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Indian Government says Odisha's reading of verdict on Vedanta's Niyamgiri project incorrect
The Indian Government has told the Odisha government that it cannot take short cuts on the Supreme Court's order to hold village meetings on Vedanta Aluminium's proposed bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills. The state government had told the tribal affairs ministry...
India: Vedanta resumes operations at Tuticorin smelter
Vedanta subsidiary Sterlite Copper's smelter unit in Tuticorin has resumed operations after the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) expert panel gave a green signal. The panel members conducted its second phase of inspection recently and checked if the pollution...
Communities mark anniversary of killings of protestors in struggle against Conga mining project in Peru
The people of Cajamarca, Peru are fighting off what would be the second largest gold mining project in South America – Minas Conga. The project is majority owned by the giant American Newmont Mining Corporation, and 5% owned by the World Bank’s International Finance...
Fine for Antamina toxic mining spill 'too low'
Copper producer Antamina has been fined for a toxic spill that left hundreds needing medical treatment. Critics have condemned the US$77,000 penalty as extremely low by international standards. Antamina is the world’s third largest copper producer, owned by...
Philippines: Human rights project at Tampakan questions the project's future
European NGOs have released a human rights impact assessment on Glencore Xstrata's Tampakan project. It stresses that the company has shown "insufficient respect for the rights of the affected population". As one representative notes, "a mix of government failure, a...
Nautilus Questioned on Economic Viability and Environmental Risks of Deep Sea Mining
Deep sea miner Nautilus Minerals held its shareholder meeting last week in Toronto, Canada and was questioned by concerned citizens from Papua New Guinea, Canada and Australia about the viability and environmental risks of the company’s controversial plan to build the...
Oxford Becomes Europe’s First ‘Tar-Free City’ and other tarsands news
Oxford City Council declared itself a ‘Tar-Free City‘ by voting in favour of a motion (see below) tabled by Green Party councillor Sam Hollick. This makes Oxford the first city in Europe to reject the use of highly-polluting tar sands oil, by adjusting the policies...
Rio Tinto set to dump Mozambique coal: reports
Rio Tinto has backflipped on plans to retain its troubled Mozambique coalmines and is seeking to sell part or all of the assets amid growing political turmoil in the region and the need to develop a long-term infrastructure solution. Rio has met with a number of...
Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper mine raises water worries in Mongolia’s Gobi desert
The lump of copper ore beneath the brown scrub and sand of Mongolia’s Gobi desert is about the size of Manhattan and contains enough of the metal to meet world demand for two years. Rio Tinto recently postponed the scheduled first shipment from the US$6.6-billion...
Indonesian government clears Grasberg mine to reopen
Mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia will resume operations in its open-pit with government permission after being idle for more than a month following a fatal tunnel collapse. The investigators, however, are yet to allow the company to restart underground operations. A...