Mining – India
1. Nalco restarts mines with cut in working hours
2. SCCL initiates steps to help miners beat the heat
3. JSW Steel to invest Rs.3,000 crore in 2009-10
4. Steel politics dies in Orissa
5. NTPC to delve into contract mining
6. Sesa Goa eyes Brazilian iron ore mine news
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Mining – International
7. U.S. appeals court says mine on Indian land
8. Indonesia orders ICRC out of Papua over jail visits
9. Road Show Tartgets Mountaintop Removal Mining 10
10. Marbel bishop leads protest vs coal plant in Sarangani
11. Groups seek to overturn renewal of mine permit
12. Polaris Metals inks agreement with Mineral Resources
13. Minmetals Wins Australian Approval for OZ Minerals (Update1)
14. Industry sounds the alarm on crisis in iron ore, aluminum sectors
15. Tahera aims to reopen or sell Jericho diamond mine 19
16. Jakarta government to allow underground mining in protected forests
17. Demands put uranium mining foes at odds
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Other News – India
18. They bring cheer to tribal children
19. SEZs may get more time to start projects
20. Ministry to establish Community child labour monitoring system
21. Rivers receding due to climate change: Study
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Mining – India
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Nalco restarts mines with cut in working hours
22 Apr 2009, 1937 hrs IST, Rakhi Mazumdar , ET Bureau
KOLKATA: Nine days after it was hit by a daring Maoist strike, National Aluminium Co (Nalco), the country’s largest aluminium producer, finally
resumed production at Damanjodi bauxite mines on Wednesday.
However, this was not before the Nalco management gave in to workers’ demand for truncated working hours. Nalco has a 500-strong workforce at its mines.
"We have restarted operations at the mines this morning after the entire area was declared safe by the bomb squad of the state police force. Transportation of bauxite is also taking place. The conveyor cable belt too has started working around 11 am after it was declared safe on Tuesday evening," a top Nalco official told ET from Damanjodi.
Significantly, Nalco’s mine workers’ union have refused to work between 6 and 10 pm as part of their demand for truncated working hours during the evening shift. This, in turn, would lead to reduction in production targets. Since incentives are linked to achievement of these targets, it could consequently lead to lower incentives payouts. "We have principally agreed to the union’s demand, which is subject to approval from the company’s top brass," the official added.
Accordingly, restoration of production at the mines has come at a heavy cost for Nalco, which dominates global trade in alumina at the London Metal Exchange. The aluminium major has not only taken a hit in mine output --Damanjodi mines produce 14,000 tonnes of bauxite daily-- but also in terms of a dent in employee morale. "We’ve lost nine days production which amounts to roughly around 1 lakh tonnes of bauxite as result of the disruption in mining activity," the official added.
The attack on Nalco’s mines seems to have triggered off a first ever move to undertake a comprehensive security review across all mineral industries by a joint team of union mines and home ministry.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/Nalco-restarts-mines-cuts-working-hrs/articleshow/4436337.cms
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SCCL initiates steps to help miners beat the heat
Staff Reporter
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Arrangements in place for providing cool water at all mines and other work places
Special medical teams to be constituted to attend to emergencies
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KOTHAGUDEM: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has initiated special measures to beat the impact of abnormal weather conditions on its mining operations.
The day temperature recorded in some of the areas close to the opencast mines in the coal town is as high as 49.5 degree Celsius.
But there is nothing official about theses readings taken by business houses that are equipped with compact devices for the purpose.
SCCL Director (PA&W) L. Shashidhar has asked the chief general managers and general managers of all areas spread over four districts – Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad – to take special measure so that the heat wave will not affect the attendance of miners in the first and second shifts.
In all, the company has 46,250 employees working in underground mines, 8,718 in opencast mines and 16,000 who are indirectly linked with the operations.
Mr. Shashidhar has asked the officials to supply ORS and glucose power to vulnerable groups working in the opencast mines.
Arrangements are already in place for providing cool drinking water at all the mines and other work places, canteens and rest shelters.
He has even directed that cabins of dumpers without air-conditioners engaged in opencast mines be covered with ‘thatties’. Special medical teams will be constituted to ensure attendance of doctors in case of eventualities related to heat wave conditions.
Required medicines will be made available at all the first-aid stations as required by law.
Mr. Shashidhar also directed the officials to make arrangements for adequate water spraying at coal yards and coal handling plants.
Water sprinklers are being deployed on a continuous basis for dust suppression in haul roads and the road leading to the bunkers.
Dies of sunstroke
Meanwhile, a 60-year-old person died reportedly of sunstroke in Kothagudem bus station on Wednesday.
He was identified as Bolla Nagaiah, a resident of Bhimavaram village.
The occupancy in RTC buses was affected by the soaring temperatures.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/23/stories/2009042352320800.htm
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JSW Steel to invest Rs.3,000 crore in 2009-10
By Indo Asian News Service | 22 April 2009 | 4:15pm 0 Comment
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) JSW Steel, one of the leading steel makers in the country, will invest Rs.3,000 crore in 2009-10 to expand its production capacity, a top official said here Wednesday.
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) JSW Steel, one of the leading steel makers in the country, will invest Rs.3,000 crore in 2009-10 to expand its production capacity, a top official said here Wednesday.
'We are planning to invest Rs.3,000 crore in the current financial year to expand our production capacity,' Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman and managing director of JSW Steel, told reporters on the sidelines of a business meet.
'The investment will be focussed on our new projects in Jharkhand, West Bengal and the Vijayanagar plant (Karnataka),' he added.
According to Jindal, the demand for construction steel will go up in the coming years as the focus will be on the infrastructure development.
'We are very upbeat about the market and are expecting about 50-60 percent rise in the sales,' he said, adding that the global slowdown would have 'very little impact on the domestic steel and cement market'.
In construction sector, the rural and semi urban markets are driving up demand even when metros are sluggish, he added.
The steel major is developing two greenfield projects in West Bengal and Jharkhand that require a total investment of Rs.70,000 crore.
http://india-forums.com/news/article.asp?id=169698
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Steel politics dies in Orissa
Press Trust of India
Bhubaneswar, April 22: Though promises for the second steel plant in Orissa dominated the state politics in all the elections held since 1962, no political party this time raised the issue in the wake of the Mr Naveen Patnaik government signing 49 MOUs for setting up of mineral-based industries.
Neither the ruling BJD nor Opposition Congress and BJP made it an issue even as the regional party in its manifesto claimed to have been successful in enabling steel production in 28 units during last five years.
“More than two MTPA steel production was added in Orissa during the last five years,'' said senior officials in the Steel and Mines department. The state's steel production was confined within two MTPA for the last 50 years, they pointed out.
BJD also claimed that as many as 47,181 people were provided jobs in the steel plants even as it utterly failed to implement mega steel projects like the 12 MTPA-capacity each green field projects by Posco and Arcelor-Mittal.
While Posco had been sitting idle for over three years due to hurdles in its Rs 51,000-crore project, Arceler-Mittal's Rs 40,000-crore project had apparently made little progress.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=251939
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NTPC to delve into contract mining
23 Apr 2009, 0047 hrs IST, Subhash Narayan, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: NTPC, India’s largest power producer, plans to cash in on its decades-old experience in handling coal mines by spinning off a separate
unit that will offer consultancy and mining services to companies which have been allotted captive mines.
The public sector firm is in talks with BEML (formerly Bharat Earth Movers), another public sector undertaking, to form a joint venture to offer the services.
The government has so far allocated 198 captive coal blocks with estimated reserves of over 42 billion tonnes to various public and private sector companies. NTPC and BEML is planning to exploit this opportunity as most of these companies have no experience in coal mining.
“BEML has proposed a 50:50 joint venture with NTPC for starting contract coal mining operations. The company is examining the proposal and will finalise it after taking approval of its board,” said an official in the power ministry, who asked not to be named.
NTPC and BEML had signed a MoU in February 2007 for a long-term strategic and business partnership under which BEML provides its range of mining equipment, spares and services for NTPC’s coal mining operations. The proposed joint venture will take this relationship forward by creating a new entity engaged in contract coal mining.
BEML has moved ahead from being an equipment manufacturer and has forayed into contract mining business as part of its forward integration programme. In fact, it has associated with Indonesian Coal company Sumber Mitra Jaya (SMJ) as a business partner for contract mining.
Earlier, in a letter to NTPC chairman RS Sharma, BEML chairman and managing director VRS Natarajan has emphasised the need of the joint venture either in 51:49 ratio or 50:50 ratio to tide over an existing coal shortage. He also suggested that the new venture could look at contract mining of coal blocks allocated to NTPC apart from other entities and also apply for new coal blocks.
Of the 198 captive coal blocks allocated by the government so far, 22 have gone to Central government undertakings, 78 to state government undertakings and another 98 to private sector
companies. All these would provide business opportunity for the proposed venture. It would also help to check imports of coal that has reached around 50 million tonne annually. NTPC alone plans to import 12.5 million tonne coal in 2009-10.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/NTPC-to-delve-into-contract-mining/articleshow/4437300.cms
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Sesa Goa eyes Brazilian iron ore mine news
23 April 2009
India's largest iron ore exporter, Sesa Goa, is looking at options of bidding for the controlling stake in an iron ore mine that has been put on the block by Brazil`s mining exploration company GME4, according to reports.
The mine, owned jointly by geologist Joao Carlos Cavalcanti of GME4 and Banco Opportunity, has reserves of 800 million tons and is valued at about $2.4 billion.
The company reportedly said that it keeps looking at all opportunities even in this case and it will evaluate all factors before taking any final call.
Sesa Goa, part of London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources, has cash reserves of about Rs4100 crore billion and is keen to expand abroad. GME4 is expected to start a global road show soon to sell the majority stake in the mine, which is located in the north-eastern state of Piaui.
Iron ore accounts for about 65 per cent of the total cost in steel making and ownership of ores would reduce costs for making steel. But Sesa Goa managing director P K Mukherjee is reported to have said that one of the major factors before making any decision in Brazil is the logistics cost. ''Brazil has adequate iron ore mines, but logistics is not always convenient,'' he added.
Meanwhile, Sesa Goa has reported a 31 per cent rise in its net sales and income from operations at Rs4925.70 crore in the year ended 31 March 2009 against Rs3765.89 crore in the previous year. The net profit after tax has risen by 29 per cent to Rs1988.13 crore from Rs1541.58 crore. The company has announced a dividend of Rs2.25 per equity share of Re1 each.
http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_s/Sesa_Goa/20090423_brazilian_iron_ore_mine.html
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Mining – International
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U.S. appeals court says mine on Indian land
By HEATHER CLARK, Associated Press Writer April 21, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Friday upheld an Environmental Protection Agency decision that a proposed uranium mine in western New Mexico would be on American Indian land.
A three-judge panel denied a petition from the New Mexico-based uranium producer, Hydro Resources Inc., challenging a 2007 EPA decision that an area where the company hoped to develop uranium mines is in "dependent Indian Country."
The ruling means Hydro Resources must get a groundwater injection permit from the EPA, rather than use a permit already issued by the state of New Mexico.
Chris Shuey, director of uranium impact assessment for the Albuquerque-based Southwest Research and Information Center, said Friday's decision was expected.
"This particular site in Church Rock is clearly Indian Country. The entire community is of a Navajo character and is surrounded by Navajo lands," he said.
Hydro Resources, which owns the surface and mineral rights, wants to inject chemicals into the ground to release uranium and pump the solution to the surface in a process called in-situ leaching.
The company sought a permit from New Mexico in 2005 to operate the mine. The state asked the EPA to make a decision on the status of the land.
Hydro Resources had argued the company's land, known as Section 8, isn't legally part of the Navajo reservation and should be considered private land. The company has said the land has never been set aside by the federal government for use as Indian land.
Rick Van Horn, vice president of Uranium Resources Inc., the parent company of Hydro Resources, said the ruling has yet to be reviewed by the company's lawyers.
"It really doesn't affect whether we're going to be here or not," he said. "What it does is impact how we apply for a permit. We don't see this as anything other than some guidance and we're committed to continuing with mining and doing business in the state of New Mexico."
The EPA had argued that one area where Hydro Resources proposes to mine is within the boundaries of the Church Rock Chapter of the Navajo Nation.
The court denied Hydro Resources' claim that the judges should consider only its private parcel for determining whether the land was Indian land.
Instead, the court tested whether the entire Church Rock Chapter met the requirements that allowed EPA to decide the land was Indian land, court documents showed.
The court determined that EPA was correct that the chapter was set-aside by the federal government, which bought land from the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company in the 1920s and gave some parcels to individual Navajos and placed other parcels into a trust for the Navajo Nation.
The court also agreed with EPA that the Church Rock Chapter is dependent on the federal government.
David Taylor, a senior attorney with the Navajo Department of Justice's Natural Resources Unit, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Taylor had said previously that the tribe wanted EPA rather than the state to have jurisdiction over the groundwater at the proposed mine because the United States has a higher obligation to protect the interests of American Indians than the state.
Shuey said Navajos have suffered greatly - in terms of health and environmental damage - from the uranium mining industry.
"The health of the workers and the community members in the mining district is and remains a huge issue amongst people on the Navajo Nation," Shuey said. "The overall effect (of the Appeals Court ruling) is to really help protect these communities and really shed light on the massive cleanups that still need to happen."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20302070&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=222087&rfi=6
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Indonesia orders ICRC out of Papua over jail visits
Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:00pm EDT
By Sunanda Creagh
JAKARTA, April 23 (Reuters) - Indonesia has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to leave the politically sensitive Papua region after its officials visited separatists in jail, the foreign ministry said.
Papua, the underdeveloped but resource-rich western half of New Guinea island where independence activists have waged a separatist campaign for decades, is geographically isolated and foreign journalists need special permission to visit.
There is a strong military and police presence in Papua, especially around the huge Grasberg copper and gold mine. Police recently shot demonstrators calling for a boycott of Indonesia's April 9 parliamentary election.
Foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that the government was offended both by the ICRC's failure to obtain proper permission to operate in Papua and by the prison visits.
"Any organisation must be aware that, yes, this is a new Indonesia but we are a sovereign country," Faizasyah told Reuters, suggesting that other aid organisations might also face a clampdown.
"They should not abuse our democratic reform and act as though they can do whatever suits their interests."
The ICRC said it runs sanitation projects in Papua and also visits detainees, including jailed members of the secessionist Free Papua Movement (OPM), to ensure they are treated properly. "People accused of crimes which might be called subversion, or rebellion could be at risk of being discriminated against," said Vincent Nicod, the head of the ICRC's Indonesia delegation.
"When we visit detainees, it is not to look into the reason for the detention. It's part of our activity relating to international humanitarian law to ensure that political prisoners are provided worldwide with decent conditions."
The dispute follows last year's release of stricter new rules on the funding of foreign non-governmental organisations in Indonesia.
The foreign ministry's Faizasyah said that the government first asked the ICRC to renegotiate the deal under which it operates in Indonesia in 2000 but the ICRC said talks stalled after the tsunami in December 2004 when 170,000 Indonesians died.
In March 2009, the government told the ICRC to close its Papua office and return to Jakarta to renegotiate the agreement.
"Do they question our ability to manage our prisons? We have a free media now, functioning NGOs and if there is any mishap in the handling of an institution, it will, of course, be reported to the government," said Faizasyah.
The ICRC's Nicod said that the Indonesian government had approached the ICRC in early 2000 to rewrite the deal but said the existing agreement officially had no expiry date. (Editing by Sara Webb and Alex Richardson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSJAK434532._CH_.2400
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Road Show Tartgets Mountaintop Removal Mining
The Associated Press
By DEBRA MCCOWN
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: April 23, 2009
“Every day it’s like 1,000 Oklahoma City Bombings going off.” - Dave Cooper, in his one-man Mountaintop Removal Road Show
BRISTOL, Va. – To mark the 39th Earth Day, a group of Virginia Intermont College students hosted the Mountaintop Removal Road Show, which travels the country to spread the word about the downside of strip mining.
“Here’s a simple explanation of mountaintop removal: There are layers of coal in a mountain like icing in a layer cake … they blow the top of the mountains up,” said Dave Cooper, whose one-man “road show” consists of a slideshow presentation with commentary.
“Every day in Appalachia, coal companies use 4 million pounds” of explosives, Cooper told a couple dozen people attending the event at the college Wednesday. “Every day it’s like 1,000 Oklahoma City Bombings going off … if people in America knew a thousand bombs were going off every day, you’d think people would be talking about it.”
Cooper, originally from Ohio, said when he saw the tops being blown off mountains in West Virginia, it changed his life – and he quit his job to work full-time on telling people about death, destruction and “incredible devastation” for the environment and the folks who live near surface mine sites.
“Earth Day 2009, the rivers aren’t catching on fire anymore [like in 1970], but we’re blowing up mountains, and in my opinion that’s even worse,” Cooper said. “When you blow up a mountain, it’s gone forever.”
Those who work in and with the coal industry said coal mining has an upside too – and not just by providing more than half the nation’s electricity.
The road show “paints a picture of the devastation while mining’s going on, and I guess we all understand that mining does create a disruption during the active stages of it,” said Bill Bledsoe, executive director of the Virginia Mining Association. But there are a number of benefits to the big picture, Bledsoe said, including the tax dollars paid by the coal industry, the economic well-being of the area, and the restoration of the land.
Jonathan Belcher, executive director of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, said reclaimed surface mine sites create marketable property for economic development – as well as jobs in related industries.
More than $100 million in severance tax revenue has flowed through the authority for economic development projects that diversify the region’s economy, Belcher said. Although, he said, Southwest Virginia would still be devastated if it were to lose its number one industry.
The students who attended the event – and even those who hosted it – said mountaintop removal is a new issue to them.
Lauren Fay, president of the college’s International Issues Club, which organized the event, had never heard of mountaintop removal – but now that she’s heard of it, she’s against it.
“People wouldn’t stand to get their mountains destroyed,” Fay, 19, said of those living in her hometown of Shelburne, Vt. “Especially with it practically in her backyard.”
Kate McManis, 20, of Dallas, Texas, said she had no idea what was happening.
“It’s definitely something that I’m opposed to,” McManis said after hearing Cooper’s presentation. “I definitely agree that the cons overweigh all the pros. It’s something that should be stopped. … It seems that it creates nothing but waste.”
McManis said it would be possible for people to conserve energy to eliminate the need for the electricity produced from mountaintop removal.
Cooper said less than 5 percent of the nation’s coal comes from mountaintop removal – and the nation could definitely conserve that much electricity, especially with industries shutting down from the recession. Meanwhile, he hopes the Obama administration will get the practice stopped – and coalfield localities will seek other means of economic development.
“To me, having grown up in Ohio, Appalachia is just such a wonderful, interesting, beautiful, clean, nice, mountain spring water kind of a place, and it is really something that I think we need to do a better job of appreciating,” he said.
“I would encourage folks to look at a place like Asheville, N.C. or Gatlinburg,” Cooper said. “These towns and cities have taken the beauty of the mountains and used them to lure people to the area. … Look at the economic development that’s been brought to that area by marketing the b
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/road_show_tartgets_mountaintop_removal_mining/23286/
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Marbel bishop leads protest vs coal plant in Sarangani
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by Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews
Thursday, 23 April 2009
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/22 Apr) – Catholic church leaders today challenged residents to take up a bigger fight against the proposed 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Sarangani province as they warned anew of a possible widespread environmental destruction in the area should the multimillion power project eventually push through.
Leading the “Earth Day” protest actions here this morning, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez urged the people to take a united stand and raise their opposition against the planned coal plant project of Conal Holdings Corp. in Maasim, Sarangani at a higher level.
“It's alright to pray and launch education campaigns. But this time, we need to take up bigger actions and let our national leaders know that we are really opposing this, for the sake of ourselves and our future generations,” the bishop said at a protest rally in front of the city hall complex here.
Around 600 parishioners and members of civil society, environmental and sectoral groups coming from this city and seven municipalities of Sarangani, earlier staged a caravan around the city and converged in front of the city hall's Carlos Garcia Park to dramatize their protests against the coal plant project.
Police authorities shut down a portion of the Roxas East Avenue for at least four hours here as placard-carrying protesters filled the area.
During the protest rally, which is part of the two-day Earth Day Catholic church and civil society-led mass actions against the coal plant and mining activities in the area, the organizers presented a manifesto declaring their opposition against the proposed coal plant.
The three-page manifesto was signed by leaders and representatives of the Diocese of Marbel, Hesed Foundation-Oblates of Notre Dame, Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Soccsksargends Agenda, Akbayan, Hublag Kontra Mina, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and various Catholic church parishes.
They cited that based on facts and experiences by areas in the country that hosted coal plants, the proposed coal-fired Southern Mindanao Power Plant project in Sitio Tampuan, Barangay Kamanga in Maasim, Sarangani will not bring sustainable development in the area but will only aggravate environmental degradation and eventually pose serious health problems among residents.
They claimed that the project may increase rates of various diseases, pollute waters and seas, produce acid rain, reduce biodiversity and eventually exacerbate climate change.
“We manifest our vehement opposition to the planned construction of the coal-fired power plant. We call on government agencies and proponent company -- Conal Holdings -- to abandon the plan,” they said in the manifesto.
Conal Holdings, which is currently processing its environmental clearance certificate (ECC) , earlier announced that it would commence the construction of the proposed power plant by October this year.
Conal Holdings is 60 percent controlled by Alsons Corp. The rest is controlled by the Electricity Generating Public Company (Egco), Thailand's biggest power producer.
The company is investing $450 million on the project, which was eyed by the government as among the power resources that will help stabilize Mindanao's power requirements before the projected power supply shortfall by 2012.
Amalie Obusan, Greenpeace Southeast Asia's climate and energy campaigner, said the proposed coal plant project may eventually stop a projected power shortage and even lower power rates in the area but stressed that such benefits would be too small when compared to the destruction that it will bring to the area's populace and the environment.
She warned that the operations of coal plants may cause residents to acquire cancer, lung and heart illnesses and it will help increase the spread of other diseases such as dengue and malaria.
“The bigger impact (of the operations of these coal plants) is climate change and we, in the Philippines, and the rest of the world are feeling the heat right now,” she said.
Obusan said residents should make their voices stronger to pressure the government to stop the establishment of more coal plants in the country and invest more on renewable sources of energy.
“We don't have to embrace these projects just because we are facing a power crisis here. We have other alternative sources of energy such as geothermal and hydro-power plants that pose less impact on our environment,” she added. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews )
http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6285&Itemid=160
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Groups seek to overturn renewal of mine permit
By Steve Keenan
Staff Writer
Two groups have appealed a permit for the Bridge Fork West Surface Mine overlooking the Gauley River.
Citing unacceptable threats to local communities, world-class whitewater rapids and historic sites, the Sierra Club and the Ansted Historic Preservation Council (AHPC) continued their opposition of a permit for the 463.8-acre mine site located between the New and Gauley rivers. The mine is operated by Powellton Coal Company, a subsidiary of Fola Coal Company and Consol Energy.
The surface mine permit was renewed by the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on March 16. At an informal conference in mid-February at Ansted Middle School, over 100 people — many of them opposed — gathered to discuss the renewal request with DEP officials.
On Thursday, the two groups mailed an appeal to the W.Va. Surface Mine Board, according to Derek Teaney of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment. They insist that Powellton Coal is violating the Clean Water Act by dumping illegal levels of toxic aluminum, iron and suspended solids into Rich Creek, a trout stream that feeds into the Gauley River.
“This permit renewal would lead to pollution of our famed rivers, more blasting and air pollution, and more damage to our tourism industry, so we firmly oppose this renewal,” said Father Roy Gene Crist, AHPC president.
“The region in which Powellton’s mine is located is one of West Virginia’s tourism gems, and the New and Gauley are the premier whitewater rafting rivers in the East. Rich Creek of the Gauley River, in whose watershed Powellton operates ... is a known trout stream,” reads a portion of the appeal. “Yet Powellton treats the streams and lands surrounding its permit areas as dumping grounds for the waste from its mine.”
The Gauley River boasts more than 100 major rapids and a 650-foot vertical drop and is a destination for whitewater enthusiasts from around the world, the groups pointed out in a press release.
“These rivers are premier world-class scenic and recreational attractions,” said Jim Sconyers, state chapter chair of the Sierra Club. “We can’t afford to ruin them.”
According to the release, more than 3,000 public comments came in to the DEP in opposition of the permit. And the National Park Service expressed its opposition to the permit in a January letter to the DEP from Don Striker, superintendent of the New River Gorge National River, Gauley River National Recreational Area and Bluestone National Scenic River.
“In consideration of the water quality violations at this site, apparent violations at other mine sites operated by Powellton, and the cumulative impacts to the environment, we request that DEP deny this permit renewal until a full evaluation of cumulative effects can occur with public input,” Striker wrote.
Saying it is illegal to renew permits when existing permits are being violated, the groups argue that Powellton didn’t merit a permit renewal. In the filing, the Sierra Club and the AHPC pointed out numerous notices of violation (NOVs) in Powellton’s current permit, at least some of which haven’t abated. Instead of denying the application, according to the appeal, the DEP “ignored the record before it and stated, without any support, that it found that ‘the operation is in compliance.’ ” At the least, the DEP should have completed a supplemental cumulative hydrological impact analysis (CHIA) before renewing the permit, the appeal says.
“The DEP has shown that it cares little for the economy of West Virginia by allowing the coal industry to continue to diminish the beauty of the New and Gauley river area,” said Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer Bill Price in Charleston.
On Jan. 20, Teaney submitted a letter to the DEP’s regional office in Oak Hill outlining concerns with renewal of the permit.
He wrote that, according to discharge monitoring reports for WV/NPDES Permit No. WV1019449 through last September, the company “routinely violates” minimum effluent levels allowed in relation to the “quantity of suspended solids, iron, manganese and aluminum, among other pollutants, that Powellton may discharge from its Bridge Fork West Surface Mine into unnamed tributaries.”
Consol officials, meanwhile, believe the topic of the suit has been dealt with already.
“The groups who filed this appeal made similar comments during the review process, and we responded to those comments as part of the normal review/approval process,” said Tom Hoffman, CONSOL Energy’s senior vice president of external affairs. “… this is merely a renewal of an existing permit; we believe it was appropriately issued by DEP, and we will, of course, be prepared to defend the validity of the appeal.”
http://www.montgomery-herald.com/local/local_story_112111804.html
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Polaris Metals inks agreement with Mineral Resources
Thursday, 23 Apr 2009
Polaris Metals NL and Mineral Resources Limited have entered into an agreement which grants Mineral Resources an exclusive option to acquire the rights to mine, process, transport and ship all of the iron ore deposited on Polaris’ Poondano tenements located approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Port Hedland.
Highlights
1. Polaris signs option agreement with Mineral Resources to permit iron ore mining at Poondano
2. Agreement has potential to generate several million dollars annual revenue for Polaris from 2010
3. Revenue flow to underpin development of Polaris’ primary production target, Yilgarn Iron Ore Project, and exploration of Weelumurra project in the Pilbara.
Under the agreement, Mineral Resources will complete a feasibility study and if successful, build, own and operate the site facilities and pay Polaris Metals for each tonne of iron ore removed from the site. The project will potentially generate several million dollars per annum revenue for Polaris.
Mineral Resources has committed to spend at least USD 400,000 to complete an operational feasibility review to establish the quantum and grade of the ore reserve and detail the scope and timing of the site operations.
Mr Ken Hellsten MD of Polaris Metals has welcomed the agreement with Mineral Resources, which has the potential to provide significant cash flow to Polaris Metals to underpin its core activities.
Mr Hellsten said that “The arrangement monetises the value of the Poondano deposit and allows Polaris Metals to focus its management efforts on bringing the advanced Yilgarn Iron Ore Project on stream as its primary development, as well as commencing exploration of the exciting Weelumurra project in the Pilbara.”
The YIOP project has a target resource potential of over 100 million tonnes of direct shipping grade iron ore mineralisation in close proximity to Kwinana and Esperance rail links, while Weelumurra holds potential for 300 million tonnes of iron ore deposits.
He said that “The Mineral Resources proposal can be seen as part of our longer term development process to establish strategic alliances with partners with complementary skills that can add value and support our growth aspirations on our projects."
Mr Hellsten said that “We clearly recognize the synergies that flow from a collaborative arrangement between Polaris Metals and Mineral Resources on the Poondano tenements and look forward to developing further areas of mutual co-operation.”
Mr Peter Wade Executive Chairman of Mineral Resources said that Mineral Resources is well placed to bring the Poondano Project into operation in the 2009-2010 financial year with an initial target in excess of 500,000 tonnes per annum of iron ore product for export through Port Hedland.
He said that “The tenements are located in close proximity to the existing operations and infrastructure of Process Minerals International and will allow for the cost effective utilization of common elements of the Company’s supply chain from mine to port to optimize production and profitability from the resource.”
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/23/OTE1MTQ%3D/Polaris_Metals_inks_agreement_with_Mineral_Resources.html
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Minmetals Wins Australian Approval for OZ Minerals (Update1)
By Jesse Riseborough
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- China Minmetals Group, the nation’s biggest trader of metals, won conditional approval from Australia for its A$1.2 billion ($850 million) bid to buy most of OZ Minerals Ltd.’s mines.
Minmetals must operate the mines using companies that are incorporated, based and managed in Australia, Treasurer Wayne Swan said today in an e-mailed statement. The state-controlled Beijing-based company must maintain or raise production at the Century and Rosebery zinc and lead mines and the Golden Grove zinc, copper and gold project, “subject to economic conditions,” he said.
The approval clears the way for Minmetals to take control of the world’s second-biggest zinc mine in Queensland state. Australia, yet to rule on a $19.5 billion investment by Aluminum Corp. of China in Rio Tinto Group, last month approved a A$1.3 billion investment by Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group, with conditions to avoid conflicts of interest over prices, sales and marketing, in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.
Minmetals must also price sales accords “on arms-length terms by a sales team headquartered in Australia, with reference to international observable benchmarks and in line with market practice,” Swan said. The conditions are designed to protect about 2,000 Australian jobs, he said.
Melbourne-based OZ Minerals rose 1.6 percent to 63 cents today on the Australian stock exchange before the announcement. That values the Australian company at A$2 billion. Calls to Minmetals’ spokesman Jiao Jian were not immediately answered.
Financing Debt
OZ Minerals will use the funds from the sale of assets to pay down A$1.1 billion in debt. It will remain listed on the Australian exchange with about A$600 million in cash and a single producing mine, the Prominent Hill copper and gold operation in South Australia state. It hopes to complete the transaction by the end of June following a shareholder vote.
“We are very pleased that the Treasurer has approved this transaction,” OZ Minerals Chairman Barry Cusack said today in a statement to the exchange. “It is the best currently available solution that resolves all of the company’s refinancing issues.”
Minmetals is also required to reopen the Avebury nickel mine in Tasmania, closed by OZ Minerals in December, and start the Dugald River zinc and lead project, subject to market conditions, Swan said today.
Senate Inquiry
Chinese companies in February proposed to invest about $21 billion in debt-laden Australian producers to secure supplies of iron ore, copper and gold. The Australian senate started an inquiry after a backlash from politicians and shareholders. Australia last month extended a probe into Aluminum Corp. of China’s funding deal with Rio Tinto by as many as 90 days to mid-June.
The Australian government blocked Minmetals initial A$2.6 billion cash takeover of OZ Minerals last month on national- security concern because the A$1.2 billion Prominent Hill mine is located near Woomera, the world’s largest land-locked missile-testing range that previously included testing for nuclear weapons. OZ Minerals has retained control of the copper and gold operation in South Australia state.
Minmetals will get control of the Sepon copper and gold mine in Laos, the Century and Rosebery zinc mines in Australia, the Avebury nickel project in Tasmania state and the Golden Grove mine in Western Australia.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aXAQexfKJ6RQ&refer=australia
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Industry sounds the alarm on crisis in iron ore, aluminum sectors
Your Metal News: Venezuelan iron ore producer Ferrominera Orinoco (FMO) has stopped paying its suppliers, "and that is a warning sign for the industrial sector," a leader of the Ciudad Guayana business alliance AEG told BNamericas. The steel sector is now yielding to the severe crisis already crippling the aluminum sector, the AEG leader said.
Along with FMO and Venezuela's aluminum companies, local steelmaker Sidor and power company Edelca are among the firms experiencing financial and operating problems.
"Edelca might halt maintenance works and that would cause power chaos in the country. FMO has stopped paying its suppliers, briquette manufacturers have ground to a halt with no chance of exports and Sidor's output has plummeted," the president of Guayana region's business chamber, Fernando Goyenechea, was quoted as saying by local press.
Gerardo Serrao, former president of mining and metallurgical industry association AIMM for Guyana region, said "there is very little time left. Collapse is imminent and we don't understand this silence. Some companies are faced with shutdown in just two weeks.
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=79332
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Tahera aims to reopen or sell Jericho diamond mine
Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:20pm BST
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TORONTO, April 22 (Reuters) - Tahera Diamond Corp (TAH.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it will try to raise up to C$40 million ($32 million) in an attempt to either reopen its Jericho diamond mine in Canada's Arctic or sell the asset.
The company shut the money-losing mine last year and left the property to be taken over the Canadian government after Tahera ran out of funds and failed to find a buyer.
Tahera, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection, said in a statement it had entered into an agreement with Cormark Securities for potential equity or debt financing to raise between C$30 million and C$40 million.
It said the funds would be used to "fund the re-commencement of commercial mining operations at the Jericho Diamond Mine, or the direct or indirect sale or disposition of the mine."
The company's shares, which were once worth more than C$4, haven't traded since February and were last valued at half a Canadian cent.
The mine opened in 2006 in the northern territory of Nunavut, but bled money from the start due to high oil prices, the soaring Canadian dollar and resupply problems.
($1=$1.24 Canadian) (Reporting by Cameron French; editing by Rob Wilson)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN2226300620090422
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Jakarta government to allow underground mining in protected forests
Thursday, 23 Apr 2009
The Jakarta Post reported that the government of Jakarta will issue a regulation allowing mining companies to carry out underground mining in protected forests.
Mr Bambang Setiawan director general for coal, minerals & geothermal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said that "This regulation will give legal basis for underground mining in protected forests."
Mr Setiawan said that underground mining would not violate the Forestry Law. He said that "The law only forbids open mining activities, not underground mining."
He added that no mining company had so far conducted underground mining activities in protected forests.
Mr Bambang said that the new regulation would benefit the mining sector by giving it a larger mining area.
He added that all mining companies were required to conduct an environmental impact analysis before starting their mining operations.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/23/OTE1MTc%3D/Jakarta_government_to_allow_underground_mining_in_protected_forests.html
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Demands put uranium mining foes at odds
By JOHN CRANE
Published: April 22, 2009
A board member of Southside Concerned Citizens said she does not support the petition that would demand that the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors ban uranium mining.
If supervisors refused to ban uranium mining in the county, they would be declared “illegitimate under the Virginia Constitution,” according to the petition The Alliance and the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund planned to circulate at a meeting at Averett University on Wednesday night. Averett officials asked that the petition not be circulated at the meeting, and the groups complied.
Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham.
Virginia currently has a moratorium on uranium mining.
The petition demands that supervisors ban uranium mining within three months of receiving it. It also calls on residents to vote on ratification of a proposed county constitution banning uranium mining and to declare that the supervisors be given the choice to adopt it. If the board doesn’t, the constitution would
still become law and a special election would be held to elect new supervisors.
The petition also states the Pittsylvania County Chapter of Southside Concerned Citizens, an anti-uranium mining group, would oversee a county election of 11 people to draft a county constitution banning uranium mining and recognizing the right to community self-governance.
Eloise Nenon, a board member of Southside Concerned Citizens, said the group would not be a part of the effort to overthrow the county’s Board of Supervisors.
“We are opposed to that process, and we will not participate in that,” Nenon said during a telephone interview Wednesday.
Gregg Vickrey, a founder and chairman of The Alliance, said the petition mentioning the SCC was the wrong one. Vickrey used to chair the Pittsylvania County SCC, but left the group in February to form The Alliance.
Shireen Parsons, Virginia community organizer with the CELDF, said the petition mentioning SCC was an old copy, and that the voting process would be determined later if the scenario described in the petition became reality.
Nenon said she prefers to work within the existing system of government to educate lawmakers about the environmental consequences from uranium mining. The Pittsylvania County chapter of SCC never formally existed, Nenon said.
Parsons said whatever Nenon does is her choice.
http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/demands_put_uranium_mining_foes_at_odds/10563/
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Other News – India
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They bring cheer to tribal children
B. Madhu Gopal
Samata’s good work in Araku spurs U.S. educationist into action
— Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
sharing and caring: Louis Law (second from left) recalling her visit to the school run by Samata at Araku in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Samata representative Kalluri Bhanumathi, Laura Eve-Cowles from Massachusettes University and Jayshree Hattangadi are seen.
VISAKHAPATNAM: At a time when government agencies are shying away from their responsibility of providing basic amenities in tribal schools, children from the United States of America (USA) have shown that even a little contribution can work wonders in improving the lives of underprivileged children.
The children were motivated by their teacher who showed them pictures and told them of the good work being done by an NGO in educating tribal children in India.
Louis Law, who runs four schools in Massachusetts, was impressed by the work of ‘Samata’ in its endeavour to provide quality education to tribal children. She visited the schools run by the NGO for tribals at Araku valley and also at Sagar Nagar in the city in December last year.
On return to the US in January this year, she narrated her experience to the children. “The children jumped at the prospect of helping their counterparts in India and readily agreed to my ‘Kids Count’ proposal. It was no big deal for them as many of them could easily contribute a penny or two for the project. They donated their pocket money besides raising donations and within a few months they collected $ 4,000. It was a big task counting the coins and the children themselves counted, segregated, weighed and bundled the coins,” Ms. Louis said.
“This apart the children prepared cookies and muffins and raised $ 175 through their sales. They donated their construction toys (building blocks) that help in easy learning. My elder daughter raised $ 165 through donations from the people and my second one raised $ 90 through a dance show.”
Objective
“It isn’t that only Indian tribal children are benefited from the gesture of my students. My children benefit from knowing about the rich tribal culture and family bonding in addition to learning the joys of sharing. The cooperation is mutual,” she says in a down-to-earth manner. “I was impressed by Greg Mortenson’s book “Three cups of tea” and his ‘penny drive’ initiative that helped in raising $ 20,000 to build a school for poor children in Afghanistan. I came to know about the work of Samata through Jayshree Hattangadi during my last visit to India.”
“Our objective is to enrich the native knowledge of tribals through creative teaching and motivation,” says Kalluri Bhanumathi of Samata. She was critical of the government for not extending the ‘mid-day’ meal scheme to the tribal school run by the organisation. The kids have, after all, proved that adults can count on them when it comes to sharing their resources.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/23/stories/2009042358990300.htm
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SEZs may get more time to start projects
23 Apr 2009, 0135 hrs IST, Amiti Sen , ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The board of approval (BoA) for special economic zones (SEZs) has entrusted its chairman, commerce secretary GK Pillai, to give more
time to cash-strapped developers of SEZ projects beyond the three-year deadline to start work so that their projects do not lapse.
The nodal body that clears SEZ proposals, which has stopped meeting because of the election model code of conduct, has received applications from 50 developers seeking extension, a commerce department official said, requesting anonymity.
By entrusting Mr Pillai to clear these requests, the board seeks to help out promoters whose approvals will lapse if they do not get an extension. “There are some cases where the approvals would lapse if not extended immediately. The commerce secretary, in his capacity as the chairman of the board, is clearing such applications,” the official said.
The SEZ rules allow developers up to three years to start work on their projects after receiving formal approvals. If the developers are not able to show any sign of activity in the zones within this three-year period, the approvals would lapse. Once approvals lapse, the developers need to seek fresh approvals.
“Many developers have not been able to make investments because of the credit crunch. Most of them deserve to get an extension. It seemed unfair to make the developers go through the rigor of applying again just because their applications are scheduled to lapse during the ongoing elections,” the official added.
The board comprises officials from various ministries including finance, commerce and urban development. Despite the slowdown in investments, exports from SEZs have shown a robust growth of 33% to Rs 89,000 crore ($18 billion) in 2008-09.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Economy/SEZs-may-get-more-time-for-projects/articleshow/4437411.cms
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Ministry to establish Community child labour monitoring system
The Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 36 Municipal and District Assembles to support them to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector. In this regard, a capacity building programme is being undertaken to enhance implementation of interventions in 470 beneficiary communities in these districts.
The sector Minister, Stephen Amoanor Kwao who announced this in Kumasi, said one key intervention for the selected Assemblies is to establish a Community Child Labour Monitoring System to disseminate occupational safety and health messages. He said, the Community Child Labour Monitoring System will help the Municipal and District Assemblies to identify working children in cocoa growing communities and their migration status.
They will also help to identify children who are in distress and exploitative situations at any given time, so as to plan and institute appropriate interventions. Mr. Kwao said society should see child labour not as a consequence, but also as a cause of poverty and under-development.
According to him, the prosperity of Ghana depends greatly on the quality of the human resources and therefore, to tolerate child labour is inconsistent with the massive investment government is making.
Mr. Kwao said, in view of this, a micro credit scheme is being introduced, so that community members could source, to pursue alternative livelihoods in order to raise additional income, especially during off-season, to support the children.
http://gbcghana.com/news/25687detail.html
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Rivers receding due to climate change: Study
www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-22 19:38:58 Print
BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhuanet)-- A new research finds that rivers in some of the world's most populous regions are losing water due to changes in climatic conditions.
Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water.
The Colorado River in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India and the Niger in West Africa are losing water, says the study.
The study examined stream flow in 925 of Earth's largest rivers, and found significant change in about one third of them over the past 50 years. These rivers, all key sources of water for the regions they flow through, were found to be funneling less water through their channels.
"Reduced runoff is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the world, especially with more demand for water as population increases," says NCAR scientist Aiguo Dai, the lead author of the study. "Freshwater being a vital resource, the downward trends are a great concern."
Many factors may affect river discharge, including dams and the diversion of water for agriculture and industry.
Climate change's influence on river flow comes through its effects on precipitation and evaporation. The authors compared the river discharge changes to previous studies that looked at changes in precipitation and found that areas of decreased discharge matched closely with areas of decreased precipitation (likewise, areas of increased discharge matched those of increased precipitation).
"As climate change inevitably continues in coming decades, we are likely to see greater impacts on many rivers and water resources that society has come to rely on," said study co-author Kevin Trenberth, also of NCAR.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/22/content_11233187.htm
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