27-06-09

Mining – India 1
1. Hindalco plant faces water shortage 1
2. PSU pins hopes on copper revival 2
3. Mining threatens Similipal 3
4. Eye in the sky to track illegal coal mining 5
5. End-users must hold at least 26% in captive coal ventures 6
Mining – International 7
6. Arcelor Mittal sign iron ore contract with Vale news 7
7. UN to investigate mining in Flathead Valley 8
8. FACTBOX-Mines and plants hit by low prices, high costs 9
9. Panel considers fines against Quecreek Mine 13
10. Town Sees Riches in Abandoned Gold Mine 14
11. Zimbabwe army 'runs diamond mine' 17
Other News 18
12. Viewpoint: Water, the looming 21st century crisis 18
13. Pollution not the greatest global threat: Russians 20
14. 27 Jun 2009, 1413 hrs IST, PTI 20
15. Sign in support of torture victims 20
16. Environment clearance process will be made transparent: Jairam 21
17. SC to hear petitions challenging the SEZ Act: An analysis 22

Mining – India


Hindalco plant faces water shortage
26 Jun 2009, 2230 hrs IST, ET Bureau

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RANCHI: The Muri plant of Hindalco is facing acute water crisis due to decreasing water level of the Subarnarekha

river.

According to an official, the plant needs 100-cubic metre water, but due to prevailing conditions, the water level of the river has come down drastically. The company draws water from the river for its plant requirements, the official said.

"We are getting hardly 15 cubic metre water from the river as against 100 cubic metre on normal days. If the situation continues for some more days, production will have to be stopped," the official added. Senior vice president RP Sharma confirmed that the plant was facing problem due to water crisis.

The company has decided to cut water supply to residential colonies due to the crisis.

With monsoon playing truant, the spectre of drought looms on the state. Governor Syed Sibtey Razi on Thursday evening held an urgent meeting with commissioners and deputy commissioners asking them to take steps to ensure food security in the state.


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Hindalco-plant-faces-water-shortage/articleshow/4707811.cms




PSU pins hopes on copper revival
- HCL to activate captive mines in Ghatshila
PINAKI MAJUMDAR & KUMUD JENAMANI


HCL: Mine makeover
Jamshedpur, July 26: Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) is reviving its captive mines in Ghatshila that were closed since the last two decades to tap a window of opportunity thrown up by stabilising international prices of the metal.
The PSU, already in revival mode with the infusion of about Rs 65 crore, has decided to outsource mining activities to revive the Kendadih mines located between Jadugoda and Surda in the Ghatshila sub-division.
HCL general manager S. Purty told The Telegraph that they have started the revamp process in right earnest. “We are spending about Rs 65 crore for augmenting the capacity of the smelter plant and the copper mines. Apart from Kendadih, we have plans to re-open all other closed mines for which talks are on with the state government,” he said.
HCL’s management has already floated tenders for the supply of copper concentrate from the Kendadih mines.
HCL’s decision — once implemented, it hopes to earn a 50-year headstart — comes after it increased the annual capacity of its smelter plant from 16,500 tonnes to 21,000 tonnes.
Of HCL’s five captive copper mines in Ghatshila, Surda mines is operational. The rest, namely Sidheswari Chapri, Kendadih, Patherbera and Rakhamines, have remained shut since the ’80s when copper prices crashed in the international market.
Company sources said when Kendadih mines was closed in 1989, the prices of copper at the London Metal Exchange (LME) had come down to Rs 98,000 per tonne whereas the cost of production per tonne in HCL was around Rs 2.5 lakh. Since it wasn’t economically viable to continue, HCL was forced to stop mining in those areas.
The price of copper shot up to Rs 3.75 lakh per tonne in October last year. “At present, the international price of copper is Rs 2.65 lakh per tonne which makes the revival project economically viable,” said a senior official of the company's marketing division.
D.P. Mukherjee, general secretary of the Jharkhand Copper Mazdoor Union, who is playing an active role in reviving the Kendadih mines, said the company has floated a tender for procuring copper concentrate from the mines.
“HCL already has a copper concentrate plant at Rakhamines. Whoever is chosen after the tender process is through, will then have to revive the Rakhamines-based plant to produce a minimum of 350 tonnes of copper concentrate a day,” he said.
HCL would use the copper concentrate instead of processing copper directly from the ore procured from mines. Each tonne of copper ore yields only one per cent copper. But, a tonne of copper concentrate contains 25-28 per cent of copper.
“Thus it is always viable for HCL to outsource its captive copper mines,” Mukherjee added.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090627/jsp/jharkhand/story_9963567.jsp


Mining threatens Similipal

Similipal forest is a habitat for wild animals and plants; it has a good population of tigers, leopards, elephants, chital, sambar and 304 species of birds. Similipal now faces an ecological threat from mining..
CJ: sankar pani ,
22 Jun, 2009
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Mining Effects Orissa :

SIMILIPAL IS known worldwide for its tigers, orchids and dense sal forest with streams and other scenic spots. Even the recent controversy relating to the number of tigers was in focus for several days. Similipal has a wildlife sanctuary that covers an area of 2200sqkm and was notified on 03/12/1979. Also it was declared as a National Park in two phases - the first phase in 1980 and the second phase in 1986, covering an area of 845.70sqkm. The Similipal Biosphere Reserve came into existence during 1994 as per the Man And Biosphere (MAB) programme of UNESCO and the total area under the Biosphere Reserve is 5569sqkm with Similipal Sanctuary at the centre. The other distinction is that the Similipal Reserve Forest is the biggest reserve forest block in India with an area of 2271.78sqkm.

The forest is a potential habitat both for wild animals and plants; it has a good population of tigers, leopards, elephants, chital, sambar and 304 species of birds. Similipal Reserve Forest is spread over an area of 2750sqkm and was declared a Tiger Reserve with effect from 04/12/1973 under the Project Tiger Scheme of the Government of India. It has been conferred with legal status as per Section 38 V of the Wildlife (Conservation) Act, 1972 vide notification no. 8F(T)-9/2007/20801/? F&E dated, 31/12/2007 of the government of Orissa in the forest and environment department. The notification has been clearly indicated with boundary description of Critical Tiger Habitat (core) extending over 1194.75sqkm and a buffer area of 1555.25sqkm.

There are four villages situated within the Critical Tiger Habitat and 65 villages in the buffer area. The Similipal-Kuldiha-Hadgarh Elephant Reserve commonly known as the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve in the state of Orissa was notified vide notification No.15806 dated 29/09/2001 and revised vide No.18639 dated 28/11/2001 of the forest and environment department, government of Orissa comprising an area of 7043.04sqkm.

Despite all the above legal recognition, Similipal now faces an ecological threat from mining. However the field director of the Similipal tiger reserve in his response to an RTI application, had written that there were no legal or illegal mines operating in the SimilipalBiosphere Reserve. In reality, a quartz mine has been operating in an area of 40 hectares in the Khasadiha and Balidiha area for the last eight years. In this connection, the divisional forest officer, Baripada, in his letter to the district collector dated 10/03/04, stated that the mining area comes under the purview of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 as per the order dated 12/12/1996 of the Honorable Supreme Court in writ petition (c) No 202/95.

Therefore, mining cannot be allowed in such a patch with good forest growth, irrespective of its ownership and classification.
Other Articles by sankar pani
• Mining threatens Similipal
• Bauxite mining to hit people hard
• Where poachers turn saviours!
• Villagers agitate against industry operations
• Industry destroying ecology in Orissa
more >>
Protesting the mining operation that required the felling of trees, the Mayurbhanja Jungle Surakshya Mahasanhga represented by the Bibekananda Pattanaik, has filed a petition with the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court in July 2008. The committee had directed the ministry of environment and forest to depute an officer to investigate the matter and submit a report. Also it is alleged by the applicant that the mining work has been carried out without any environmental clearance from the ministry of environment and forest and the Orissa State Pollution Control Board has also issued a show cause notice for operating the mine without a valid consent.

The present blasting activity in the mining site also threatens the Balidiha Irrigation Project, situated just half a kilometer from the mining site and which is a historic construction dating back to 1912AD, made during the reign of the Maharaja of Majyurbhanj, Sri Ram Chandra Bhanja Deo, in the river Palapala. Because of the blasting activities carried out in mines, it is obvious that mining activity is detrimental to the movement of wildlife and this has been already noticed particularly among the elephants in the area. In the greater interest of forest and wildlife, local people


http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15773633


Kalinganagar based sponge units hit by OMC iron ore pricing policy
Saturday, 27 Jun 2009
BS reported that all the 10 steel units of the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Orissa’s Jajpur district are on the verge of closure on account of the alleged arbitrary pricing of iron ore and chrome prices by the state government owned Orissa Mining Corporation.
It may be noted that all these ten units, reeling under the economic downturn, have recorded cumulative losses of about INR 500 crore in the past 8 months.

Kalinganagar Industries Association, an organization representing the interests of these industrial units, has sought the supply of iron ore and chrome ore by OMC at competitive rates.

In a letter addressed to Mr Raghunath Mohanty on June 4th 2009, the state minister for steel and mines, Mr PL Kandoi president of KIA said “The system of quarterly tenders for the raw materials of the steel industry is the most appropriate system to ascertain the real market rates. The H-1 rates of such tenders for all items and for all locations were accepted as OMC rates till the onset of recession but this is being ignored at the crucial time when the industries require support for survival.”

The letter has pointed out that the mismatch of H-1 tender rates and rates fixed by OMC for iron ore at the Daitari iron ore mines in the past 8 months. In November to December 2008, the OMC rate was INR 1,709 per tonne of iron ore as against the H-1 tender rate of INR 1,179 while during the January to March 2009, the OMC rate for iron ore stood at INR 1,709 even though the H-1 tender rate had fallen to INR 911 per tonne.

Meanwhile, a team of KIA led by Mr Kandoi met Mr PK Rastogi union steel secretary at New Delhi yesterday and sought his intervention for unrestricted supply of raw materials at reasonable rates for survival of the units. These units have so far invested more than INR 15,000 crore employing about 30,000 persons. Out of the total investment, the bank loans are about INR 12,000 crore.

http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/06/27/OTk5OTc%3D/Kalinganagar_based_sponge_units_hit_by_OMC_iron_ore_pricing_policy.html


Eye in the sky to track illegal coal mining
- Union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal wants state administration to speed up project clearances
SHASHANK SHEKHAR
Bokaro, June 26: The coal ministry was extremely concerned about illegal mining of coal that was going on in Dhanbad and its adjoining areas and would soon adopt satellite surveillance to keep track of this rampant practice and bring its perpetrators to justice.
“The coal ministry will opt for satellite surveillance which will not only help find virgin coal mines lying untapped but also keep an eye on illegal mining,” Union minister of state for coal (Independent charge) Sriprakash Jaiswal told The Telegraph.
Here on a tour of Jharkhand, the Union minister said the state was apparently not doing enough to stem illegal mining activities which, he had been told, was being promoted by Maoists.
Before leaving for Ranchi, Jaiswal — accompanied by the chairman of Coal India, Parthasarthy Bhattacharya and the managing director of Bokaro Steel Plant, Virendra Kumar Srivastav — promised to raise the issue with Governor Syed Sibtey Razi later today.
Jaiswal said he was committed to making India the global number one in coal energy by allotting captive coal mines to private players to raise production in a time-bound manner.
But so far, only 15 to 18 big private players that had been handed over captive mines had begun production, he said.
“Land acquisition and environmental clearances pending at the state level for years were becoming huge hurdles to production of coal. I hope the governor will look into this urgently and ensure files are cleared within the next six months,” he said. Asked about repeated complaints by thermal plants about delayed coal supply, Jaiswal admitted that occasionally there were delays in loading and transportation.
“But I will now try and ensure regular supply,” he said.
On Jharia, where an underground fire has been raging for decades, the Union minister said the rehabilitation plan for residents would be implemented as soon as it was cleared by the Union Cabinet. “But those living in Jharia will have to evacuate once the plan is implemented,” he said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090627/jsp/jharkhand/story_11165732.jsp


End-users must hold at least 26% in captive coal ventures
27 Jun 2009, 0250 hrs IST, Subhash Narayan, ET Bureau

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NEW DELHI: Steel, cement or power companies that sit on captive coal mines will have to own a minimum 26% equity in their mining ventures,

according to the new guidelines approved by the government for mining of coal from captive blocks.

The government currently allows 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in exploration or mining of coal and lignite for captive consumption of iron, steel and cement producers.

While this policy would remain unchanged, the captive block owners will have to maintain beneficial ownership in their mining operations.

"The changes have already been approved by the law ministry and would soon be notified for implementation," an official in the coal ministry said under condition of anonymity.

As per the proposed changes, the approved end-user company (engaged in making cement, steel or power) will have to maintain at least a 26% equity ownership in an associated coal company (subsidiary) formed for supplying coal on an exclusive basis to it.

The captive coal block owner will have to maintain 51% equity in the subsidiary coal company in case the mining company does not have an exclusive coal supply arrangement with the parent.

In case a coal block is jointly owned, equity participation in the joint venture company shall be made directly by owners and not through their subsidiary.

The proposed regulations have specified that in case the company to whom the captive block has been awarded is also a holding company, it would have to maintain at least 51% equity in its subsidiary company engaged in approved end uses (making cement, steel or power).

It would, however, need to have just 26% equity in the second subsidiary company engaged in coal mining provided the entire output is supplied exclusively to the holding company. Independent coal and lignite mining companies could also be allocated captive blocks on the condition that they enter into firm supply contracts for coal at the application stage itself, as per the proposed guidelines.

Such companies would not be allowed to enter into fresh agreements with new end-use companies subsequent to award of the coal block.

As on date, 198 coal blocks with geological reserves of about 42 billion tonnes have been allocated to various public and private sector companies. The private sector has 98 blocks with reserves of close to 15 billion tonnes.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Indl-Goods--Svs/Metals--Mining/End-users-must-hold-at-least-26-in-captive-coal-ventures/articleshow/4708515.cms

Mining – International




Arcelor Mittal sign iron ore contract with Vale news


27 June 2009


The world's largest steel maker Arcelor-Mittal has signed a new 2009 iron ore contract with Brazilian miner Vale even as Chinese steelmakers are locked in a pricing duel with the top three iron ore mining giants for a substantial reduction for this year's long-term price contracts. (See: Global iron ore miners locked in pricing battle with China)
Arcelor-Mittal signed the 2009 long-term contract for iron ore with Vale earlier on Monday 22 June at 28.2 per cent lower prices of for iron fines, 44.5 per cent lower for iron lumps and 48.3 per cent lower for iron pellets compared to last year.
The agreed prices between Arcelor-Mittal and Vale are in the same lines to the 2009 contract for supply of iron ore signed between Rio Tinto and Japanese steel maker Nippon Steel's and Korea's Posco in May, which had upset the Chinese steelmakers. (See: Chinese steelmakers upset with Nippon Steel's ore price-cut deal with Rio)
Annual iron ore prices, the main raw material in the production of steel, are negotiated and set through a benchmarking system in May between major global steelmakers and the three global mining giants, Vale of Brazil and Anglo Australian miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
In the wake of the plunging demand for steel, China, which is the biggest importer of iron ore, is seeking price cuts of over 40 per cent on the annual contracts while the miners had been unwilling to budge beyond 20 per cent.
China, which has yet to arrive at an agreement on annual prices for iron ore with the miners, has justified a price cut of 40 per cent on two counts. First, it says, iron ore prices have been raised by nearly 400 per cent in the past five years of the global boom that led to a demand for steel. Second, it says, the demand for steel was unlikely to pick up in the current year due to the prevailing global recession and economic slump.
Chinese steel producers and China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) have steadfastly stuck to a 40 per cent cut, but may no longer be able to stick to their rigid stance since Japanese, Korean and now European steel makers have agreed for an average 33 per cent cut.

http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_a/Arcelor_Mittal/20090627_iron_ore_contract.html

UN to investigate mining in Flathead Valley
By Colleen Kimmett June 26, 2009 04:39 pm 1 comments
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VANCOUVER - Mining and energy development in British Columbia's Flathead Valley has UNESCO concerned about the potential risks to an adjacent world heritage site, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
UNESCO's world heritage committee announced today it will send a fact-finding mission to the region to investigate and "evaluate and provide recommendations on the requirements for ensuring the protection" of Waterton-Glacier. It has also asked Canada and the US to prepare a report by February, 2010 that examines all Flathead River Valley energy and mining proposals and their cumulative impacts.
Last May, 11 Canadian and U.S. environmental groups petitioned UNESCO's world heritage committee to declare the site in danger, following a proposal for mountain top coal mine development in the Flathead.
"The Flathead River Valley provides critical habitat for rare and endangered species that migrate to and from Waterton-Glacier, and it has the highest density of grizzly bears in the interior of North America," Wildsight's Ryland Nelson told the Vancouver Sun at the time.
This fact-funding mission is the first part of the process to declare a world heritage site in danger. If Waterton-Glacier receives that status, it would be the first in North America.
"We think it's a great decision," said Chloe O'Loughlin, spokesperson for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society [CPAWS]. "But we don't want it to become a site in danger. We want this fixed." CPAWS, and others, are calling for the lower third of the valley to be declared a national park, and for the establishment of a wildlife management area for the rest.
This summer, a group of photographers will document the Flathead Valley, in an effort to move B.C. and Canada to protect it.
Calls to the Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources were not promptly returned.
Colleen Kimmett reports for The Tyee.

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Environment/2009/06/26/BCmining/

Thomson Reuters
FACTBOX-Mines and plants hit by low prices, high costs
06.26.09, 08:09 AM EDT


June 26 (Reuters) - The global financial crisis and sharp falls in metals prices have forced several companies to abandon or put on hold their plans to bring new mines onstream.

Some existing producers also have shut down or curtailed output at mines and plants and announcements continue to trickle through despite the recent metals price rises.

Below are details of major projects and facilities affected in recent months, as well as other related news.

June 25 - Russia's UC RUSAL plans to reduce output at its Guinea alumina plant by more than 50 percent from July 1. Plans to return to normal production levels in August.

June 18 - HudBay Minerals said it would close its ageing Flin Flon, Manitoba copper smelter before July 2010 and its White Pine, Michigan refinery shortly thereafter, citing the deteriorating economics of the operations.

June 16 - Mirabela Nickel Ltd said a delay in financing had impacted delivery of equipment. First concentrate at Brazilian mine is now expected in September.

June 12 - Ormet Corp said it had cut production capacity to five potlines from six as of May 20 at its Hannibal primary aluminium smelter in Ohio after trimming output to 5-1/2 potlines on May 1. Cites lack of alumina.

June 10 - Kazakh metals firm Kazakhmys said it had suspended zinc production at its Balkhash plant. Produced 48,000 tonnes of zinc and 138,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate in 2008.

June 9 - The Philippines has slashed its investment target for the mining sector this year to just over $600 million from an earlier goal of up to $1 billion.

June 5 - Glencore said it had placed its 80,000 tonnes per year (tpy) lead production line at Portovesme in Sardinia on temporary care and maintenance.

June 2 - Century Aluminum said it had delayed repairing damaged pots at its Hawesville, Kentucky primary aluminium smelter.

June 2 - Doe Run Peru said it would halt all operations at its La Oroya polymetallic smelter because financial and environmental setbacks had prevented it from buying concentrates.

May 26 - PT International Nickel Indonesia revised down its capital expenditure budget for this year by more than a quarter.

May 20 - Alcoa Inc reduced primary aluminium production at its three smelters in Spain by some 18 percent in line with global cutbacks announced already by the company.

May 13 - Denison Mines Corp said development of the Midwest uranium project had been postponed.

May 12 - BHP Billiton said planned to stop mining at the Rocky's Reward open-pit mine at the Leinster Nickel Operation in Australia.

May 11 - Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) said it had put plans to boost its production capacity to 1.2 million tonnes per year on hold.

May 11 - The future of an aluminium smelter project at Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Economic City is 'uncertain', an executive of state-owned smelter Dubai Aluminium Co (Dubal) said.

May 11 - Dubal said it expected Q2 aluminium sales to fall 20 percent from a year earlier.

May 10 - Oman's Sohar Aluminium, part-owned by Rio Tinto , said it had put the second phase of its plant on hold.

May 8 - PT International Nickel Indonesia asked the government for more time to assess plans for a new 20,000-30,000 tonnes per year (tpy) plant after a study showed the project may not be feasible.

May 7 - Breakwater Resources said if base metals prices returned to late 2008/early 2009 lows they may cut mill throughput and mine only gold-bearing deposits for the rest of 2009 at Toqui zinc-lead-gold mine in Chile.

May 6 - Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation said annual production rate of smelter-grade alumina at Gramercy refinery in the United States halved to 500,000 tonnes per year (tpy). It continues to evaluate options to cut purchase cost of alumina, including assessing the curtailment of Gramercy.

May 5 - Suriname Aluminium Company LLD (Suralco) said it would cut about 40 percent, or 870,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of production at its Paranam alumina refinery. Suralco is part of the Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals group.

April 30 - Hydro Aluminium, the German unit of Norway's Norsk Hydro said it may stop production at its loss-making aluminium smelter at Neuss in Germany in June.

April 30 - Eramet's said nickel output would continue to be adjusted in relation to the market surplus and low prices. Also said it would continue to limit capital expenditure.

April 30 - Kazakhmys posted a 20 percent fall in Q1 copper cathode output from the previous quarter as part of stated move to cut production. Said it suspended output at sections of a fifth mine in addition to four mines previously announced.

April 29 - Alcoa Inc said to cut aluminium production at Portland smelter in Australia by a further 38,000 tonnes to 305,000 tonnes per year.

April 29 - Belgium's Nyrstar said its zinc output dropped by 30 percent in Q1 2009 from Q4 2008. It said it planned to transform cost structure across the company, resulting in over 50 million euros ($65.1 million) in cost savings per year from 2010.

April 28 - Russia's Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant said it produced 36.7 percent less zinc and zinc-based alloy in Q1 2009 than in the same period last year. Production cuts part of company's cost-cutting measures.

April 24 - Century Aluminum said it may cut its smelter output further. One official said it may soon decide to close another potline at its Hawesville, Kentucky smelter.

April 24 - BHP Billiton said the viability of its Bayside aluminium smelter in South Africa was at risk following a sharp fall in demand for value-added products.

April 23 - Mexico's mining chamber said it saw new investments in exploration and expansion projects in the country dropping by 25 percent this year from last year to $2.73 billion.

April 23 - Southern Copper said it had further trimmed its 2009 capital and exploration budget to $328 million from $415.3 million.

April 22 - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc said its spending plans continue to be reviewed and may be revised based on market conditions.

April 22 - BHP Billiton said output from its Escondida copper mine in Chile will fall by 30 percent this fiscal year. Said all its operations would remain under review.

April 22 - Indonesian state-owned miner, PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, said its first-quarter ferro-nickel output fell 24 percent from a year ago on slowing demand.

April 22 - Indonesian tin production may not reach 90,000 tonnes this year as production adjusts to slowing demand, a director general at the country's energy ministry said. He said Indonesia had initially planned to limit output to 105,000 tonnes.

April 21 - China's Yunnan Copper Co Ltd said its production in the first quarter fell 34 percent from a year earlier due to the global financial crisis.

April 21 - Russia's United Company RUSAL said it was halfway towards its goal of cutting costs by $1.1 billion in 2009 after reducing them by $554 million in the first quarter. Aluminium production fell 7.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. Plans to cut 2009 output by 500,000 tonnes.

April 21 - Noranda Income Fund said May output of zinc and sulphuric acid would be reduced by about 20 percent.

April 17 - FNX Mining said it was considering suspending its remaining production in Sudbury, Ontario due to Vale Inco's decision to temporarily shut down its operations there.

April 16 - Vale said it would delay the start-up of its Onca Puma nickel project in Brazil by at least one year. Previously expected to come on line in January 2010. Company also said it would shut its Sudbury nickel mines and processing plants in Ontario, Canada for eight weeks from June 1.

April 14 - Indonesia's PT Timah Tbk said it expected to cut its refined tin output by as much as 8 percent this year.

April 13 - Anvil Mining said budgeted capital expenditure for 2009 had been cut to the minimum necessary to sustain the operation of the Kinsevere HMS plant.

April 10 - Zambia's Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) would delay to June a resumption in its operations after some creditors refused to accept only half of the money they were owed by the mine owners, a government minister said.

April 9 - Russia's UC RUSAL said it would cut output at its Novokuznetsk smelter from mid-April by a third from 317,000 tonnes produced in 2008.

April 9 - Xstrata Plc said it planned to suspend operations at its Sinclair nickel mine in Australia in August if metals prices did not rebound.

April 9 - Vedanta said it shut down a part of the BALCO Plant I smelter in India in Q4 due to higher operational costs.

April 8 - Greece's Larco said it would cut nickel in ferro-nickel output to between 10,000-12,000 tonnes this year from about 18,500 last year.

April 7 - Alcoa expects its Q2 alumina output to decline slightly to match smelter demand. Company projects weak global demand and expects another 1.4 million tonnes of primary aluminium output cuts in coming months.

April 7 - Rio Tinto said it would cut bauxite production at its Weipa mine in northeastern Australia by about 23 percent. It also said it would slow the expansion of the Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland.

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Panel considers fines against Quecreek Mine
2009-06-26 23:46:00


A mining company attorney defended its operations Thursday as the legal wrangling continued nearly seven years since the rescue of nine trapped coal miners in Pennsylvania's Quecreek Mine.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission heard arguments about whether a judge last fall fairly assessed $110,000 in fines against two companies, PBS Coals Inc. and Musser Engineering Inc., cited for negligence in the 2002 accident. The companies are challenging the fines.

A federal safety panel had previously recommended lesser fines of $5,000 against each company.

The miners became trapped in a flooded tunnel July 24, 2002, after digging into an adjacent mine full of water. They had relied on outdated maps showing the mine was 300 feet away.

PBS attorney R. Henry Moore said the best available map was used at Quecreek Mine. He added there were not final, certified maps available of all abandoned mines and that in western Pennsylvania at the time, that was the norm.

"It was the best that was available," Moore told the panel.

Commissioner Mary Lu Jordan said the map used was undated.

"Why is it reasonable for a company to rely on an undated, uncertified map to depict a potential hazard," Jordan said.

The miners were pulled from the ground in a dramatic rescue 77 hours later, after several had scrawled emotional goodbye notes to loved ones. The Quecreek Mine is in Somerset, Pa., about 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

In November 2008, Administrative Law Judge Robert Lesnick fined each of the companies $55,000, saying they should've had better maps. Lesnick said the companies played "Russian roulette" with the lives of the miners and exhibited a "very high level of negligence."

Musser was hired to help prepare maps that were used to determine where to mine at PBS Coals' Quecreek Mine.

Lesnick found that the companies "knowingly mapped the Quecreek No. 1 Mine based on questionable information, knowingly placed their production agenda ahead of caution, and then directed their miners into areas that tragically turn out to be 'undiscovered country.'"

In levying the fines, Lesnick rejected a recommendation from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration that the companies each be fined $5,000.

In August 2003, the safety administration blamed the accident on inaccurate mine maps and said the companies could have done more to ensure the miners' safety. The safety administration had suggested PBS Coals and Musser Engineering were moderately negligent, but Lesnick found both companies "grossly negligent."

Commission Chairman Michael Duffy said he was having "serious problems" with characterizing the actions of the companies as "gross negligence." He asked why the panel should not be influenced by considering what was standard operating procedures by companies involved in mining in Pennsylvania during the time period in question.

"We have to take ourselves back," he said.

Eight of the nine trapped miners reached undisclosed settlements with companies involved in the accident. A ninth miner didn't sue.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jg0xK3ajbed&title=Panel_considers_fines_against_Quecreek_Mine

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• JUNE 27, 2009
Town Sees Riches in Abandoned Gold Mine

LEAD, S.D. -- Eight years after the Homestake gold mine here was shut down, this town is fashioning an unlikely economic-stimulus plan from the warren of tunnels the miners left behind.
This past week, a group of scientists and state officials led by Gov. Mike Rounds descended in a cage-like elevator nearly a mile through solid rock to rechristen the mine the Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake. The event celebrated the first steps toward transforming the 8,000-foot-deep mine into a place for scientists to hunt for fundamental particles difficult to find on the earth's surface.
So far, the state and a local philanthropist are funding the reopening of the mine, a visitor center and the start of scientific work. The National Science Foundation is considering an estimated $550 million plan to build underground labs and a campus for scientists and students.
Gold Mine for Science
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Anna Davis
Physicist Ray Davis stands in the chamber of the neutrino detector at Homestake in 1955.
For the town itself, the resurgence at Homestake offers a shot at diversifying an economy long reliant on one employer. "Lead's economic development for 125 years was Homestake," said Mayor Tom Nelson, whose father, brother and many cousins earned livings underground.
Now, Lead is banking on the influx of hundreds of construction and lab jobs. The combination promises to bolster a region that depends heavily on tourists who stream to the Black Hills for Mount Rushmore, the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, the casinos in Deadwood and outdoor activities like hiking and skiing.
In these tough times, towns across the U.S. are trying to make the most of their natural assets. Few can exploit one as rich as Homestake. Founded in 1877 by some California miners, Homestake Mining Co. produced 40 million ounces of gold and built the town's water system, a lumber company, a bank and a hospital.
Cyndi Fisher, 51-year-old manager of the Black Hills Mining Museum, recalled swimming at the company recreation center, and watching 15-cent matinees at the company theater. "It was a company town," she said.
When gold production ended in 2001, many miners left Lead for work elsewhere. The population has since dropped by at least 300 from 3,027 in 2000. While retirees helped drive up property values on the high end, abandoned homes became a problem and storefronts emptied in the Main Street shopping district.
Around the time the mine was closing, physicists meeting in Seattle heard about it and jumped on the idea of converting it into an underground lab, recalled Kevin Lesko, a University of California at Berkeley physicist. After working in underground labs in Canada and Japan, he saw Homestake as a way to make the U.S. the center of the underground physics world.
The earth's surface is routinely bombarded by streams of particles from outer space. Scientists in pursuit of rare particle collisions head underground -- the deeper the better, where only the particles they are interested in pass through.
Scientists already knew Homestake as the site of a Nobel prize-winning experiment set up by physicist Ray Davis in 1965 that first observed solar neutrinos -- infinitesimal particles that had only been theorized about.
Scientists are excited about possibly shooting neutrinos from a particle accelerator outside Chicago at Homestake targets to see how the particles change as they pass through rock and dirt.
Near term, scientists are preparing to place a chamber of liquefied xenon in the Homestake mine, looking for flashes of light that would indicate a collision with "dark matter," the invisible substance thought to make up 25% of the universe's mass. "These are fundamental questions" the lab could explore for decades, Mr. Lesko said.
While some scientists pushed for the NSF to quickly fund the project, the foundation requested studies of what such a lab would achieve and where it should be.
As the federal work inched along, South Dakota officials forged ahead. Republican Gov. Rounds called a special legislative session in 2005 and won an initial $19.9 million for the lab and additional measures that enabled Barrick Gold Corp., which acquired the mine in 2001, to donate it to the state.
A huge boost came when T. Denny Sanford, a Sioux Falls, S.D., banker and philanthropist, pledged $70 million in 2006. The next year, the NSF said that, if it did build a deep underground lab, Homestake would be its home. Work on a preliminary design for the federal part of the project continues, but a final determination of NSF funding could be two years away.
Today, workers have been pumping nonstop to drain water that has been collecting since the mine was sealed in 2003. The 4,850-foot level, where the first experiments will be set up, was still submerged last month.
Local businesses and workers have begun to benefit. Lewie's Saloon and Eatery is selling a few more burgers to itinerant scientists, said owner Lewie Sternhagen. Chad Jacobs, of Jacobs Welding & Machining, said he did about $100,000 of work for the lab last year and expects "a lot more."
And Kim Reller, 54, is back at Homestake full-time. Mr. Reller worked in the mine for 23 years, doing everything from assaying the quality of gold to setting explosives, until being laid off in 1998. For the next decade, he took jobs in railroads and timber, and as a contract laborer helping to shut and later reopen Homestake. Last year, he joined the state science authority running the giant lifts that transport workers and materials up and down mine shafts.
Asked if he ever expected to work in astrophysics, Mr. Reller laughed and said, "What's that?"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124606199658363745.html

Zimbabwe army 'runs diamond mine'

Until the military moved in illegal diggers were seeking their fortune
Lobby group Human Rights Watch has accused Zimbabwe's army of using forced labour, including children, to mine diamonds in the east of the country.
Local villagers who do not co-operate with the military are beaten and tortured, the US-based group says.
Their report also details an alleged massacre of diamond diggers last year, after the disputed elections.
It urges the unity government to take control of the mines and use the revenue to help rebuild the country.
"Zimbabwe's new government should get the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse," Human Rights Watch's Africa director Georgette Gagnon said.
"The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence," she said.
'Buying off the military'
The report is based on interviews done in February in Marange district.
Its researchers say that as far as they are aware, the situation has not changed since the former opposition joined the government four months ago.

Millions of dollars in potential government revenue are being siphoned off through illegal diamond mining,

Human Rights Watch statement

Eerie silence at Zimbabwe mine
Blood diamond scheme 'is failing'

Human Rights Watch claims control of the mines is part of a systematic attempt by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party to buy support from the military.
The diamond fields in Marange were seized just one month after the power-sharing deal was first agreed in September 2008.
On the face of it, the military takeover was an attempt to seize control from unlicensed miners, the lobby group says.
But in reality it was a systematic attempt to enable key army units, whose support President Mugabe needed following June's elections, to have access to riches, Human Rights Watch says.
"Documents that we reviewed that we got from the military and the police clearly indicate that this was a clearly designed system to benefit the army," researcher Dewa Mavhinga said.
Witnesses say it involved a brutal military operation that saw some 200 people killed in three weeks.
It says army brigades are still in control forcing hundreds of children and adults endure forced labour for mining syndicates.
While the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is touring the West lobbying for aid, "millions of dollars in potential government revenue are being siphoned off through illegal diamond mining, smuggling of gemstones… and corruption", the rights organisation says.
If the diamond industry was legally regulated, Human Rights Watch estimates it could amount to $200m a month for the country.
It is calling for diamond exports from Zimbabwe to be banned and for the country to be suspended from the Kimberly Process - the certification scheme for diamonds - until the demilitarisation of the mines is achieved.
On Wednesday, Global Witness reported that the Kimberly process was failing - partly because of the situation in Zimbabwe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8120931.stm

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Viewpoint: Water, the looming 21st century crisis
By J. David Cohen
Fri Jun 26, 2009, 07:58 AM EDT
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DANVERS -

Life and fresh water are an inseparable pair. Without water, there is no life. Water provides us with the most essential ingredient for our survival. It is equally essential for maintaining our food resources and sanitation needs. Additionally, it is a critical industrial material.
As world population increases, the demand for available water resources has been exceeding sufficient supplies in some areas of our country and also throughout the entire world. Simultaneously, increasing global warming is expected to reduce future water availability in newly forming desert areas.
This will become a serious national and international problem. It will inevitably grow into a life-threatening crisis. Competition for existing water may even lead to conflict or war. What can be done about it?
There is no question that this crisis will happen. We therefore must organize and plan for it. Doing nothing is not an option. That will lead to a future disaster. There is really only one source of water in the world. The oceans represent the only (and nearly infinite) source. Natural forces, driven by the heat of the sun, vaporize seawater leaving the salt and other dissolved minerals behind. This leads to cloud formation that randomly redistributes fresh water back to the earth’s surface as rainfall. It all then eventually drains back to the sea for a net time averaged change of zero. No quantity of rainfall can ever change mean time-averaged sea level.
Since mankind is on the verge of overwhelming this natural resource, we must act to supplement it. Desalination of seawater on a massive scale is the only solution for the future. This will require enormous quantities of new energy to supplement what nature already provides.
Global warming is expected to melt huge amounts of polar ice, increasing sea level the world over. This adds to another future water crisis by inundating parts of major coastal areas and cities. One solution is to provide dikes or levees. Another solution is to abandon the newly flooded areas. We must do one or the other. We will probably do a combination of both based on economics. We do not have the choice of doing nothing. This will require a huge new construction effort. That also consumes energy.
A key question is: “Who will plan and direct this effort?” Subordinate to that are the questions of: “How much?” “How long?” “When?” and “Financing?” We need a professionally directed plan, a roadmap, and time schedules.
We then need to build the required and properly planned infrastructure. Delaying that construction hastens the time of crisis and will cost us more in the long run.
This is an American problem and a worldwide problem. The American problem must include Canada and Mexico since we share water sheds.
Our current economic problems will seem like nothing compared to a water disaster. However, there could be a bright side to the story. Massive employment opportunities can provide a prosperity that will let us emerge smarter and stronger as a society. I would expect this effort to continue throughout the 21st century.
J. David Cohen lives on Cornell Road in Danvers. He is a retired professional engineer, license 30246, who worked at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Lynn for 45 years.



http://www.wickedlocal.com/danvers/news/lifestyle/columnists/x737342582/Viewpoint-Water-the-looming-21st-century-crisis

Pollution not the greatest global threat: Russians
27 Jun 2009, 1413 hrs IST, PTI

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MOSCOW: Most Russians do not regard pollution as one of the greatest global threats, an opinion poll by the nation's public opinion studies

centre VCIOM has said.

Military threat from the United States, NATO and the West in general is at 11%, demographic crisis and depopulation at 6%, terrorist attacks and international terrorism at 5%, poverty, impoverishment and low living standards at 4%, and weak industry and agriculture at 4%.

The ecological threat's rating was three%, equal to that of alcoholism, drug addiction, degradation of the population, growing prices, inflation, corruption, bribe-taking, theft, red-tape, low morality, low culture, demoralization of society, risk of Ukraine and Georgia joining NATO, inter-ethnic conflicts, tensions, inter-ethnic animosity and migrants from the CIS countries and China.

Unemployment and the authorities' indifference towards the people, as well as risk of Russia's collapse and loss of territorial integrity were described as global threats by a tiny 2% of respondents.

Forty-nine% of the polls say the condition of the environment looks unsafe while nine% say it is catastrophic.

Air and water pollution are the main parameters Russians complain about (51% each). Poor health of the people is next at 44% and at third position is bad drinking water with 37%.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Pollution-not-the-greatest-global-threat-Russians/articleshow/4709672.cms



Sign in support of torture victims
26 Jun 2009, 2138 hrs IST, TNN

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VARANASI: The activists of Peoples Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) launched a year-long signature campaign in support of torture

victims at the district headquarters on Friday, marking the International Day in Support of Torture Victims (June 26).

"The signature campaign will be conducted throughout the year in 50 districts of different states of North India," said Lenin Raghuvanshi of PVCHR, adding the day created by the United Nations General Assembly demonstrates solidarity to all those whose minds, bodies or spirit had been affected by torture.

The anti-torture activists demanded police reform, debate on the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008, rehabilitation of torture victims. The core group member Shruti said the campaign was also conducted through online petition. The PVCHR, in collaboration with Denmark-based Research and Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims, had developed testimonial therapy in the country to provide psychological counselling to torture victims, she said.

According to Lenin, the Prevention of Torture Bill 2008 falls far short of obligations. It provides narrow and restrictive definition of torture with no reference to death as a result of torture. It provides for lenient punishment for torture, contrary to the punishments provided under the Indian Penal Code for similar offences. He alleged that torture is also applied by law enforcement officers as a tool for extortion. "This behaviour has distanced law enforcement officers from the ordinary people. So far, the government has not initiated any discussion or debate concerning the proposed law," he said.

A poster exhibition was also organised on the occasion.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varanasi/Sign-in-support-of-torture-victims/articleshow/4706255.cms

Environment clearance process will be made transparent: Jairam

27 Jun 2009, 0152 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to clean up the environmental clearance
stable, environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said the chairman
of Expert
Appraisal Committee, P Abraham, who was also on the board of several
power companies, had resigned. The committee is one of the seven that
recommends environmental clearance of various development projects.

The move came after NGOs raised the issue but even then it took more
than a week for Abraham to resign. Ramesh said it was part of the plan
to improve the clearance process and make it more transparent. As part
of the move, he has made it mandatory for companies to disclose the
clearance letters and periodic status of compliance.

At the same time, hinting that the clearances would become tougher to
secure, Ramesh said, “The ministry has an unnaturally healthy rate of
accepting proposals — 98%. I would be much happier with a higher rate
of rejection.” While promising to reduce the time taken for both
forest and environment clearances, Ramesh said he was studying how to
do away with the “business of in-principle clearance”.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Environment-clearance-process-will-be-made-transparent-Jairam/articleshow/4708450.cms

SC to hear petitions challenging the SEZ Act: An analysis
Published on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 21:13 , Updated at Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 22:05
Source : CNBC-TV18,Mint
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Come July, the Supreme Court may be taking up a petition that challenges the SEZ Act of India. This comes on the back of a slew of petitions that were filed against various SEZ projects including the Maha Mumbai SEZ promoted by Anand Jain, a close associate of Mukesh Ambani.
Bhuma Shrivastava of Mint said one of the petitions states that ertain provisions in the SEZ Act violate several fundamental rights given to all Indians by the constitution. "If the apex court takes a stance that the SEZ Act goes against the spirit of constitution it could have far reaching implications not just for the Mumbai SEZ project but also for future projects. Several experts that we spoke to are calling it sort of a test case, something of a legal precedent which will not only put the SEZ Act under scrutiny, it will also show how far the Indian government is willing to go and defend its own policy."
Also see: Maha Mumbai SEZ in limbo as farmers oppose land acquisition
Here is a verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with Bhuma Shrivastava on CNBC-TV18. Also see the accompanying video.
Q: Take us through the details of this petition. You’ve had a look at it – what's the background and what are the implications of this likely to be?
A: The Supreme Court is going to hear a bunch of petitions sometime in July that will pitch the SEZ Act and its provisions against the constitution of the country. Now one such PIL is filed by the Maha Mumbai Shetkari Sangharsh Samiti, which has gone ahead and actually said that certain provisions in the SEZ Act violate several fundamental rights given to all Indians by the constitution.
They have specifically mentioned in its petition articles 14, 19, 21 and 38 of the constitution that speak of citizens right to be treated equally before the law, to move freely throughout the country and have protection of life and personal liberty.
Now this body has been protesting against taking over of fertile lands from Raigad farmers for quite sometime for the Mumbai SEZ project. However, it stance on whether the SEZ Act goes against the spirit of constitution – that is something that could have far reaching implications – not just in the way Mumbai SEZ project comes up or doesn’t but also in the way future projects come up.
Several experts that we spoke to are calling it sort of a test case, something of a legal precedent which will not only put the SEZ Act under scrutiny, it will also show how far the Indian government is willing to go and defend its own policy.


http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/sc-to-hear-petitions-challengingsez-act-an-analysis/403455