Mining – India
1. KSU stir holds up uranium mining
2. SAIL may soon mine 1 bn tonnes iron ore at Chiria
3. Coal India raises price by 11 percent
4. UPDATE 1-Vedanta oks $500 mln India copper expansion
5. CIL sees stakes in US coal firms
Mining – International
6. Coal mining backers line up to oppose federal proposal
7. Saudis expand areas licensed for mining
8. Vietnam halts sand exports from Mekong Delta
9. Windber coal: Mining and the environment
10. Students’ blockade against uranium mining turns violent
11. Funds for rare-earth mineral mine sought
12. Stillwater Mining doing just fine without GM contract
13. Uranium ban hurts business: N.S. mining group
14. Zim ready for investment in mining - President
Other News – India
15. Forest Land distributed amongst tribals in Malkangiri
16. Child workers suffer as India ignores law
17. Half of India’s children malnourished, says NGO report
18. Court 'limits' indigenous rights
Meghalaya Uranium Update
19. Public rally for uranium mining today
20. ‘Hold intense dialogue before mining’
21. MPCC reiterates support to MUA govt.
22. Fenela flays organisation demanding her removal
Mining – India
KSU stir holds up uranium mining
Supratim Dey / Kolkata/ Guwahati October 16, 2009, 0:12 IST
With anti-uranium mining protests led by Khasi Students Union (KSU) gathering steam, Meghalaya is witnessing chaos and turbulence. The ongoing two-day night-road-blockade by KSU has affected movement of inter-state traffic on NH 40 and NH 44, which connects states of Mizoram and Tripura with Guwahati.
Many vehicles plying on both the highways, especially night inter-state passenger busses and trucks, were left stranded yesterday. There were reports of torching of vehicles by miscreants. When contacted, some truck organisations said they would not ply their vehicles tonight as a precautionary measure. The night blockade is due to resume again at 9 pm tonight.
Respective district administrations in Meghalaya have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in view of the blockade. Security has been tightened across the state, said Meghalaya’s principal secretary (home) Barkos Warjri.
Wajri said that the government would deploy extra security forces at sensitive places to foil attempts of night blockade.
He said that superintendent of police of East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts had been asked to ensure free movement of traffic. Samuel Jyrwa, president of KSU, said they opposed uranium mining as it would “degrade” environment and cause health hazards.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ksu-stir-holdsuranium-mining/373390/
SAIL may soon mine 1 bn tonnes iron ore at Chiria
NEW DELHI: SAIL is all set to get the long-disputed mining rights for half of the estimated two billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore reserves in Chiria region of Jharkhand.
“An understanding has been reached at the Jharkhand government's level that about one billion tonnes of iron ore reserves would be given to SAIL subject to its expansion plans and CSR activities,” Steel Secretary Mr P K Rastogi said.
He added that the PSU would also be submitting its plans to claim right over the remaining reserves there. Chiria mines have been at the centre of a controversy for four years over the ownership of the rich reserves of iron ore.
The mines were originally allotted to Indian Iron & Steel Company which was later merged with SAIL in 2005. While SAIL claimed it inherited the mines, Jharkhand government disputed the ownership claims of SAIL.
The Jharkhand government terminated the lease of three mines allotted to SAIL and on three others the steel PSU got deemed extension. Private steel majors like Tata Steel and JSW also wanted a pie of the Chiria mines.
SAIL wanted mining rights for Chiria mines to meet its iron ore requirement for 23 million tonne capacity, which is scheduled to go on stream by 2011-12. - PTI
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/02151920.htm
Coal India raises price by 11 percent
by INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE on OCTOBER 15, 2009
Kolkata, Oct 15 (IANS) State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) has raised the price of coal produced by its subsidiaries by an average of 11 percent effective from Oct 16, the company said here Thursday.
‘Such increase is being effected after a gap of almost two years. The last price revision took place on December 13, 2007,’ Coal India said in a statement.
The basic price of ROM (run-of-mine) coal for Eastern Coalfields and Bharat Coking Coal has increased by 15 percent whereas the coal produced by all other subsidiary companies will be dearer by 10 percent, it said.
The other subsidiaries of CIL are Mahanadi Coalfields, Western Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields, Northern Coalfields, Central Coalfields and North Eastern Coalfields.
‘Further, Eastern Coalfields is authorised to set a special price for its high quality A and B grades of Raniganj coal, available in limited quantity, at a level commensurate with price of imported coal,’ the company added.
Coal India said there had been ’substantial increase’ in the cost of inputs since last price revision.
‘After the deregulation of coal price, during the last nine years the coal price in fact has effectively declined by 1.1 percent per annum, in real terms, after absorbing for inflation.’
http://trak.in/news/coal-india-raises-price-by-11-percent/14570/
UPDATE 1-Vedanta oks $500 mln India copper expansion
Thu Oct 15, 2009 5:56pm IST
* Expansion will double smelting capacity in India
* To boost capacity at Tuticorin smelter by 400,000 tonnes
* Project includes 160-megawatt captive power plant
(Adds details)
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Mining group Vedanta (VED.L: Quote,Profile, Research) approved a $500 million expansion on Thursday that will double its copper smelting capacity in India.
London-listed Vedanta, which focuses on India, said the expansion would expand capacity by 400,000 tonnes a year at the Tuticorin smelter run by its Sterlite Industries (STRL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) affiliate.
"The company will be one of the largest single location custom copper smelters in the world with a total smelting capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum," a statement said.
The project, which includes a 160-megawatt captive power project, is due to be commissioned in mid-2011 and will be funded through a mixture of debt and internal funds.
Last week Vedanta posted strong output gains in most metals in the three months to end September and forecast higher production in its fiscal second half. [ID:nL7642307]
(Reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by John Stonestreet)
http://in.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idINLF24537520091015
CIL sees stakes in US coal firms
Friday, 16 Oct 2009
BS reported that after forming a fully owned subsidiary in Mozambique for exploration of two coal blocks and appointing merchant bankers for conducting due diligence of coal assets in Indonesia and Australia, Coal India Limited is now eyeing coal properties in the US.
The coal major, which had intensified efforts for acquisition of overseas coal assets in the past few months, is in talks with coal miners in the US for a possible tie up.
Mr PS Bhattacharyya chairman of CIL told Business Standard that “We are negotiating with US coal mining firms. They have responded to our global expressions of interest. The modalities for the partnership are yet to be finalized. CIL may either go for outright purchase of operational coal mines or pick up certain equity in US mining properties.”
The CIL chairman had recently visited the US to discuss possible collaborations with coal miners in that country. Though Mr Bhattacharyya declined comment on CIL’s import targets, sources said the Navratna coal company aimed to import around 50 million tonnes of the fossil fuel from different overseas locations by 2016-17. CIL had earmarked an investment of USD 1 billion to 1.5 billion for acquisition of overseas coal assets.
As many as 52 global mining firms, especially from countries like Australia, Indonesia and Mozambique, had evinced interest in entering into a strategic partnership with CIL in response to its global EoIs.
CIL had appointed the Royal Bank of Canada to conduct due diligence of a few identified coal properties in Australia. The coal major was also being advised by four to five merchant bankers on acquisition of coal assets in Indonesia. CIL was looking to expedite the process of acquisition of coal assets abroad to plug the demand supply shortfall in the domestic market. As against the projected demand of 730 million tonnes of coal in the country by 2012, the production was pegged at 520 million tonnes thereby leaving a shortfall of over 200 million tones.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/10/16/MTE2NDE5/CIL_sees_stakes_in_US_coal_firms.html
Mining – International
Coal mining backers line up to oppose federal proposal
Friday, October 16, 2009
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
More than 300 people, most pro-coal mining, turned out in Pittsburgh last night to strongly oppose a federal proposal that would end a decades-old streamlined permitting process that's been used to facilitate mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
About 40 people spoke at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public hearing at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, one of six hearings held throughout the Appalachian coal fields this week on National Permit 21, which since 1982 has allowed surface mining operations to dump dredge or fill materials into creeks and streams without undergoing individual review.
Although the permit has been little used in Pennsylvania -- only 44 times since 2000 -- George Ellis, president of the Pennsylvania Coal Association, said he doesn't want to see it changed and is concerned it's the "initial assault on surface mining" by the Obama administration.
"Certainly we have seen no patterns of abuse by surface operators in Pennsylvania, where our operators have used it for small scale stream disruptions with minor impacts," Mr. Ellis said. "Our footprint on this is minimal, and we want it to continue."
But Phil Coleman, chair of the Sierra Club's Mining Committee, said valley fills in Pennsylvania that dump waste from longwall deep mines and mountaintop removal in other states have devastated communities and the environment.
"Using more stringent individual permits and allowing increased public comment and community input on mountaintop removal operations is a step in the right direction," Mr. Coleman said.
He said the EPA has determined that the mountaintop removal and other surface coal mining activities authorized by the national permit are causing significant, cumulative degradation of ecologically significant headwater streams and forests throughout Appalachia.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that mountaintop removal mining -- where the tops of mountains covering shallow coal seams are blasted off and pushed into adjacent stream valleys -- buried 724 miles of streams in West Virginia and degraded 1,200 miles more between 1985 and 2001. In Pennsylvania, valley fills and their related operations have resulted in the loss of 67 miles of streams.
But the environmental effects of mountaintop mining were a secondary consideration to most of the audience, about one-third of which was wearing green T-shirts bearing the block lettered message "COAL = JOB + ENERGY" on the back.
Changing or eliminating the national permit will create "uncertainty" in the coalfields, said Larry Emerson, of Pennsylvania Services Corp. of Waynesburg, which operates several surface and deep mines in the state and employs 6,200.
"Mining jobs may be lost and more may be in jeopardy," he said.
Charles Wolf, an environmental consultant with John T. Boyd Co., an international mining firm and former permitting manager with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, said changes to the national permit process are unnecessary and will cause costly mining delays because the Army Corps is not equipped to handle review of individual mining permits.
The modification of the nationwide permit in the six-state Appalachian region was mandated by a June memorandum signed by the Corps, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Public comments were solicited on two proposed changes: to modify the national permit to prohibit its use to authorized dumping of rock and soil into surface waters or suspend its use and require individual permit reviews.
Col. Mike Crall, commander of the Army Corps Pittsburgh District, said suspension of the national permit would have a small impact on mining in Pennsylvania.
"The national permit is a tool to evaluate surface mining impacts and other tools can be used that provide greater analysis to evaluate the social and environmental impacts," Col. Crall said.
The Corps' hearing in Pittsburgh was one of three last night. The others were in Cambridge, Ohio, and Big Stone Gap, Va. Most mountaintop removal mining occurs in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005929-455.stm
Saudis expand areas licensed for mining
488 permits issued by the ministry in 2008
Riyadh: Investments in Saudi Arabia's mineral sector have reached an estimated 50 billion riyals (Dh48.97 billion).
"Investors have earned 14.5 billion riyals through exploitation of various minerals, and their profits amounted to 5.4 billion riyals," according to a report of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The report was presented to King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz by Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al Naimi recently.
According to the report, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News, the number of licences issued by the ministry in the mineral sector in 2008 was 488, including 269 licences that were renewed.
There were 192 licences for quarries of building materials, 49 for survey, 14 for exploration, five for quarries of raw materials, and nine for small mines, the report says.
Mineral sector
The number of licences issued in the mineral sector increased by 94 to 1,408 in 20087.
"The total area for which mining licences were issued exceeded 75,000 square km across the kingdom," the report said.
It noted that the revenues earned by the ministry's in fees and charges for exploitation of minerals amounted to more than 264 million riyals in 2008, an increase of 63 million riyals over 2007.
"Those who have obtained the licences have extracted 325 million tons of raw minerals, a 15 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
"They also got permission to export 4.6 million tonnes of raw minerals, including 306,000 cubic metres of decorative stone," the report said.
Al Naimi said in the report that there are 254 mineral activity centres across the kingdom with a total area of 53,000 square km in 2008, an increase of seven centres over 2007.
The ministry allocated six new sites for mineral activities, and these were for exploitation of limestone, pozzolana, crushing materials and sand in the regions of Riyadh, Makkah, Eastern Province, Al Baha and Jizan.
It has also completed field surveys for seven sites with a total area of 8,290 square kilometres for exploitation of silica and phosphate and crushing materials in Makkah, Tabuk and the northern border region, the report added.
http://gulfnews.com/business/markets/saudis-expand-areas-licensed-for-mining-1.515298
Vietnam halts sand exports from Mekong Delta
A barge carrying sand destined for export in An Giang Province
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered suspension of sand exports from the Mekong Delta as well as an inspection of sand mining and consumption nationwide.
The suspension also applies to export contracts signed before November 30, 2008.
Following recent complaints from ministries and local press about economic and environmental threats posed by uncontrolled sand exports from the delta, the PM has also asked all provinces and cities to employ stricter measures against illegal mining and export of sand and pebbles.
The Mekong Delta, which accounts for most of the country’s sand exports, had shipped 9.2 million cubic meters of sand in the first eight months this year, compared with a total 1.1 million cubic meters last year, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE).
The region has granted at least 128 licenses which allow mining of 321.6 million cubic meters of sand.
MNRE and the Ministry of Construction had requested the PM last month to ban sand exports, saying unplanned dredging can cause landslides and riverbank collapses along the Mekong River in Vietnam’s southern region while unrestrained exports can exhaust the nation’s sand resources.
“We should halt sand exports until all provinces can provide specific information on reserves, exploitation capacity and plans to meet demand,” Le Van Toi, head of the Department for Construction Materials at the Construction Ministry, said in an interview with Bloomberg on September 16.
http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=53126
Windber coal: Mining and the environment
By DAN DiPAOLO
Daily American 30 North Chief
Rating: 0
Friday, October 16, 2009 12:07 AM EDT
This is second and final part of a series on the impact of recent coal mining in Windber. The first, examining the effects of truck traffic on local roads and residents, appeared in Thursday’s newspaper.
WINDBER — The low-pitched humming has the feel of standing near a high-voltage power line, yet is deeper and punctuated by a sporadic, spark-like clicking noise.
Along the 700 block of Railroad Street the sound is even deeper and the vibration can be felt in the cool ground still damp with dew.
It’s nearly 7 a.m. Wednesday and the noise generated by the giant General Electric locomotives moving more than 75 cars filled with coal from Mine 78 has been constant since the night before.
“My son was visiting last weekend and he said, ‘Mom, how do you take that tinkling?’” said Diana Hockins, 60, who lives along that block.
The hum was making several vases and a punch bowl clatter against the piece of furniture they were placed on. “It was vibrating away. I had grown used to it, forgotten it, I guess,” she said.
Officials at the Rosebud Mining Co., of Kittanning, estimate that more than 1.5 million tons of coal will be processed and shipped from the state-of-the-art facility in Paint Township.
One of the factors that figured heavily into opening the plant in 2007 was the existence of the rail line, said James Barker, executive vice president of Rosebud.
“This is one of the newest, nicest cleaning plants I’ve been in,” Barker said. “We have 14 Pennsylvania mines. To some extent we can take (coal) from other operations.”
The high-tech cleaning process essentially separates noncombustible material from useable coal through a series of centrifuges, belts and presses.
That also means that the new plant can help reduce or even eliminate some of the massive bony piles that have scarred the landscapes and negatively impacted water quality in the region for decades, he said.
Coal piles once deemed too expensive to separate now have a destination: Paint Township. With the new capabilities comes truck and train traffic.
From January on, approximately 48 trains have come through the town, according to borough records.
That means 96 times — 27 in September alone as the international market for coal has grown — the police department has been notified to station a unit at the most dangerous crossing located in the heart of Windber at 13th Street.
There, the train comes from behind a row of buildings with no visual warning, limiting reaction time for drivers because no flashing crossing lights or gates exist.
Conductors blow the horn day or night to signal their passage as a safety precaution. “It wakes you up in the middle of the night,” said Peggy Stevens, another Railroad Street resident.
The 13th Street intersection has been slated for a $327,000 state Department of Transportation project brought about by the ongoing efforts of the coal company and borough officials.
“We should have it by the end of the year,” Barker said. “The contract has been bid.”
The project will place two automatic gates and track circuitry at the Graham Avenue intersection with 13th Street and also add a flashing sign at the bottom of Graham Avenue.
A second intersection located at 15th Street and Midway was also considered hazardous until the borough and PennDOT decided to place two stop signs there.
Living with coal mines has always been difficult for borough residents. For generations they have recognized the economic value of jobs but rebelled at the noise, dust and other environmental impacts.
An employee at the Rosebud operation can make up to $67,000 per year in the mine. Approximately 90 people from throughout the region are currently employed there, Barker said.
But when quality of life is impacted by the noise, dust and increase in traffic, residents have turned to the borough council for solutions.
Phil Chippie of Railroad Street said he is experiencing asthma attacks from the dust. “I’m sick of it, I’m not going to go home and get sick,” he said.
In September he and others presented water they claimed to have pulled from Paint Creek after a heavy rain. Dark particles of dust or grit were visible in the glass jars.
However, a snapshot sampling of the creek conducted by volunteers from the Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team showed that the creek on normal days is cleaner below the plant than above it.
“We haven’t had a significant rain event, but for the moment, I don’t see a problem with the water quality. It’s terrible above the plant and slightly less terrible below,” Director Melissa Reckner said.
Paint Creek has been negatively affected by acid mine drainage for decades.
That sampling, conducted in late September, showed a pH balance averaging 2.90 above the plant and 3.35 below the sedimentation and filtration ponds installed by Rosebud for waste water. A pH nearing 2 is comparable to battery acid and a healthy stream’s pH should range from 5 to 8, she said.
Total dissolved solids levels — which can include carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate, phosphate, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, sodium and organic material — were also lower below the plant.
However, Reckner cautioned that the sample size was small and that further monitoring — especially on rainy days — should be continued.
On Tuesday the various complaints were enough for the council to take action. They ordered borough Manager Casey Durdines to contact the state Department of Environmental Protection and request an environmental impact study.
“This is an emergency,” said Councilman Raymond DiBattista in making the motion.
Furthermore, they will ask the state to review the mining permit in order to see if the scope of the permit has been exceeded.
Though council members credit the mine operators and company officials with always listening and trying to address resident problems, the increased scope of the operation might have reached a tipping point.
“I think we have to do something,” Councilman James Furmanchik said.
One thing is certain: The coal is there and it’s a valuable commodity. Even if the state or a court finds a way to restrict the operation or reroute the coal trucks, residents will feel the impact both good and bad for some time to come.
The mine’s production this month will be approximately 150,000 tons of coal, Barker said. “And hopefully that continues for another 20, 25 years,” he said.
http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2009/10/15/news/local/news101.txt
Students’ blockade against uranium mining turns violent
October 15th, 2009 - 10:38 pm ICT by IANS -
Shillong, Oct 15 (IANS) A two-night blockade in Meghalaya, called by the Khasi Students Union (KSU) to protest a proposed uranium mining project, turned violent Wednesday night with many vehicles set on fire by protesters, police said Thursday.
The KSU, an influential students’ union of the northeast India, blocked traffic from 7 p.m. Wednesday till 5 a.m Thursday and then again for the same duration Thursday to Friday on the national highways between Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
“Many vehicles, including six government cars, were either burnt or badly damaged as the KSU activists went on a rampage since Wednesday evening and till Thursday night,” said acting Director General of Police B. Kezo.
The KSU and several local parties have been spearheading the movement against the Meghalaya government’s decision to allow the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to carry out pre-project development programmes in 422 hectares in the uranium-rich areas of West Khasi Hills.
The protest severely affected vehicular movement, specially night passenger buses and goods trucks, officials said.
The police chief said 10 KSU members were arrested for damaging the vehicles.
KSU president Samuel B. Jyrwa said the group at its meeting Tuesday decided to intensify the stir.
“The KSU at an urgent meeting decided to intensify its stir… to protest the Meghalaya government’s decision to lease out land to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL,” he said.
“The KSU believes the uranium project would harm the environment and health of people living adjoining areas,” Jyrwa said.
Meghalaya Principal Secretary (Home) Barkos Warjri told reporters: “Police heads of the four districts - East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi - have been asked to see that the traffic flow along the national and other highways is not disturbed due to the night road blockade.”
Chief Minister D.D. Lapang told reporters Wednesday: “The uranium reserves are a national property and no one can stop the government from using them.”
“The government has waited for 20 long years to persuade the people to allow uranium mining at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district of southern Meghalaya,” he noted.
A senior Meghalaya government official said the union ministry of environment and forests has already allowed UCIL to start mining for the annual production of 375,000 tonnes of uranium ore and processing of 1,500 tonnes of the mineral ore per day in West Khasi Hills district.
The UCIL has proposed a Rs.1,046 crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant at Domiasiat in the West Khasi Hills district. Meghalaya has an estimated 9.22 million tonnes of uranium ore deposits.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/students-blockade-against-uranium-mining-turns-violent_100261299.html
Funds for rare-earth mineral mine sought
HIGH DESERT: Rep. Jerry Lewis seeks a $3 million earmark to restart the mining of elements used in numerous electronics.
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, October 15, 2009
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
Deep underground in San Bernardino County's High Desert lies one of the world's richest deposits of rare-earth minerals, key to producing everything from DVD players to hybrid cars and guided-missile systems.
The Mountain Pass Mine, a cavernous hole in the ground northeast of Baker, has been virtually dormant for years while China has dominated production of the 15 or so rare-earth minerals prized for their conductive, phosphorescent and magnetic properties.
Now, amid fears that China will reduce its mineral exports, a group of investors is poised to jump-start operations at the mine. Their push is getting a boost from Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis, who is attempting to steer $3 million in federal funds toward the project.
Lewis, R-Redlands, said the project would help ease national security concerns and make the United States more competitive in the global marketplace.
"Our public, if they knew the importance of rare-earth elements to our national security, would not want us to be dependent on China," said Lewis, the top Republican on the House committee charged with overseeing federal spending.
The revitalization of the Mountain Pass Mine also would bring hundreds of jobs to San Bernardino County, which has been ravaged by unemployment.
But Lewis is taking heat for the proposed funding, partly because he attached his request as an earmark to a draft version of the Defense Department's annual spending bill.
Earmarks are spending directives inserted by lawmakers into legislation, often without any formal vetting process and sometimes without a vote.
Also, the desert mine is a private business that already stands to turn a profit for its investors. They include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the investment-banking giant that already received a federal bailout.
Further, critics say the Department of Defense would have included the funding in its annual budget request if the mine were a national priority.
"The Defense Department is not normally bashful about asking for money," said Steve Ellis, vice president for Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based government watchdog group that tracks the use of earmarks.
economic shifts
A group of uranium prospectors first discovered the mineral deposit in 1948, according to Mark Smith, chief executive officer for Molycorp, the Colorado-based firm that runs the mine.
Government estimates say the mine contains at least 200 million tons of rare-earth mineral ore. Smith said a study of the mine to be completed by November could determine there is much more rare earth than previously estimated.
The mine sits on a 2,200-acre swath of private property near the northern edge of the Mojave National Preserve. Molycorp has drilled 400 feet, following the ore at a 45-degree angle.
"We haven't found the bottom yet," Smith said.
The renewed interest in U.S. production of rare-earth elements follows years when nearly all of the material was mined in China.
The United States, for example, gets about 87 percent of its rare-earth elements directly from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Much of the remaining amount originates in China but comes to the United States via other nations.
China's expanding economy is requiring more and more of the raw materials. Also, the nation has recognized the increased value of manufactured products rather than raw materials, said Dave Menzie, chief of the geological survey's international minerals section.
"They don't want to export concentrate; they want to export finished product and goods," Menzie said of China.
China's increasing demand for the minerals has resulted in a 5 to 10 percent decrease in rare-earth exports every year, Smith said. In August, an internal government document leaked to the Chinese news media revealed a draft plan to further cut exports and entirely prohibit some of the minerals, including dysprosium and terbium.
While China has since backed off that plan, it prompted U.S. officials to take a hard look at the problem.
support from lewis
The Defense Department has begun assessing its own need for the minerals, which are used in jet fighters, surveillance equipment and virtually all weapons systems. But the agency's study is far from complete. The government buys much of its equipment from private defense firms and doesn't keep track of what minerals are required to build and operate the products.
"There's a lack of information on Defense's part about what it actually uses, since they work through contractors," Menzie said. "If you don't know your requirements, you don't know what to stockpile."
The Defense Department has taken no position on Lewis' earmark.
"If the aforementioned study indicates there is an unacceptable risk of supply chain disruption, investment in rare earths would be logical," Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said.
Congress, which is charged with appropriating federal funds, doesn't need to wait for the Defense Department to support a push toward American production of rare-earth minerals, Lewis said.
"Once in a while, members of Congress can raise questions that are ahead of the curve," said Lewis, who pointed to his early earmarks for the now-popular Predator unmanned aircraft. "I've put the needle in the behind of the Department of Defense."
Rare-earth elements also are vital to the production of household electronics and "green" energy sources such as more efficient light bulbs and wind turbines, Smith said. Thus, the minerals are essential to meeting new energy standards proposed at the state and federal levels in California, he said.
"Without them, those technologies won't exist, and none of these policies will ever come to fruition," Smith said.
Molycorp and its investors hope to expand their production of rare-earth minerals ten-fold by 2012. Under their plan, they would be able to produce 20,000 tons of the minerals per year, an amount equivalent to a fifth of the world's current demand.
The plan involves overhauling the current mine, which could cost anywhere between $200 million and $450 million.
The firm is looking at payment options, including traditional bank financing and low-interest government loans. In any scenario, the enterprise isn't expected to be profitable until the third our fourth year, he said.
The $3 million earmark, Smith said, would allow the company to pursue new technology aimed at reducing the cost of processing the ore by recycling water needed for the process.
"What we're talking about is a very small level of help to get us over that last technological hurdle," he said.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_lewis16.44c70d7.html
Stillwater Mining doing just fine without GM contract
The loss of Stillwater Mining's contract with General Motors was countered during the third quarter by increased PGM production and stronger metals prices.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Friday , 16 Oct 2009
RENO, NV -
Higher PGM prices have helped Montana's Stillwater Mining weather the cancellation of its contract with General Motors during the first nine months of this year.
For the nine months ended September 30th, Stillwater Mining reported total production of 300,900 ounces o f palladium and 86,100 ounces of platinum, an overall combined increase of 16.4% compared to the same period of last year.
As of September 30th Stillwater has achieved 79% of its 2009 production goal of 496,000 palladium and platinum ounces, which Stillwater officials say indicates that full year results should exceed the earlier guidance.
For the third quarter of this year, Stillwater reported combined platinum and palladium of 129,100 ounces, a 9.1% increase over the third-quarter 2008.
Meanwhile, platinum and palladium prices continued to strengthen during the third quarter of this year, although they remain well below their average levels achieved in 2008.
"The effect on the company of losing its supply agreement with General Motors in early July has been almost entirely offset by the increase in PGM prices and, as expected, the company has had no difficulty finding buyers for the displaced metal under that contract," Stillwater said.
The company's original guidance for this year anticipated average total cash costs of $399 per ounce. Actual combined total cash costs average $357/oz during the third quarter and $363/oz year to date. Stillwater now expects to outperform its earlier cash cost guidance for the full year 2009.
Because of a sharp decline in PGM prices last year, Stillwater said that this year it would manage for "preservation of cash, reducing capital expenditures sharply and restructuring to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency."
Meanwhile the company saw its total amount of cash and investment on hand increase to $180 million at the end of last year. However, due to improving PGM prices and continued good mining productivity, Stillwater saw that balance increase in the third quarter to just over $200 million.
http://www.mineweb.co.za/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page35?oid=90862&sn=Detail
Uranium ban hurts business: N.S. mining group
Last Updated: Thursday, October 15, 2009 | 10:06 PM ET
CBC News
The president of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia says the province risks losing business if it bans uranium mining.
Peter Oram said other provinces in the region that have mineral incentive programs, such as Newfoundland and New Brunswick, will reap the benefits.
"They do not have the same restrictions," he said Thursday. "For people elsewhere, it's probably one more reason not to choose Nova Scotia, unfortunately."
There has been a moratorium on the exploration and mining of uranium in the province since 1981, but only in the form of a cabinet policy statement.
On Wednesday, the NDP government announced the ban would become law, which would make it difficult for future governments to rescind or change it.
"I didn't have any in-depth conversations with my cabinet colleagues," said Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell. "The direction I got was that this was a promise that we made in opposition and it's one that we can fulfil and intended to fulfil."
Oram said members of the industry were disappointed and he does not believe the ban on the radioactive mineral would make the people of Nova Scotia any safer.
Data collection benefits
"By banning exploration and mining, what you're doing is banning data collection," he said. "We think that there's more benefit to having information collected, information compiled, sharing that with all different levels of government."
The law would allow mining operations that encounter uranium while looking for another mineral to continue, as long as the uranium amounts to less than 100 parts per million.
Opponents of uranium mining have argued that uranium tailings, or mine waste, are difficult to dispose of and Nova Scotia is too densely populated to safely exploit the mineral.
The Mining Association said the law will prevent millions of dollars' worth of exploration for other minerals.
"Does this apply to people that draw water wells? Does this apply to people that do quarry development? Does this apply to Department of Transportation and Infrastructure if they're building a road and they happen to expose materials?" Oram said.
"We feel like there's not enough information on this. It raises a lot of questions about who does the monitoring and how is the information going to be compiled," he said.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/10/15/ns-uranium-ban.html
Zim ready for investment in mining - President
Posted: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:37:24 +0200
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Robert Mugabe, has officially opened the Ngezi Mine expansion phase 1 saying, Zimbabwe is ready for investment in the mining sector.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Robert Mugabe, has officially opened the Ngezi Mine expansion phase 1 saying, Zimbabwe is ready for investment in the mining sector.
The President thanked the mine for contributing to society by building schools, houses and other social amenities.
He also condemned the western imposed illegal sanctions which negatively affected operations in the country’s mining sector.
The mine donated US$17 000 worth of books to Wanganuyi Secondary School, which were handed over by President Mugabe who also promised to donate computers to the same school.
President Mugabe toured the new concentration plant which has the capacity of crashing 4 million tonnes of rock per year.
The mine employs 5 000 people.
http://www.newsnet.co.zw/index.php?nID=17301
Other News – India
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
16 October 2009
'WE ARE ONE: A CELEBRATION OF TRIBAL PEOPLES' PUBLISHED TODAY
Unique collection of indigenous wisdom, stunning photos and writing from international authors, poets, journalists and others
We Are One, the book marking 40 years of
Survival's work with tribal peoples. © Survival
All photographs, articles and extracts have been donated in recognition of Survival International's 40th anniversary. All royalties go to Survival.
We Are One is a unique collection of statements from the world's tribal peoples, from the Yanomami of Brazil to the Penan of Malaysiaand the Innu of Canada, which is supported by powerful essays and photographs from international authors, campaigners, politicians, philosophers, poets, artists, journalists, academics, anthropologists, environmentalists and photojournalists, in a unique display of solidarity that celebrates the 40th anniversary of Survival International.
We Are One’s collective voice celebrates the lives, homelands and values of tribal peoples and explores the relevance of their beliefs and wisdom to the present time. It also highlights the oppression tribespeople are experiencing today, promoting the message that tribal peoples are equal to us: just as modern, just as much part of the 21st century and with just as much right to live in peace.
We are One is both a portrait of the beauty and diversity of tribal peoples, and a call to arms that raises many of the contemporary humanitarian and environmental issues inherent in their fight for survival: the growing universal need to place human values over economic ones; climate change and the destruction of rainforests; why western notions of 'progress' and 'development' should be redefined and why the tribal values of balance, humility and reciprocity are more important than ever in today's world.
Highlights include:
* Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, known as the 'Dalai Lama of the Amazon Rainforest' on consumerism, climate change and the health of the Amazon.
* Laurens van der Post on the euphoria of the Gana Bushman’s Fire Dance
* Bruce Parry on the grace and generosity of the Penan people of Sarawak, Malaysia
* Gana Bushman Roy Sesana on hunting and tracking in the Kalahari Desert
* Richard Gere on the persecution of the Buddhist Chakma peoples of Bangladesh, and why the world needs to fight tribal repression
* Jane Goodall on the mystery of Africa's rainforests and the fate of the 'Pygmy' peoples
* Piers Vitebsky on the loyalty of Siberian herders to their reindeer
* Damien Hirst on the mystery of Aboriginal art
* Wade Davis on respect for cultural diversity and why the timeless wisdom of tribal peoples is deeply relevant to the world today
* Joanna Lumley on the destruction of the sacred mountain of the Dongria Kondh people in India
* Noam Chomsky on the 'discovery' of America
* Claude Levi-Strauss on the philosophy of Shamans
We are One includes previously unpublished contributions from Richard Gere, Zac Goldsmith, Colin Firth, Bruce Parry, Jane Goodall, Joanna Lumley, Damien Hirst, Satish Kumar, Tony Juniper, Jonathan Porritt, Vandana Shiva, Sydney Possuelo, Carlo Petrini, Wade Davis, Arundhati Roy, A.C. Grayling, Robin Hanbury-Tenison and many others.
The foreword is written by Davi Yanomami Kopenawa, and the introduction by Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International.
Literary extracts include: Laurens van der Post, Peter Matthiessen, Colin Thubron
Contributing photojournalists include: Sebastiao Salgado, Kate Eshelby, Mike Goldwater, Steve McCurry, Mirella Ricciardi, Carol Beckwith.
We are one is edited by Joanna Eede
Publication date: 16 October 2009
Price: £30.00 Hardback
About the Editor: Joanna Eede writes, edits and develops ecological media projects and books, and has a particular interest in the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Her previous books include Portrait of England (Think Publishing Ltd, 2006). She contributes articles to newspapers and travel publications on subjects ranging from the wild Przewalski horses of the Mongolian steppe, the whales of the Alboran sea, tracking chimpanzees in the Tanzanian rainforests and the sacred sites of tribal peoples.
To read this story online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/weareone
Forest Land distributed amongst tribals in Malkangiri
In two phases, the district administration has distributed forest land Pattas to 314 Bonda families, covering 774 acres of forest land at Mudulipad (BondaGhatt) under Khairput Tehsil .All PRI members and District level officials attended the ceremony
CJ: RatnakarDash
Fri, Oct 16, 2009 11:46:03 IST
Views:
THE TRIBAL dominated and Maoist prone Malkangiri district, witnessed a historical moment when, within 15 days the district administration distributed forest land pattas to 5,113 tribal families including Bonda and Didayi tribes.
The Orissa district is famous for its dense forest, flora and fauna. A series of mountains with attractive valleys, are the prominent tourist attractions here. It is also known as Dandakaranyaof the epic Ramayan, where God Rama, Laxman and Sita visited once upon a time. There is also a Sita Kund at Bonda Hill , which is claimed as proof that the Gods and the Goddess visited the region.
The state government has taken a lot of initiatives for the development of the Bonda tribe, a primitive tribe, with the creation of a separate Bonda Development Agency, to look after the welfare activities of these people. The Malkangiri districtadministration has also taken a special initiative for settlement of jungle land in favour of all eligible claimants of Bonda category.
There are 32 villages in these hillocks with 1605 households and a populace of around 6085 people. The PRI members / local NGOs/ block and Tehsil field staff are engaged for awareness of the people for collection of 100 per cent claims from all eligible persons who are cultivating jungle Kissan land since time immemorial.
In two phases, the district administration has distributed forest land Pattas to 314 Bonda families, covering 774 acres of forest land at Mudulipad (BondaGhatt) under Khairput Tehsil .All PRI members / Block/ District level officials /Tehsildars and NGOs were present at the ceremony.
There is another primitive tribe in Malkangiri namely Didayi and there is separate Development Agency namely, Didayi Development Agency, working for them in Kudumulugumma block. These tribes are habituated in 37 villages, covering 1633 households, with a populace of 6545.
Here, the ST/SC Development department and the district administration have taken up a special drive, to cover all eligible beneficiaries who are occupying jungle land since time immemorial for settlement of land in their favour. All the NGOs who are working for Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programmes have started special drives for awareness of the people, collection of claims and preparation of documents.
All the Tehsil/ Block / GP officials and PRI members have taken special drive to cover entire PTG areas as per the instruction of Govt. of Orissa and 100% eligible claimants will be provided with Title Certificates ( Pattas) by end of this month. Total 221 Didai families have received the title certificates covering 696 acres of land and shortly, many others will also be covered.
As per the information available, a total 5113 tribal of different categories ofMalkangiri district have received Provisional Title Certificates under Forest Right Act 2006, covering 14,175.18 acres of Jungle land of different kissans.
Cultivation is the main livelihoods of the tribals of this district and possessing land is a historic event for them, bringing hope and laugh in the face of hundreds of Bonda, Koya and Didayi tribes of the district.
http://www.merinews.com/article/forest-land-distributed-amongst-tribals-in-malkangiri/15786394.shtml
Child workers suffer as India ignores law
15 Oct 2009
India’s reputation for preventing children working illegally has been exposed in a shameful investigation released today. Three years after a law banning child labour came into effect, the government has carried out no inspection in most states, including Delhi, to check on illegal child labour. The body in charge of protecting the booming country’s 420 million children only has 10 staff, and only 138 cases were brought against people employing child workers from October 2006 and April 2008.
These Labour Ministry figures, revealed under the country’s right to information law, show less than one case was made for every three million Indian children and activists say they make a mockery of the Child Labour Prevention Act. In most states, not one inspection had been carried out since the ban in 2006, the inquiry by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) child rights organisation revealed. “In the last three years, a mockery has been made of the law. Previously, only the stone quarries, sari factories, industries and brick kilns were the culprits,” said Bhuwan Ribhu, a lawyer and national secretary of BBA. “But now, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act is being flouted behind every other door,” Ribhu, told the Indo-Asian news service.
India has the most child workers in the world, with an estimated 60 million to 115 million young people missing out on an education to earn money. The problem is so big that activists say it is nearly impossible to spend a day in the country without using some goods or services — from domestic help to mined minerals — that do not rely onchild workers. The child labour law, passed in 1986, bans the employment of children under the age of 14 in a bunch of industries, from working on factory floors to waiting on tables. It carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a 20,000 rupee (£270) fine, but slack policing of it and badly under funded enforcement agencies are damaging millions of young lives, critics say. “We know the law and we are doing our best to set things right. But all said and done, we are really understaffed and overworked,” said joint labour commissioner Piyush Sharma. “Earlier we were supposed to penalise culprits who employ children, but now we have to also rehabilitate the child, send him home and keep track of him.”
According to a 2001 census, an estimated 185,595 children are employed as domestic help and in small roadside eateries. Most child domestic workers in India are trafficked by placement agencies.
By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/childworkersindia.htm
Half of India’s children malnourished, says NGO report
by INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE on OCTOBER 16, 2009
New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) As the world observes World Food Day Friday, India, with 47 percent of its children under the age of six malnourished, ranks below countries like Bangladesh and Nepal on the state of hunger, a report says.
According to the report by ActionAid, an international NGO, India stood at the 22nd spot amongst a list of 51 countries, like Australia, Britain, the US, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Anne Jellema, ActionAid’s international policy director, talking about the report, said: ‘It is the role of the state and not the level of wealth, that determines progress on hunger.’
India’s case showed a lot of contrasts. While the country ranked amongst the first three developing countries on the indicator for social protection, because of poor implementation over 30 million Indians have joined the ranks of hungry since mid-1990s, the study revealed.
Babu Matthew, country director for ActionAid India, said: ‘The dark side of India’s economic growth has been that the excluded social groups have been further marginalised, compounding their hunger, malnutrition and even leading to starvation deaths.’
Meanwhile, China has been able to cut numbers of its hungry people by 58 million in ten years through strong state support for small farmers, the report said.
India ranks sixth among developing nations in terms of legal framework for addressing hunger and food rights. Brazil is ranked first under this parameter.
The ActionAid report said that India has some of the best legislations for social protection amongst the developing nations on nutrition, free school meals, employment guarantee, and food subsidy for the poor and pension for vulnerable groups.
However, talking about poor implementation of laws and schemes which results in them becoming futile for the common man, Amar Joyti Nayak, food rights head of the NGO, said: ‘Implementation remains a massive challenge in the absence of recognition of rights of the poor’.
‘Entitlements have to be delivered on the ground by empowering the communities and enforced earnestly with greater political will by the government,’ he said.
‘In a year when poor are reeling under crop loss due to droughts and floods in India, focus must be on supporting agriculture, especially subsistence and women farmers,’ Nayak added.
The report said that although the farm loan waiver enabled a boost in investment to agriculture in 2008, longer term interventions are required. Delay in payment of wages through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) further ails those who have been already starving.
Jellema said: ‘Massive and urgent support to poor farmers, and social welfare programmes for vulnerable groups, are needed to reverse growing global hunger. At the World Food Summit next month, donor countries need to announce an additional 23 billion dollars to support these measures.’
http://trak.in/news/half-of-indias-children-malnourished-says-ngo-report/14612/
Court 'limits' indigenous rights
BY ANDREA HAYWARD
16/10/2009 9:41:00 AM
A High Court decision to quash an appeal by indigenous people against a company run by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest will limit the rights of indigenous people to negotiate with mining companies, an Aboriginal corporation says.
The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people from the Pilbara region, in Western Australia's north, had sought special leave to appeal a decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court made earlier this year in Fortescue's favour.
But the application was dismissed on Wednesday by the High Court of Australia.
In July 2008, the National Native Title Tribunal found FMG Pilbara had failed to negotiate in good faith with traditional owners about a mining tenement proposal over 4320ha of land in the west Pilbara.
It found FMG had prematurely sought a determination about a proposed mining lease while the negotiations about the tenement were in their infancy.
In April this year FMG, whose chief executive, Mr Forrest, is one of Australia's richest men, successfully appealed the decision in the Full Court of the Federal Court.
Wednesday's High Court decision has wide-reaching ramifications for native title claimants, according to the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, representing the traditional owners.
It said the decision to quash leave to appeal meant indigenous people would be limited in their right to negotiate.
Yamatji Marlpa chief executive Simon Hawkins said, ''The right-to-negotiate section of the [Native Title] Act is instrumental in enabling traditional owners to secure compensation for loss of their country.
''The High Court's dismissal of this case now means that mining companies are no longer required to have substantial negotiations with indigenous people regarding the use of their land.
''This will further economically disenfranchise indigenous people and render them powerless against big business.''
Mr Hawkins said while FMG touted its indigenous employment covenant and the Federal Government worked towards ''closing the gap'' in living standards between Aboriginal and other Australians, indigenous people were suffering.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/court-limits-indigenous-rights/1651237.aspx
Meghalaya Uranium Update
Public rally for uranium mining today
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Amid the protests by KSU and other organisations against the proposed uranium project, pro-uranium mining groups will hold a public rally on the issue in the city on Friday.
The rally, reportedly financed by business tycoons, will be organised by the newly formed Associations of Meghalaya for Development and Advancement (AMDA) at Laban Sports Club at 1 pm. AMDA is supporting the UCIL pre-project development programmes as well as the proposed mining for uranium from West Khasi Hills.
Talking to reporters at Shillong Press Club on Thursday, AMDA chairman Wonder Marthong described AMDA as a conglomerate of NGOs from various districts, mostly from West Khasi Hills, supporting the government decision on the Rs 209 crore UCIL's first-phase development activities in 422 square hectares in uranium-rich West Khasi Hills.
He said people from various districts of Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills would attend the rally holding white flags in support of the government decision on the pre-project development programmes of UCIL, development activities through uranium mining and other development projects initiated by both the Centre and State Government.
"Business tycoons supporting AMDA will extend financial support like arrangement of traveling fares for those attending the rally as well as vehicles to pick up and drop off members of the public from various places intending to take part in the rally," Mr Marthong said.
He claimed that, apart from the Rs 209 crore for development of infrastructure in the proposed uranium mining areas, Chief Minister DD Lapang had informed that more money amounting to Rs 1000 crore would be earmarked for development activities in West Khasi Hills.
On the opposition of NGOs, including KSU and others, to the UCIL project, Mr Marthong said, "In a democratic set-up anyone can oppose and support the project."
When asked what AMDA's stand would be if those against the issue were in the majority in a democratic set-up, he said AMDA would always support the government on the issue.
Meanwhile, the KSU has criticized the State Government for allowing the AMDA to organise a public rally in the heart of the city.
"It is this same government which had prevented KSU from organising a public rally on the ground that it would lead to serious law and order problem," KSU Education Secretary Auguster Jyrwa said here on Thursday.
He said "only because the group is supporting mining of uranium, the State Government does not foresee any law and order problem during this procession".
"This clearly proves that this rally is sponsored by Congress-led MUA Government. The pro-uranium groups are only the mirror of the government" the KSU leader said.
‘Hold intense dialogue before mining’
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: UN special envoy Victoria Tauli-Corpuz currently on a visit to Shillong today said the government should seek the consent of indigenous people (IPs) before taking up uranium mining in Meghalaya, an issue hanging fire for over two decades.
"Such projects need participation of indigenous people. They should agree that they would like to have such a project on their land," Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and a world renowned proponent of indigenous peoples (IPs) rights, Ms Victoria Tauli- Corpuz told reporters here. Ms Tauli-Corpuz was attending a seminar organized by Synod College.
The Forum is an advisory body to the UN Economic and Social Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights.
"The government should hold intense dialogue with IPs until they give their consent. By merely saying that such projects would bring in development is not enough. Development packages should not be used as enticement," Ms Corpuz said.
Maintaining that the government has a responsibility to ensure rehabilitation and safety of people around mining areas, Ms Tauli-Corpuz said local people should get equitable benefits from "whatever profit accrues out from these operations".
It may be mentioned that proposed uranium project in Meghalaya has been strongly opposed by some NGOs and political parties on the ground of environmental degradation and effects of radiation.
Later speaking on the theme, 'Indigenous Peoples' Self-Determined Development: Strengthening Traditional Resources Management Systems and Livelihood, at Hotel Pinewood here on Thursday, Ms Tauli- Corpuz said development paradigms across the world have always violated the rights of IPs. But thanks to the UN instruments developed after a great struggle by the IPs themselves some safeguards have been put in place by international financial institutions like World Bank.
Castigating the developed countries for high carbon emissions which now have to be offset by conserving forests in areas settled by IPs, Ms Corpuz said, "We cannot continue development the way we have done for 20 years. We need low carbon if not carbon- neutral development and IPs have traditionally lived carbon-neutral lives with the shortest carbon footprint," Stating that IPs have developed sustainable water management systems and are the best eco-system managers the UN envoy said governance systems must be more democratic and transparent and ensure equitable benefit sharing.
"The indigenous cosmology of reclaim, revive and strengthen is the only way forward and the answer to a world threatened by global climate change. IPs can share their knowledge with dominant communities but without losing their intellectual property right," Ms Tauli-Curpuz observed. The UN envoy will also be delivering a talk at Martin Luther Christian University on Friday. (With inputs from PTI)
MPCC reiterates support to MUA govt.
Written by the Editor
Thursday, 15 October 2009 08:45
Staff Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct. 14: The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) held an executive meeting at Congress Bhawan on Wednesday to discuss non-specific current issues including uranium mining in the state.
This was informed by the senior vice president of MPCC, Dr. RC Laloo while addressing a press conference after the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by MPCC president, Dr. Friday Lyngdoh, and was also attended by CLP leader and CM Dr. DD Lapang, Union Minister for Water Resources, Vincent H. Pala, MPCC general secretary, Waibha Kyndiah, Congress Working Committee president, Deborah C. Marak, MPYCC president, Zenith Sangma and other members.
Dr Laloo stated the meeting resolved that the MPCC would provide full support to the MUA govt under the leadership of Dr Lapang to all issue including uranium mining.
The MPCC has given full support to the government to implement the Rs 209 crore offered by the UCIL.
Giving his personal opinion on uranium mining Dr Laloo said, “I feel that there should be a method of proper protection to deal with uranium mining in the state and I hope that in the present day we have enough of such methods”. He observed.
On the implementation of the 4th Pay Commission in the state, Dr Laloo stated that the MPCC had put on record to ask the state government to implement the new pay package to all state government employees in spite of the fact that the government is facing shortage of funds.
When asked how long the Congress party would be able to work with the HSPDP, which has been known to speak against the Congress, Dr. Laloo replied,” The Chief Minister is applying his mind in this regard”.
Fenela flays organisation demanding her removal
Written by the Editor
Thursday, 15 October 2009 08:43
Staff Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct. 14: The vice chairman of the State Law Commission and chairperson of the Meghalaya Legal Forum, Fenela Lyngdoh Nonglait, has refuted the demand of the Shillong Socio Economic Development Society (SSEDS) for her removal from office. She said that she had only expressed her personal view regarding mining in the state.
She said this on Wednesday while meeting the local media.
Fenela also said that the newly formed organization needed to check its own performance rather than taking the issues of society. Regarding the issue of mining, she said there was a platform for debate.
She further reiterated her personal opinion of being against uranium mining in the state.
She stated that she was concerned for the health of the general public and said that development could be sought through other sources other than mining.
She also stated that if the UCIL goes through with its mining activities, the Meghalaya Legal Forum would take the support of the judiciary.
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