survival hears from Joji Carino (Ibaloi) who tells us about the great work that Indigenous Peoples are doing on the ground and she also elaborates on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Joji Carino is Senior Policy Adviser at Forest Peoples Programme.
The Destruction of the Environment Is Related to Violating the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
One of the major items at COP15 is the expected adoption of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework as an important step toward the 2050 Vision of “Living in harmony with nature”. From December 3 – 5, meetings were held as part of the 5th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework is tasked with advancing preparations for the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. In this podcast, we hear from Maurizio Farahn Ferrari, Senior Policy Advisor of Forest Peoples Programme on the story of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
11) UK, South Africa seek deeper cooperation on critical minerals
London and Pretoria announced a partnership to promote the responsible exploration, development, production, and processing of critical minerals in South Africa.
12) Closing the open veins: international solidarity 10 years after the Marikana Massacre
Joseph Mullen introduces a pamphlet written for the 10th anniversary of the Marikana Massacre. The pamphlet is a guide to be used to educate those unfamiliar with the massacre, and as a call for internationalist, anti-imperialist solidarity with the ongoing struggle in South Africa. It also seeks to study the strategies of solidarity with the mineworkers, particularly South-South solidarity.
13) Changes to mining regulation in Colombia
Colombia to create national mining company, 2022 royalties soar
Colombia is preparing to launch a national mining company, the president of the government’s National Mining Association (ANM) said on Wednesday, adding that coal mining royalties during the year had more than doubled.
Colombian president calls for mining code reform
President Gustavo Petro proposed over the weekend a reform to Colombia’s mining code, which was initially issued in 2001.
14) Double Trouble for The Metals Company: Divestment and Delisting
Would-be deep sea miner The Metals Company (TMC) has suffered two simultaneous financial blows. The largest Norwegian private asset manager, Storebrand has divested from TMC demonstrating its reaffirmed commitment to halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity. As well as explicitly naming TMC, its new Policy on Nature excludes investment in all companies involved in deep sea mining (DSM).
15) Most UK universities failing to hit carbon reduction targets
Campaign group calls for institutions to be accountable via short-term assessments after 59% missed goals
16) Fossil fuel recruiters banned from three more UK universities
One university cites the industry as a ‘fundamental barrier to a more just and sustainable world’
17) Protect Wheal Vor
Protect Wheal Vor is a project which opposes the mining of tin and other mineral ores in the parish and environs of Breage, Cornwall (in the UK) set up by the Great Wheal Vor Community and Environment Group (GWVCEG). GWVCEG is a community group formed in 2021 which seeks to develop and promote community awareness and protect and improve the local environment.
18) Lawsuit Filed in Canada Against Barrick Gold, for Killings, Torture and Violence at Barrick Mine Site in Tanzania
Rights Action is heartened to see this lawsuit filed in Canada, against Barrick Gold, 2nd largest gold mining company in the world. Barrick’s North Mara mine has been run by a UK-linked subsidiary.
19) LME draws takeover interest from rivals after nickel crisis
The London Metal Exchange has attracted takeover interest from rivals as the historic institution wrestles with its future in the wake of March’s nickel crisis.
20) Phase out crude bauxite exports to save the Cockpit Country
Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET) produced, in 2020, a comprehensive report called ‘Red Dirt’, examining aspects of the Jamaican bauxite industry that the Government should have but never has, partly due to push back from the companies involved (including London-linked companies).
21) Petra Diamonds to keep Williamson mine idled until mid-2023
London-listed Petra Diamonds said its Williamson diamond mine in Tanzania would not resume production before the middle of 2023, following the partial collapse of a tailings storage facility (TSF) last month.
22) Pandora’s Box of Nuclear Progress
Why uranium mining, nuclear energy, and atomic bombs are all steps in the path to destruction
23) Revealed: secret courts that allow energy firms to sue for billions accused of ‘bias’ as governments exit
Secret court set up under energy charter treaty accused of conflicts of interest, self-regulation issues and institutional bias