MRF > Law & Policy

The latest news items of relevance to mineral resources law and policy are listed below. For a listing of older news items please see the News Archive.

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IISD - Mining ALERT (NOTE: Mining ALERT has been discontinued.) - A bi-weekly e-newsletter summarizing the latest English language newspaper articles and publications from around the world that address the social and environmental implications of mining the perceptions about mining held by the many involved communities of interest and the integration of sustainability ideas into mining and mineral - related practices.

'Newmont Mining Corp. is suing three environmental activists in Indonesia, claiming they falsely accused the company's gold mining operations there of causing disease and death.

Newmont sued two of the activists in Indonesian court in November and another on Tuesday, company spokesman Doug Hock said.

The company first filed official warnings that demanded public apologies from the three, Hock said, and sued them after they did not reply.

"The suits were filed based on egregious public statements accusing us of killing people and causing Minamata disease," Hock said, referring to a sickness related to mercury poisoning.

One of those sued, Rignolda Djamaludin, a biologist and leader of an Indonesian environmental group, said Newmont seeks $1.5 million in damages.' More...

'An internal company report warned top executives at the Newmont Mining Corporation, the world's largest gold producer, in 2001 that the company was putting tons of toxic mercury vapors into the air in Indonesia.

The document, shown to The New York Times by a person close to Newmont, sheds new light on operations at one of the most troubled mines of a Fortune 500 company based in Denver that has drawn the rising ire of environmental groups and local communities over the impact of its operations.

The report adds fuel to charges from Indonesian officials who say they intend to prosecute the company for pollution, as well as accusations by former employees that Newmont willfully flouted environmental safeguards around the globe.' More...

'Business is booming in the mining zone that supplied uranium for the first atomic bombs - despite a decree by Congo's president banning all mining activity here.

President Joseph Kabila ordered the zone closed four months ago amid growing concerns that unregulated nuclear materials could get into the hands of rogue nations or terrorist groups.

Yet far from the capital, Kinshasa - 1,000 miles away - thousands of diggers are still hacking away at a dark cavity of open earth in this southeastern village, filling thousands of burlap sacks a day with black soil rich in cobalt, copper - and radioactive uranium.

The illegal mining provides stark evidence of how little control Africa's third-largest nation has over its own nuclear resources, highlighting the government's weak authority beyond the capital in the aftermath of Congo's devastating war, from 1998 to 2002.

" They're digging as fast as they can dig, and everyone is buying it," John Skinner, a mining engineer in the nearby town of Likasi, said of the illegal freelance mining at Shinkolobwe. "The problem is that nobody knows where it's all going. There is no control."

The raw uranium is an inadvertent addition to the miners' real prize - high-grade cobalt in lucrative concentrations - and there is no evidence that Congo's uranium is being spirited away to terrorists. The United States, which pressured Kabila to close the mine out of concern over the uranium, said in March it did not believe there was any "worrisome movement" of the radioactive ore at Shinkolobwe.' More...

'Heaven meets hell where blue hills lining Mongolia's vast grasslands, untouched for millions of years, have been turned into giant slag heaps.

Multi-storey floating dredgers scoop up the beds of newly diverted rivers and, with metallic rumblings straight out of a sci-fi film, crunch and separate the gold-bearing deposits from the debris they disgorge 24 hours a day.

Vast floodplains, above which at night the Milky Way stretches across the sky, are being turned upside down and areas just as big await a similar fate.
Nearby, goldrush towns are rising from the dirt, turning the central part of the land of Genghis Khan into a squalid Wild West.

But at night, the dredgers are followed by the ninjas -- illegal miners named after the green, turtle-shell-like pans they carry on their backs -- who sift the droppings under cover of darkness and pan them for the gold the dredgers have missed.

The only sign of the ninjas the next morning is the dozens of discarded batteries from their torches.' More...

'A delegation of British members of parliament is to arrive on Sunday as Botswana attempts to make public the benefits it has enjoyed since the discovery of diamonds in 1966.

The group of about 11 MPs, who have been invited by the diamond mining company Debswana, are due to arrive a week before a landmark land claim brought by Botswana's Bushmen, or San, is to be taken up by the high court.

The visit is part of the Diamond for Development programme, launched by Debswana in 2002 to respond to claims that Botswana's diamond mining industry has led to human rights violations.

Debswana is a 50-50 partnership between the Botswana government and South African mining conglomerate, De Beers.

The British-based human rights organisation, Survival International, wants to have Botswanan diamonds classified as "blood diamonds" over the governments controversial relocation of the San Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, widely considered their ancestral land.

Survival International contends that the diamonds are the reason for the relocation of the San Bushmen in two settlements outside the reserve, New Xade and Kaudwane, and that they have been forcibly moved to make way for diamond mining.

On Tuesday, during a joint press conference with visiting Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, President Festus Mogae lashed out at Survival International, saying that they had taken up the cause of the Bushmen out of self-interest.' More...

'This week, the United Nations expanded the nine principles of its voluntary Global Compact for corporate behaviour to include a tenth: that businesses should combat corruption in all its forms.

Both contain good ideas. The former's mandatory approach would target companies: it would upgrade international rules, such as stock exchange listing requirements, to make oil and mining firms reveal more on their deals with producer nations.

The UK body's voluntary approach focuses rather on helping producer countries to change their behaviour.

Yet the mandatory approach faces stiff resistance. Foes of the NGOs' more radical, mandatory approach raise several objections. First, forcing companies to disclose more would still leave gaps in the picture of producer governments' revenue: a western company could not be made to reveal an African state oil firm's cash flow.

By bringing host governments on board, the transparency initiative would fill the gaps because countries would agree to declare all their revenue.' More...

'Six of the world's largest gold producers, together with three manufacturers of sodium cyanide, have announced their commitment to the International Cyanide Management Code (Code). The Code is a voluntary industry programme for companies involved in the production of gold. Sodium cyanide is an essential chemical used in the production of gold.

The Code provides comprehensive guidance for the best practice in the use and management of cyanide at gold mines around the world and reaches beyond the requirements of most governments and regulatory agencies. It covers nine key areas: production, transportation, handling and storage, operations, decommission of facilities, worker safety, emergency response, training and communications with the public.

The Code was developed by a steering committee of multi-stakeholders under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Prgramme and the International Council on Metals & Environment. The committee compromised participants selected from government, non-governmental organisations, cyanide producers, labour, financial institutions, and the gold mining industry.'

'Hundreds of executives, labour leaders and policy-makers gathered Thursday at the United Nations to discuss how to improve worldwide business conduct and ethics at the Global Compact Leaders Summit. But American companies were scarce - a reflection of concern over lawsuits and skepticism about the world body.

Just under 70 of the 1,500 companies that have signed on to the United Nations Global Compact are U.S.-based. The voluntary agreement, which was established in 2000, promotes standards for human rights, labour, environmental and, starting this year, anti-corruption standards.

By contrast, more than 330 companies based in France and 93 from India have committed to the pact. The remainder of the signers are from 67 other countries, roughly half from developing nations.' More...

The second preparatory meeting of the Global Dialogue of Governments on Mining/Metals and Sustainable Development took place in Geneva, June 1-3, 2004.

Co-chaired by South Africa and Canada, co-hosted with UNCTAD, over 60 officials representing 37 national governments completed negotiation of the Terms of Reference and the draft Rules of Procedures for a new Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals and Metals and Sustainable Development. International organizations such as UNCTAD, UN-DESA, the World Bank and UNECA also participated as observers. In the spirit of partnership, the participants agreed that the Terms of Reference and the new Forum do not create legally binding obligations for its members, including the Secretariat. This is now reflected in clear language in the document.

The participants unanimously approved a proposal for Canada to act as the Secretariat for the initial five years period of the Forum. The participants also provided guidance to the Secretariat for the development and implementation of the Program of Work for the new Forum.

The meeting concluded with an agreement that the Forum is now open for notification of membership by interested countries. When twenty-five become members, the Forum will come into effect as well as the Secretariat. The Secretariat will then start work for the development and implementation of a work program as well as prepare for a ministerial level inaugural meeting of the new Forum in the year following the coming into effect.

Participants agreed that notification of membership is a priority. Delays would hamper progress on the work program and send a negative message to potential donors about the extent of support for the new Forum.

For further information on the Forum visit the Global Dialogue of Governments on Mining/Metals and Sustainable Development website: http://www.globaldialogue.info/

'The Rosia Montana Gold Corporation is taking Alburnus Maior, a local non-profit organisation, to court to stop them from publishing the www.rosiamontana.org website, informs APC member in Romania, StrawberryNet.

The RMGC has high hopes of carrying out what would be Europe’s largest open-cast mining development in this picturesque and historic Romanian village. However, the mining would involve the involuntary resettlement of over 2000 people as well as the destruction of unique archaeological and natural sites.

The threatened website -www.rosiamontana.org- is a strategic tool to help people from the local community make their voice heard and inform the world of their opposition to the mining project. Rosia Montana is 400 km north of Bucharest.'

'President Megawati Soekarnoputri has signed a presidential decree to allow 13 mining companies to resume activities in protected forest areas.
Presidential Decree No. 41/2004, signed on May 12, is a follow up to the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2004 which allows open-pit mining operations in protected forests as long as the mining companies had contracts prior to the introduction of Forestry Law No. 41/1999, deputy cabinet secretary Erman Radjagukguk said on Friday.

The regulation is similar to the Forestry Law except that it has an additional clause stipulating all mining licenses and agreements involving forest areas that existed prior to the imposition of the Forestry Law will remain in effect until the agreement or license expires.'

'Peru's top mining lobby remains firmly opposed to royalty payments but is working with lawmakers to try to make the best of a bad job if the levy finally goes ahead, its president said on Friday.

Jose Miguel Morales, president of the private National Society for Mining, Petroleum and Energy, said he was pleased Congress had failed to find a consensus on a sliding scale plan to apply a royalty of up to 2 percent of sales during a debate on Thursday night that had sent it back to the drawing board.

" I think it's good it was suspended because it was badly written ... They wrote it in a very complicated way because they were trying to apply royalties to companies with stability contracts, which they can't do," Morales told Reuters.

Most of Peru's big mining companies have tax and legal stability contracts that lock in their tax status for years.

That means mid-sized companies, now emerging from several lean years, would be hardest hit by plans to charge a fee for exploiting Peru's nonrenewable mineral wealth.

Proponents say it is a fair charge since it would raise cash for the dirt-poor regions where mining is big business.

The latest plan backed by the Energy and Mines and Economy Commissions of Congress had foreseen a sliding scale of charges between 0.5 percent and 2 percent of gross annual sales on companies with gross annual sales $30 million or more.' More...

'Jobless miners wielding sticks of dynamite blocked workers from returning to Bolivia's Caracoles tin mine Friday, keeping the deposit paralyzed despite signing a pact to lift a siege that has lasted more than two weeks, mining officials said.

The out-of-work miners reached a deal with the government Thursday, securing promises of work in other nearby mines, but they continued their protest Friday, arguing they had been given no firm guarantees.

" The government has to fulfill its accords," Juan Cardoso, a leader of Bolivia's main mining union federation and mediator in negotiations between the state and the jobless, told local radio.

The government bowed to protester demands to revoke state mine concession contracts to private firms on Thursday by taking control of Caracoles, 110 miles (180 km) south of La Paz, from mining company Barrosquira.

'Uganda will soon secure a $7.7 million credit from the African Development Bank to fund mineral development programmes. Mr Fred Kabagambe Kaliisa, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Energy, told The Monitor on May 17 that negotiations would soon be concluded.

Talks for another $7 million loan between government and the Nordic Development Fund for the same purpose are also expected to end soon.

The money is for the implementation of the 5-year Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project. Kalisa said a mineral sector development programme had been designed by the ministry to address sectoral constrains.

"We are sourcing for funds to implement the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resource Projects that will generate more geologic data and mineral targets which will then be used as a basis to attract serious investors in Uganda's mineral industry," he said.

The programme aims to make licensing procedures more transparent, assist small-scale miners through provision of extension services, training and mining equipments.

'The shares of metals and mining companies might fall about 10 percent because of rising power prices linked to new laws to alleviate global warming, according to a report by investors.

If power prices rose 20 percent, some metals and mining shares might fall by half, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project, a group of 95 investment and pension management groups, including HSBC Holdings, Europe's largest bank by market value.

Shares in Anglo American,the world's second-biggest mining company, might fall 10 percent if energy prices rose 5 percent, according to the report, which was released in London yesterday. The report assumes that energy is about 25 percent of Anglo American's costs.

The EU, trying to cut emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, is starting a compulsory emissions trading system next year.

Companies will have to buy additional allowances if they want to emit carbon dioxide exceeding a limit set by their national governments.'

'Mining companies make up 24 percent of South Africa's new Social Responsibility index (SRI).

Economic, social and environmental criteria were used to admit companies to the index.

According to Nicky Newton-King, the deputy chief executive of the JSE Securities Exchange, the companies making the biggest impact on the environment, like mining firms, were doing more to combat these effects than those with a low impact, like banks, so mining firms scored the highest marks for environmental work.

The index took two years to put together. It will be calculated for the first time today and its value will be given at the end of the day.

Newton-King said the JSE had launched the SRI to keep and attract investment, using global standards.

The 160 companies listed in the all share index had been invited to apply to the SRI last October; 76 had filled in the questionnaire and spoken to the researchers.

Of these applicants, 51 met the criteria, but this number shrank to 50 with the merger of African Rainbow Minerals and Harmony.

Title: Operating and Financial Reviews will be required from next year - UK
Source: Ethical Performance
Sent by: minerals.forum@unctad.org
Date: 6 May 2004

'Quoted UK companies will have to begin producing Operating and Financial
Reviews that take account of their social and environmental performance
from next year, according to a draft regulation published today (Wednesday
5 May) by the government.

The long-awaited regulation would require around 1290 British-based
companies listed on the London, New York and Nasdaq stock exchanges to
produce OFRs for all shareholders for financial years beginning on or after
1 January 2005 – or face unlimited fines.

The regulation says the OFRs should be published separately from annual
reports and standalone social and environmental reports, at an estimated
average cost of around £29,000 (USD 51,000) per company.

It says OFRs should include details of a company's objectives and
strategies, and provide information on 'a wide range of factors which may
be relevant to an understanding of the business, such as information about
employees, environmental matters and community and social issues'.

OFRs will fall within the remit of The Accounting Standards Board, which
oversees UK financial reporting standards. The board is to publish draft
standards for OFR reporting in the second half of 2004, and will finalize
these in 2005.'

'The wind blows hard here these days, carving the 100-foot minimountains of mine waste into buttes and whipping dust into the yards and homes nearby. In 2000, the last time a comprehensive study was done, 12 percent of the small children tested had levels of lead in their blood above the hazard threshold — about two and a half times the national average.

That was good news. In 1997, lead levels had been twice as high among children under 6 here and in the nearby communities Cardin and Hockerville, all of them near the center of the Tar Creek Superfund site. One child in four was then at risk for problems related to lead exposure, like lowered I.Q.'s and behavioral disorders.

These communities, where lead and zinc were mined for 60 years, are at a crossroads. In the last six years, the Environmental Protection Agency has spent $120 million to clean up the yards of families living in the middle of one of the oldest sites on the Superfund list of the country's most contaminated toxic waste sites. If the cleanup is responsible for lower lead levels among children, then further cleanup may make them safer. But if the wind off the hillsides recontaminates the land and the air, the scattershot damage that lead may inflict on young nervous systems will remain a danger.' More...

'MEPs have called for a huge tightening of draft EU rules on cleaning up waste at existing and abandoned mining facilities. Voting in Strasbourg on Wednesday, the European parliament made almost a hundred changes to a European Commission proposal made last summer.

Rapporteur MEP Jonas Sjöstedt said mining spoil accounts for well over a quarter of EU waste and that the amendments would slow down the rate of accidents such as recent disasters in Spain and Romania. "Operators will now be forced to clean up sites once they have finished mining a particular area. Toxic lagoons in disused mines should now be a thing of the past," he said.

Campaigner Eva Royo Gelabert of WWF said the parliament had done a "fantastic job" on the Commission's proposal, backing the line of its environment committee. "They've realised there were gaps and they've overcome them." The suggested changes now move to the council of ministers, where a first reading is in its early stages. The directive will not be finalised before the end of this year.' More...

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) is calling for papers for its Inaugural Global Sustainable Development Conference - "Partnerships and Pathways to Implementation". The Conference builds on the highly successful national dialogue established 29 years ago as the Environmental Workshop and will detail methods and techniques to achieve sustainable development objectives through partnerships with people in the community, professionals from other disciplines in industry and government and the non-government sector.

>> Hotel Sofitel, Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
>> 25-29 October 2004 (week before Melbourne Cup - Australia's most famous horse race)

The 'Call for Papers' may be viewed at: http://www.minerals.org.au/sd04

Title: Tiffany's gold standard: Urging responsible business, NY's jewelry icon buys an ad ripping the feds' OK for mining Montana wilderness
Source: Lauren Weber, Newsday, USA
Sent by: minerals.forum@unctad.org
Date: 30 March2004

Details

The hushed and elegant interior of the Tiffany flagship store on Fifth Avenue belies an increasingly public role for the jewelry icon: as a vocal proponent of mining reform with a keen interest in social and environmental issues.

The company took out a large advertisement last week in the Washington Post, opposing a U.S. Forest Service regional decision to allow silver and copper mining in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness area in Montana.
Gold mining "is a costly and destructive process if not handled correctly," Michael Kowalski, Tiffany's chairman and chief executive, said in an interview Thursday. He said the Cabinet Mountains mine would spoil a pristine national treasure.

This very public bit of advocacy was not the first time Tiffany has responded to the less-visible aspects of producing its expensive baubles. Tiffany says it has been operating behind the scenes for a decade, lobbying for reforms and funding research on mining.

"Tiffany is way out ahead," said Marta Miranda, an analyst with the World Resource Institute, a nonprofit environmental research group.

"Trust in the Tiffany name is at the very heart of the brand contract with our customers. There's an absolute expectation that these materials would be processed in a responsible way," Kowalski said.

...

Tiffany uses American-mined gold for all its jewelry produced in the United States, about half its selection. The rest is made in Europe. It aims to source all its minerals and metals from responsible mines worldwide within the next five years.

But Kowalski admitted there is no clear definition of responsible mining. The company is currently funding independent research to create a set of standards. "We're not anti-mining. Our livelihoods depend on mining," he said.' More...

Title: State to shut down polluting mines - China
Source: China Daily
Sent by: minerals.forum@unctad.org
Date: 27 March 2004

Details

'The Ministry of Land and Resources Friday launched a national campaign to shut down coal mines that cause pollution or those without licenses.

The ministry has made this a priority particularly since coal is the most popular energy source fueling China's booming economy.
But it can also be harmful to the environment. For example, some low-quality coal can send excessive amounts of sulfur and floating particles into the air when burning.

In the past few years, the ministry has closed down hundreds of small mines in its efforts to regulate the mining industry, the target of frequent complaints from foreign investors interested in the country's mining sector. But this is the first programme targeted towards coal mines.

"It is time to fend away the many individual and private coal miners, whose lower-than-standard operations cause unnecessary waste of the country's valuable coal resources," said Peng Jianxun, president of the Datong Coal Mining Group in North China's Shanxi Province.' More...

'A mine in Congo that provided uranium for the first atomic bombs is being illegally quarried and the potentially dangerous raw material exported without control, industry experts say.

That rang alarm bells with the United Nations Thursday, and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said it had asked the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo for more information.

" If there is the possibility that large quantities of uranium are being mined and exported, it is disturbing," said a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The DRC has an additional protocol with the IAEA which puts it under an obligation to report its uranium mining activities as well as its exports of uranium," Melissa Fleming added.' More...

'Zimbabwe has proposed a law requiring foreign mining companies to sell up to 49% of operations to local blacks, South Africa's Implats said yesterday, but most of its mines would probably be exempt.

Government officials in Harare were not immediately available to comment, but Reuter was given a copy of a document entitled "Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, 2004" in which the proposals are laid out. "This draft was an internal paper prepared as a basis for discussion with the mining industry," said Les Paton, executive director at Implats.

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd (Implats), the world's second biggest platinum producer, has an 82% stake in Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd (Zimplats).' More...

' The Wik and Wik Way people have applied for a native title determination over an area of land on western Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland.
The claim covers 1,600 square kilometres between Weipa and Aurukun and lies over parts of Comalco's mining lease in the area.

The Native Title Tribunal says people have until July 6 to register with the Federal Court to become a party to the application.
The tribunal's regional manager, Steven Ducksbury, says the claim follows a land use agreement between Comalco and traditional owners several years ago.

"Part of the agreement's requirements were that conforming applications were lodged by traditional owners in the area over their respective areas of country, so that they could attract the benefits and work with Comalco on that agreement," he said.'

'Tribal leaders are joining environmentalists in appealing the Bureau of Land Management's approval of Newmont Mining's Phoenix gold and copper mining project near Battle Mountain.

The Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Mine Watch have asked BLM Nevada Director Bob Abbey to put the project on hold and review the agency's decision approving the Phoenix project near Battle Mountain.
The groups accuse the bureau of violating federal regulations and policy in approving the mine.

The key objection is over the amount of money Newmont is being asked to set aside for long-term monitoring of possible groundwater contamination from the old mine workings already at the mine site.

The petitioners want a 60 million dollar trust fund. Newmont says its $408,000 fund is plenty. It says that will pay for potential cleanup 60 years from now.
Newmont and BLM expect the fund to grow with interest.'

'If adopted by the World Bank, EIR recommendations could serve as a social and environmental best practice benchmark for oil, gas, and mining companies.

The World Bank Group (WBG), whose mission is to alleviate poverty in the developing world, exerts influence not only through its own investments and actions, but also as an exemplar. A coalition of US- and Canada-based socially responsible investment (SRI) advocates is urging WBG President James Wolfensohn to set just such an example by implementing recommendations of the Extractive Industries Review (EIR).' More...

'Nine mining companies have reportedly threatened to sue the government for revoking their permits following the enactment of a controversial law banning operations in protected forests.

The 1999 Forestry Law jeopardized about 150 mining concessions awarded before the legislation was passed.

Keen to reverse six straight years of declining investment in the sector, President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s cabinet earlier this month issued an administrative order that paves the way for 13 companies with contracts issued before 1999 to continue with their work.

But nine companies that failed to receive the green light to resume mining are now considering legal action, Asia Pulse reported Friday (19/3/04).
Indonesian Mining Association executive director Paul L. Coutrier admitted the companies have strong grounds to file lawsuits but expressed hope the disputes could be settled out of court.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro had said the ruling would apply in the short-term to 13 companies and possibly later to the nine others.

But Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim on Monday asserted there would be no more permits issued for mining in protected forests after those for the 13 companies. "Other mining permits in protected forests shall no longer be issued," he was quoted as saying by MiningIndo.com.

The 13 local and multinational companies permitted to resume mining are: Natarang Mining in Lampung province, Karimun Granit in Riau, Pelsart Tambang Kencana in South Kalimantan, Interex Sacra Raya in East Kalimantan and South Kalimantan, Sorikmas Mining in North Sumatra, Indominco Mandiri in East Kalimantan, Freeport Indonesia and Gag Nickel in Papua, Inco Indonesia in Sulawesi, Antam and Nusa Halmahera Minerals in North Maluku, Weda Bay Nickel in North Maluku, and Antam in Southeast Sulawesi.

The nine companies apparently left in the lurch are: Newmont Nusa Tenggara, Sungai Kencana, Irja Eastern Mining, Kalimantan Surya Kencana, Nabire Bakti Mining, Dairi Prima Mineral, Newmont Horas Nauli, Maruwai Coal, and PT Sumbawa Timur Mining. ' More...

'Action to tackle social deprivation in areas hit by South Yorkshire pit closures is "lagging", a watchdog report has warned today.

Most major sites in South Yorkshire had been reclaimed from the point of view of the environment, a Commons inquiry noted.

But it warned that action to boost the local economy was being hampered by poor health, housing and educational attainment which affected the quality of workforces.

The Commons report said: "There has been considerable progress in tackling the environmental legacy from the coalfields but tackling social and economic regeneration is lagging far behind.

"This now requires much greater emphasis in government programmes." The South Yorkshire Coalfield Partnership warned the Commons inquiry about fears over the future of Euro-cash aid after 2006.

The big task of "economic transformation" would take longer and it was vital South Yorkshire stayed eligible for aid, it said. Campaigners also warned against an end in 2005 to Enterprise Zones which have provided incentives for firms and jobs in areas such as the Dearne Valley.' More...

'INDONESIA has decreed that certain open-cut mining operations can resume in protected forests, providing a measure of security to mining firms, including Australian-owned Newcrest Mining.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her Cabinet have recognised the validity of mining contracts signed before a 1999 forestry law prohibited open-cut mining in protected forests.

These forests are protected mainly for watershed management and rate a level of protection below conservation forests. Even so, the decision has outraged environmental groups and activists who have dubbed it a justification for forest devastation.

Indonesian Mining Association executive director Paul Coutrier said the new regulation eliminated some of the legal uncertainties that have dogged foreign mining investment in Indonesia.

"Don't forget the Government is committed to several contracts of work and the contracts are legally binding on both sides," he said.' More...

'A landmark A$38 million agreement between mining giant Hamersley Iron and the Eastern Guruma indigenous people of Western Australia's Pilbara Region was today finalised after six years of negotiations.

The company and the traditional owners of the 8,700 sq kilometres of mineral-rich land near Tom Price, 1,300km north of Perth, have signed an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA), allowing the Hamersley Iron to mine and explore the area.

In return, the Eastern Guruma community will receive up to $38 million over the life of any new mines to fund community projects encompassing education, training, business and community development.

Deputy Premier Eric Ripper said the agreement could potentially unlock millions of dollars in business for Hamersley Iron, while bringing substantial benefits to the traditional owners.

"This ILUA is win-win. A win for Aboriginal people and a win for the economic development of the state," Mr Ripper said.

"It does show what can be achieved when the mining industry and indigenous people sit down and talk to each other about their respective needs and rights.' More...

'Timber and mining firms in the Central African Republic (CAR) have agreed to repatriate all their profits from sales abroad to help the government out of its present cash crunch, Minister of State for Finance Jean-Pierre Lebouder said on Thursday.

"All timber firms signed two days ago accepting to repatriate 100 percent of the funds generated by their sales and to conduct all their transactions through local banks," he said.

He was speaking at a meeting between CAR leader Francois Bozize and political parties in the capital, Bangui. Lebouder added that mining companies had also adopted the same measure.

Soon after he seized power from President Ange-Felix Patasse on 15 March 2003, Bozize suspended all timber and mining activities pending audits in firms and national conferences to define the country's new policies in the sectors. The conferences took place in August 2003 for mining and in September 2003 for timber.

Special armed brigades to fight corruption in the two vital sectors were set up in January but exploitation activities have not yet officially resumed. Timber and mining are the two leading sources of the government's income.

Lebouder said the repatriation of funds and use of local banks were part of a series of measures the government had taken to stabilise the economy and boost its finances. Other measures are salary cuts, and the reorganisation of financial services to eradicate corruption.' More...

Title: Kenya to Enact New Mining Bill
Source: The East African Standard, Nairobi, Kenya. AllAfrica.com
Sent by: minerals.forum@unctad.org
Date: 11 March 2004

'The Government is in the process of enacting a new Mining Law, Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife Minister, Newton Kulundu, disclosed yesterday.
He said the proposed legislation is aimed at tapping the country's huge mineral potential.

The minister said the mining sub-sector currently contributes a paltry one per cent to the country's Gross Domestic.

This latest initiative, he said, is part of a radical policy reforms that incorporates a range of incentives into the existing tax laws vis-avis mineral exploration, prospecting, exportation and value addition.

The three-tier planned legislations and policies including licensing, he said, would be internationally competitive and is the product of a multiple players, including the Government, the Commonwealth Secretariat and private mining concerns.

In addition, mining activities will be clearly classified for regulation into large-scale, small-scale and even quarrying.' More...

"The Colorado Mining Association (CMA) has filed suit to challenge the Summit County ban on heap leach cyanide mining.

The Denver-based mining association filed its challenge against the county commissioners Thursday in Summit District Court.

" The Summit Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) exceeded its statutory authority by adopting new performance standards for toxic and acidic chemicals," said attorney Paul Seby, who is representing the CMA.

" The foreign mining companies and their governments are anxiously waiting for the final decision of the Supreme Court on the mining industry after it earlier nullified moves to allow foreigners to lead in investing in the industry. The foreign mining community is watching closely (the move of the Supreme Court on the issue),? said visiting Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Sutherland. Sutherland, who was here last week, said the foreign mining communities felt worried after the High Court, on January 27, declared as unconstitutional some provisions of Act 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

The decision of the High Court, he said, suddenly contradicted the declaration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s move to promote the entry of foreign mining companies to explore the mining sites of the country.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling, claiming the government would lose about $10 billion in profit, including 7,445 jobs because of the ruling.

Sutherland said that it was unfortunate that the Philippine Supreme Court came up with the ruling because the entry of foreign companies will provide more jobs and revenues to the country." More...

"A leader of small scale miners in the gold rush area of Diwalwal, Compostela Valley has lambasted the national government for continuing its move to allow entry of foreign companies in the mining sector. Barangay Captain Franco Tito of Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela Valley said the national government, instead of inviting foreign investors to mine the country's ore reserves, should better help the small-scale miners. Tito made the statement after being informed that the government lawyers, on behalf of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), have appealed the earlier ruling of the Supreme Court which nullified certain provisions of Republic Act 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

In its appeal before the High Court, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) claimed the government would loss about $10 billion in profit, including 7,445 jobs because of the ruling.

On January 27, the High Court tagged as unconstitutional provisions of the law that would allow government to sign agreements with foreign companies for mining purposes. The court also nullified the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law and the Financial and Technical Agreement between the government and the Western Mining Corp., a company that started the exploration of the copper mining in Tampakan, South Cotabato." More...

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