Minng – India
1. Rape of Bellary
2. Orissa asks Posco to focus on welfare of locals
3. NTPC, Coal India enter into a JV
4. JSW Energy synchronizes 1st unit of Rajasthan power project with national grid
5. Illegal mining devours eco-fragile mountains
6. CIL to get prospecting licence for Mozambique coal blocks soon
7. Court stops mining on 9-year-old's petition
8. HC notice to govt on mining lease
Mining – International
9. New era for Michigan mining
10. Industry revival sparks jobs vs. environment debate
11. Uranium mining and environment assessed
12. Mongolia says to sign copper/gold mine deal
13. UN review could settle mining dispute near Waterton Park
14. Company exploring for gold near park
15. Mining Companies urged not to compromise employees safety
16. Newmont ups reserve estimate at Peru mine project
17. AP IMPACT: Gov't stands by as mercury taints water
18. One ton of gold poured at Bicol mine
19. Zimbabwe Aims to Attract $16 Billion to Mine Industry
Other News
20. Centre to amend Forest Dwellers Act
21. Caught In A Sorrowful Yarn
22. NREGS being Congress-ised; BJP, Left livid
23. Rights group: media covering polluters threatened
Minng – India
Rape of Bellary
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Mining lords redraw Karnataka-Andhra border, drain government
By N. Bhanutej/Bellary
Burrowed and battered by mining barons, a stretch of Karnataka’s border with Andhra Pradesh has been all but erased.
Neither political parties, nor protests by citizens, nor the Lok Ayukta report on illegal mining in the region, nor High Court directives have stopped the violations in two places along the border in Karnataka’s Bellary district. The BJP government sits tight. After all, the violators, Bellary’s “mining lords”, who are ministers in the government, had funded the BJP’s first Assembly poll victory in south India.
Mining companies hold mining leases on either side of the iron ore-rich Karnataka-Andhra border. The Sugalamma hillock in Andhra Pradesh and Thimmappanagudda hillock in Karnataka, situated around 5km apart, have rich iron ore deposits. The M/S Obalapuram Mining Company Private Limited (OMC), owned by Karnataka Infrastructure and Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy, has three mines on the Andhra side—two in Obalapuram village near the border, adjacent to the Sugalamma hillock, and one in Malpanagudi village, near the Thimmappanagudda hillock.
Documents with THE WEEK show that the OMC has encroached upon mines in Karnataka. Conservator of forests Dr U.V. Singh—who had surveyed these areas in 2006 and during the Lok Ayukta inquiry in 2008—confirmed the border violation. Keeping the Bellary Reserve Forest map as a reference point, he explained how OMC ravaged the inter-state border by creating a network of roads to link with the mine pit-heads of M/s Hind Traders, a mine on the Karnataka side, in which the OMC has a “raising contract”. The roads were used to transport iron ore.
The OMC removed markings of survey points, as shown on the Bellary Reserve Forest map. The Lok Ayukta report says that GTS (Great Trigonometrical Survey) points at Sugalamma hillock and Thimmappanagudda hillock were destroyed by the OMC during mining. The OMC also erased the trijunction points between Karnataka’s Tumti and Vitlapura villages and Malpangudi village in Andhra.
In effect, the company has moved 0.5km into Karnataka near the Thimmappanagudda hillock. As there has been no conclusive survey of the border in the Bellary Forest Reserve after the Reorganisation of States, it remains a disputed area. This worked in the favour of Janardhana Reddy, who is Bellary district in-charge minister and has powerful connections in Andhra Pradesh. Using his political clout, he extended OMC’s boundary into mines in Karnataka.
Many mine owners succumbed to his might. But two mine owners in Karnataka—S.K. Modi of Bellary Iron Ore, whose mines were encroached on the border near the Sugalamma hillock, and Tapal Narayana Reddy, whose Tumti Mines were encroached at Thimmappanagudda hillock—approached the court. It was the last resort. Earlier, when the Bellary deputy conservator of forests had issued notices to Janardhana Reddy in June and July 2007, following complaints from Narayana Reddy, the former had refused to produce his mining lease documents and the sketch of the mining area.
Janardhana Reddy had questioned the jurisdiction of the deputy conservator of forests, claiming that “the interstate boundary line was laid down on the ground by the joint inspection team, in 1991, consisting of the representatives of Survey and Land Records of both the states, i.e., Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.’’ However, no such document exists. Neither the forest department nor the mines and geology department in Andhra Pradesh could produce proof of a survey in 1991. Janardhana Reddy’s mining lease in Malpanagudi, issued by the Andhra Pradesh industries and commerce department, a copy of which is with THE WEEK, shows that no matter which way the sketch is superimposed on the Bellary Reserve map, the OMC clearly encroaches into Karnataka.
In fact, what started as a property dispute sparked by the greed for the big money in iron ore mining is a border row between the two states. In a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court, Narayana Reddy had alleged encroachment of his area by OMC. In April, the court directed the regional director of mines, Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), director general of Survey of India, and controller of mines (south zone) to depute officers to survey the areas leased out to Narayana Reddy and Janardhana Reddy.
But when IBM set out to carry out the court directive, it met with non-cooperation from the Andhra side. The action-taken report filed by IBM regional controller of mines Ivan Khess and controller of mines (south zone) Dr B.P. Sinha before the Karnataka High Court in June 2009 stated that the survey was carried out between May 16 and May 18, 2009. However, contrary to the court’s instructions, the surveyor from the Andhra Pradesh Geospatial Data Centre (APGDC), Survey of India, took part in the survey only as an “observer’’. Besides, while Tumti mine was surveyed, the area leased to OMC was not, as the Andhra side did not provide any documents to the survey team.
“This is the respect Janardhana Reddy shows to a High Court order. It is shocking that the other departments, too, violated the High Court direction, succumbing to his pressure,’’ said Tapal Ganesh, son of Narayana Reddy. In effect, though Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa holds the portfolios of forest, and mines and geology in Karnataka, Janardhana Reddy has shown that in Bellary he is more powerful than the chief minister. Janardhana Reddy was unavailable for comments.
Officials in Bellary are tight-lipped about the violations. “Our hands are tied,” said an official. Another said, “We wish to continue to live. So please don’t ask us these questions.” The Reddy ‘raj’ extends well into Andhra Pradesh, where he is investing in a Rs 2,000-crore steel plant in Kadapa district, in partnership with Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the late chief minister Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy.
Janardhana Reddy’s expansionist designs are aided by officials in Andhra Pradesh. In April, Bellary Iron Ore owner Modi approached the Supreme Court alleging violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act by Andhra forest department officials in connivance with OMC, which has two mining leases near Bellary Iron Ore. Modi sought a field survey in five mines around the Sugalamma hillock. The court has fixed October 5 as the deadline for the survey report.
But officials who have to conduct the survey fear for their lives. A letter in possession of THE WEEK proves this. Dated July 24, 2009, the letter from APGDC director Swarna Subba Rao to the Union home secretary seeks CRPF protection during the survey. “We perceive serious threat to our men and equipment during the work and the security cover of local state will be inadequate,’’ it says. Leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council, V.S. Ugrappa told THE WEEK that he, too, had received threat calls on the eve of his visit to Bellary on a fact-finding survey of the disputed areas in November 2008.
The district Congress in Bellary has been browbeaten into silence. Party leaders like Diwakar Babu who resisted the violations have been implicated in court cases. Former MP K.C. Kondaiah told THE WEEK, “There is no law and order in Bellary. We are all helpless because nobody can match their [Reddys’] wealth.”
Even major industrialists in Bellary feel threatened. Minerals Sales Private Limited (MSPL), one of the largest private sector iron ore mining companies in India, is helpless as two smaller mine owners adjoining their property “steal our ore”. “Only mines that have submitted to them [Reddy brothers] are being allowed to work. They are encouraged to encroach on neighbouring mines. Those of us who are not willing to give up our legal right are not allowed to work. We are not getting permits though all our papers are right. My mines have been lying idle for months, and they are looting my ore even as we speak,” said MSPL executive director Rahul N. Baldota.
Yeddyurappa is indebted to the Bellary barons, who control at least 30 legislators in the Assembly. The Karnataka Congress could say little because the party’s chief minister in Andhra Pradesh, the late Y.S.R. Reddy, was backing the Reddy brothers. That explains why some Congress leaders in Karnataka were relieved when YSR died in a copter crash. “God has a way of bringing people down to earth. One cannot fly too high for long,’’ a Congress leader told THE WEEK.
As we stand on the Hagari bridge on the Bellary-Anantapur highway, thousands of trucks with “zero material’’—code word for illegal ore—roll towards ports in Andhra Pradesh. With international prices of ore climbing to Rs 2,000 per tonne, business is brisk. And Bellary—reeling in poverty, unemployment, low literacy, high infant mortality and water scarcity—continues to be ravaged by a band of ruthless miners.
http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMONline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?sectionName=Current+Events&contentId=5960433&programId=1073754900&pageTypeId=1073754893&contentType=EDITORIAL
Orissa asks Posco to focus on welfare of locals
Press Trust of India / Bhubaneswar September 17, 2009, 19:21 IST
Orissa overnment today asked Posco-India to focus on welfare of people who would be displaced by the company's Rs 52,000 crore steel project, which is facing resistance from locals.
The government's views were conveyed by state Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty to the South Korean company at a meeting to review the progress in the implementation of the project here.
"Speak to the people who will be directly affected by the project and do not entertain those in adjoining areas," Mohanty said.
He said the company must set up an industrial training institute at the proposed site of the project near Paradip to impart training to the local youths.
The government also warned the company that talks with "outsiders" could further delay the project which was already running behind schedule.
The company was scheduled to go for first phase of production in 2010.
Asking the company to expedite its activities, the government also suggested Posco-India that it could start work outside the "disturbed patch" in Dhinkia village, considered as epicentre of anti-Posco movement.
"How affected people will trust you if you do not take up any public welfare activities?" Mohanty asked Posco-India representatives Y K Kim and Saroj Mohapatra who attended the review meeting.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-asks-posco-to-focuswelfarelocals/73772/on
NTPC, Coal India enter into a JV
Source: IRIS (18-SEP-09)
NTPC is currently working on its captive coal mines with production target of 12 mtpa by 2012 and 47 mtpa by 2017 from the six coal mining blocks allotted to it. The company is taking steps to accelerate the development of these coal mining projects.
Further, NTPC is also forming a joint venture (JV) company with Coal India (CIL) to develop, operate and maintain two coal mining blocks allotted jointly to NTPC and CIL in Jharkhand and develop integrated power plants.
NTPC has signed a long-term coal supply agreement with Coal India for a period of 20 years with the objective of ensuring guaranteed coal supply at 90% of annual contracted quantity for its generating stations.
Adding to its fast pace growth, NTPC is also scouting for opportunities for acquisition of stakes in coal mines abroad and is exploring possibilities in Indonesia, Mozambique and South Africa and has formed a JV with RINL, SAIL, CIL and NMDC for sourcing coking coal and thermal coal from overseas.
Shares of NTPC declined Rs 0.4, or 0.19%, to trade at Rs 208. The total volume of shares traded was 15,539 at the BSE (10.12 a.m., Friday).
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/storyShow.php?fileR=20090918101720709&dir=2009/09/18&secID=livenews
JSW Energy synchronizes 1st unit of Rajasthan power project with national grid
India Infoline News Service / Mumbai Sep 18, 2009 14:07
The total investment is Rs50bn for the power project and approximately Rs7.02bn for the lignite mining. The entire power will be sold to Rajasthan State Electricity Distribution companies.
JSW Energy Limited a part of the Mr. Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is implementing 8X135 MW Lignite based power project in Barmer district of Rajasthan, through its wholly owned subsidiary namely Raj WestPower Limited. (“RWPL”). The project is based on lignite to be mined from the Jalipa and Kapurdi mines.
The Company has synchronised the first unit of 135 MW and expects to commence commercial operation of the first unit of 135 MW in October 2009 and the entire project by October 2010. The total investment is Rs50bn for the power project and approximately Rs7.02bn for the lignite mining. The entire power will be sold to Rajasthan State Electricity Distribution companies.
To part finance various projects including the power plant and lignite mining projects at Barmer, JSW Energy is proposing to enter the capital market with aninitial public offering of equity shares aggregating up to Rs30bn and has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with SEBI.
http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=114318&lmn=1
Illegal mining devours eco-fragile mountains
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Endangering Wild Life, Annihilating Vegetation
ARIF SHAFI WANI
Srinagar, Sept 17: Unabated mining and blasting of mountains for extraction of raw material for manufacture of cement has disturbed the habitat of wild animals in various areas of the Valley forcing them to take refuge in residential areas.
Kashmir is blessed with lofty mountains, which play an important role in maintaining its fragile eco-system. However, reckless extraction of stones and other raw material illegally was gradually devouring the mountains and subsequently affecting flora and fauna.
Mining is rampant in the catchments of the Dachigam National Park and Khrew-Khanmoh Conserve Reserve, which is the last bastion of critically endangered Hangul or Kashmir Stag.
“The heavy blasting near the forest areas pushes the wild animals towards residential areas. Some leopards have taken refuge near an abandoned factory near Khanmoh. Besides the blasting is so deafening that it has damaged many houses,” the locals of Khanmoh told Greater Kashmir.
Environmentalists said the mining of limestone and the harmful emissions of over a dozen cement factories in the fragile zone are adversely affecting the human population and wildlife besides saffron and almond production.
In its recent report, the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has revealed that the mining leases with the Cement factories in Khanmoh-Khrew areas were without the Board’s authorization, mandatory under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
In the absence of any official clearance, the mined areas are not covered under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study neither has Environment Management Plan (EMP) been formulated for eco-restoration of the mined areas.
The SPCB report states that a stone quarry in Wahabkhan Beat of Khrew Wildlife Range, had devoured a major chunk of the Wildlife Protected Areas and affected dense crop of Kail (Blue Pine). It states that 14 stone quarries in Ladhu Beat and 18 quarries in Mondakpal Niyam Sahib, are operating without the SPCB authorization.
In Khonmoh, the Cement factories owners have constructed approach road up to the mining areas along steep slopes without prescribed ecological safeguards, officials said adding the mountain lies close to the Dachigam National Park.
The SPCB officials said the Gypsum factories in Uri are also operating without its consent and devouring the mountains for extraction of raw material.
Pertinently, the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978 prohibits destruction of habitat of a wild animal in a National Park, Sanctuary or Conservation reserve. The wildlife conservation strategy 2002, mandates that “land falling within 10 kms of the boundaries of National Parks and Sanctuaries should be notified as eco-fragile zones under Environment (Protection) Act and Rules.
“The unplanned mining directly contributes to air, noise and water pollution, threatening the wild animals in the Dachigam National Park. The heavy blasting in the area increases the vibration level and causes soil erosion,” said prominent geologist, Haji Abdul Majeed Butt adding the emission levels in the affected areas were higher than the prescribed emission of Air Pollution prescribed by the Ministry of Environment.
“This is affecting human life, vegetation and wildlife. Due to heavy blasting the noise level in the areas has gone beyond permissible limits. Water in these areas show impurities of dissolved gases of Hydrogen Sulphate, carbon dioxide besides dissolved minerals of salts of calcium, magnesium and sodium,” he added.
Experts state that as per the Mines Act 1952, a lessee is required to make benches which shall be sloped at the angle less than 60 degree and height of the bench shall not exceed six metres. “However the mining rules are being openly flouted in Zewan, Pantha Chowk, Verinag stone quarries. The contractors resort to under-cutting the mountains, which leads to its collapse. It is ironical that the Department of Geology and Mining allots the leases without ground work and allows vandalization of vital mountains which house the rich bio-diversity,” Butt said.
A cursory look at the mountains near Pantha Chowk and Athwajan depicts the haphazard mining practices. After frequent rock falls, landslides and mishaps in the area, the Government had declared quarrying at Pantha Chowk unsafe and banned it subsequently.
But the Geology and Mining Department allowed the blasting only in major quarries by issuing permits on the condition that digging of the surface will be carried for three feet and only loose material will be taken out. Ironically, in contravention of the guidelines, heavy explosives are placed deep in the mountains to meet the ever-growing demand of stones.
Pertinently, many laborers have so far been killed in the quarries. In 2002, eight laborers were killed when part of a mountain collapsed. After the killing of two laborers in a stone quarry at Pantha Chowk earlier this year, the Geology and Mining Department had enforced blanket ban on blasting in quarries near residential areas. But the ban was imposed for a few days only.
In 2008, the Government had decided to constitute a committee to examine the matter. However, the Committee is yet to be formed.
The Regional Director of SPCB, Mian Javid, said legal action against the defaulters has been initiated for violating environment protection Act. “We have also issued advisories to the Geology and Mining departments to ensure mining activities are carried only after mandatory environment clearance was obtained from the concerned authorities which is a statutory requirement environment protection 1986.
The wildlife warden Central, Rashid Naqash, told Greater Kashmir that nearly 80 persons illegally operating near the forests, had been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act. “Our staff regularly carries patrolling near the vulnerable areas for mining. We can check the menace with active support of people,” Naqash said.
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/today/full_story.asp?Date=18_9_2009&ItemID=63&cat=1
CIL to get prospecting licence for Mozambique coal blocks soon
Jayajit Dash / Bhubaneswar September 18, 2009, 0:58 IST
The efforts of Coal India Limited (CIL), the world's single largest coal miner, to resume exploration of coal blocks have gathered steam as the Mozambique government is likely to issue it a prospecting license soon.
“All official formalities related to the grant of prospecting license have been completed. The Mozambique government has shown a very positive approach and we expect to get the prospecting license within a month or two,” a CIL official told Business Standard.
In March, CIL was awarded two exploratory coal blocks in Tete province of Mozambique with an estimated reserve of one billion tonnes.
The coal major would develop these two coal blocks through a joint venture with a state-run coal mining firm in Mozambique. The joint venture with the Mozambique mining firm would be forged by the fully owned subsidiary of CIL in that country. CIL has already formed a fully-owned subsidiary in Mozambique and the company has been registered.
Last month, a high-level delegation comprising the Union coal ministry and the top brass of CIL visited Mozambique to expedite the process of exploration of the coal blocks. While the exploration of the two coal blocks, spread over 224 sq km, was set to commence within a few months, the mining activities were expected to begin after three-and-a-half years.
The navratna coal company was keen on entering into a strategic partnership with the global mining firms in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, US and South Africa. Besides, CIL has formed a special purpose vehicle called International Coal Ventures Limited (ICVL) with four other state-run firms for acquisition of coal assets overseas.
The four other state-run firms which had a stake in ICVL were Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).
The race for buying overseas coal assets was gaining momentum in view of the burgeoning coal demand in India. The domestic coal demand was projected at 730 million tonnes (MT) by 2011-12 but domestic coal production was pegged at 520 MT, thereby creating a shortfall of over 200 MT.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cil-to-get-prospecting-licence-for-mozambique-coal-blocks-soon/370432/
Court stops mining on 9-year-old's petition
IANS 18 September 2009, 12:00pm IST
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PANAJI: Acting on a petition filed by a nine-year-old boy, the Panaji bench of Bombay High Court has passed an interim order restraining the
Vedanta-owned Sesa Goa's mining operations at the firm's Advalpal mining lease in North Goa.
The petitioner, Akash Naik from Advalpal village, was backed by well-known NGO Goa Foundation, which has taken up several litigations against mining firms in the past.
Naik in his petition has said that mining in Advalapal will destroy agriculture in the area and choke the water bodies, which are so essential to farm holdings. The order was passed on Thursday.
"The village will neither have water nor paddy fields left, since the mining companies have destroyed all the nallahs (water channels) and piling of sediments washed from the mining pits has destroyed the cultivable lands," Naik has said in his petition.
Norma Alvares, representing Naik, has also accused Sesa Goa of "indulging in unsafe mining practices".
"Complaints made to the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) about dumping of rejects precariously near human settlements were not heeded to by the agency," Alvares said.
The hearing on Naik's petition will be held next month. Operators of open cast mining in Goa have often been at loggerheads with farmers and environmentalists over pollution.
Nearly 100 operational mining leases in Goa export approximately 33 million tonnes of iron, manganese and bauxite ore per year, mostly to China and Japan.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/goa/Court-stops-mining-on-9-year-olds-petition/articleshow/5025970.cms
HC notice to govt on mining lease
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STAFF WRITER 20:55 HRS IST
Allahabad, Sep 17 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court today issued notice to the state government to explain as to why a CBI enquiry should not be ordered into various allegations of irregularties in grant of sand mining lease in the state.
A division bench of justices P C Verma and B K Narain asked the chief secretary to submit a detailed report by October 14, the next date of hearing, on the grant of mining lease in the last three years.
The court noted with concern that "thousands of writ petitions are being filed each year at the High Court here as also at its bench at Lucknow" challenging sand mining lease.
>
http://www.ptinews.com/news/287990_HC-notice-to-govt-on-mining-lease
Mining – International
New era for Michigan mining
Industry revival sparks jobs vs. environment debate
Jim Lynch / The Detroit News
Republic
Upper Peninsula mines have called the fathers, brothers, sons and, eventually, the mothers and daughters of the region's families to work for more than a century.
Days spent in the dark and the dirt searching for copper, iron and nickel put food on the table and carved out a rugged identity for Michigan's northernmost territory.
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Only two mines still operate -- a far cry from the industry's heyday. The loss of that economic cornerstone, coupled with the national financial crisis, hit the region hard and pushed unemployment levels far above average.
Mineral companies are once again looking to the Upper Peninsula for a "new era in mining," which could begin with the opening of a new nickel mine this spring. Their interest has risen with commodities prices, and the value of nickel reached record highs just two years ago partially because of its value in new battery technologies.
Company officials are approaching communities with the promise of new jobs, investment and money to aid governments and schools. Companies are buying and leasing mineral rights in anticipation of a new wave of mines. The first such project, Kennecott Minerals' proposed Eagle mine near Marquette, is getting its share of support from elected leaders and citizens and providing the first test of state mining laws enacted four years ago. At least two other companies are investigating mine projects.
Environmental groups find the rush to bring in mining projects alarming. Mining can harm streams and groundwater and the effects could be felt for decades. The risk of long-term damage, they say, is not worth the short-term economic gains, particularly in an area as unspoiled as the Upper Peninsula.
Mark Onkalo of Republic, 30 miles west of Marquette, isn't so certain. The 50-year-old Onkalo is part of a long line of men who made their living in the mines, including a great uncle who died in a cave-in. Onkalo is going on his 14th month without work.
"There are so many people out of work right now, millwrights are a dime a dozen," said Onkalo, who hopes to land a job at the Eagle mine if the project goes ahead. "It's terrible for me right now. I'm down to my last (unemployment) extension check."
Those are the factors environmentalists are trying to overcome in their opposition to not only the Eagle project, but also the wave of mines that could follow if Kennecott is successful.
"Places like the Upper Peninsula are rare now to find," said Joe Saari, a retired history professor and president of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition. "And if we let them go because we think like we did in the 19th and 20th centuries -- that you can never exhaust these resources or ever pollute this water so much that it won't be usable and healthy for us -- we're wrong. We've seen that it can happen."
Company pitches the pluses
Somewhere underneath the ground out here on the Yellow Dog Plains -- roughly 30 miles northwest of Marquette -- is a chunk of ore worth anywhere from $3 billion to $6 billion or maybe more. It's exactly the kind of high-grade nickel and copper lode Kennecott hoped to find when it began explorations in the Upper Peninsula a decade ago.
Yet it sits in amid land held dear by those who enjoy the outdoors as well as the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. The entrance to the mine would be at the base of Eagle Rock, a place where Keweenaw community members go for celebrations and contemplation.
To drum up support for the Eagle Mine venture, company officials tick off a list of benefits to the community:
• 500 jobs for construction of the mine and the redevelopment of a mill site in Humboldt.
• As many as 200 full-time jobs once the mine and mill are online.
• Tax boosts for local government, school district and more than $100 million in revenue for the state.
• Construction of a $50 million 22-mile road through western Marquette County.
In a place like Marquette County, where the unemployment rate is 10.6 percent, or in neighboring Baraga County, where that number soars to 24.5 percent, such investment is water in the desert.
"Generations of families have been supported by the mining industry and had a great life in the Upper Peninsula," said Lois Ellis, vice president of economic development for the Lake Superior Community Partnership. "So a lot of the population views the project positively as something we're good at and something that can contribute positively to the economy."
If work on the Eagle project gets under way this spring as the company plans, it will likely be the first of many new mines. Kennecott has identified 150 sites for potential operations in the Upper Peninsula and the company is spending as much as $5 million a year on exploration.
Two other companies have contacted Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality about potentially filing for mining permits. Orvana Minerals is looking at a copper ore body south of White Pine. Canadian company Aquila Resources announced this summer it intends to open a gold and zinc mine near Stevenson, possibly as soon as 2012.
Acid mine drainage feared
There is nothing subtle about the mining process. At the most basic level, it's tearing minerals from the ground for processing and, environmentally speaking, it's a process with a spotty history.
Kennecott's owner, London-based Rio Tinto, is the second-largest mineral company in the world and has experience mining on six of the seven continents. Many of those projects have stirred up controversy over harm caused to the surrounding areas.
Company mines in places like Alaska and Utah are at or near the top of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's lists for toxic releases in those states. Environmentalists are threatening a lawsuit against Kennecott over pollution at the Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith in northwest Wisconsin.
For conservationists in the Upper Peninsula, the worry is acid mine drainage -- sulfuric acid created by digging for metals like nickel and copper working its way into local waters. And the area targeted by the Eagle project, they argue, is particularly vulnerable.
"Ninety five percent of mines -- underground sulfide mines that occur near surface water or groundwater -- pollute," said Michelle Halley, an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation who has challenged the state permits issued to Kennecott's Eagle project in court.
"That's a risk that's just too great to bear for the Yellow Dog Plains, the Salmon Trout River and the Yellow Dog River. In a worst-case scenario, as our experts predict, the roof of the mine caves in and takes the river with it. There is no contingency plan adequate enough to deal with that problem."
In addition, Eagle's critics point out that the jobs created are short-term -- up to eight years before the mine is expected to play out. The money that comes along with the mine, they said, will only be a temporary boost.
And finally, they point to the state's compensation. If Kennecott stands to reap billions from the Eagle mine, they ask, why is Michigan only getting $100 million from it?
Firm touts safeguards
Not surprisingly, company officials have a different take. Their mine in Salt Lake City ranks second on the national toxic release inventory simply because it moves more material than almost any other mine in the nation -- as much as 500,000 tons of rock a day.
And the Flambeau mine, they argue, is a model program that received no environmental violations from the state during its operation in the mid-1990s or afterward.
Jon Cherry helped Kennecott remediate its Utah mine site before coming to Michigan as the Eagle project manager.
He said he is confident the company's investment in the latest environmental safeguards -- including liners to prevent drainage, and water treatment plants at the mine and the mill -- make the mine a safer bet than those that came before.
"One hundred years ago they just started mining and you ended up with what you ended up with," he said. "Today, it's much more (protective) environmentally with a lot more rules and regulations, which I think is a good thing."
Halley and others, however, want the company to put its money where its mouth is.
"Those same Kennecott people have been challenged under oath to guarantee that the mine will not pollute and the technology they propose will operate as planned," she said. "And they won't guarantee it."
Asked if it's fair for any company to be expected to issue a guarantee like that, Halley responded: "It's fair when you have the world's largest freshwater resource at stake."
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090918/BIZ/909180392/New-era-for-Michigan-mining
Uranium mining and environment assessed
Written by Administrator
FRIDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 09:45
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is undertaking a strategic environmental assessment of the current central Namib uranium rush to guide future decisions for sustainable development in that part of the country.
Minister Erkki Nghimtima said this week that his ministry is actively monitoring the environmental impacts of exploration and mining.
“Namibia’s rich mineral resources are partly located in regions that are prime nature conservation areas. We have to deal with the management of areas where conflicting land uses prevail, and this calls for a strategic approach. Thus, environmental assessments should be undertaken to look at individual developments and put them into broader context of regional and national, long-term, sustainable development goals, and integrate the impacts of planed developments in the surrounding areas,” he said.
Nghimtina said uranium exploration and mining activities in the central Namib have led to a large number of studies, which in turn generated new knowledge about the fauna, flora and archaeology of the area.
He said many local exploration and mining companies have not only adhered to the provisions of the country’s Environmental Assessment Policy and the Environmental Management Act. They have also actively involved themselves in environmental programmes.
He said Namdeb has contributed tremendously to the scientific understanding of the environment of the area comprising the Sperrgebiet National Park, adding that De Beers Marine Namibia was also conducting research on the marine environment.
The minister said the increased knowledge from these studies, according to the minister, is not only useful to science; it can also create new places of interest for eco-tourism and thereby offer other economic opportunities.
He also pointed to the marine archaeological find of a 15th century shipwreck in Mining Area 1 of Namdeb last year, a find that would never have been made without the diamond mining carried out in the area.
This shipwreck, most probably the oldest wreck ever found along the African coast, has the potential to attract tourists to Oranjemund in the Karas region, and thereby contribute to the sustainable development of the town even after diamond mining would have ceased.
“The mining sector has enormous potential to contribute to the overarching goal of our National Development Plan, the eradication of poverty, and is already doing so by no small means. Society’s continued need for the extraction and use of minerals is clear. However, the way in which minerals should be extracted, processed, used and recycled in the context of sustainable development is less than clear and often bitterly disputed,” he said
http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19801:uranium-mining-and-environment-assessed&catid=539:general-news&Itemid=60
Mongolia says to sign copper/gold mine deal
(AFP) – 1 hour ago
ULAN BATOR — Mongolia hopes to sign a long-awaited deal with mining giants Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe by month's end to launch the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine, the country's resources minister said Friday.
Dashdorj Zorigt, the Asian country's minister for mineral resources and energy, told AFP "last-minute issues" were being ironed out, but that efforts were being made by all parties to have the deal signed by September 30.
"We are in the process of negotiations, but I am sure we will be able to go ahead and sign it in the near future," Zorigt said in an interview.
"We will try to work it out by the end of this month."
The project is expected to create 5,000 jobs at the mine and thousands more in the supply chain around it, giving the GDP of impoverished Mongolia, one of the poorest countries in Asia, a major boost.
The deal would give the government a 34 percent equity interest in Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia and a 250-million-dollar advance on royalties and taxes earned from Oyu Tolgoi.
Zorigt estimated the project could boost Mongolia?s per capita GDP, at about 1,800 dollars in 2008, to 15,000 dollars by 2015.
"This is a four-billion-dollar investment project," Zorigt said. "As you can imagine, Mongolia will benefit from this flow significantly."
The minister said he hoped production would begin at Oyu Tolgoi "sometime by 2012 or 2013".
Mongolia, a former Soviet satellite state, has struggled to develop a sustainable economy since turning to capitalism two decades ago.
But its rich deposits of copper, gold, uranium, silver and even oil have caught the eye of foreign investors.
"Mining is the backbone of the Mongolian economy -- it accounts for close to 30 percent of its GDP and 70 percent of its exports," said Zorigt.
Late last month, Moscow and Ulan Bator agreed to form a joint venture to exploit the Dornod uranium deposit during a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. And China is planting oil rigs in the east of the country.
The Oyu Tolgoi deal, which has been subject to countless delays, is the first of several big contracts the government is hoping to sign.
Next in the pipeline is Tavan Tolgoi, which is said to be the largest untapped coal field in the world. Mining companies and consortiums from Russia, China, South Korea, and the United States have submitted bids for the project.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5GvwV1dv0RR2RkerI1so3rDHAxw
UN review could settle mining dispute near Waterton Park
Company exploring for gold near park
BY RICHARD CUTHBERTSON, CALGARY HERALDSEPTEMBER 17, 2009COMMENTS (1)
Waterton National Park
Photograph by: Photo courtesy Travel Alberta, Calgary Herald
CALGARY - Gold exploration in the Flathead River Valley is raising the ire of some environmentalists, who worry it could lead to mining in what they say is an ecologically sensitive area of southeastern B. C. and Montana.
The river valley runs adjacent to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a World Heritage Site that straddles the Alberta-Montana border, and will be the focus of a review starting next week by experts from the United Nations and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The experts will look at potential threats to the international park from mining and oil and gas development, according to the United States Department of the Interior. The B. C. government says the team will be visiting the Flathead.
But the company looking for high-grade gold in two areas of the Flathead says it has a small footprint and is still a long way from proceeding with a mine.
The president of MAX Resource Corp., Stuart Rogers, said if a mine is developed, it will be underground and not open pit, adding he welcomes the team and its review.
When the committee meets with government officials, they will understand the "exhaustive process" it takes before a mine can be opened in B. C., said Rogers.
"It's not like some dastardly villain drilling a hole and putting a mine in next month, pouring acid into the water," Rogers said.
"All mines permitted leasing in the last 10 years have a zero-discharge policy. They can't discharge any water and they have strict monitoring and procedures in place."
But environmentalists argue the Flathead River Valley is so ecologically important that no mining at all should take place.
The Sierra Club of B. C. is calling for the bottom third of the Flathead to be designated a national park to complement Waterton Glacier.
The rest, the group says, should be declared a wildlife management area. The MAX Resource Corp. exploration falls into the proposed management area.
Sarah Cox, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club, said the B. C. government is being misleading about what will happen with the area.
"On the one hand the government is saying, 'There is no mining in the Flathead, you don't need to worry; there's no need to change the land-use regime, it's working fine; the Flathead is a beautiful area and we all want to protect it,' " Cox said.
"On the other hand, they are basically sanctioning gold exploration. We're questioning why they are doing this."
Cox said the area is home to endangered species and the water in the Flathead is some of the purest in the world.
B. C. Minister of Intergovernmental Relations Naomi Yamamoto said there are currently no mines in the area, but that mining is permitted under the land-use plan.
"There are permits for exploration, but we have a very rigorous environmental assessment process that any potential mining company needs to go through," she said. "It's so rigorous that I think we've seen companies decide that it's not worth going through the process in order to start a mine there."
Yamamoto believes the current land-use plan is working well. She said the fact-finding mission to the area is a chance for B. C. to show how it manages sustainable resources and the environment.
"Currently there's a land-use plan that's in place that was developed with the various stakeholders in the area and I think it's actually working quite well," she said.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/review+could+settle+mining+dispute+near+Waterton+Park/2002008/story.html
Mining Companies urged not to compromise employees safety
September 17, 2009
Akoti-Etwebo (W/R), Sept. 17, GNA - A District Chief Executive has appealed to mining companies operating in the country to ensure that the health and safety of their workers was not compromised.
Mr Stephen Wilks Kofi Mensah, District Chief Executive for Sefwi-Wiawso, said there should be strict adherence to the use of protective gear and universally accepted safety practices to prevent accidents.
He was speaking at a drill on "Safety and First Aid" held at Akoti-Etwebo for miners drawn from Chirano Gold Mine Limited, Newmont Ghana Limited, Bibiani Central African Gold Limited and the Awaso Bauxite Company.
It was organized under the auspices of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission.
"Slam the risks, the right way, the safe way, every time", was the theme.
Mr Mensah recognized the important contribution of the extractive industry to the national economy and said to help sustain this everything should be done to avoid disasters.
He reminded them to also maintain safety environmental standards in order not to pollute the areas where they have been working.
Mr Mensah said as corporate citizens the companies should live up to their social responsibility to the local communities and called for reasonable compensation payment to people who lose their crops and farms to mining.
GNA
http://www.ghananewsagency.org/s_economics/r_8365/
Newmont ups reserve estimate at Peru mine project
Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:54pm EDT
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AREQUIPA, Peru, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N) boosted on Thursday the reserve estimate of its Minas Conga copper-gold project in Peru to 11.8 million ounces of gold and 3.2 billion pounds of copper.
The company had previously said the project was thought to have equity gold reserves of more than 6 million ounces and roughly 1.7 billion lbs of copper.
Newmont has still not made a decision whether to develop Minas Conga, which it postponed because of the global economic and credit crunch last year.
The company had originally said it would announce a development decision in the first quarter of 2009, but delayed it because of changes in the market and projected costs.
"Minas Conga is a deposit with reserves of nearly 12 million ounces of gold and 3.2 billion pounds of copper," Carlos Santa Cruz, Newmont's vice president of operations in South America, said at the 29th biannual Perumin mining convention in Arequipa.
He added the project has an annual production potential of between 480,000 and 780,000 ounces of gold and an expected mine life of between 15 and 20 years.
He put potential copper production between 175 million and 225 million lbs -- around 90,000 tonnes of fine copper per year.
Elsewhere in Peru, Newmont controls the Yanacocha gold pit, one of Latin Americans largest.
Peru often ranks as the worlds's No. 2 copper producer and is sixth in gold. (Reporting by Teresa Cespedes; Writing by Dana Ford)
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1723488020090918
AP IMPACT: Gov't stands by as mercury taints water
By JASON DEAREN (AP) – 5 hours ago
NEW IDRIA, Calif. — Abandoned mercury mines throughout central California's rugged coastal mountains are polluting the state's major waterways, rendering fish unsafe to eat and risking the health of at least 100,000 impoverished people.
But an Associated Press investigation found that the federal government has tried to clean up fewer than a dozen of the hundreds of mines — and most cleanups have failed to stem the contamination.
Although the mining ceased decades ago, records and interviews show the vast majority of sites have not even been studied to assess the pollution, let alone been touched.
While millions live in the affected Delta region, the pollution disproportionately hurts the poor and immigrants who rely on local fish as part of their diet, according to a study conducted by University of California, Davis ecologist Fraser Shilling. His research found that 100,000 people, which he calls a conservative estimate, regularly eat tainted fish at levels deemed unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Tens of thousands of subsistence anglers and their (families) are consuming greater than 10 times the U.S. EPA recommended dose of mercury, which puts them at immediate risk of neurological and other harm," Shilling said.
But neither the state nor federal government has studied long-term health effects of mercury on the people who regularly eat fish from these waters.
The legacy of more than a century of mercury mining in California — which produced more of the silvery metal than anywhere else in the nation — harms people and the environment in myriad ways.
Near a derelict mine in this California ghost town, the water bubbling in a stream runs Day-Glo Orange and is devoid of life, carrying mercury toward a wildlife refuge and a popular fishing spot.
Far to the north, American Indians who live atop mine waste on the shores of one of the world's most mercury-polluted lakes have elevated levels of the heavy metal in their bodies and fears about their health.
And other mercury mines are the biggest sources of the pollution in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast.
In all, this metal known as quicksilver has contaminated thousands of square miles of water and land in the northern half of the state.
Records and interviews show that federal regulators have conducted about 10 cleanups at major mercury mines with mixed results, while dozens of sites still foul the air, soil and water. The AP's review also found that the government is often loathe to assume cleanup costs and risk litigation from a failed project.
Mercury from mine waste travels up the food chain through bacteria, which converts it to methylmercury — a potent toxin that can permanently damage the brain and nervous system, especially in fetuses and children.
The federal government calls methylmercury one of the nation's most serious hazardous waste problems, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is a possible carcinogen.
Mercury is considered most harmful to people when consumed in fish. People who regularly consume tainted fish are at risk of headaches, tingling, tremors and damage to the brain and nervous system, according to the CDC.
The toxin is less of a threat in drinking water, which is filtered and monitored more closely.
Mining in California ceased decades ago, leaving behind at least 550 mercury mines, though no one knows for sure how many. One U.S. Geological Survey scientist says the total may be as high as 2,000.
"Mercury tops the list as the most harmful invisible pollutant in the (state's) watershed," said Sejal Choksi of San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental watchdog group for the bay. "It has such widespread impacts, and the regulatory agencies are just throwing up their hands."
In the 19th and 20th centuries, California produced up to 90 percent of the mercury in the U.S. and more than 220 million pounds of quicksilver were shipped around the world for gold mining, military munitions and thermometers. Much of the liquid mercury was sent to Sierra Nevada gold mines, where miners spilled tons of it into streams and soil to extract the precious ore.
"There's probably a water body near everybody in the state that has significant mercury contamination," said Dr. Rick Kreutzer, chief of the state Department of Public Health's Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control.
Government officials blame mining companies for shirking their financial responsibilities to clean the sites, either by filing for bankruptcy or changing ownership.
When the government does target a site, success is not guaranteed.
The Sulfur Bank Mine has made the nearby Clear Lake the most mercury-polluted lake in the world, despite the EPA spending about $40 million and two decades trying to keep mercury contamination from the water. Pollution still seeps beneath the earthen dam built by the former mine operator, Bradley Mining Co.
For years, Bradley Mining has fought the government's efforts to recoup cleanup costs. An attorney for the company didn't return calls seeking comment.
For the Elem Band of Pomo Indians, whose colony is next to the lake and shuttered mine, the mercury has made it unsafe to eat local fish.
Their colony was built in 1970 by the federal government over waste from the mine. Officials knew it was contaminated, but were not aware at the time how dangerous mercury was to people. The mine is now a Superfund site.
State blood tests on 44 volunteer adult tribe members in the 1990s found elevated levels of mercury. The average level was three times higher than found in people who do not eat tainted fish, but regulators said only one man was at immediate risk of brain damage or other harm.
Yet the EPA determined that the tribe's mercury levels were a serious enough threat for the agency to spend millions of dollars removing contaminated dirt from the colony's homes and roads.
Many have moved from the colony, leaving about 60 of what was once a community of more than 200 people.
As a child, Rozan Brown, 31, said she ate lake fish, swam in the turquoise waters of the mine waste pit and played on mercury-tainted mine waste piles.
"When I was pregnant, I drank the water," Brown said. "When I was breast-feeding, I worked as a laborer during some of the (mercury) cleanups."
The CDC says high levels of mercury can cause brain damage and mental retardation in children when passed from mother to fetus. Brown's son, Tiyal, has been diagnosed with autism. The CDC has found no link between mercury and autism, but agency spokesperson Dagny Olivares said in an e-mail, "Additional information is needed to fully evaluate the potential health threats."
At most abandoned mercury mines, especially ones in remote places, nothing gets done at all.
Twenty-seven years ago the EPA shut down New Idria Mine, once the second-largest mercury producer in North America. The mine and its towering blast furnace still sit untouched. Acidic runoff flows from hills of waste and miles of tunnels into a pool that smells like rotten eggs. The toxic brew turns nearby San Carlos Creek orange and kills aquatic life before flowing into the San Joaquin River.
"It's really hard living up here," said Kate Woods, 51, standing on a wooden bridge in front of her rural home, tucked amid the hills and cattle ranches just downstream of the mine. "It would be paradise here but for this damned orange creek."
Woods and her brother, Kemp, experience tremors in their hands and headaches, she said, blaming prolonged mercury exposure through water and dust. The EPA found mercury in the creek exceeding federal standards in 1997, records show. Field researchers sent a "high priority" referral to state water quality regulators, warning the mercury could be migrating into a popular fishing area and eventually to the Delta-Mendota Canal, "a drinking water conveyance to other parts of California."
Neither agency undertook the expensive cleanup, nor did they conduct the follow-up studies to find out if New Idria's mercury was the source of the contamination found downstream.
EPA officials said mines such as New Idria are a concern but are not always the agency's highest priority.
"We are here to protect the environment, and sometimes we do it better than other times," said Daniel Meer, EPA's assistant Superfund director for the region. "We can't start cleaning up everything all at once."
The EPA, with financial help from the mine owners, has covered up waste piles at two mines feeding pollution into Cache Creek to try to reduce the mercury flowing into the Delta, but no one has touched the other problem sites.
At least 13 other mine sites also pollute Cache Creek, and are responsible for 60 percent of the mercury in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where thousands regularly catch and eat local fish, state water quality officials said.
"What can we do? We're evaluating that now," said Jerry Bruns, a mercury control official with the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board. "It's complicated, we can't just go in there and do whatever we want. There are Native American archaeological sites and different landowners."
A separate cluster of derelict mercury mines near San Jose has been called the largest source of the toxin in the San Francisco Bay's south end, where warning signs warn fishermen of the "poisonous mercury" polluting the water.
A solution to California's mercury pollution is nowhere near at hand, state and federal regulators say.
"It took a hundred years to occur," said the EPA's Meer. "And it may take a hundred years or more to solve."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVe82HdCYP_9XOrPrTqiLWlQ5iXgD9APGC3O0
One ton of gold poured at Bicol mine
Updated as of 4:03PM, 09/18/2009
AUSTRALIAN CGA Mining, Ltd. has now produced one metric ton of gold from its $250-million gold property in the Bicol region, the miner told the Australian and Canadian bourses on Friday.
"The Masbate gold project in the Philippines has today poured one tonne of gold, a significant milestone for the project," CGA said. Local partner Filminera Mining Corp., which began commercial production in May, is currently ramping up the mine to full production, the miner added.
On Thursday, Johannes Raadsma, Asia regional manager of CGA, said the miner is looking at increasing annual milling capacity to 6-6.5 million MT from the current five million MT. The miners will extract 93 million MT of gold ore for 18 years.
Listed Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. operated the gold mine from 1980 to 1994, producing 1.078 million ounces of gold and 944,474 ounces of silver.
"CGA is completing a scoping study for the expansion of the plant throughput at Masbate," the miner said.
The partners target producing 200,000 ounces of gold, allowing the company to cash in on the high metal prices in the fiscal year 2009-2010 that began in July. Given the weak US dollar, gold prices have reached above $1,000 per ounce levels from average prices of $907 and $922 per ounce in the first and second quarters, respectively, data from the New York Mercantile Exchange showed.
Filminera has mining claims and applications covering an area of approximately 8,316 hectares. —Neil Jerome C. Morales
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW091809/breakingnews.php
Zimbabwe Aims to Attract $16 Billion to Mine Industry
By Antony Sguazzin and Carli Lourens
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe plans to implement “rational” mining royalties and taxes and to deregulate mineral marketing to attract as much as $16 billion in investment by 2018, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said.
Zimbabwe will review its Mines and Minerals Act by the end of the year and aim to conclude investment guarantees with other countries, Tsvangirai said in an e-mailed copy of a speech made today to a mining conference in the capital, Harare. The government is trying to help the country recover from a decade- long recession that ended this year.
“Zimbabwe’s mining sector presents the most immediate opportunity to attract significant investment,” said Tsvangirai, who once worked at an Anglo American Plc nickel mine. “This government, in conjunction with the mining industry, has a window of opportunity to prepare a conducive policy environment by mid-2010.”
Companies have been deterred from investing in Zimbabwe, which has the world’s second-biggest platinum and chrome reserves, due to the economic collapse, political instability, threats of nationalization and a planned law to compel foreign mining companies to sell 51 percent of their assets to black Zimbabweans.
In February President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, set up a coalition government after intervention by the Southern African Development Community of neighboring states to end a 10-year political crisis.
Production Slump
Production of gold and coal slumped during the recession and Zimbabwe’s manufacturing and agricultural industries collapsed. Export earnings tumbled as white-owned commercial farms were seized and handed over to black farmers.
The state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. currently oversees the sale of most minerals and metals. In February the government allowed gold miners to sell their metal directly rather than to the central bank at a set price.
Currently diamond miners are charged a royalty of 10 percent of sales while gold miners pay 3 percent and coal producers 1 percent.
Zimbabwe will aim to approve mine licenses within six months, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu told the conference earlier today. Some companies have been waiting for approvals since 2003, he said.
‘International Norms’
The government will also ensure that any law to increase ownership of mines by Zimbabweans is in line with “international norms,” Tsvangirai said.
“No right-thinking Zimbabwean, or any person from anywhere in the world, can see fault in such an approach if it is implemented fairly,” he said.
Efforts will also be made to ensure that communities benefit from mines on their land, he said.
Zimbabwean security forces last year killed more than 200 people after tens of thousands swarmed onto the Marange diamond field in the Chiadzwa area to illegally mine for gems, New York- based Human Rights Watch said in June. The government has denied the accusation.
“The tragedies that took place in Chiadzwa and other places cannot be repeated,” Tsvangirai said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a.mXtfjpY3GU
Other News
Centre to amend Forest Dwellers Act
STAFF WRITER 14:38 HRS IST
Agartala, Sept 18 (PTI) Centre is considering amendment in Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 following a suggestion from Tripura government.
Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Tushar A Chowdhury during his visit to the state capital on September 16 said that necessary amendments were being considered in the Act following a request from the state government, Forest Minister Jitendra Choudhury told reporters here today.
"We demanded to reconsider the cut-off date to accommodate the people who migrated to India from then East Pakistan after partition in 1947 and settled in the forest areas," he said.
The union minister expressed satisfaction over performance of the state regarding Forest Act implementation and agreed for amendment for giving rights to the dwellers who have been residing in forest areas for 25 years, Choudhury said.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/288876_Centre-to-amend-Forest-Dwellers-Act
Caught In A Sorrowful Yarn
Nine workers, including minors, died in Gujarat’s Bt cotton fields this season. SHOBHITA NAITHANI tracks their journey to misery’s minefield
Lost childhood Sagar, 8, at work on a Bt cotton plot in Gujarat. His day begins at 5am and ends only at 7pm
Photos: TARUN SEHRAWAT
IT’S TOUGH to crack Khadu Ram’s concentration as he tightens a jute rope tied around his right foot that is shielded only by frayed slippers. Then, without batting an eyelid, Khadu swings the rope around his collar, till a relative, disrupting his mad absorption, jerks it off. Khadu, 45, belongs to the Bhil tribe of Rajasthan. One of many who earns a meal for his family by either working under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) or by farming his meagre plot of land; the produce of which is barely enough to feed his family of seven. To keep afloat for the rest of the year, Khadu sends his 14-year-old daughter Neeruva to work in Gujarat.
According to Dakshini Rajasthan Majdoor Union (DRMU), an NGO working to organise the labour force in the area, Neeruva is one of the two lakh tribal workers from Banswara, Dungarpur and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan who migrate to north Gujarat every year to execute the cross pollination work in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton seed plots (These districts have routinely provided agricultural workers to Gujarat – see box). The pollination season starts in June and ends in September. Adolescents below 18 years constitute 75 percent of the migrant workforce, almost a third of the workers comprises of children below 14 years. Of the total child labour workforce, about 42 percent are females.
A typical day for Neeruva would entail working for about 10 to 12 hours in two shifts. Beginning at 5 am, she would pluck the male cotton flowers, sun dry the stamens and then manually crossfertilise it with the female flowers, which she has tagged the previous evening by slitting the bud with her fingernails. For this painstaking job she gets paid Rs 60 a day, Rs 40 less than the legal entitlement under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. While on “duty”, she and the other children stay in makeshift shelters, not more than 10 feet by 12 feet, in the middle of the farm. She sleeps on the floor sharing the space with other boys, and cooks and bathes in the open.
‘The deaths are a result of hard laborious work and inhaling of pesticides which are harmful even to adults. The government will have to ban child labour to put an end to this’
SHANTA SINHA
Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
‘This year there has been a drastic decrease in the number of children employed in Gujarat. By next year there will be none’
K NINAMA
Gujarat Rural Labour Commissioner
‘The added danger in Bt cotton, contrary to what the seed companies claim, is that pesticides are being used. Stomach ache and fever are more likely a result of pesticide inhalation’
SUMAN SAHAI
Convenor, Gene Campaign
‘The problem is that officials announce it to the world when they go on inspections. It gives the plot owners time to clean up their act’
SUDHIR KATIYAR
Executive member, DRMU
This July was the second time Neeruva went to Gujarat. And like the previous year she came back home early and empty handed. “Bas bukhaar aur bura pet dard le ke lauti thi (She had fever and a bad stomach ache when she came home),” says Khadu of his daughter. But Neeruva was fortunate unlike her cousin Pyari.
The oldest of the three siblings, Pyari, 14, left for Gujarat for the fifth term of cross-pollination on July 26. Her father Kamji Karadi works as a part-time carpenter in the hilly mohalla (neighbourhood) of village Khatibor, 70 kilometres from Udaipur city. Earnings were never sufficient to feed the family and therefore a part of the onus to bear the financial burden fell on Pyari early on. Every time she would return, the annual family income would be given a boost of Rs 2,000. This year, much to her parent’s dismay, Pyari returned sooner than usual with no cash but high fever, a severe stomach ache, a frail voice and a missing appetite. Two days later, on August 14, she lost her voice completely, drank not even a drop of water and died later that evening. The parents didn’t want a post-mortem lest doctors “steal her organs”.
Pyari is one of the nine workers who died in Gujarat this pollination season. Six of them were below 18 years. Three of the six died of snakebite, two a few days after they came down with high fever and one from “respiratory seizure”. Post-mortems were conducted only in the deaths caused by snakebites. In the other cases, parents like Pyari’s steered clear from the drudgery of getting a post-mortem and lodging an FIR. DRMU activists say most of the deaths go unreported as no post-mortem is conducted and the mete (middleman) who takes the children to Gujarat “settles” the issue with the deceased labour’s family by paying them compensation.
Gujarat occupies the number one spot in the production of both cotton and cottonseed. According to the Cotton Corporation of India the state produces roughly 35 percent of the total raw cotton of the country. Children are preferred for cotton farming because they have nimble and small fingers, which are suitable for manual pollination. Being a low plant, they are able to pick cotton quicker and more easily than an adult. They also make for cheap labour and don’t question and demand their basic right to life.
IN VILLAGE Biliya Badgama of Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district, Punji Lal Ahari is still mourning the loss of his 14-year-old daughter Haju. Ahari’s wife Pushpa sits still, feebly staring into oblivion. Haju went missing on August 17, the day she went to the only market in the vicinity, about 10 kilometres away, to buy groceries. When she didn’t return that evening, Ahari looked for her in the market, enquired from neighbours and ultimately returned home unsuccessful. He skipped going to the police lest they “extort money from him”. About 25 days later, Ahari was called to the Varda thana, about 10 km away. There lay his daughter wrapped in a soiled bed sheet after the post mortem. A dead snake lay next to her body. Ahari was told the cause of the death was snakebite. As the angry crowd gathered at the thana refused to take Haju’s body, the cornered middleman, who allegedly took the girl to Gujarat, to save his skin and avoid a police case, paid Ahari Rs 1.05 lakh as compensation. Ahari chose to not spend that money and exhaust his energy in a police case.
Metes belong to the same socio-economic background as the workers. They hire groups of girls and boys for the plot owners in Gujarat. In almost all cases of child labour, metes are known to the families sending their children, thereby establishing some sort of trust. The majority of the farmers reported giving advances to metes to secure labour supply. The final settlement with the child’s family is done at the end of the season after deducting travel, treatment days during which illnesses rendered the children jobless and provisions expenses leaving the family with less than half the actual money earned. But parents continue to let their children lend a hand to get the family out of their hopeless poverty.
Suman Sahai, convenor of Gene Campaign feels it’s wrong to link the issue of Bt cotton to all these deaths. “Your ability to criticise Bt cotton loses credibility,” Sahai says, “But yes, children should not be working in agricultural fields. The added danger in Bt cotton, contrary to what the seed companies claim, is that pesticides are being used. Stomach ache and fever among children are more likely a result of pesticide inhalation. But a snake bite can happen anywhere.”
Loss of a lifetime Punji Lal holds a picture of his daughter Haju who died of a snakebite
Bitter truth Neeravu came back home much before the season’s end as she fell ill in Gujarat
Bt cotton, the first genetically modified (GM) crop, was introduced in India in 2002 after the Government of India licensed MMB Limited, a joint venture of the multinational company Monsanto and the Indian seed company Mahyco, to grow it. Monsanto later sub-licensed 21 Indian companies to grow the seed and sell it. The Bt seed becomes infertile after one use, therefore restricting its use for the next season. The farmers therefore are invariably dependent on the company to supply them fresh stocks of seeds each season.
Less than five minutes after our entry into a Bt cotton plot in village Mesan in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, about 25 farmers swoop down on us. They deny employing child labour. Even as they claim to have signed an anti-child labour employment deed with their seed company, a group of girls rests on a cot, while another one cooks food. Some children stand on the road leading to the farm. “Lakshmanbhai from Udaipur’s Kherwada block is our mete,” one of the girls had told us before the farmers confronted us. Farmer Dhirubhai Patel swears not having employed a single child for his plot. And then, carelessly causing his own ruin, he introduces us to Lakshman – “meet the mete who gets my labour from Rajasthan,” says Dhirubhai.
Parents don’t want post-mortems done, fearing that doctors will ‘steal organs’
Farmers attribute manipulative pricing policies of seed companies for employing child labour in the past. “Although labour rates and input costs have been going up, the companies refuse to pay us more. Today a company buys seed from me at Rs 250 to Rs 270 per kg. But they sell 450 gms of seeds for Rs 900 which in the black market can even go as high as Rs 2,000,” says Dhirubhai.
In 2007 DMRU launched a campaign against child labour trafficking, backed by the district administrations of Dungarpur and Udaipur. According to a report of the Gujarat government, during 2008-09, 13 teams were formed to inspect the farms in Gujarat. A total of 4,618 farms were inspected and 35 children were found working there. “The problem is that the officials announce it to the world that they are going on an inspection,” says Sudhir Katiyar of DMRU. “That gives the plot owners enough time to clean up their act,” he adds. When we visited Gujarat unannounced, there were several plots where children were working. In two instances, a group of children who did not look older than 10 or 12 years, on seeing us, vanished in the fields within seconds, some lied about their age, while the others continued with their work. Despite this, Gujarat Rural Labour Commissioner K Ninama is confident of a change for the better. The deaths are a wake-up call for the officials to ban child labour. “This year there has been a drastic decrease in the number of children employed. By next year there will be none,” he assures.
Children make for cheap labour and don’t demand their basic right to life
ANOTHER GOVERNMENT official casually remarked that they cannot take legal action because the children working in the agriculture sector are not covered under Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. But Shanta Sinha, chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, disagrees. “They can very well use the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act because most children come on labour against advances taken by the family,” she says. “The employers can also be slapped a case under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, which says child labour is a cognizable offence as children are subject to a non-protected environment.” Referring to the recent cases of deaths, Sinha says: “They are a result of hard laborious work and inhaling of pesticides which are harmful even to adults. The government will have to ban child labour to put an end to this.”
As the interminable debate – whether child labour is a source of income for the poor or clearly a cause of their poverty – rages on, one among the many who are still toiling in the fields of Gujarat is Khardu’s eight-year-old daughter. He, awkwardly, admits having sent her despite an ailing older daughter and the death of a 14-year-old niece. But Khardu is one among many in his tribe who, out of sheer misery and desperation, continue to send their children to work in Gujarat. Ask why? “Laalach. Varna kya karoon? Khudkushi? (Greed. What else should I do? Commit suicide?)” says Khardu as he plays with the rope around his collar.
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne260909caught_in.asp
NREGS being Congress-ised; BJP, Left livid
Rupashree Nanda / CNN-IBN
New Delhi: C P Joshi is fighting hard to sell the UPA Government's landmark legislation as the Congress party's brainwave alone. In times of drought and competitive austerity, the minister is proposing to spend a staggering Rs 5,000 crore in building what he calls the Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras to monitor the NREGS.
He then wanted to re-constitute the employment guarantee council filling up the 30 member council with Congress members, justifying this by saying, "We cannot give the strength and space to other parties."
The minister's moves have not gone down well with either the original architects of the legislation, nor with the principle Opposition party for BJP-ruled states have outperformed Congress ruled states when it comes to NREGS
Senior BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha says, "This is a very dirty game. NREGS is a Government programme and not a programme of the Congress party. If it was a Congress party programme, the party should spend money, not the Government."
The battle is just hotting up with the Left also claiming ownership of the NREGS and competing with the Congress for the same space.
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury says, "In the past there was some pressure on them (Congress) and they needed our support, but now they are running it like a private programme."
Many feel that blatant politicisation of the scheme at the national level will only wreak havoc at the grassroots where the ground is fertile for political patronage and exploitation.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nregs-being-congressised-bjp-left-livid/101610-37.html
Rights group: media covering polluters threatened
(AP) – 15 hours ago
PARIS — Journalists face increasing threats when they report on companies and governments damaging the environment, a media rights group said Thursday, citing arrests, violence and disappearances of those who denounce deforestation, pollution and other damage.
These pressures show that ecological issues "have assumed an enormous political and geostrategic importance," the Reporters Without Borders advocacy group said in a report published Thursday.
"In many countries ... journalists who specialize in the environment are on the front line of a new war," the Paris-based group said.
It listed journalists jailed in Russia, sent to re-education camps in China, sued in Brazil and beaten up in various countries as victims of retaliation because they investigated large-scale pollution and environmental degradation.
One radio journalist in the Philippines, Joy Estriber, known for his criticism of intensive logging, was kidnapped in 2006 and has been missing since.
In most cases, the violence "is the work of thugs in the pay of criminal entrepreneurs or corrupt politicians," the report said.
But in 2008 journalist Mikhail Beketov was beaten nearly to death by local government thugs who did not like his coverage of a plan to build a highway through a Russian forest, it said.
The report did not single out large international companies, but listed firms in the Philippines or Brazil, for example, that have filed multiple lawsuits against journalists.
In Uzbekistan, the reporters group says Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov has been summarily sentenced to 10 years prison in 2008 on dubious drug trafficking charges because he reported on the Aral Sea ecological disaster. In June of this year, two Chinese activists were charged with "divulging state secrets abroad" and "spreading rumors" for publishing information about radioactive contamination at a uranium mine.
The media rights group called on governments to make more efforts to protect journalists covering these issues.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iU3Iy02wzhx1PRRDdytjkFmBb9lAD9AP89QO0
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