‘There will never be mining’ at Northern Territory site, Albanese says as area becomes part of Kakadu national park
It’s the decades-long fight over uranium mining that pitted Indigenous owners against the resources industry.
Now it seems the war is over, with the Australian government moving to expand the Kakadu national park to protect the Jabiluka site from mining for ever.
Continue reading...Letter urges environment minister to investigate alleged breaches at Doongmabulla Springs
There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.
Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves.
Continue reading...EPA says proposal to keep Hunter Valley Operations mines going to 2050 would release almost 30m tonnes of CO2
The New South Wales environment watchdog says a plan to extend the life of a Hunter Valley coal-mining complex to 2050 is the “largest coal-mining proposal ever put forward” in the state.
Plans by Yancoal and Glencore to keep its joint-venture Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) mines in the Upper Hunter region going would see almost 30m tonnes of CO2 released, the EPA said in Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...British company says concerns not addressed during approach by Australian firm
Anglo American has survived an almost £39bn takeover plot by the Australian mining rival BHP after last-ditch talks over restructuring the 107-year-old company collapsed.
The five-week pursuit came to an end after Anglo rejected BHP’s 11th-hour appeal to extend the takeover talks for a second time, after three failed takeover proposals from the Melbourne-based miner.
Continue reading...Australian company says FTSE 100-listed group’s board did not engage with its all-share approach
Anglo American has rejected a second takeover approach by its Australian rival BHP that values the London-listed mining company at £34bn.
BHP said Anglo’s board had not engaged with its offer, which came after an initial £31bn offer was also rejected last month. Anglo rejected the second offer on Monday, BHP said.
Continue reading...But such a takeover of London-listed mining firm opposed by politicians and unions in South Africa
South African shareholders of the mining company Anglo American have signalled they are open to a revised takeover offer from BHP, despite warnings from South African politicians and unions that a deal could be bad for the country.
Investors, which collectively own more than 15% of the London-listed mining company, told the Financial Times that they were not opposed in principle to an acquisition by its Australian rival but said an improved and less complex offer would be needed.
Continue reading...Glencore understood to be considering takeover offer while BHP could move again after initial rejection
The global mining industry is braced for a multi-billion pound bidding war for Anglo American amid growing speculation that mining companies are preparing rival bids.
The Australian miner BHP is understood to have sent senior executives to Anglo’s base in South Africa to meet key company stakeholders after an initial offer of £31bn was rebuffed by Anglo’s board last week.
Continue reading...Australian company and its partner Vale unleashed largest spill of mining waste in history
The mining company BHP has said it hopes to secure a $25.7bn (£20bn) settlement over the 2015 Samarco disaster, when the collapse of a dam left at least 19 people dead, 700 homeless and spread unprecedented levels of pollutants across the rivers and landscape of Brazil.
BHP said it had offered the settlement to the Brazilian authorities in partnership with fellow miner Vale, its 50:50 joint venture partner in a local subsidiary, Samarco.
Continue reading...The De Beers owner is a longstanding jewel in the African' state’s economic crown – it would be a ‘big blow’ to see it sold off
The world’s largest mining company has a problem. Australia’s BHP has set out its intention to snap up the rival miner Anglo American in a multibillion-pound deal that would reshape the global industry. Its proposed £31bn takeover plan has already been rebuffed as a lowball offer that undervalues the company. But Anglo’s deep roots in South Africa could be a far more sensitive issue to address.
Africa’s most advanced economy was built on mining. For more than 150 years since the first discovery of diamonds, gold and coal, the industry has remained South Africa’s economic lifeblood. Today it is the world’s fifth largest producer of coal and diamonds and the 10th largest producer of gold.
Continue reading...All-share proposal had potential to be one of biggest deals in sector for decade but deemed ‘opportunistic’
The board of Anglo American, the London-listed mining company, has rejected a “highly unattractive” £31bn takeover approach from its Australian rival BHP.
BHP’s all-share proposed offer for Anglo American had the potential to be one of the biggest deals in the global mining sector for a decade but has attracted criticism from Anglo’s shareholders as being too low and “highly opportunistic”.
Continue reading...Few economic and social benefits will come to Africans if processing is all done overseas, says Wanjira Mathai
Africa must take greater control in the industries it supplies with raw materials to lift its people from poverty and seize its own destiny in a low-carbon world, one of the continent’s leading environmentalists has urged.
Wanjira Mathai, the managing director for Africa and global partnerships at the World Resources Institute thinktank, said much more of what the continent produced must be processed and made use of close to where it is produced, if the world is to shift to a low-carbon footing.
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Unemployment ‘might take up a little bit’ when new numbers released later this week
Q: Given the economic conditions we’re seeing, what should households with mortgages expect?
[Inflation] won’t necessarily continue to come off in a perfectly straight line, but [it] is a fraction of what it was a couple of years ago when we came to office. That’s a good thing.
So we’ve got a whole bunch of things going for us in Australia, but enough to concern us as well about the global conditions about the way that people are still under considerable cost of living pressure.
The way that I would describe it to your listeners is we’ve got inflation lingering in parts of the world, we’ve got growth slowing in China and elsewhere, we’ve got tensions rising in the Middle East and the war in Europe. We’ve got supply chains which are straining and we’ve got a global economy which is fragmenting and transforming and so all of these factors are really important to us as we finalise the government’s third budget.
These are going to be these global conditions are going to be a really big influence on our budget, so the trip to DC which will be a pretty quick and make the most of it but it’s a good opportunity to take the temperature of the global economy.
Continue reading...Mining company hit with accusation it contaminated waterways with harmful levels of uranium and lead
Rio Tinto is facing a likely lawsuit in an English court brought by the UK-based law firm Leigh Day on behalf of people living in villages near a mine in Madagascar.
In a letter of claim, a document that is an early step in a lawsuit, the villagers accuse Rio Tinto of contaminating the waterways and lakes that they use for domestic purposes with elevated and harmful levels of uranium and lead, which pose a serious risk to human health.
This story was published in partnership with The Intercept. The reporting for this investigation was supported by a grant from Journalists for Transparency, an initiative of Transparency International.
Continue reading...Investigation reveals reports of miscarriages, infections and birth defects among women and girls in mining communities
Women and girls living in cobalt-mining communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are reporting a “staggering” rise in serious reproductive health issues, including miscarriages and birth defects, according to a new report.
An investigation published by the UK-based human rights group Rights & Accountability in Development (Raid) and the Kinshasa-based NGO Afrewatch said that women and girls living around cobalt mines reported experiencing irregular menstruations, urogenital infections, vaginal mycoses and warts.
Continue reading...Northcote’s High Street and Sydney’s Foster Street make urban hit list. Follow the day’s news live
Ballarat mayor: ‘ripple effect’ of miner’s death will be with community for a long time
Ballarat mayor Des Hudson also spoke to ABC News Breakfast about the Ballarat mine incident, and said:
It’s a tragic story where a worker who has gone to work at the start of the day and unfortunately has got returned home to his family or loved ones. That’s not the way any workday should pan out. So, our hearts and minds and love is with the family of that person who has died.
And the ripple effect of this will be with them for a long time as they work through the process. Obviously, there will be an investigation as to what happened, as you would expect in any workplace death. But also just that sense of loss that I’m sure will be with them in the days, the weeks and the months ahead as well as they continue to have to come to work.
Continue reading...Two miners were pinned under a rockfall at the Mount Clear mine in Ballarat, Victoria, with one later rescued
A man has died and another is fighting for his life in hospital after a mine collapse in Victoria’s Goldfields region.
Thirty people were working about 3km from the entrance of the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear when the incident occurred about 4.50pm on Wednesday.
Continue reading...‘Crucial’ UN resolution attempts to avoid repeat of injustices produced by Africa’s fossil fuel sector
In an attempt to avoid the “injustices and extractivism” of fossil fuel operations, African leaders are calling for better controls on the dash for the minerals and metals needed for a clean energy transition.
A resolution for structural change that will promote equitable benefit-sharing from extraction, supported by a group of mainly African countries including Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Chad, was presented at the UN environmental assembly in Nairobi on Wednesday and called for the sustainable use of transitional minerals.
Continue reading...Johannesburg-based Amplats says one in five jobs will be lost in South Africa amid plunge in profits
The platinum arm of Anglo American is to cut 3,700 jobs in South Africa as the British mining company attempts to improve performance in the troubled division.
Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) said on Monday it aimed to cut jobs after a sharp drop in platinum metal prices, which had led to a collapse in profits last year.
Continue reading...PM says federal government will make ‘no changes’ to Western Australia GST payments, which could hit $50bn over a decade
The federal government is considering “time-limited support” for the nickel industry in Western Australia as it faces growing international competition from Indonesian producers, Anthony Albanese has said.
The prime minister also pledged to maintain WA’s lucrative share of GST payments by signing a promise on a newspaper front page and on a reporter’s arm in marker pen, before encouraging the journalist to get it tattooed on his body.
Continue reading...Activist group Justice for Myanmar alleges companies have continued operations in war-torn nation since the coup almost three years ago
Australian-linked mining companies are continuing to operate in Myanmar, helping to support the military junta and the junta-dominated mining sector, a new report alleges.
The activist group Justice for Myanmar released a report Tuesday detailing the activities of mining companies either linked to Australia or backed by Australian investors, which it alleges have continued their operations in the war-torn nation since the coup almost three years ago.
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