This must count as one of the strangest government permissions of all time, but as London-listed nickel mining Talvivaara struggles with bankruptcy, brought about primarily because of toxic leaks of their mine waste, the Finnish Governent have issued them a permit to extract uranium too.
The fight over the Conga mining project is one of Peru’s largest current social conflicts. Today, the local population continues resisting the imposition of one of Latin America`s largest gold mining projects – Minas Conga. The situation remains tense, and the resistance continues, but with an intensified sense of urgency because as the battles are won and lost, many feel that the conflict is nearing its conclusion. The project is controlled by Newmont, a US company with British investment: among investors in Newmont are UK-based Blackrock World Mining Trust and AXA Investment Managers UK.
The fight over the Conga mining project is one of Peru’s largest current social conflicts. Today, the local population continues resisting the imposition of one of Latin America`s largest gold mining projects – Minas Conga. The situation remains tense, and the resistance continues, but with an intensified sense of urgency because as the battles are won and lost, many feel that the conflict is nearing its conclusion. The project is controlled by Newmont, a US company with British investment: among investors in Newmont are UK-based Blackrock World Mining Trust and AXA Investment Managers UK.
A video released by activists from Foil Vedanta today, shows Vedanta boss, and 69% owner, Anil Agarwal, telling a large audience how he bought Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia for just $25 million, rather than the $400 million asking price, and receiving loud cheers when he states that the company brings in $500 million in profit each year.
Multinational corporations are infamous for pushing native people off their land in order to open a new gold mine, extract oil, or otherwise extract local resources. For decades, backlash has been thought to be both limited and ineffectual, but new evidence suggests that protests from local people are effective, extremely costly for the companies, and often lead to substantive changes to or total abandonment of a project.
