The struggle against mining at Phulbari, Bangladesh

Dear friends,

News in this mailout begins with renewed death threats against mining opponents on the Wild Coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. One of those threatened is our friend Nonhle Mbuthuma of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), who visited the UK in 2018 as a guest of LMN member group Gaia Foundation. The ACC has been resisting planned mineral sands mining by Australian company MRC, one of whose leading investors was UK businessman Graham Edwards.

There have also been multiple killings of protesters against mining in Peru during the turmoil that has accompanied the political coup against former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo. Andy Higginbottom provides an analysis of the ‘imperial mining powers behind the throne’.

On 25 January we observed the fourth anniversary of the killing of 272 people in the tailings dam collapse at Brumadinho – a crime with which sixteen corporate personnel have now been charged.

Major investors, led by the Church of England Pensions Fund and the Swedish sovereign pension fund, held a ‘tailings dam summit’ to coincide with the anniversary of the Brumadinho disaster. The aim was to examine progress being made by the mining industry (or not) in improving tailings dam safety. Concerns were raised, among others, about Rio Tinto’s failings in Madagascar.

Rio Tinto has been in the news in recent days for losing a small radioactive device in Western Australia, which could have caused severe damage to the health of unsuspecting people who might handle it without knowing what it was. It was found again. But the danger posed by such a small device should be a warning to those who think that nuclear energy and the uranium mining which supports it could be a solution to climate change – both uranium mining and nuclear energy production produce wastes which will be dangerous, and need expert handling, for hundreds of thousands of years. No human civilisation has lasted that long!

Some of us raised concerns earlier in January at the AGM of GCM Resources, which is still, after around twenty years, hoping to construct an opencast coal mine at Phulbari in Bangladesh. Given continuing opposition from local communities, the lack of the necessary permissions from the Government of Bangladesh and the need to move away from coal, it is extraordinary that this project has still not been ditched. Until it is, we need to continue to assist our friends in Bangladesh to oppose it. Friends from Christian Climate Action held a protest outside the AGM; two of us raised issues inside.

If GCM were able to go ahead with its Phulbari project, we may see scenes similar to those at Lützerath in Germany, where protesters have been forcibly removed by police from a village destined to disappear inside a massive opencast lignite mine part-funded by UK bank HSBC.

Coal mining by Glencore and Adani in Australia is also an example of why we need to move away from coal.

That does not mean we should support the plans of the mining industry and governments for massive expansion of mining of the minerals supposedly needed for the low-carbon transition. We need to (and can) reduce demand and respect local people’s wishes (whether they want mining or not) in order to avoid a new, socially and ecologically destructive ‘Green Imperialism’. A new report by Thea Riofrancos, Alissa Kendall, Kristi K. Dayemo, Matthew Haugen, Kira McDonald, Batul Hassan and Margaret Slattery explains how we can achieve Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining.

And there is some good news (at least, from our perspective and that of the communities with which we work). The Spanish Energy Ministry has upheld its refusal to authorize the construction of a uranium mine near the western city of Salamanca by London-listed Berkeley Energia. London-listed Antofagasta will not be able to move ahead with a potentially destructive mining project in Minnesota in the USA – at least, not for some years. In Alaska, Bristol Bay Tribes, communities, Alaska Native Corporations and organisations are celebrating the news that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised Clean Water Act protections that will stop the proposed Pebble Mine from being built at the headwaters of Bristol Bay – a project in which both Rio Tinto and Anglo American were previously involved and which we at LMN helped to fight. And in a South African law court, Anglo American is being held to account for alleged negligence at its former operations at Kabwe in Zambia. (Do take a look, too, at our 2022 report on Anglo American’s impacts in Latin America.) Resistance, and persistence, can have an effect!

All the best,

Richard Solly,

Co-ordinator, London Mining Network.

In this mailout

Take Action!

Adani toxic bonds

Don’t Bank On It!

Tell Probitas to drop Adani

Rishi Sunak: Don’t deregulate the banks

Make polluters pay for their climate damage

Take part in the Big Repair Project!

Events

UK screenings tour – FINITE the climate of change documentary film

An Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South

The Dialectics of Dependency

Resisting Monopoly Capitalism

Toxic bonds: fossil fuels, funding and fighting for our future (video of past event)

80 Days Unite for Justice outside the Royal Courts of Justice (video of past event)

News

1) Amadiba Frontline Community Defenders Face New Death Threat

2) The Brumadinho tailings dam collapse, four years on

3) Rio Tinto in Madagascar and the tailings dam summit

4) The GCM Resources AGM

5) HSBC and the destruction of a German village

6) The elephant in Adani’s room

7) Poisonous coal in Australia: Glencore and Adani

8) More news about Glencore

9) Mining turmoil in Peru (involves Glencore)

10) More news about Rio Tinto

11) News about BHP

12) The case against Anglo American at Kabwe

13) Anglo CEO warns extreme weather threatens global mine supplies

14) After years of effort Bristol Bay celebrates EPA’s historic action to stop Pebble

15) US blocks mining in parts of Minnesota, dealing blow to Antofagasta’s Twin Metals copper project

16) Spain sticks with decision to block Berkeley’s uranium mine

17) Opposing New Tin Mine Proposal at Historic Wheal Vor, Cornwall

18) Problems with the Bauxite-Alumina Industry in Jamaica

19) Renewable imperialism and destruction

20) Achieving Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining

21) Cartoon: Dawn of the ECT (Energy Charter Treaty)

22) How do UK trade agreements measure up on human rights?

23) Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Take Action!

Adani toxic bonds

In response to Adani’s financial and reputational meltdown, the Toxic Bonds network is ramping up the pressure on major Adani bondholders (investors) and bond underwriters (banks). A new microsite has been launched: Adanitoxicbonds.org! This website calls out Adani’s biggest bondholders and facilitators and their (lack of) commitments to deny new debt to Adani Group. Please share this site across your networks and on social media.

Don’t Bank On It!

The fossil fuel industry cannot exist without banks. Join the open letter to the CEOs of the UK’s Big 5 high street banks and tell them to stop financing fossil fuel expansion.

Tell Probitas to drop Adani

Lloyd’s of London insurer Probitas is insuring Indian company Adani’s Carmichael coal project in Australia. Coal Action Network is asking people across the world to send messages to Probitas.

Rishi Sunak: Don’t deregulate the banks

Many of the rules introduced after the 2008 financial crisis are set to be scrapped under Rishi Sunak’s plans for the City of London. He wants to remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses, compel financial regulators to turn a blind eye to future risk-taking, and remove rules brought in to stop bankers gambling on the price of food and energy. We need to stop this bonfire of banking rules and make finance work for people and planet, not the other way round. Please sign and share the petition now.

Make polluters pay for their climate damage

Big oil companies are making billions in profits while climate disasters devastate people around the world. Let’s make polluters pay for what they’ve done.

Take part in the Big Repair Project!

The UCL Plastic Waste Innovation Hub would like your help to better understand the factors affecting household maintenance and repair (carried out yourself or using professional services) of home appliances and electronics across the UK. Your participation will help develop ‘Right to Repair’ policy and support the UK towards meeting important environmental targets.

Events

UK screenings tour – FINITE the climate of change documentary film

Coal mine struggles in the UK and Germany have hit the headlines recently. We’re bringing the award winning FINITE: The Climate of Change featuring similar protest scenes, to a cinemas near you! The documentary follows resistance to coal mining in both countries. A tour of 28 dates has just been announced. 10 of the screenings are followed by a live audience Q&A with the film maker Rich Felgate and campaigners from Coal Action Network.

An Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South, Friday 10 February, 9am EST/2pm GMT

Launch of the Manifesto for an Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South, an important new call from the Global South for a real, clean, and equitable transformation away from fossil fuels, the trashing of nature, and the disproportionate consumption patterns of the wealthiest countries.

The Dialectics of Dependency Monday 13 March, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM GMT

The Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) is very pleased to be welcoming Amanda Latimer from Kingston University in the UK. As well as being a political economist, Amanda is one of the editors and translators of the recently published book, The Dialectics of Dependency, written by Ruy Mauro Marini, and published by Monthly Review Press. Amanda’s online talk will be given in English and is titled “The Dialectics of Dependency”. This online talk will be held live on Zoom and will consist of an approximately 40-minute talk, followed by a 40-minute Q&A.

Resisting Monopoly Capitalism, Saturday 25 March, 11:00 – 18:00 GMT

An activist conference examining extreme corporate power on a planet in crisis. Location: Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London WC1H. Join Global Justice Now and allies to discuss what monopoly capitalism is and look at the problems it poses to our food system, medicine production and communications, as well its implications for war and climate change. And we’ll look at how we bring these corporations to heel.

Toxic bonds: fossil fuels, funding and fighting for our future

Video of event held on Wednesday 1 February. In this online talk, Alice Delemare Tangpuori of the Sunrise Project gave an introduction to the bond market, explained why bonds are important for fossil fuel companies, and why campaigners need to turn their attention to the bond market in order to cut off finance for coal, oil and gas expansion. She presented the new Toxic Bonds initiative and shared campaign strategies and approaches for stopping ‘toxic bonds’.

80 Days Unite for Justice outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Video of event organised on Tuesday 31 January by XR, with speakers from LMN and other groups

News

1) Amadiba Frontline Community Defenders Face New Death Threat

For several years the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa has been at the forefront of community-based mobilisation to protect land and sea from the destruction of multinational capital. They now face a serious assassination plot that must be stopped

2) The Brumadinho tailings dam collapse, four years on

Remembering the Victims of the Brumadinho crime

On January 25, in front of the Brazilian Embassy, ​​we held an event to commemorate the victims of the Brumadinho crime. Together with the members of Brazil Matters and the London Mining Network, we held an emotional event where we read a poem about what happened in Brumadinho and also read all the names of the victims of the disaster. We come together to show our solidarity with the people of Brumadinho and tell the world that no one is forgotten.

Vale, Tüv Süd and 16 individuals named defendants in Brumadinho disaster

The Brazilian Federal Court has accepted the complaint filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) against 16 people and the companies Vale and Tüv Süd for the rupture of the Córrego do Feijão dam in Brumadinho. The disaster that occurred on January 25, 2019, left 270 people dead. Three remain missing.

3) Rio Tinto in Madagascar and the tailings dam summit

Campaigners urge investors to put an end to mine tailings dam failures

Faith groups and NGOs are urging mining giants such as Rio Tinto to comply with international mine tailings dam management standards in order to better protect communities from dam failures. They will lobby investors at today’s Mining 2030 Investor Agenda & Global Tailings Summit, which is being held on the fourth anniversary of the Brumandinho tailings dam disaster, which killed 270 people.

QMM mini in Madagascar falling short of Rio Tinto’s commitment to the GISTM (Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management)

LMN member group Andrew Lees Trust (ALT UK) participated at the Global Tailings Summit (GTS), hosted by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Church of England Pension Fund. The event was held over the fourth anniversary of the Brumadinho mine tailings dam disaster, which killed 272 people and left a legacy of social and environmental devastation.

4) The GCM Resources AGM

Statement on GCM Resources’ AGM, 18 January 2023

GCM Resources wants to extract 572 million tons of coal at Phulbari in Bangladesh. If it is allowed to proceed with its plans, up to 130,000 people would be displaced from their lands. Coal would be extracted for 30 years from Bangladesh’s only flood protected location.

Christian Climate Action protests at coal giant’s AGM

“We know that GCM is determined to build a huge coal mine in Bangladesh on agricultural land and the local people have made it clear that they don’t want GCM there.” Holly-Anna Petersen, 34, a mental health therapist and member of Christian Climate action (CCA), was speaking outside the London AGM on 18 January of GCM Resources, formerly Global Coal Management, which is planning to build a giant coal mine in Phulbari, Bangladesh.

GCM’s Annual General Fantasy

Full report from inside the GCM Resources AGM

5) HSBC and the destruction of a German village

HSBC’s secretive loan to a coal company bulldozing a village

HSBC made a secretive multimillion-dollar loan to an energy company that is bulldozing a village in western Germany to expand a huge coal mine, just three months after the bank pledged to stop funding coal.

The eviction of Lützerath: the village being destroyed for a coalmine – a photo essay

After Lützerath in Germany was emptied of its residents to make way for the Garzweiler coalmine, protesters occupied the deserted village while waiting for a showdown with the police. The photographer Ingmar Björn Nolting reports from the village that was to become the fortress of an energy company.

6) The elephant in Adani’s room

The status of a new elephant reserve in central India could determine whether dozens of coal projects go ahead. The biodiverse Hasdeo forests, home to tribal people such as the Gond, are threatened by a slurry of proposed coal mines. The forests are also home to the endangered Asian elephant, and the recently declared Lemru elephant reserve has put the coal industry, including the Adani Group, on notice. Adani sponsors a gallery in the Science Museum in London.

7) Poisonous coal in Australia: Glencore and Adani

With the war in Ukraine forcing Europe to seek alternatives to Russian fossil fuels, Australia is opening dozens of coal mines – and sacrificing its natural and cultural heritage in the process. Local authorities are invoking the consequences of the European war to get projects approved, despite the fact that behind the scenes it is the interests of Glencore and Adani that are ultimately at play.

8) More news about Glencore

Glencore sells Russian aluminium into LME storage, sources say

Commodity trader Glencore has delivered 40,000 tonnes of Russian aluminium to London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses in the South Korean port of Gwangyang, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Glencore joins world’s first battery passport pilot

Global miner and commodity trader Glencore has now become part of the world’s first battery passport proof of concept launched by the Global Battery Alliance.

Glencore’s Antapaccay copper mine attacked, fire breaks out

Glencore’s massive Antapaccay copper mine in Peru faced its latest disruption on Friday, as a fire spread through a nearby worker housing area which is believed to have been started by protesters, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Glencore reopens Peru copper mine with extra security

Glencore has resumed operations at its vast Antapaccay copper mine in Peru, which remained shut for 11 days on security concerns following violent attacks by locals.

9) Mining turmoil in Peru

Blockades impact directly on mining and tourism

With continuing blockades of the southern mining corridor, La República reports concerns for 14,000 direct and indirect jobs with mines in the area.

Peru and capitalist extraction–the imperial mining powers behind the throne

Forecasts based on company supplied information and reported by the Peruvian mining ministry, show that corporations from five countries are set to dominate foreign investment in mining in Peru. They are the UK, China, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Between them they will source 87% of all investment. Anglo American’s Quellaveco and Rio Tinto’s La Granja projects dominate and their production volumes will be huge, as are their profit expectations.

10) More news about Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto apologises for losing radioactive capsule in Australia

Mining giant Rio Tinto has apologised for losing a tiny radioactive capsule that went missing as it was being transported across Western Australia.

Search team finds Rio Tinto’s radioactive capsule lost in Australia

An Australian emergency services search team has found a tiny, but potentially deadly radioactive capsule belonging to Rio Tinto on the side of a highway in Western Australia’s north.

Simandou iron ore project to restart in March, Guinea says

Guinean authorities ordered work on Simandou to stop in July last year in a bid to force the shareholders – which include Rio Tinto, Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco), China Baowu Steel (Baowu) and Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) – to agree joint venture terms.

Mongolia calls on Rio Tinto to keep budget for giant copper mine in check

Mongolia has asked Rio Tinto, its partner in the huge Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in the Gobi desert, not to further increase its estimated $7.06 billion budget for the project’s expansion, its mining minister told Reuters.

11) News about BHP

Brazil okays BHP’s $6.6 billion acquisition of OZ Minerals

Brazilian regulators have cleared BHP’s intended acquisition of Australian copper-gold producer OZ Minerals or A$9.6 billion ($6.6bn), bringing the world’s no.1 miner closer to securing its biggest deal in more than a decade.

Brazil govt eyes compensation deal for 2015 Vale-BHP dam burst

Brazil’s government will try to reach a deal “as soon as possible” on compensation for the 2015 burst of a tailings dam owned by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said.

BHP strikes deal to look for copper in Serbia

BHP Group struck a deal to look for copper in Serbia as the world’s biggest mining company expands efforts to find new deposits of the metal essential for the green revolution.

Canada injects $75 million into BHP’s Jansen potash mine

The government of Canada is investing C$100 million ($75m) to support the development of BHP’s low-emissions Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, about 140 km east of Saskatoon.

12) The case against Anglo American at Kabwe

Zambia: Lawyers tell court how Anglo American knew of toxic fumes and dust that poisoning women and children which it ignored

Mining giant Anglo American knew toxic fumes and dust from a Zambian lead mine were poisoning local women and children but it failed to address the issue, lawyers have told a South African court. Lawyers for the plaintiffs made their case before a Johannesburg court that is to decide whether to give the go-ahead to a class-action lawsuit against the British firm’s South African subsidiary. The plaintiffs argue that tens of thousands of people living in Kabwe, a town 150km (95 miles) north of the Zambian capital, Lusaka, have suffered from lead poisoning, which can lead to brain damage and death.

Court told Anglo turned blind eye to Zambian lead poisoning

South Africa’s High Court was told that Anglo American Plc turned a “blind eye” to lead poisoning in the Zambian town of Kabwe, where it held a stake in a mine for almost 50 years.

13) Anglo CEO warns extreme weather threatens global mine supplies

Anglo American Plc warned that global commodity supplies will remain vulnerable to severe disruptions, including from extreme weather that’s having a growing impact on operations around the world.

14) After years of effort Bristol Bay celebrates EPA’s historic action to stop Pebble

Bristol Bay Tribes, communities, Alaska Native Corporations and organizations are celebrating the news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized 404(c) Clean Water Act protections that will stop the proposed Pebble Mine from being built at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.

15) US blocks mining in parts of Minnesota, dealing blow to Antofagasta’s Twin Metals copper project

The US Interior Department has blocked mining in part of northeast Minnesota for 20 years, the latest blow to Antofagasta Plc’s Twin Metals copper and nickel mining project but a step officials said is needed to protect the state’s vast network of interconnected waterways.

16) Spain sticks with decision to block Berkeley’s uranium mine

The Spanish Energy Ministry has upheld its refusal to authorize the construction of a uranium mine near the western city of Salamanca by London-listed Berkeley Energia, sending its shares down 16%.

17) Opposing New Tin Mine Proposal at Historic Wheal Vor, Cornwall

The proposal is to locate a new underground tin mine effectively beneath the hamlets of Carleen and Trew in the parish of Breage located in the west of Cornwall in the UK. The mining company known as Cornish Tin Ltd (CTL) have completed an initial exploratory phase of drilling bore holes under a General Permitted Development Order from Cornwall Council. They are expected to apply for two further phases of bore hole drilling.

18) Problems with the Bauxite-Alumina Industry in Jamaica

Bauxite or ‘red dirt’, the raw material used in the production of aluminium, has been extracted in Jamaica by open-cast mining since 1952. In the 1960s Jamaica was the leading producer in the world and the industry expanded over the years to include four large refineries which process most of the raw bauxite into alumina before it is exported.

19) Renewable imperialism and destruction

The risks of plundering the periodic table

A recent paper published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution estimates that humans are heading toward a situation where 80% of the resources we use are from non-biological sources.

E.D. Morel and the dangerous “blood cobalt” narrative

By using the language of “blood cobalt”, and deliberately echoing the work of Morel and others, some of today’s campaigners risk causing more harm than good.

Wanted – a common vision for mining clean-energy transition minerals in Africa

Zambian and other African nations’ minerals are crucial for a low-carbon world. But reform is essential if our people are to benefit from the wealth they will create.

Brumadinho’s legacy & How to deflate lithium

We may not need as much lithium as previously thought. Four years after the Brumadinho tailings disaster, industry proposes more industry solutions.

UK university, Bolivian government join forces to boost lithium industry

The University of Warwick and the Bolivian Government have joined forces to collaborate on lithium battery research with the goal of backing the South American country’s efforts to become a world leader in renewable energies and electric vehicles.

20) Achieving Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining

New report by Thea Riofrancos, Alissa Kendall, Kristi K. Dayemo, Matthew Haugen, Kira McDonald, Batul Hassan, Margaret Slattery

21) Cartoon: Dawn of the ECT

Energy Charter Treaty – either we kill this treaty, or the treaty will kill us. Easy pictorial guide to the ECT.

22) How do UK trade agreements measure up on human rights?

Business and Human Rights Resource Centre applied its human rights tests to the UK’s post-Brexit Free Trade Agreements, revealing significant gaps in human rights protections. This presents an opportunity for the UK to set a new trade strategy which promotes human rights.

23) Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

LMN member group Forest Peoples Programme has submitted a list of issues for consideration by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) during its review of the United Kingdom (UK). The submission highlights issues related to the protection of economic, cultural, and social rights beyond the State’s national borders, specifically relating to negative human rights impacts on indigenous and forest peoples, indigenous women, and human rights defenders.