Category Archives: Mining

Chile rejects $2.5bn iron and copper mine planned near penguin reserve

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Dominga project included insufficient efforts to mitigate impact on reserves for dolphins, whales and penguins, committee says

Chile’s government has rejected a controversial $2.5bn iron and copper mining project proposed in an important area for biodiversity and marine life.

The Dominga project, 70km north of the city of La Serena, would have seen an open-pit mine, processing and desalination plants, as well as a large port, installed just 30km from a famed Humboldt penguin reserve.

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Salvadoran environmental defenders detained for decades-old crimes

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Activists worry the arrests are a move by the cash-strapped government to open the country to now banned metals mining

Five prominent environmental defenders who played a crucial role in securing a historic mining ban in El Salvador have been detained accused of civil war era and gang-related crimes, in what rights groups fear is a ruse to restart mining.

Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega were detained on Wednesday in Cabañas in northern El Salvador, accused of killing an alleged army informant more than 33 years ago during the brutal civil war that claimed 75,000 lives.

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Honduran environmental defenders shot dead in broad daylight

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Aly Domínguez and Jairo Bonilla, co-founders of grassroots resistance group to iron ore mine in Guapinol, murdered in street

Two environmental defenders have been shot dead in broad daylight in Honduras, triggering fresh calls for an independent investigation into the persecution and violence against a rural community battling to stop an illegally sanctioned mine.

Aly Domínguez, 38, and Jairo Bonilla, 28, from Guapinol in northern Honduras, were murdered on Saturday afternoon as they returned home on a moped after finishing work collecting payments for a cable company. They were intercepted by armed assailants and died at the scene, according to relatives.

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Australian coal industry says China market matters less than before, even if import ban ends

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Queensland Resources Council says industry would welcome restrictions easing but new long-term customers since found elsewhere in Asia

Australia would benefit from a lifting of China’s ban on its coal but any gains would likely be modest as miners have largely redirected supplies elsewhere, analysts said.

Shares of ASX-listed coalminers shot up on Wednesday after reports China was considering lifting its restrictions on coal imports from Australia from April. The ban was imposed in mid-2020 amid deteriorating bilateral relations that have since begun to improve.

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Anthony Albanese rejects reports of $450m coal price cap payout for Rio Tinto and partners

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Federal and state governments have agreed to pay producers compensation for pre-existing supply contracts exceeding the cap

Anthony Albanese has rejected suggestions of a potential $450m payout to Rio Tinto and its partners for the Gladstone power plant, which could push coal price cap compensation to more than $1bn.

Albanese told Channel Seven’s Sunrise the federal government expects the cost “will be nothing like the sort of figures” reported for Gladstone although Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk later appeared to confirm the figure was possible, as a maximum.

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Campaign against coal royalty increases could backfire, Queensland treasurer warns mining lobby

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Exclusive: Cameron Dick urges resources council to stop risking coal’s social licence with ad campaign as royalty rise is here to stay

The Queensland treasurer, Cameron Dick, says the state will not back down on recent coal royalty increases, warning the mining lobby its multimillion-dollar advertising campaign opposing the changes may harm the industry.

Dick met with the Queensland Resources Council this week to ensure it was “under no misapprehension” the government would stay the course on the new progressive royalty tiers, which increase when prices are unusually high and companies are making windfall profits.

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Ally of Wagner Group boss hurt in ‘assassination attempt’ in central Africa

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Dmitry Sytii under US sanctions for links to mercenary group founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to Vladimir Putin

A Russian businessman believed to be a close ally of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group founder, has been taken to hospital in Central African Republic (CAR) after an “assassination attempt”, the RIA Novosti news agency has reported, citing the local Russian embassy.

Dmitry Sytii, who officially works as head of the “Russian House” culture centre in CAR’s capital, Bangui, had sanctions imposed on him by the US in September 2020 for his alleged links to Wagner Group, a private military group that has deployed more than 1,000 fighters in the unstable country to fight rebels.

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Queensland faces ‘significant’ wellbeing decline if it doesn’t quickly transition to renewables, report says

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Report by Deloitte warns biggest risk to jobs in the state is a carbon-fuelled economy

A Queensland government-commissioned report by Deloitte says there could be “significant” declines in wellbeing, assets left stranded and a stagnating economy if the state doesn’t quickly transition to renewables.

The report by the global accounting giant, obtained under the state’s right to information regime, also suggests Queensland could have a bright economic future should it rapidly decarbonise in coordination with the rest of the world.

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Greta Thunberg’s charity donates £158,000 to Sami campaign

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Indigenous people in Sweden are battling UK firm over plans for iron-ore mine on reindeer-herding lands

The charity founded in Greta Thunberg’s name has donated £158,000 to cover the legal costs of Indigenous people in Sweden’s Arctic north as they battle a British mining company over plans for an iron-ore mine on reindeer-herding lands.

Beowulf Mining, which has its headquarters in the City of London, was given approval in March by the Swedish government for excavation on an area used by the Sami community.

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Queensland’s higher coal royalties has had little impact on profits, new data shows

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The state’s treasury does not expect the taxes to make a significant impact on investment decisions

The Queensland government’s imposition of higher royalties for coal producers and China’s ban on imports from Australia are having little impact on super profits, despite a campaign against the taxes by the industry.

The state’s coal industry is a clear winner from the global energy shock as the world looks for new supplies, according to data released by the Queensland Treasury.

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Canada orders China to divest from country’s mining companies

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Move comes after ‘multi-step’ review by Canada’s national security and intelligence agencies

Canada has ordered China to immediately sell its holdings in three Canadian mining companies, as the need for investments in the extraction of critical minerals clashes with growing concerns over national security.

On Wednesday Canada’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said three Chinese companies would be required to divest from junior mining companies.

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Tory-linked lobbying firm agreed to help swing DRC election, leak suggests

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Exclusive: CT Group, co-owned by Lynton Crosby, planned secretive African campaign on behalf of Canadian mining giant

A lobbying firm with deep ties to the Conservative party planned a secretive campaign to influence elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in exchange for millions of pounds from a mining company.

Leaked documents suggest the influential firm co-owned by the veteran Tory strategist Sir Lynton Crosby agreed to help the mining company swing a presidential election in the central African country.

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Germany calls for ‘precautionary pause’ before deep-sea mining industry starts

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Berlin urges International Seabed Authority to prioritise nature as it debates rules and warns seabed mining may ‘destroy ecosystems’

Germany has called for a pause in the controversial deep-sea mining industry, saying not enough is known about the likely impacts of digging up the ocean floor for metals.

While other nations, including Spain and New Zealand, have previously called for a temporary halt to any exploitation of deep-sea metals, Germany, the world’s fourth biggest economy, is the most significant nation to voice its opposition to date. The country holds two of the 22 licences for exploration of the seabed.

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Environmental activist’s home visited by Queensland police ahead of planned protests in Sydney

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Activist among 30 people in three states and ACT to report visits from officers at request of NSW police ahead of mining forum

Counter-terror police in Queensland have visited the home of an environmental activist following a request from New South Wales ahead of planned protests at a mining conference in Sydney.

The activist is one of about 30 people across four jurisdictions to report visits from police in the past week ahead of the International Mining and Resources Conference, which starts on Wednesday.

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Hancock Prospecting withdraws from $15m funding deal with Netball Australia after players revolt

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Gina Rinehart’s mining company instead offers short-term funding until the organisation finds a new sponsor

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has withdrawn a lucrative funding deal from Netball Australia after a players’ revolt against the company.

The mining company announced on Saturday that it would withdraw its $15m funding from Netball Australia. It has instead offered short-term funding until the organisation finds a new sponsor.

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Queensland government clears way for controversial New Acland coalmine expansion

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Stage three of New Hope Group’s open-cut mine granted a water licence, allowing work to proceed

Work can begin on the expansion of the controversial New Acland thermal coalmine after the Queensland government granted a water licence for the project.

Stage three of New Hope Group’s open-cut mine was on Thursday granted a water licence, clearing the final hurdle for work to start.

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Bolivian gold miners push into national park despite country’s green rhetoric

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Mining co-ops – with oversize influence in the government – are moving into the Amazon’s Madidi national park

The footage is jerky, perhaps shot covertly. It shows a river running through a jungle: on the far side there is still thick forest, but the near bank is a mess of churned earth and muddy tracks – yet more evidence that gold miners have moved into the Madidi, Bolivia’s most famous national park.

Such mining provides a living for hundreds of thousands of people. But as miners push into the Amazon and other protected areas, the Bolivian government’s support of the industry sits awkwardly with its environmentalist rhetoric.

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Coalmine wastewater spill south of Sydney turns Royal national park creek to black sludge

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NSW EPA investigating third coal pollution incident this year involving Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan mine

A creek running through the Royal national park, south of Sydney, has been hit by a coal wastewater spill that turned its water into thick, black sludge.

It is the third coal pollution incident investigated by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority this year involving Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan mine at Helensburg.

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Fears island of Ireland faces ‘new carve-up’ by mining companies

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Campaigners warn of damage as concessions now cover over a quarter of land on both sides of border

Environmentalists on the island of Ireland say they fear a “new carve-up of the island” over coming decades, with mining concessions now covering more than a quarter of all land on both sides of the border.

More than 25% of the total land area of Northern Ireland is covered by mining concessions, according to government statistics, while the figure for the Irish republic has in the past couple of years been even higher at 27%. The prospecting licences covering these areas grant mining companies permission to survey and assess sites, as well as carry out exploratory work that includes digging tunnels, pits, taking rock samples and carrying out chemical analyses.

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CSIRO joins deep-sea mining project in Pacific as islands call for industry halt

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Agency to lead consortium in scheme targeting battery materials while conservationists say Australia on ‘wrong side of debate’

Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, has agreed to work with a controversial deep-sea mining project in the Pacific as a fourth island nation joins a call for a moratorium on the industry.

CSIRO will lead a consortium of scientists from Australia and New Zealand to help the Metals Company (TMC) develop an environmental management plan for its project, which is backed by the Nauru government.

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