Locals are divided on proposals to extend mining at the Northern Territory site for another 20 years. Jobs are available – but Indigenous groups living downstream say it will poison their land.
Belonging to the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS), whose legal struggle for 12 long years led to the ouster of UK MNC Vedanta from Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills, Sikaka was arrested early on May 2 by security forces.
A subsidiary of Australian mining company Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC), known for its controversial attempts to mine mineral sands at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast, has sued two Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) attorneys for defamation, claiming R500 000 in damages. One of the major investors in MRC is UK property magnate Graham Edwards.
Europe’s biggest energy company, Italian multinational Enel, has suspended imports of coal from the Cesar mining region Colombia. One of the companies mining coal there is Glencore. The other is Drummond, a private US company with investments from, among others, HSBC.
Rössing Uranium, the world’s largest open pit uranium mine – which also happens to have been in operation for the longest period – is scheduled to cease operations in 2025. However, this does not mean Rio Tinto, the majority shareholder in Rössing Uranium, is done with Namibia. Rio Tinto is looking to a new investment in the mining sector, specifically mining copper in the two Kavango regions.
