The net result of the recent heated debate in Australia over whether mining companies should pay considerably more tax, led to the ousting of the prime minister after millions of dollars were subscribed to a high-profile advertising campaign by the big mining...
London-listed Toledo Mining Corporation Plc has signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s biggest nickel producer that should lead to a strategic alliance for the exploration, mining, processing and sale of nickel products from Toledo’s nickel...
Although to some extent the recent Court of Appeals decision is a defeat for the Western Shoshone (as it reversed an earlier stay on expansion by Barrick Gold of its major Cortez gold mine in Nevada), it is still part of ongoing legal actions. Also, although expansion...
Recently the European parliament called for an outright ban on the use of cyanide in gold processing (see http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10102). But the European Commission has rejected the demand, claiming that sufficient safeguards are in place to...
Amendment in Financial Reform legislation sets new global standard for corporate transparency When will UK follow suit? Communities living in resource-rich countries won a historic victory today when the U.S. Congress passed landmark transparency legislation as part...
A U.S. appeals court has rejected a $272.5 million class-action settlement between De Beers and purchasers of the company’s diamonds who said they were harmed by the company’s antitrust behaviour. The appeals court sent the settlement back to a lower court...
What is carbon trading for? Last year, thousands of people protested at the European Climate Exchange in London against carbon trading. The protest was part of the Camp for Climate Action that has also targeted coal mining, coal-fired power plants and the expansion of...
NETHERLANDS – Asset manager PGGM has withdrawn its investments in Indian mining company Vedanta Resources for “persistently ignoring” the environment and human rights. Despite a two-year dialogue concerning Vedanta’s mining activities in the state of...
There’s been a lot of recent speculation that Vedanta’s flagship bauxite mining project, at Nyamgiri in Orissa, is about to receive the clearance the company has been seeking for the past five years. Its hopes were boosted recently when the Indian prime...
London Calling examines dirty deals between China and Burma Rio Tinto has announced that it has now acquired an almost 30% stake in Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines – making it by far the company’s biggest backer. To date, Rio Tinto has invested over 1.7...
A nun running a rehabilitation centre in the Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville says the civil war changed attitudes to land and these now need to to be addressed. The war was fought because of the damge being done by the Panguna mine, run by a subsidiary of...
Australia, miners strike tax compromise The “super profits tax” has been discarded in favour of a resources rent tax that has been endorsed by key global miners including London-listed BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata. See...
