The Bougainville Mining Lease cannot be reviewed, despite its recent expiration, because of an automatic 21-year extension clause under the Bougainville Agreement. Such is the case facing the once prolific world copper producer but the Government will be working with...
Cerrejon Coal, a joint venture of London-listed Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, has adopted a human rights policy. It remains to be seen how closely the company will live up to it. If it does so, communities around the mine would benefit. See...
A lawyer for hundreds of former South African gold miners has accused their ex-employers of failing to provide access to regular check-ups for silicosis, an incurable lung disease caused by inhaling dust. Richard Meeran of London law firm Leigh Day said thousands of...
It should have been shut down nearly a year ago. But, despite an order by the Madras High Court, UK-listed Vedanta Resources has been allowed to continue operating its highly-polluting Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) copper smelter in Tamil Nadu. On 17 August 2011, according...
A massive Malaysian conglomerate, headed by the chief minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud (“Taib”), is now being investigated by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission. Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), which is controlled by Taib and his family, face...
Thousands of people face evacuation from greater Johannesburg in the Gauteng province – the economic heartland of South Africa – due to toxic sludge from abandoned gold mines laced with high radiation levels. See...
