18/04/09

Mining – India 1
1. Mining at all cost 1
2. Political symptoms 2
3. Yours privately Alok Kumar Gupta 4
4. Nalco mines may resume operations on April 19 6
5. Cleaning Up Coal 7
6. Follow rule of land for uranium mining outside India: AEC 9
7. HC directs govt to provide more water to Shirgao for zatra 10
Mining – International 11
8. Australian firm opens uranium mine in Malawi 11
9. Liberia clears TATA Steel plan for bidding for iron project 12
10. Sustainable livelihoods introduced in mining communities 12
11. Coal mining can benefit communities 13
12. Angola sees pickup in diamond mining 14
13. Mining board to recognize 6 for environmental efforts 15
14. Miners lose bid to stop tribal salmon fishing 16
Other News – India 16
15. Tribal art of living 16
16. Erratic impacts of climate change found in cultivation in Nepal 18
17. ADB to raise lending by $10 B in the next 2 years 19
18. Asia Society calls for strategy to avert water crisis 20

Mining – India

Mining at all cost
Where is the will to find out what is best for the people and the economy?

MINING in India is frequently in the news these days. There has hardly been an issue of this magazine lately where an article on mining was not printed. The headlines are predictable by now: mining destroys forests; mining pollutes rivers; people are evicted to allow mining; mining encroaches on wildlife habitat; police file cases against people protesting mining; fight breaks out between the community and the mining company during public hearing; government colludes with mining companies to divert ecologically sensitive area. The list is endless. The crux of all these stories is same. The government is mindlessly allowing mining and communities are not willing to take it lying down. Sindhudurg is no different.

In 1997, the district was declared an ecologically fragile region by the Maharashtra government. The area is known for its natural beauty, beaches, backwaters, waterfalls, mountains and forests. It is also famous for Alphonso mangoes and cashew, on which the area’s economy depends. But the Maharashtra government has come to realize this area also has iron ore. It therefore withdrew Sindhudurg’s ecologically fragile status early this year and allowed mining and construction of power plants. With mines in neighbouring Goa excavated hollow and large deposits of iron ore still to be tapped in Sindhudurg, mining companies have moved in.

The government is happy, but the people are not. This is a prosperous district with more than 80 per cent literacy rate. More than 90 per cent people live in rural areas; most of the land is held by small and marginal farmers. They don’t want mining to destroy their land, water, forests and environment. But the government is not listening; it is more interested in making deals with mining companies.

Just because there are minerals underground, does it have to be mined at all cost? Aren’t there better and ecologically sustainable ways to boost the economy? Sindhudurg is most suited for tourism, agriculture and horticulture, which will be completely destroyed if large-scale mining is allowed and this Maharashtra must know from the experience in Goa. Mining has wrought havoc there.

The fact of the matter is no clearance mechanism for mines demands a cost-benefit analysis to see whether mining is the best option for a particular region. Until there is a mechanism to explore what is socially and economically the best choice, India will continue to mine mindlessly.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090430&filename=led&sec_id=3&sid=1


Political symptoms
Ashutosh Mishra


Few states illustrate the socio-economic faultlines of India like Orissa—rich in natural resources but with half its population living below the poverty line. The old economy of fishers and farmers faces a new economy of extraction, dominated by the mining industry. Pitched battles have clear political overtones. As the state goes to the polls, Ashutosh Mishra visited a few zones of conflict


Hirakud farmers v industry

IN Bargarh district of western Orissa, Lingaraj is known for organizing farmers against an increasing diversion of the Hirakud water to industry.
In 2007 and 2008 he played a key role in demonstrations at the reservoir in Sambalpur, which forced chief minister Naveen Patnaik to announce that industrial units will not be provided water from it at the cost of irrigation. But he does not take Patnaik at his word. Lingaraj has thrown his hat in the election ring by contesting the Bargarh assembly seat. “Hirakud is a priority and the election is an opportunity to bring it into public focus,” said the 48-year-old. About 300,000 farmers depend on the Hirakud dam for irrigation.

While the ruling Biju Janata Dal (bjd) has not taken a stand on diversion of water, the bjp and the Congress are supporting the farmers.


Fishers v conservation

WE have been fishing in the coastal waters since generations but the government has now imposed restrictions in the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and in the Devi and Rishikulya river mouths in the name of turtle conservation. How can we survive?” asked Narayan Haldar, the president of the Orissa Traditional Fishworkers’ Union. Haldar said the fishing community in Kendrapara would vote for only those who are sympathetic to its cause. “We are also asking parties to incorporate in their manifestoes our demand for withdrawal of the 2008 Coastal Management Zone notification which threatens to shrink space for the community on the coast by allowing industries there,” said K Aleya, the general secretary of the union.

No party has included the fishers’ demands in its manifesto. State bjp president Suresh Pujari said the demands will be considered sympathetically if the party won. bjd general secretary Narendra Swain said the government was already trying to strike a balance between conservation and fishing.


Indira Sagar dam v villagers

IN the southern district of Malkangiri people threatened by the Indira Sagar Multi-purpose Project dam on the Godavari want parties to stop the project. The dam in Andhra Pradesh will inundate 28 villages in Mottu and Pasuguda panchayats of Malkangiri. “The Orissa government has filed a case in the Supreme Court but we want it to take up the matter at the political level as well,” said Ramesh Majumdar, the convenor of people’s group Malkangiri Visthapit Jan Suraksha Manch. A Rabi Kumar, a Manch activist in Mottu, said people can go to the extent of boycotting polls. “It’s a question of life and death for us. We are holding meetings to build public opinion against the dam,” Kumar added. The bjp and the bjd said they would fight the project.


Mining v tribals

Dongria Kondhs of Kalahandi district, close to Bargarh, are determined to prevent bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills they revere. “Our vote will go to those who promise to save Niyamgiri with sincerity,” said Sishir Pujari of Green Kalahandi, the organization spearheading the agitation against the mining company, Vedanta Alumina.
Orissa’s protest map
That parties must not ignore



View image

Former member of Parliament and Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das, who has been in the thick of the agitation, said, “I and my party remain committed to saving Niyamgiri.” The bjp’s stand is: the ecology of Niyamgiri and tribals’ means of living must be protected. bjd’s Swain, however, said, “Our party is for industrialization, though we have maintained it should be done with minimum damage to the environment.”

In Jagatsinghpur in the east, posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti is motivating people to pressure parties to scrap posco’s steel plant near Paradeep. The Samiti says the project will destroy the region’s betel- and coconut-based economy. “The people must ensure that driving posco out becomes the top political agenda,” said Samiti secretary S Mohapatra. On the cpi — whose leader Abhay Sahu was spearheading the agitation until his arrest — making an electoral pact with pro-project bjd, Mohapatra said, “Abhay Babu was leading us not in his capacity as a cpi leader but as someone who felt our cause is just.”
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090430&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=1


Yours privately Alok Kumar Gupta

ARVIND SHARMA
The coveted hills of Ghatkuri
How Jharkhand misled the Supreme Court into allotting a mine reserved for PSUs to private firms

The Ghatkuri mine in West Singhbhum district, containing high grade iron ore worth crores of rupees, has always tempted private mining companies. But they could not lay their hands on it because it is reserved for public sector undertakings (psus) to prevent monopoly or cartelization in the steel industry. The mining sector and officials were stumped when the Jharkhand government in December recommended to the Centre that the mine be leased to six private firms.

The state government was acting on the Supreme Court’s directions.
But there is a twist in the tale: the court’s order followed an affidavit the state government submitted. It did not tell the court the mine is reserved. “The Supreme Court was used as an instrument to legalize the allotment process,” alleged Saryu Rai, bjp mla from Jamshedpur West.

Spread over 2,590 hectares, Ghatkuri was kept aside for psus by the Bihar government in 1962 through a notification. In 2006, after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, the state mining department invited tenders for mining in the area. Of 150 applicants, it recommended nine private companies to the Centre for mining leases.

Government rules require the department assess the quality and quantity of ore before inviting tenders, as also the state cabinet set the lease terms. The department, however, did not take the matter to the cabinet. Nor did it assess the ore. Then, the same year, it issued a notification saying the mine was reserved and would not be allotted to private players. The department also withdrew its recommendations to the Centre, saying it was a mistake to make them in the first place.
The mine goes to...
• Ispat Industries
• Abhijeet Infrastructure
• Monnet Ispat
• Jharkhand Ispat
• Prakash Ispat
• The coveted hills of Ghatkuri
• Adhunik Alloys and Power
Six of the nine companies, though, were not willing to take it quietly (see: The mine goes to...). They moved the Jharkhand High Court against the state government in 2007. The United Progressive Alliance government, led by Independent mla Madhu Koda, argued that the Ghatkuri mine is reserved for psus. In December 2007, the court quashed the petitions.

The companies appealed the decision in the Supreme Court in January 2008, arguing the 2006 annulment by the state was illegal. The Jharkhand government’s response in the Supreme Court was different from its submission in the high court: it excluded both the 1962 notification of the Bihar government and its own 2006 notification.

The Supreme Court’s interim order of August 2008 said the companies “should file an affidavit declaring the area they need in the Ghatkuri mine and their investment plans within two weeks”. It asked the state government, the Centre and the companies to find a solution.

Mines secretaries and directors of mines of the state and the Centre sat down in a meeting on October 8 in Delhi. The six companies demanded a certain amount of iron ore, a source from the state mining department told Down To Earth. The Jharkhand mining department said it was willing to allot the Ghatkuri mine on the basis of the companies’ demands.

Jharkhand’s mining policy requires that iron-ore mines be allotted to companies having a steel plant in the state. Only one of the six companies, Adhunik Alloys, has a steel plant in Jharkhand. The officials did not ask the companies why they needed the amount of ore they had demanded because there is a loophole in the policy. If a firm signs an agreement with the state for setting up a steel plant it can be allotted a mine.
That's what the other five did. The policy is not clear on whether mining will start first or the steel plant.

After the meeting , the Jharkhand government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court declaring it was willing to give operating licences to the six firms. The court passed another interim order in December that the Jharkhand government should recommend the six firms to the Centre within five weeks.

By this time Shibu Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had replaced Koda as the head of the government. Soren directed the mining department, in a letter on November 17, to ask two of the companies to set up industrial units in Jharkhand if they wanted mining leases. The companies were Monnet Ispat and Prakash Ispat. The letter also stated, “Abhijeet Infrastructure and Adhunik Steel can be recommended for mining lease and their names should be included in the list (of recommendations).”

Seven days before the meeting in Delhi, Jharkhand’s then chief secretary A K Basu had drawn the mines secretary’s attention to lack of transparency in mining deals. Basu wrote to K K Khandelwal, the then mines secretary, “There appears to be (a) number of complications created by wrong decision making earlier. Mining lease recommendation...used to be made with cabinet approval. Now...the mining proposals are not sent to the cabinet.”

Objection, My Lord
Challenging the decision to give the Ghatkuri mine to small private players, Tata Steel, among the original bidders, filed an interlocutory petition in the court on January 27 this year. Arcelor-Mittal, Roongta Mines and jsw Steel Jharkhand, which were recommended in 2006, followed suit.

Rai is demanding a cbi probe into the allotment process. “It is the biggest mining scam of the nation. The state mining department deliberately allotted the mine to private players (in 2006) and started the game. The state government and six private players were hand in glove,” he alleged.

Since January 21 Jharkhand has been under President’s rule. Koda said during his regime applications for the mine were invited but “we never allotted mines to anyone”. Soren added, “We are surprised how the matter is being blown out of proportion. There has been a mistake by our mining department and it’s not that we have allotted the mine to private companies.” Both maintained the process of allotment was initiated by the Supreme Court.

Sources in the state mining department, however, said they were under political pressure to allocate Ghatkuri to private companies. They said last year they were verbally informed by Shibu Soren’s office that the process of cancelling the Bihar government’s notification giving psus exclusive mining rights over Ghatkuri had started.

R N Prasad, mining officer in West Singhbhum, said the department has written a note of dissent to the state government. “It has mentioned that the mining department will not give its clearance till the notification of the Bihar government is quashed,” he said.

On March 30, Prasad was transferred to Ranchi.

The six companies refused to comment on the matter citing legal reasons. Their corporate officials told Down To Earth they have followed the rules and the court would decide who is wrong. The companies were represented by high-profile lawyers. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, spokesperson of the Congress, appeared for Monnet Ispat, former solicitor-general of India Harish Salve for Ispat Industries and former attorney general Ashok Desai for Adhunik Alloys.

How much is the booty?
There has been no assessment of the quantity and quality of ore. Estimates show Ghatkuri has iron ore worth crores of rupees. In 2005-06, the state geological department floated a tender for assessing the iron ore content in Ghatkuri but the government is yet to give its nod for assessment. The same year the Geological Survey of India sought the state government’s permission for assessing the Ghatkuri mine for psus but the state government refused. Next year, Mineral Exploration Corporation, a central mining consultancy, paid an advance of Rs 50 lakh to the state for assessing the mine. This time the state forest department sat on the files.

Public sector giant Steel Authority of India Ltd (sail) had also bid for Ghatkuri mine. “The legal battle between the state government and private players forced us to be fence sitters. We have little role after the court ordered to give a share of Ghatkuri to private players,” said a sail officer. Other psus among the applicants included mmtc, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company and the National Mineral Development Corporation.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090430&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=2

Nalco mines may resume operations on April 19
18 Apr 2009, 0446 hrs IST, Rakhi Mazumdar, ET Bureau

KOLKATA: A crack bomb disposal squad of the Orissa state police arrived at Nalco’s Damanjodi mines on Friday to scan the area following last
Sunday’s daring Maoist attack.

The delay in the squad’s arrival, which has been busy providing poll security across Orissa on Thursday, will set back resumption of mining operations disrupted for already a week.

Nalco, which produces nearly 4.8 million tonnes of bauxite annually, now hopes to start operations at its mines only on Sunday, if the bomb squad completes its job on Saturday and declares the mines area ‘safe’.

“The state police’s bomb disposal squad arrived at noon on Friday and swung into action. They have brought along a squad of sniffer dogs. The team is combing buildings, equipment and roads across a 14 sq km area,” a top Nalco official told ET from Damanjodi. The Orissa police DG and IG are also at the spot and are expected to prepare a enquiry report on the incident.

At the same time, the CISF is also stepping up its deployment at Damanjodi by nearly 25%. A 400-strong CISF force is entrusted with providing security cover at Nalco's sprawling mines and refinery at Damanjodi, nestled deep within the Panchpatmalli hills and close to the state's border with Andhra Pradesh.

The security measures are likely to shore up confidence among employees regarding safety threat in the area, especially since nearly 100 of them had a providential escape after being held hostage by Maoists last Sunday. “It is necessary for us to give our employees confidence to start work again at the mines,” a company official said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Indl-Goods--Svs/Metals--Mining/Nalco-mines-may-resume-operations-on-April-19/articleshow/4416473.cms

Cleaning Up Coal
Coal gasification is an alternative extraction technology that can significantly green the Indian power sector, says SAUMIL SHARMA
WITH HEIGHTENED concern for global warming at last taking centrestage — unlike his predecessor, George Bush, US President Barack Obama agrees the issue needs immediate tackling — all major world economies are obliged to look for environmentally sustainable ways of energy sources to meet growing demand. India and China, now the world’s biggest emitters of the greenhouse gases that account for a quarter of coal-combustion related global emission, need to be proactive in containing their emission levels. This means making their energy sector both clean and green.


Green coal : A gasification plant in the United States. Clean Coal Limited has plans to work with Coal India
It’s not an easy task. Current energy consumption levels in India are heavily dependent on conventional coal mining, making it the most important energy source in India. About 70 percent of total electricity generation in India uses coal. It is also the most carbon-intensive fuel. The sector, therefore, continues to bear the blame for the maximum emission of greenhouse gases and for polluting water under and over the surface.
While it is hard to replace the need for coal, it is possible to develop and promote alternative technologies to produce cleaner fuel from the abundant coal deposits in the country. A good beginning is already on the cards, with power sector reform initiating the new paradigm of extracting fuel in ways other than conventional coal mining. A US firm specialising in technical expertise and management of an alternative coal extraction process — Underground Gasification of Coal (UCG) — has now proposed a pilot project in Jharkhand.
Negotiations between a set of companies under the banner Clean Coal Resources (CCR) and the Jharkhand Government are set to start soon after the Lok Sabha elections are over. The two parties will be looking to work out the operational details of the proposed project and a possible collaboration with the public sector, Coal India Limited, or its subsidiaries.
Seventy percent of electricity in India is from coal, the most carbon-intensive fuel
UCG is an alternative technology for producing synthesis gas, or syngas. It exploits deep coal deposits that cannot be extracted by conventional coal mining techniques — by drilling holes, namely ‘injection’ wells and a ‘production’ well. The former is used to send oxygen steam to facilitate the combustion of coal deep beneath the surface, It leads to an exhaust of mixed gas composition, which comes out of the production well and is processed into syngas, which is further stored or channelled through pipelines. Graham Chapman, CEO of Clean Coal Ltd, strategic alliance partner of CCR, says: “We have identified our target countries by assessing the prevalence of coal resources that are difficult to mine and a requirement for power, which India meets.”
After negotiating a workable project and successful testing of the pilot phase, CCR will move to commercial installation, generating enough syngas for supporting gas-fired power plants generating 300- 400MW of electricity. An estimated 46 percent of the coal deposits in India are concentrated in the Damodar river basin in Jharkhand, making it an attractive location for such an initiative. The state also offers a commercially viable market for syngas because it has many coal-fired power plants in the same belt.
Coal gasification is greener in every way than open cast and underground mining
A big advantage of the UCG technology is that conventional mining can continue at shallower deposits, while UCG can be applied to deeper portions of the same field. UCG was originally a development in the oil and natural gas industry for the production of synthetic natural gas. The technique has been incorporated in the research and development phase by Indian energy firms like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Major breakthroughs in coal gasification techniques have proved that it’s a viable alternative technology.
THE ICING on the cake is that it’s greener in every way than both opencast and underground coal mining. UCG pilot projects have shown positive results with 95 percent recovery of coal resource, more than 75 percent energy recovery, and a consistent calorific value of syngas. Even better for environmentalists, even in the process of commercial testing, no groundwater or surface contamination has been reported. Explaining the hazards of conventional mining in Jharkhand, onsite environmental researcher Nitish Priyadarshi quotes in a study: “Exploi - tation of coal by underground and opencast mining has lead to a great environmental threat in this area. Besides mining, coal-based industries like coal washeries, coke oven plants, coal fired thermal power plants, steel plants and other related industries in the region also greatly impart towards degradation of the environmental quality, vis-a-vis human health.”
The presence of abundant deposits of coal and low mining cost has made non- OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries highly dependent on coal as the main source of energy for generation of electricity. India has about 51.8 billion tons of estimated available coal reserves for UCG, which make this alternative technology investment in India commercially attractive in the long term. Surveys have been carried out and a pilot plant is under construction by an ONGC-state consortium in Gujarat. As a part of the Indian alternative energy policy, an Indo-Australian collaboration in UCG was announced in January 2009 and coal blocks in India are being allotted for UCG pilot and commercial projects to foreign and Indian companies.
After multiple phases of R&D in UCG, other countries too, such as Australia, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, China and Mongolia, are now moving on to commercial installations of pilot projects. Uzbekistan has a successful running UCG coal-fired Angren power plant operating a dedicated 100MW steam turbine.
In India’s specific case, although its coal deposits have low calorific value, the country’s dependence on coal as fuel has been increasing rapidly in the last decade. Conventional coal mining has therefore come under severe strain. The effect of coal mining in terms of environmental degradation and health issues among both residents and the workforce in coal mining areas has been severe. Almost half a million people (mostly unskilled labour) work in this sector, and it produces approximately 500 million tons of coal per year.
In a time like the current global recession, it is essential that India promotes investment in the green sector to bolster growth and create stronger ties with the developed world. But it is also a fact that the government has allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment in the power and the mining sector in India. In such a situation, what will be important is how the government regulates the revenue generated out of large-scale foreign investment in the sector. A policy shift in energy, towards cleaner fuels, or towards cleaner use of fuels such as coal, will certainly help temper the environmental impact — both within the country and on the planet.
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 16, Dated Apr 25, 200

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Bu250409cleaning_up.asp


Follow rule of land for uranium mining outside India: AEC

Tags: Mumbai

Published by: Noor Khan
Published: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 at 22:41 IST

Mumbai, Apr 17 : Those Indian businesses wanting to invest in uranium mining outside India must follow the rule of that land, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said today.

"As long as you operate, if you're doing mining business in a particular country, it is necessary that you fully comply with the laws of that country," Kakodkar said replying to a query on uranium mining abroad.

He said the business also has to be within the framework of international norms.

"Whether you can bring that chemical into India or not is another matter, but uranium is a profitable business. In the business of uranium mining, in terms of movement of uranium or export, there are larger restrictions on exporting and importing countries. And all of them have to comply with a set of international abbreviations," Kakodkar said.

After India obtained clearance for nuclear commerce from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), "we are also acquiring uranium for our programme (from these suppliers)." "We want to do this in a manner that is sustainable in the long term because there is a lot of politics in this and I don't want to fall prey to short-sighted activities, which will compromise our long term interest," Kakodkar said. (MORE)

http://www.samaylive.com/news/follow-rule-of-land-for-uranium-mining-outside-india-aec/618718.html


HC directs govt to provide more water to Shirgao for zatra
18 Apr 2009, 0508 hrs IST, TNN

PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa on Friday directed the state government to provide additional water supply to Shirgao village during the
10-day Lairai zatra festival to be celebrated from April 23 to May 3.

The division bench of Justice P B Majmudar and Justice U D Salvi issued the directions after hearing an application filed by the villagers of Shirgao complaining about acute water shortage in the summer season. The villagers claimed that this shortage is due to water pollution caused by extensive mining operations in the area.

It is relevant to note that the high court had, in its earlier orders, directed the three mining companies, Bandekar Company Pvt Ltd, Chowgule Co Pvt Ltd, and Dempo Mining Co Pvt Ltd, to provide plastic water tanks to the villagers to solve the water shortage problem.

However, when the present application came up for hearing, amicus curiae Norma Alvares pointed out that the tanks provided by these companies have developed cracks as they are of substandard quality. The village receives irregular and limited water supply. All the wells in the village have gone dry due to the summer season and this has led to acute shortage of potable water, she said.

Advocate general Subodh Kantak said that the government had taken a decision to build a new water tank for catering to the village's needs, as the current tank is insufficient. However, the decision could not be implemented due to the election code of conduct being in force throughout the state, he said.

The bench, subsequently, directed the three mining companies to stop plying their ore-carrying trucks through the village during the entire 10-day period of the festival.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/HC-directs-govt-to-provide-more-water-to-Shirgao-for-zatra/articleshow/4416039.cms

Mining – International

Australian firm opens uranium mine in Malawi
16 hours ago
BLANTYRE (AFP) — An Australian firm on Friday inaugurated a 220-million-dollar uranium mine project in northern Malawi, expected to begin producing later this year in a major boost to the impoverished country.
"The mine will generate over 150 million (US) dollars (115 million euros) in export earnings per year," John Borshoff, managing director of Paladin Africa, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony broadcast live on state radio.
Borshoff said the mine will produce about 1,500 tonnes of natural uranium oxide which is used to manufacture fuel for nuclear power stations.
Paladin Africa is a subsidiary of Paladin Energy of Australia.
Paladin owns an 85 percent stake in the mine, while the government owns the rest. A 10-year development agreement for the project was inked in 2007 between Paladin and the southern African country.
"We have entered a new era of economic development and transformation," President Bingu wa Mutharika said at the ceremony.
The mine outside of Karonga town will contribute 10 percent of the gross national product.
"The mine will also contribute 20 percent of export earnings," Mutharika added.
Malawi currently depends on agriculture, especially tobacco, which accounts for about 70 percent of foreign exchange earnings.
Mutharika said the mine would help develop the mining industry in Malawi, noting the country was also endowed with bauxite, emeralds and traces of diamonds.
Malawi has huge bauxite deposits on Mulanje Mountain in the south, but despite deepening poverty, has never made any serious attempts to mine it.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYW-oAsY10hHQQwmPtgVvevUGxaw

Liberia clears TATA Steel plan for bidding for iron project
Saturday, 18 Apr 2009
The Liberian government has cleared TATA Steel of financial wrongdoing, clearing the way for the Indian firm to bid for a USD 1.5 billion iron ore project in the West African country.

Last year Liberia disqualified TATA Steel from participating in a bidding round for the Western Cluster deposit. It cited acts of violation in an earlier bidding process which it said may have been compromised by external influence or impropriety.

The Justice Ministry said that a subsequent investigation had exonerated TATA. It said that a "The government wishes to inform the company that the disqualification placed on it is hereby lifted.”

The statement added that "TATA Steel is now eligible to fully participate in the re-bidding process for the Western Cluster iron ore deposits."

The bidding round is scheduled to close on May 15 and mining industry officials said 9-10 firms had shown an interest so far.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/18/OTA3MDE%3D/Liberia_clears_TATA_Steel_plan_for_bidding_for_iron_project.html


Sustainable livelihoods introduced in mining communities
Koronadal City (17 April) -- Residents of host communities of Tampakan Copper- Gold Project are slowly beginning to realize that common denominator of alliance of KITACO and Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) over community development programs have been proven shall spur favorable changes in the lives of the residents.
Early part of 2009, SMI and KITACO have initial engagement to harmonize its community development programs and projects in mining communities of Kiblawan- Tampakan- Columbio (KITACO) Growth Area.
The fruit of joint effort bears the four-month research of Minerva G. Gonzales and Associates, a Manila- based consultancy firm to facilitate a stakeholder consultative process on livelihood opportunities in the area. This has been concretized through the sequel of sustainable livelihood visioning workshops on February 11-12, 2009 and on April 7-8, 2009 held at Villa Princessita, Jabido Compound, Koronadal City to develop sustainable livelihood programs/projects in host communities of Tampakan Project.
Sustainable Livelihood Approach
This approach underscores a participatory and people- centered orientation of development, and provides stakeholders a venue to collectively analyze their livelihood contexts. The Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) is vision- centered, focusing on the outcomes and results, this could be done at different levels- individual, household, organization, sector, community and even at the national level.
Visioning Workshop
The workshop involves the representation of Tribal Councils, KITACO LGUs, Government Agencies, Women Sector, Civil Society, IPs and SMI to collectively generate a doable and realistic vision of sustainable livelihood development in the mining communities.
Participants of the workshop have its apprehension the deficiency on some resources and technology given that most of existing organizations/ associations are hardly dependent on external sources. Generally, the activities have prepared the communities certain inevitable opportunities and widen their perspective to be able to cope with the economic trend once the operationalization of mineral industry commence. (KITACO/PIA 12) [top]
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p090417.htm&no=88

Coal mining can benefit communities
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
I am a surface miner and proud of the jobs that we have accomplished. I have been watching and listening to all of the negative publicity that mountaintop mining has been getting and would like to point out some good things as well.

Removing mountain tops gets coal that is normally not feasible to mine. We mine coal that is as small as 6-inch seams which could not be recovered any other way. We have taken mountain tops off and made recreational areas (Poplar Gap Park in Buchanan County, Twisted Gun Gold Course in Mingo County, Hatfield and McCoy ATV trail is mostly build on old surface mine areas), industrial park sites, school sites (Mountain View High School), prison sites (Pocahontas State Correctional Facility, the new federal prison being built in McDowell County), and airports (Wise County Airport, Buchanan County Airport). My company is presently under contract with VDOT to construct two miles of the Coalfield Expressway, which will save the state of Virginian approximately $50 million. The Coalfield Expressway cannot be constructed without mountaintop mining and valley fills.

As for filling the valleys and covering up streams, yes we do cover some of the area that the streams run through but the streams still flow. Rock drains are installed in the center of the hollows and as the 50-foot terraces are installed side drains are constructed to allow a natural flow of the water from the land to reach the center of the hollow to flow its natural course. As far as the quality of the water, it is as good if not better after the mining operation as it was before we started. Water samples are taken on a regularly scheduled basis to confirm this.

All you seem to hear about is coal mining. What about copper mines, silver mines, gold mines, nickel mines, iron ore mines, and rock quarries? They all remove mountain tops and put in valley fills. Also road construction projects have valley fills and in a lot of cases remove mountain tops for their construction. You want to clean up the water, let’s spend more money on things that really will help clean the water. For example getting more sewage systems where there are needed.

Most people in the U.S. don’t realize how many jobs are directly related to the coal mining industry. There are hundreds of thousands. You also hear about the mining industry affecting the wildlife. Twenty years ago when I first started working in the area where I work presently, there was no wildlife. Now we see deer, bear, and turkey on a daily basis. The level land created by mountaintop mining in the mountainous counties in the Appalachian coalfields gives the residents something that they didn’t have before: level land that can be used in many different ways. Mountaintop mining also helps to serve as flood control. The level land helps absorb the rainfall that would before flow down the mountain flooding the hollows.

I feel that the good Lord put these natural resources here for us to use. Yes we should use them wisely. Every job that I have been on in my 35 years of mining experience, when we left, the land was more useable than it was before we started. My company’s motto is if it’s worth doing, do it right. We do it right.

Stephen R. Slade

North Tazewell, Va.
http://www.bdtonline.com/letters/local_story_107160042.html

Angola sees pickup in diamond mining
Saturday, 18 April 2009

Angola's diamond industry is starting to show positive signs of recovery, according to the mines minister yesterday, despite a number of international companies pulling out.
Mankenda Ambroise, minister for geology and mining, told AFP the country was making around 70 million dollars a month, up from 25 million at the start of the year.
"We are beginning to see positive signs," he said in Luanda. "This crisis will pass and the Angolan government has taken steps to defend against it."
The government has tried to shore up the industry by buying diamonds itself when international prices drop below production costs, and by guaranteeing salaries of workers where mines have been temporarily closed to prevent mass unemployment in some of the country's poorest regions.
The world's fifth-biggest diamond producer, Angola had predicted production of 10.5 million carats for 2009, although this is likely to drop to around nine million, the minister said.
"Despite the crisis, production continues. The problem is with the commercialisation, but our doors are open for future buyers and we are calling on all those who have the money and the capacity to invest to do so," Ambroise said.
He added that companies that left Angola in the past year would not be welcome back.
In January Angola cancelled the World Diamond Summit, planned to be held here this November, citing the global downturn as the reason.
Nearby Botswana announced yesterday it was halving production to 15 million carats due to plunging global demand.

http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25949&Itemid=34


Mining board to recognize 6 for environmental efforts
Published: Friday, April 17, 2009 11:45 a.m. MDT
— Six organizations that have gone well beyond "strict" environmental regulations will be honored by the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining during a ceremony next week at the Rio Tinto Regional Center.
The Earth Day Award program began in 1991 and since then has singled out more than 90 organizations for voluntary work to protect the environment even as natural resources are being developed, according to board chairman Douglas Johnson.
"The essential requirement for the award is that the work must be performed voluntarily and not required as a condition of the operator's permit," he said.
Three mines owned by Canyon Fuel Company will receive awards: the Dugout Canyon and Skyline mines in Carbon County and SUFCO Mine in Sevier County. Dugout Canyon and SUFCO mines accomplished wildlife habitat and water enhancement projects, while Skyline Mine used innovative means to avoid the need of building a second waste rock facility near the town of Scofield.
Another mining company, Simplot Phosphate in Uintah County, voluntarily donated time, equipment and materials and worked closely with the Utah Department of Transportation to construct runaway truck ramps on a state highway that runs through the mining company's property. Simplot had to significantly alter its mine reclamation plans to accommodate the ramps while still reclaiming the area to acceptable standards.
Rio Tinto/Kennecott Utah Copper and Kennecott Land will receive an award for their post-mining land use at the Daybreak community in Salt Lake County.
Sevier County, along with Jones and DeMille Engineering and JP Excavating, will receive an award for site restoration of the Bull Claim Hill Rock Quarry. Rock from the quarry was used to repair damage to the Sevier River following flooding in 2005.
— Amy Joi O'Donoghue
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705298010,00.html


Miners lose bid to stop tribal salmon fishing
PoorBest
Wildlife - Fish

Grants Pass, Oregon (AP) 4-09

The battle continues between hobby gold miners and the Karuk tribe over Klamath River salmon.

The California State Fish and Game Commission on Arpil 9 turned down the New 49’ers’s mining club petition to ban tribal dip netting at Ishi Pishi Falls, where they have fished for thousands of years.

It was filed in response to the tribe’s efforts to close suction dredge mining on the Klamath in Northern California.

Club member Mike Higbee, owner of the Armadillo Mining Shop in Grants Pass, says the club felt the fishing was more harmful to threatened coho salmon than mining.

Craig Tucker, who leads the tribe’s salmon restoration campaign, says they are proceeding with their lawsuit to make Fish and Game enforce gold mining regulations.

http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6225&Itemid=118


Other News – India

Tribal art of living
18 Apr 2009, 0000 hrs IST, UMA RAM

Oral poetic tradition in Bastar provides insights into the origin of song and dance and their relation to life. Poetry for Bastar tribes is more
than a smart processing of words.

The tribal's disinterest in theological discussion may be frustrating to an academic, but it is typical of the Bastar world view: Be! Just be in the wonderful brotherhood you have been placed in. This brotherhood extends beyond the home, clan, tribe... to include the forests, beasts, birds, rocks, hills, stream and rivers. It is a large undivided family mothered by the Earth. As Grigson puts it, for the Maria tribes in Bastar, children are also one of the crops of the Earth.

If the great approach to life is to be, then life becomes an endless festival. Living becomes a celebration of being. Song and dance spring forth naturally with such a world view.

Kinship in Bastar extends to the inanimate world. Every stone pulsates with life. Humans, birds or beasts turning to stone is common in Bastar legends and poems. Although the poems abound in references to somebody cutting somebody 'into seven pieces', and the pieces becoming 'stones', the word `killing' is generally not used as it connotes the end of life. Here there is no end, only transformation. The stone is as 'alive' as a person. Interestingly, the transformation is reversible. In one poem, a legendary hero gets bored in the grave and returns to society!

The dead do not go away: transformed, they become more powerful. The current crop of humans cannot afford to neglect those that preceded them. In the tribal world view the spirits of ancestors retain human values and passions. The concept of salvation or moksha is alien to the tribal. If life is a continuum, then salvation from what, and to where?

The songs and dances have an earthy power. Images and similes are audacious and drawn from open-field nature. Infant boy not grown enough to marry is 'raw like a banana'. A youth says his heart was 'uprooted' when he saw his girl. Uniformed forces going on a campaign remind the Bastar songster of 'black ants moving in a file'.

There are four oral epics that are ritually sung by special women called 'Gurumai'. These relate to vegetation rites. Ballads are recited at paddy fields to add value to farm labour.

Most of the short songs, however, relate to dances performed in ghotul, the village youth dormitory. These songs are significant not so much for their text as for their tonal quality. The words relo re re relo set the tone. It can produce various rhythms to support the dance. These songs are subordinate to the dance. The song gets drowned in the sound of drums worn by dancers as they step forward, backward and sideward to a complex footwork and gyrate, always in the anti-clockwise direction. The entire performance is a celebration of life upon the lap of Mother Earth.

There is not a single traditional song in Bastar that has the complaining strain, whether it is addressed to a lover or God. There is no supplication to change the present condition of existence, as, one finds in, say, Surdas's songs. In the district where most of the people are listed as poor, there is no aarti or other song of supplication to God for grant of comforts and sukh-sampatti or wealth common in mainstream societies. For Bastar tribes, creation is perfect; the art of living is to gratefully celebrate life with song and dance.

The writer, teaches English in a Jagdalpur college, is working on a UGC project on oral poetic tradition in Bastar.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lifestyle/Tribal-art-of-living/articleshow/4414906.cms


Erratic impacts of climate change found in cultivation in Nepal
KATHMANDU (Xinhua): Scientists and agronomists have pointed out erratic impacts of climate change in cultivation in Nepal, local newspaper The Himalayan Times reported on Saturday.
"Now, there is an urgent need to assess the crop zone shifting standards," said Dr. Anand Kumar Gautam, chief scientist at the National Agricultural Research Council (NARC) of Nepal, adding "or else, it will result into dire consequences, leading to food crisis if not addressed on time." The crop zone, mostly, lies in the south of Nepal, the Terai plains.
A recent study of NARC on crop yielding trends has indicated an alteration in cultivation method. "Either we have to develop and recommend new varieties or choose a way to change plantation period, which will be problematic in terms of irrigation," Gautam added.
He also said that rise in temperature had caused carbon emission from land and added the lifecycle of insects and bacteria, which is alarmingly harmful to the crops.
Terai falls under the sub tropical zone and the varieties are recommended as per the climatic nature. "However, there is a need to apply tropical varieties in this region now," said Hari Krishna Upreti, senior scientist of NARC.
Upreti said that early maturing varieties of paddy tested and recommended for Terai -- have been found cultivated in the Kathmandu valley, north to the Terai and in the central part of the country, during the last six years.
"A few years ago, the varieties were unproductive here," he said, adding "even maturity period of rice has decreased by one to two weeks, whereas the heading period has been adaptable to late period by two weeks in the hilly region." Annually, mercury is on rise by 0.06 degree Celsius. "We have traced both positive and negative impacts of climate change in crop cultivation here. The production of crops in the fertile Terai region, known as food bank, has been declining, whereas it is increasing in the hilly region," said Gautam.
Terai covers a big majority of cultivable land in Nepal.
The cultivation of wheat crops in western Terai will be almost infertile in about a decade if this climate change ratio continues, according to the scientists. "Wheat production has drastically come down in Terai during the last few years, whereas production in hilly region is increasing," said Upreti.
According to Open Top Chamber field experiment, production of paddy and wheat has increased by eight to 18 percent respectively due to the rise in temperature and carbon dioxide in Kathmandu.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/015200904181340.htm

ADB to raise lending by $10 B in the next 2 years
April 18, 2009, 2:47pm
The Asian Development Bank will increase lending to nations in the region by about $10 billion in the next two to three years in response to the global financial crisis, President Haruhiko Kuroda said.
The Manila-based ADB loaned about $10.45 billion in 2008 and was initially looking to gradually build on this following a 200 percent increase in its general capital base, which is likely to be approved by donors this month, Kuroda told reporters.
But this plan was being speeded up because of the crisis, he said.
''In the face of the global financial crisis, probably this year and the next year we will have substantially large lending volumes,'' Kuroda said. ''In the next two to three years, we will have a crisis response and this amount could be some $10 billion.''
In 2009 alone, the increase could be about $4 billion-$5 billion, he said, including about $3 billion-$4 billion for loans based on market rates and at least a $1.2 billion hike in soft loans, or possibly more.
Kuroda said donors would be asked to increase funding for the soft loan window at the ADB's annual meeting next month, which is being held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
ADB donors have already given preliminary approval to triple the multilateral institution's capital base to $165 billion and formal approval is likely to come in this month, he said.
Only about 4 percent of this amount will be paid-in capital – the rest can only be called on – so the triple A-rated ADB will also increase the funds it raises from the capital market and private placements, he said.
''We will have to go the market in a larger way than usual,'' Kuroda said, although he did not give details. The ADB raised $9.4 billion from the market in 2008.
India and China were the biggest recipients of ADB loans in 2008, but Kuroda deflected criticism expressed by some donors that these nations were among the fastest-growing in the world and that other, poorer nations were more in need of funds.
''They are low middle-income countries, not high middle-income countries,'' he said. ''They have still so many poor people in their countries."
''Compared with their scale of operations or scale of their economies, our lending to China and India is probably much smaller than our lending to other countries.''
According to the ADB's annual report for 2008, which was released on Wednesday, India accounted for about $2.88 billion of the total loans of $10.45 billion, while China came in at second spot with $1.75 billion.
Soft loans under the Asian Development Fund (ADF) window, which are reserved for the poorest countries, amounted to $1.79 billion out of 2008's total loans, the report said. The ADB also gave out grants and technical assistance of about $1 billion in addition to the loans.
http://mb.com.ph/articles/202815/adb-raise-lending-10-b-next-2-years

Asia Society calls for strategy to avert water crisis
Washington (IANS): Warning that decreased access to a safe, stable water supply in Asia "will have a profound impact on security throughout the region", the Asia Society has sought a strategy to avert a crisis in countries like India.
The cascading set of consequences reduced access to fresh water will trigger include impaired food production, the loss of livelihood security, large-scale migration within and across borders, and increased economic and geopolitical tensions and instabilities, said a task force report of the Asia Society released in New York Friday.
The Asia Society is an international organisation dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the US.
The task force on "Asia's Next Challenge: Securing the Region's Water Future" was chaired by Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum Tommy Koh. It included among its members Rajendra K. Pachauri, Indian chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Ajit Gulabchand of Hindustan Construction.
The task force report highlights the fact that although Asia is home to more than half of the world's population, the region has less freshwater per capita than any continent other than Antarctica.
It maintains that while solutions are well within reach, they will require high-level political will and significant investments. Governments need to develop policies that can address multiple problems simultaneously, with the aim of reducing security risks and vulnerabilities and providing economic benefits such as investments in infrastructure for water conservation and management.
Asian countries should forge a regional approach in which governments and other key stakeholders, including nongovernmental organisations, civil society groups, and businesses, work together to clarify responsibilities and coordination mechanisms to address water security concerns.
For instance, looking beyond India's national borders, the transboundary river systems that cut across India will drive hydropolitics in the region as India's water consumption rates continue to climb, the report suggests.
India's control of water flow along the Ganges River compromises Bangladesh's ability to monitor and predict floods, the report suggests noting that "for Bangladesh, the Ganges may be the largest and most critical source of wate, but it is only one of more than 50 rivers entering the country from India".
"While the Joint Ganges River Commission facilitates information sharing between the two nations, Bangladesh continues to demand greater cooperation."
More data - including rainfall data from farther upstream - would help Bangladesh prepare vulnerable downstream populations and improve models used to predict extreme events, the report says.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200904181021.htm