Latest bulletin

JANUARY 2019

Dear friends,

Last Friday 25 January, there was a catastrophic tailings dam burst at Brumadinho in Brazil, at an iron ore mine run by Brazilian multinational Vale. Although the environmental damage done seems to be much less than when the Fundao tailings dam burst in November 2015 at the Samarco iron ore mine (owned by Vale and London-listed BHP), the number of people killed is many times more than in the 2015 disaster. The area is still being searched but it looks as though the final death toll will be in the hundreds – many of them the company’s own workers. Government and companies seem to have ignored recommendations made in the light of earlier disasters. There have been very many articles published on this catastrophe, many of which we have shared on our twitter feed (those without twitter accounts can find links to twitter postings on our homepage). You will find a selection of them below, focusing on the links with the 2015 disaster involving BHP. LMN and our friends in the Churches and Mining Network issued statements about the event.

This disaster makes clear the dangers posed by faulty waste dam design and inadequate maintenance. LMN and others have lobbied for years for better standards and will continue to do so. This latest disaster has caused renewed problems for the BHP/Vale project at Samarco. Meanwhile, Anglo American have reopened their own iron ore operations in Brazil after a long halt caused by a waste spillage last year. Late last year, LMN submitted evidence to a UK Parliamentary inquiry into ‘Global Britain and South America’ drawing attention to the damage being done by London-listed mining companies in that continent.

Brumadinho is not the only recent disaster to have killed people working in the mining industry. Fourteen workers have recently lost their lives in a collapse at a tin mine run by British company Piran Resource in Rwanda, and the union blames the company.

Resistance to damaging mining projects continues around the world. African descent families from Roche in Colombia occupied part of the Cerrejon coal mine (owned by London-listed Anglo American, BHP and Glencore) in an attempt to restart meaningful negotiations over resettlement. LMN and member group Colombia Solidarity Campaign co-ordinated an international solidarity response. The Amadiba Crisis Committee on South Africa’s Wild Coast protested against the visit of the country’s mining minister, who is trying to pressure the community to accept a mine they do not want. Mining union AMCU are trying to prevent Sibanye Stillwater (which has the worst record for deaths of mine workers in South Africa) from taking over London-listed Lonmin (associated with the Marikana massacre of 2012). Campaigners in Armenia have stopped operations at London-listed Lydian’s gold mining operations (and we co-signed a letter about it to the Armenian Prime Minister). Farmers have blocked the operations of AngloGold Ashanti in Jericó, Colombia. A Spanish municipality has denied a permit to a uranium mining project by London-listed Berkeley Energia. The UK government is being urged to block new coal mining plans in Northumberland. A series of podcasts has been started celebrating women fighting to protect land and a storytelling event celebrating women’s resistance in India will be held on 21 February.

Legal challenges continue. Acacia Gold has been fined for environmental breaches in Tanzania. Law firm Leigh Day and Co have won an out of court settlement of human rights claims against London-listed Gemfields in Mozambique. An important case against Vedanta’s operations in Zambia has been heard in the Supreme Court in London.

There have also been surprise arrests in the UK. Friends from Christian Climate Action, Extinction Rebellion and Reclaim the Power were arrested for blocking entrance to GCM Resources’ AGM in London on 28 December. Our friend Cormac McAleer of Save Our Sperrins was arrested recently close to Dalradian’s Northern Ireland gold mine, against which Save Our Sperrins has been campaigning for years.

A way of organising the economy which demands extraction of minerals at the current scale is clearly hugely destructive and utterly unsustainable. LMN fully supports international campaigns for divestment from fossil fuels, including coal – but we also support communities opposing massive damage from the mining of minerals needed for renewable energy, and in any case there are not enough of these minerals to make a transition from one kind of consumption-heavy economy to another. We oppose the use of uranium because of the impossibility of making highly radioactive waste safe for the hundreds of thousands of years necessary. And we support our friends in the Deep Sea Mining Campaign working to prevent mining expanding into the world’s oceans. We urgently have to find ways of using less stuff, and sharing it out more justly.

All the best,
Richard Solly,
Co-ordinator, London Mining Network

In this mailout

Take Action!
Cambridge University, cut your ties with fossil fuel money and commit to divestment now!
Stop ISDS
Drop the false charges against Fr Stan Swamy immediately!

Events
If the trees could speak – Epic Struggles in the Dandaka Forest

News
1) The latest mining waste catastrophe in Brazil and its relation to the Samarco disaster in 2015
2) African descent families occupy Cerrejon mine in Colombia to demand their rights
3) News about the Xolobeni project in South Africa
4) Vedanta in the news
5) Sibanye-Stillwater undeterred by Amcu appeal
6) News about London-listed Lydian’s Amulsar gold mine in Armenia
7) The GCM Resources AGM, 28 December
8) News about Anglo American
9) LMN’s submission to UK Parliamentary inquiry on Global Britain and South America
10) Statement by Leigh Day in relation to the settlement of the human rights claims against Gemfields Ltd
11) Farmers block operations of Anglo Gold Ashanti in Jericó, Colombia
12) Rwanda: Trade Union claims mine disaster was “preventable”
13) Rio Tinto in the news
14) Bills for BHP
15) Glencore tightens grip on Congo mining unit as scrutiny sharpens
16) Acacia, Barrick and Randgold
17) Spanish village denies building permit to Berkeley Energia uranium project
18) Sperrins gold mine: Campaigner ‘shocked’ by arrest
19) Minister urged to drop new coal-mining plans in Northumberland
20) Cornish secures further funding to build lithium mine in UK
21) Big problems with mining for renewable energy
22) Nuclear sunset overtakes fading dreams
23) No bank roll for deep sea mining experiment: Nautilus kept on life support but for how long?
24) Voices of Women Fighting for the Land

Take Action!

Cambridge University, cut your ties with fossil fuel money and commit to divestment now!

A Guardian investigation revealed that a member of the university’s divestment working group was simultaneously the lead contact for a combined donation of £22 million from BHP Billiton and BP. The Vice-Chair of the working group was aware of these donations, yet they were not disclosed to the group or declared as a conflict of interest.

Stop ISDS: Rights for people, rules for corporations

To the President of the European Commission, the presidency of the EU Council, representatives of EU Member States and Members of the European Parliament. Add your name to the European Initiative.

Drop the false charges against Fr Stan Swamy immediately!

Fr Stan is a friend of people within LMN who have been working on mining in India for many years. We stand together strongly to condemn the false allegations and defamatory charges against Fr Stan by the Pune police, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA). These charges frame him in the Bhima Koregaon case,  call him an “urban naxalite”, and accuse him of plotting the assassination of the Prime Minister. They are patently false and defamatory. Please sign the petition.

Events

If the trees could speak – Epic Struggles in the Dandaka Forest

Storytelling event involving Kerima Mohideen of LMN and India Matters UK.
Thursday, 21 February 2019 from 19:00-21:00
Waterloo Action Centre
14 Baylis Road, SE1

News

1) The latest mining waste catastrophe in Brazil and its relation to the Samarco disaster in 2015

London Mining Network comment on mining waste disaster in Brazil and statement from Churches and Mining Network

The catastrophic spill from Brazilian company Vale’s Brumadinho mining waste dam in Minas Gerais state is the second massive waste dam collapse in Brazil in recent years. The last one was at Mariana, in the same state, in November 2015, at the Samarco iron ore mine owned by Vale and London-listed mining company BHP.

‘The river is dying’: the vast ecological cost of Brazil’s mining disasters 

The Brazilian government has pledged to ease environmental licensing regulations just days after the deadliest mining disaster in decades prompted calls for tougher controls and stricter punishments for ecological crimes.

From Mariana to Brumadinho: the mining victims the world forgets

Brazil’s 2015 dam disaster should have been a wake-up call to the world, but its survivors already feel overlooked by governments and big business.

Brazil dam victims: ‘The tragedy does not end when the mud stops running’

After another dam collapse in Brazil, affected communities ask why lessons were not learned, and demand justice for the victims.

Brumadinho dam collapse: lessons in corporate due diligence and remedy for harm done

This latest disaster comes just over three years since the Samarco dam – in the same state and also owned by Vale, along with BHP Billiton – collapsed killing 19 people and displacing hundreds.

‘Brazil learned nothing’: Another deadly dam collapse raises questions about Bolsonaro’s plans to expand mining

In November 2015, Brazil experienced a deadly dam collapse at the Samarco mine in Mariana. Nothing was done. Three-and-a-half years later, after another deadly dam collapse, questions remain around regulations for the mining industry

Samarco unveils restructuring talks as Vale spill hits bonds

Samarco Mineracao SA, the Brazilian mining venture that caused an environmental catastrophe in 2015, disclosed that it has been is in advanced debt restructuring talks just days after its co-owner Vale SA suffered a similar dam rupture that has killed at least 65 people. The distressed joint venture owned by Vale and BHP Group Ltd. had reached a preliminary deal with creditors to restructure its debt by issuing new notes, according to documents Samarco disclosed on Monday night. Samarco bonds have tanked since January 25 on concerns that Brazil’s latest mining disaster will delay or even derail Samarco’s own restart.

2) African descent families occupy Cerrejon mine in Colombia to demand their rights

On Wednesday, 16 January 2019, 50 people from the community of Roche staged a non-violent occupation of part of the vast Cerrejon coal mine – owned by London-listed multinationals Anglo American, BHP and Glencore – to demand respect for their rights as people of African descent and to pressure the Cerrejon Coal company into good-faith negotiations over a range of issues. Organisations and individuals from Europe and North America issued a declaration, drafted by London Mining Network and Colombia Solidarity Campaign, in solidarity with the community. The company responded soon afterwards.

3) News about the Xolobeni project in South Africa

Australian mining company MRC wants to excavate mineral sands in Amadibaland on South Africa’s Wild Coast. There is strong resistance to the project. A major investor in MRC has been UK businessman Graham Edwards.

Xolobeni digs in its heels against miners’ habitual profiteering

Community opts to live off the land rather than succumb to the lure of underground riches as it fears the contamination of water, soil, air and pastures

Mantashe in Xolobeni: A master-class in coercive dissembling

It was always going to be a day when the truth got taught a lesson. For weeks, local and international human rights groups had been prevailing on mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe not to return to Xolobeni, where residents had won a landmark court battle to keep mining off their land. He went anyway and chaos erupted. But did he win?

Minister Mantashe’s meeting with the Xolobeni community: Richard Spoor

Tensions rose. And so did chairs, stun grenades and teargas in the embattled rural and coastal town of Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape.

Mining will not bring jobs to Xolobeni

Through farming, many Amadiba coastal residents are not just surviving, but flourishing. Together with greater potential for integration with ecological integrity, this is the kind of work that should be supported in a climate change world. But the Amadiba are advancing agriculture and eco-tourism with virtually no state support or infrastructure.

Xolobeni meeting collapses

A meeting between the Mineral Resources Minister and the Xolobeni community in the Eastern Cape collapsed into chaos.

Amnesty International’s Kumi Naidoo on climate change, populism and Xolobeni

Speaking to Daily Maverick from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kumi Naidoo, head of Amnesty International, didn’t hold back. The discussion was anchored in climate change but took in the related issues of inequality, populist politics and the cognitive dissonance of the super-rich. In terms of world leaders, Brazil’s Jair Bolsanaro came in for a special rollicking. It was the issue of Xolobeni in South Africa, however, that got Naidoo properly worked up.

South Africa: mining betrays communities

ActionAid South Africa is soon to launch a new study which trounces the idea that mining enhances the lives of community members.

4) Vedanta in the news

Supreme Court hears landmark jurisdiction case against Vedanta

The latest hearing in the case of the Zambian communities consistently polluted by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a subsidiary of British miner Vedanta, was heard at the British Supreme Court on 15th and 16th January 2019. A vigil organised by solidarity organisation Foil Vedanta took place outside the court throughout the event in solidarity with the victims of ongoing pollution who have been fighting legal battles for justice in Zambia, and now the UK, for twelve years.

Can Zambian claimants get justice in the UK Supreme Court?

Detailed report from Foil Vedanta on the Supreme Court appeal hearing in the case Lungowe vs Vedanta, 15 – 16 January 2019.

UK Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case on Corporate Rights Violations

The legal question of whether the parent company can be held accountable under civil law for human rights violations and environmental harm caused by its subsidiary is what the Supreme Court judges need to decide.

Submission by CORE and ICJ to the Supreme Court

CORE (the Corporate Responsibility Coalition) and ICJ (the International Commission of Jurists) provided evidence to the Court on comparative law and international standards regarding parent companies’ duty of care in relation to communities living around corporate operations.

Vedanta’s Zambia unit says new tax regime won’t affect jobs

Vedanta Ltd.’s Zambian unit will press ahead with expansion plans even as the government of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer increased mining royalties, and has undertaken not to fire any workers.

Sterlite inaugurates schemes worth Rs 100 crores as promised to NGT

Vedanta’s subsidiary, Sterlite, has adopted arguably the crudest form of company “greenwash”. It’s attempting to pacify thousands of citizens, thirteen of whom were shot dead by police in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), while many others protested against numous maladies caused  by the company’s highly polluting copper smelter.

5) Sibanye-Stillwater undeterred by Amcu appeal

Sibanye-Stillwater (which has the worst mining safety record in South Africa) and Lonmin (the London-listed platinum mining company associated with the 2012 Marikana massacre) have agreed to extend takeover longstop date to June 30.

6) News about London-listed Lydian’s Amulsar gold mine in Armenia

New reports add details to investigation of Armenia gold mine

The Amulsar mine is situated near Jermuk, a resort town two hours southeast from the capital made famous for its natural beauty, hot springs and health spas. Locals have long contended that the gold mine, which has already caused dust pollution and would use cyanide leaching technology to separate the concentrate from the ore, poses a serious threat to tourism in Armenia’s ‘little Switzerland’ and could be detrimental to Armenia’s water resources, such as Arpa river and lake Sevan.

Armenia’s activists oppose a controversial gold mine

Armenia’s Velvet Revolution inspired a new wave of activists to oppose a gold mine they say will damage their environment and livelihoods. Where did the protests come from?

International CSOs letter regarding Amulsar mine

LMN and other civil society groups stand in solidarity with the residents of Jermuk, Gndevaz and Kechut, and with the environmental activists and concerned civil society in Armenia and appeal to the Government of Armenia to act on the Amulsar mine project for the benefit of people and environment.

7) The GCM Resources AGM, 28 December

The sound and the fury: yet another GCM AGM

I suspect that GCM Resources management thought that if they held their AGM on 28 December, deep in the heart of the Christmas-New Year break, protesters would stay away and they could have a quiet time. How wrong they were!

London Protesters Disrupted GCM’s AGM

Activists Blocked the Front Entrance of the AGM for Four Hours

Stop the Coal Burglers

Bangladeshi community and transnational campaigners against the development of coal mines in the Phulbari region of Bangladesh are protesting at the annual meeting of London based company GCM resources. The coal company plan to start mining in Phulbari and build a 6000 MW power plant.

Environmental activists confront coal-mining executives at shareholders’ meeting in London

Extinction Rebellion and Reclaim the Power join Phulbari Solidarity’s protest against GCM Resources’ plans to build an open cast mine in north-west Bangladesh

8) News about Anglo American

Eight months and millions later, Anglo American restarts Minas Rio mine

Global miner Anglo American has resumed operations at its giant Minas Rio iron ore mine in Brazil after eight months of closure following the discovery of a leak in a pipeline that carries ore to a port in Rio de Janeiro for export.

Foley Hoag wins arbitration for Venezuela, obtaining dismissal of $400M claim

Foley Hoag LLP secured a complete victory for Venezuela against mining conglomerate Anglo American, defeating the multinational company’s claim of more than $400 million in an investment arbitration under the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Additional Facility Rules.

9) LMN’s submission to UK Parliamentary inquiry on Global Britain and South America

The House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs is holding an inquiry on Global Britain and South America. Written evidence has been submitted by a number of organisations including London Mining Network.

10) Statement by Leigh Day in relation to the settlement of the human rights claims against Gemfields Ltd

Leigh Day represents 273 Mozambicans who allege that they, or their relatives, were the victims of serious human rights abuses at or around Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada’s (MRM’s) mine in northern Mozambique (a joint venture in which Gemfields is the majority stakeholder).

11) Farmers block operations of Anglo Gold Ashanti in Jericó, Colombia

Hundreds of famers in Jericó, Antioquia, feel disrespected because of the exploratory mining activities undertaken in their territory by the company Anglogold Ashanti, in spite of the municipal agreement, achieved by local movements, which prohibits these activities, signed last year.

12) Rwanda: Trade Union claims mine disaster was “preventable”

The announcement of a “hill” collapsing on a Rwandan tin mine, killing 14 women and men, appears to under-estimate the true circumstances. As news of the disaster reverberates through the country, one labour union has now blamed the tragic event on the British company owning the mine .

13) Rio Tinto in the news

With its $3.85b mine takeover, Indonesia inherits a $13b pollution problem

Mines and Communities network point out  that responsibility for these egregious impacts primarily rests with Freeport Mcmoran of the USA, and British company Rio Tinto, its 40% joint venture partner. Surely they cannot be allowed to quit the nightmarish scene, without answering for their key roles in creating and perpetuating it?

Rio Tinto: the long road to transparency

Indigenous communities in Madagascar fear water essential to life is becoming contaminated by the nearby ilmenite mine.

14) Bills for BHP

BP and BHP offered Cambridge University millions despite calls to divest

Investments not the only financial link between fossil fuels and elite university.

BHP hit with $59 million tax bill on Singapore profits

The world’s largest miner, BHP, is considering whether to appeal an Australian Federal Court’s decision related to income derived from its Singapore-based marketing unit, which has left the company with an A$82 million ($59m) tax bill.

Runaway train wreck, copper outages cost BHP $600 million

World’s No.1 miner, London-listed BHP, revealed the hefty financial burden caused by three separate incidents that affected its iron ore and copper operations in the October-December 2018 quarter.

15) Glencore tightens grip on Congo mining unit as scrutiny sharpens

Glencore announced its plan to take greater control of Katanga last month when Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission fined and banned executives from the company, including billionaire former head of copper trading Aristotelis Mistakidis, after the unit misstated how much copper and cobalt it mined.

16) Acacia, Barrick and Randgold

Acacia Mining fined over alleged environmental breach in Tanzania

London-listed Acacia Mining, the Tanzanian gold producer controlled by Canada’s Barrick Gold, is dealing with an ongoing dispute with the country’s administration. It received a fresh blow from the government, which fined the miner 300 million Tanzanian shillings (about $129,144) over allegations of breaching environmental rules by its North Mara operation.

Barrick Gold’s invidious merger with Randgold

A major recent act of mining industry re-organisation has just taken place. It’s one with enormous potential implications, but it seems to have passed-by observers and critics without much notice or adequate scrutiny. This is the merger between Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, and Randgold, a London-based outfit which had independently chalked up a reputation for relatively high due diligence in its operations, mainly in Africa.

17) Spanish village denies building permit to Berkeley Energia uranium project

A Spanish village has denied London-listed Berkeley Energia a permit to build Europe’s only open-cast uranium mine near Salamanca in western Spain, casting renewed doubt over the Australia-based company’s sole project.

18) Sperrins gold mine: Campaigner ‘shocked’ by arrest

A campaigner detained near a controversial gold mine in County Tyrone has said he was “shocked and startled” by his arrest. Cormac McAleer is a member of the Save Our Sperrins campaign group.

19) Minister urged to drop new coal-mining plans in Northumberland

Druridge Bay project makes mockery of UK’s goal to phase out coal by 2025, say critics

20) Cornish secures further funding to build lithium mine in UK

Cornish Lithium, a start-up hoping to lead the development of an industry for the battery metal in the UK, has secured a further £1 million (about $1.3 million) from its existing investors, which will allow the firm to expand its ongoing drilling work in the ancient mining region of Cornwall, in south-west England.

21) Big problems with mining for renewable energy

Global energy transition powers surge in demand for metals

Copper is just one of the base metals needed for things like wind turbines and electric cars, and it’s one of the metals for which there is no good substitute. Substantial amounts of iron and metallurgical coal are also needed to make the steel that goes into wind turbines and cars.

We Don’t Mine Enough Rare Earth Metals to Replace Fossil Fuels With Renewable Energy

Rare earth metals are used in solar panels and wind turbines—as well as electric cars and consumer electronics. We don’t recycle them, and there’s not enough to meet growing demand.

22) Nuclear sunset overtakes fading dreams

As atomic energy gets ever more difficult to afford and renewables become steadily cheaper, a nuclear sunset awaits plans for new plants.

23) No bank roll for deep sea mining experiment: Nautilus kept on life support but for how long?

It looks like 2019 will herald the end of Nautilus’s long struggle with its Solwara 1 deep sea prospect in Papua New Guinea.

24) Voices of Women Fighting for the Land 

The first episode of Voices of Women Fighting for the Land is now available online! Forty indigenous women, land workers, defenders of life and land from diverse regions of the world came together in Canada in April 2018. They shared experiences and strategies to resist destruction of nature and ancestral culture caused by resource extraction companies. The result of this meeting is presented to you through this podcast series. Each episode will delve deeper into a different aspect of their current fight against megaprojects. Stay tuned at http://www.cdhal.org/baladodiffusion/.