An introduction to coal mining

London Mining Network has produced an introductory briefing on coal mining, dealing with its impacts on farming communities, Indigenous Peoples, water, air and human health. It calls for a just, planned transition away from coal and the creation of alternative...

BHP signs jumbo $45bn Potash bid loan

London-listed BHP Billiton is pursuing a bid to take over Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. The five underwriters — Banco Santander, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland — had stumped up $8,4 billion each, while TD...

Ocean exploration reaches perilous new depths

Plans to mine the deep sea bed aren’t anything new. Indeed, they have been around for at least as long as members of the United Nations have been tussling over who should “control” it. But now, as many terrestrial mineral deposits prove more...

Peruvian farmers protest Anglo American's fresh water plan

According to the newspaper, La República, residents are demanding that the Peruvian government force Anglo American to use sea water for its Quellaveco copper project – a move which would cost the UK company around US$200 million. At present the UK company is...

Xstrata's Tampakan mine criticised in Philippines

A fact-finding mission has uncovered further evidence that the Xstrata-operated Tampakan mine in the Philippines did not have the Free, Prior, Informed Consent of the affected B’laan communities. Despite this, and the recent provincial ordinance against open-pit...

Everything Vedanta touches turns to ashes!

Vedanta Resources plc is not just a major metals producer – it’s also well on the way to being one of India’s most important energy providers and power traders. If its grandiose plans are allowed to materialise the UK-listed company will soon rank as...

Toppling the Aluminium Goliath: Reflections on a landmark victory

The campaign is so startlingly global and diverse and multi-faceted that most campaigners don’t even know of the existence of most of the other campaigners. “Who are you people? Where do you come from?” a panic-stricken employee of Vedanta shrieked at us, as massive...

DR Congo nationalises one of its largest copper mines

Canadian and UK companies go head-to-head over deal The “spat” between two foreign mining outfits, over which  should control one of DR Congo’s most important copper lodes, has escalated – to the point that one of them is taking the other to...

Drummond aims for $6-8billion for Colombia mines

Potential buyers could include trading and mining giant Glencore, whose Prodeco Colombian operations are adjacent to Drummond’s, Xstrata, which is in Colombian coal joint venture Cerrejon with Anglo American and BHP Billiton, Vale and Rio Tinto. See...

'Incoherence' at World Bank as coal financing hits record high

World Bank funding for coal power stations has soared 40-fold over the last five years to hit a record high of $4.4 billion in 2010, new figures reveal. Bank lending to coal-fuelled power projects significantly exceeds its financing of new renewable energy and energy...