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News Archive - January-February 2003 The following page contains an archive of news items from January to February 2003 relevant to mineral resources law and policy. Return to the Latest News...
Title: Worldwatch
State of the World 2003 - Scrapping Mining Dependence - Live Online Discussion Details Join Worldwatch State of the World 2003 author Payal Sampat in a live online discussion about the need to relegate our mining dependence to the scrap pile of history. Mining consumes almost 10 percent of world energy, threatens nearly 40 percent of the world's undeveloped tracts of forest, and spews close to half of all toxic emissions in some countries. In Scrapping Mining Dependence, Sampat presents alternative ways in which the world can meet its demand for minerals. For example, it takes 95 percent less energy to produce aluminum from recycled materials than from bauxite ore; recycling copper takes between five and seven times less energy than processing ore; while recycled steel uses two to three-and-a-half times less. Yet government policies still favor extraction, leaving recycling's potential poorly realized. Join the author of Scrapping Mining Dependence to discuss how societies
can Title: Draft Australian Standard on Corporate
Social Responsibility Details Standards Australia International have released a Draft for Public Comment
Australian Standard on Corporate Social Responsibility (DR 03028).
Comments are invited on the Draft Standard and are due by 28 February 2003. An electronic version of the comment form can be downloaded from: https://committees.standards.com.au/COMMITTEES/MB-004 Further information can be obtained from Mr. Trevor Sharpham who can
be contacted by email on Trevor.Sharpham@standards.com.au
or by fax on +61 2 8206 6016 Title: Environment
Ministers Call for Action on Mercury Details The delegates attending last week's international meeting on environmental governance agreed to crack down on sources of mercury emissions around the globe. But objections from the U.S. delegation prevented the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme from adopting binding limits on emissions from power plants and other major mercury sources. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) agreed to begin the process of helping nations devise methods of reducing their mercury emissions. The mercury decision followed discussions of a global assessment report, compiled by UNEP and other experts and presented to delegates earlier in the week, which highlighted the threat to humans and wildlife from this persistent, toxic heavy metal. Title: Impregilo
wins Iceland dam construction deal to power new aluminium smelter Details Icelandic power producer Landsvirkjun said last week it chose Italian construction group Impregilo SpA (IPGI.MI) to build a giant dam in a project worth 47 million Icelandic crowns. Landsvirkjun said in a statement the Italian company won a bid to build a dam and tunnels for a hydropower plant due to provide energy for a 322,000 tonne aluminium smelter that U.S. Alcoa (AA.N) plans to build in Eastern Iceland. In December, Impregilo offered to build the utilities for 44 billion
Icelandic crowns, but the amount had risen to 47,3 billion, Landsvirkjun
said. In the run-up to the opening of bids, four companies withdrew from the race - Swedish groups Skanska AB (SKAb.ST) and NCC AB (NCCb.ST), Norwegian company Veidekke (VEI.OL) and France's Vinci )SGEF.PA). The power plant has caused one of the biggest environmental controversies in recent history in Iceland, because it requires that two of the country's largest glacial rivers be diverted into a reservoir in the Icelandic highlands. Landsvirkjun is expected to sign final deals with both Impregilo and Alcoa regarding the power plant and aluminium smelter in March, after Iceland's parliament has approved of Alcoa's plans. Title: Lead
Levels Linked to Male Infertility Details Fertility experts today published the first conclusive evidence that lead is linked to male infertility. A report a European medicine journal, "Human Reproduction," concludes that exposure to lead damages sperm function and may be one cause of unexplained male infertility cases. The findings have led principal investigator Dr. Susan Benoff to urge doctors to measure lead in semen samples when evaluating men from couples with unexplained fertility. She said she also believes there is a case for health and safety authorities to continue reevaluating environmental exposure safety limits for lead. Title: New environmentally friendly gold
extraction process Details Haber Inc of New Jersey, US, is filing patent applications for the extraction of gold from telluride, selenium and sulphide type ores. The method for extraction from telluride ores addresses the environmental problems that have beset traditional methods, says Haber. HGP is non toxic, more efficient and does not release other toxic heavy metals from the ore when compared to other methods such as the commonly used cyanide-based process. HGP accelerates the gold extraction rate and may increase gold recovery from its ores by a substantial factor. More information on the proces is available here. Title: Global
warming may worsen mercury pollution Details Mercury pollution must be tackled before global warming exacerbates its noxious effects, the United Nations warned yesterday it its first report into the worldwide dangers posed by the heavy metal. The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said activities from gold mining to burning coal in power stations had tripled mercury levels in the air since pre-industrial times. Mercury works its way into the food chain, with women and children most at risk from poisoning, which can cause brain and nerve damage resulting in impaired coordination, blurred vision, tremors, irritability and memory loss. "Mercury levels have to be reduced and we want governments to start to take steps to do this immediately," UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer told reporters at a conference of environment ministers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. "Things could get worse in the coming years, as increases in temperature also appear to help the spread of the mercury." Title: States
agree "right-to-know" deal on toxic waste Details Over 30 European, Central Asian and North American countries have agreed a pact extending the public's right to know about chemical waste and toxic pollutants in their neighbourhoods, the United Nations said. The draft treaty, hammered out over two years of negotiations, covers the disposal, storage, recycling and treatment of dangerous materials ranging from minerals to metals, fertilisers and hydrocarbons. "It is a major step even for the developed countries which will have to introduce significant changes to the information they make available," said Jeremy Wates, of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), which hosted the talks. Under the pact, which ECE countries will formally sign at a ministerial meeting in May in Kiev, states pledged to set up national registers of industrial pollutants released into the water, air and soil. See also a press release from the UNECE. Title: Platinum
soars on Bush call for fuel cell funding Details Platinum soared to its highest price in nearly 17 years last week, boosted by U.S. President George W. Bush's call for more research into fuel cell technology. Spot platinum traded at $673.00 an ounce, hitting levels not seen since September, 1986 and marking a rally that has taken the white metal from under $450.00 last year. Bush called in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday for $1.2 billion to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles that would use platinum in fuel cells, sharpening the appetite of investment funds for the metal. "We've been hearing about fuel cells for ages and ages, but it seems the funds piled in after Bush's speech," a brokerage analyst in Tokyo said. Fuel cells create electricity without pollution by combining hydrogen and oxygen into water. In his speech, Bush said fuel cells could not only reduce pollution from vehicles, but also reduce American dependence on imported oil. Title: Court
reverses ban on dumping coal waste into streams Details A federal appeals court overturned a lower-court ruling that blocked coal companies from sweeping rubble from mountaintop removal mining into streams, possibly allowing more permits to bury Appalachian streams beneath huge valley fill-waste piles. A three-judge panel on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned U.S. District Judge Charles Haden II's ruling, which was issued last May. Judge Haden's ruling said that the federal Clean Water Act blocked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from authorizing such valley fills. Haden's ruling came less than a week after the Bush administration announced changes to federal rules that would remove restrictions on filling valleys and streams. Many coal companies in West Virginia and Kentucky dynamite the tops off mountains to get to valuable low-sulphur coal seams burned for electricity. Waste rubble is swept off cliffs into valleys, a process, which at times, buries streams. Title: Codelco'S
$1 bln refinery gets environmental OK Details Chilean environmental authorities said they gave the green light to plans by Codelco, the world's No. 1 copper producer, to build a $1 billion copper smelter and refinery in northern Chile. A regional office of the National Environmental Commission (Conama), a governmental body, approved Codelco's environmental impact study on the project in a meeting last week. Title: UN
Security Council Backs Process To Halt Trade In Conflict Gems Details The Security Council yesterday endorsed a new international regime for regulating the trade in rough diamonds with the goal of preventing the illicit trade in diamonds from further fueling conflicts, especially in Africa. The council unanimously supported the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme with Resolution 1459, which was adopted without debate. The resolution notes the council's "deep concern" about "the linkage between the illicit trade in rough diamonds from certain regions of the world and the fuelling of armed conflicts that affect international peace and security" and "the importance of conflict prevention through efforts to hinder the fuelling of conflicts by illicit trade in rough diamonds, which is the very nature of the Kimberley Process." The resolution offers the council's strong support for the initiative and calls "the widest possible participation" in the process "essential" to its success. The Kimberley Process came into effect Jan. 1. It is chaired by South Africa and involves more than 30 governments, the European Union, nongovernmental organizations and the diamond industry with the goal of "establishing minimum acceptable international standards for national certification schemes relating to trade in rough diamonds," according to the Kimberley Process Web site. Conflict diamonds account for only 4 percent of the global trade in diamonds, but have been cited as financing conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as being a source of funds for the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The Kimberley Process seeks to stem the trade in conflict diamonds in order to ensure the viability of the trade in legitimate diamonds, which is vital to the economies of many countries, including Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Title: Southern
Peru criticized for smelter upgrade pace Details Peru-Grupo Mexico-owned Southern Peru Copper Corp. (SPC.LM) (PCU.N) is behind schedule on its smelter modernization, part of a program to bring the company in compliance with Peru's environmental laws, Deputy Mining Minister Cesar Polo said this week. Polo said that Southern, under a revised environmental improvement program (PAMA) approved by the ministry in early 2002, was due to have begun the modernization of its copper smelter in the southern port of Ilo last September. But Southern, citing low international copper prices and other factors, had requested late last year that the project be completed in 2007 rather than 2004 as proposed, he said. "The answer was no because the truth is it seems like we are being given a runaround," Polo told Reuters in an interview. "We understand Southern's financial situation but the environmental situation of the country and Ilo must also be taken into account," he added. Title: Indonesia
weighs mining in protected forests Details Indonesia is considering issuing a decree to allow mining firms to operate in areas protected by the country's forestry law, Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said yesterday. Purnomo said the 1999 law, which bans open pit mining in areas covered under the regulation, had hampered investment. "We are still carefully evaluating this to make sure this is the right step. We need investment in the mining sector," Purnomo told reporters without elaborating. Another ministry official said the decree could override the forestry
law. Title: U.S.
Could Block International Action on Mercury Details The United States plans to attempt to thwart future talks on mercury pollution at an international meeting next month, suggests an internal document leaked to a mercury watchdog group. The leaked paper provides talking points for U.S. negotiators who will argue against international limits on mercury releases or other mandatory measures aimed at reducing the risk of mercury exposure. The document was leaked in advance of next week's meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. At the meeting, the council will review the recommendations of the UNEP Global Mercury Assessment Working Group, an assembly of about 150 experts which concluded last year that "there is sufficient evidence of significant global adverse impacts to warrant international action to reduce the risks to human health and the environment arising from the release of mercury into the environment." The political decisions made by the Governing Council will set the course for global action on mercury for years to come. But the United States is preparing to argue in favor of less action, less funding and less future discussion of the issue.
Title: China's
Coal Miners Risk Danger for a Better Wage Details Liu Fengtong does not need reminding that it is perilous to dig for coal in Chinese mines. He broke his foot and his shoulder when a tunnel collapsed on him six years ago, and he lost his front teeth when a rock fell on his face a few years later. When he leaves home he walks past the village walnut tree, once the daily meeting place of his two brothers, Liu Fengwu and Liu Fengmin. They worked the same shift at a nearby mine until Oct. 23, when an underground methane gas explosion reduced the family mining fraternity from five men to three Title: Minister
says Kyoto won't kill Canada oil projects Details Implementation of the Kyoto climate accord will not kill investment in Canada's burgeoning oil sands industry even though one project has been put on hold, the country's energy minister said. "Although Kyoto has some impact, it does not have an impact that will cause projects to be canceled," Herb Dhaliwal, minister of natural resources, told reporters. "In fact, if you look at the announcements, projects are going ahead and I'm confident that more will be announced." Before Canada ratified the international treaty on cutting greenhouse gas emissions late last year, the oil industry had complained that uncertainty of the costs threatened oil sands development. Title: U.S.
Senate rejects delay of Bush pollution rules Details The U.S. Senate has rejected a Democratic attempt to delay a Bush administration plan to relax costly air pollution rules that apply when utilities, refineries and other industrial plants are repaired or expanded. Title: Accident
Prompts Stricter Mine Enforcement Details The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is taking steps to strengthen enforcement of regulations covering mine waste impoundments, following an accident that sent millions of gallons of liquefied coal waste into Kentucky's Big Sandy River in 2000. The MSHA said it is "correcting weaknesses in enforcement procedures" following an internal review into the agency's actions prior to the October 2000 slurry spill at Martin County Coal Corporation's Big Branch impoundment. "The purpose of the internal review was to conduct a critical self-examination to determine how MSHA management practices could be improved," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Dave Lauriski. "By strengthening MSHA's internal management process, we can make more effective use of all the tools provided in the law - enforcement, education and training, and technical assistance - all aimed at increasing safety for miners." Title: Peruvians
pan proposal for mining Details Taking a break from running his parents' restaurant, Javier Palacios strolls across the sleepy main square — the spot that will become a huge mining pit if a Canadian company gets its way. Lime and mango orchards sprawl in the hazy lowlands below the town. Mr. Palacios, 33, an engineer, nods toward them: "We've been tied to agriculture for generations. We simply don't want the mine and the change that it would bring." The farming community has been steadfast in fighting to keep the mineral treasure beneath its land where it is, and away from the mining company. In the process, Tambogrande has become a case study in the conflicts that can arise from globalization, one in which powerful financial interests seeking profit collided with the will of a town determined to maintain its way of life. Title: U.S.
Is Pressuring Industries to Cut Greenhouse Gases Details White House officials are collecting written promises from industries to curb emissions of gases linked to global warming. Title: Russia
delays global warming pact, may wreck deal Details Russia, vital to the U.N. Kyoto accord on global warming after the United States pulled out in 2001, is not ready to ratify it for economic reasons and this could cripple the pact, experts said. The delay could cost Moscow billions of dollars, they added. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told the Earth Summit in Johannesburg last September that Russia would ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, first agreed in 1997, "in the near future". But Russia, which could boost revenues from a treaty clause allowing it to sell some of its pollution quota, has set no deadlines for government, and then parliament, to back the pact. Under a complex weighting system, Russia's ratification is crucial for the protocol to come into force after the withdrawal of the United States, the world's top air polluter. Title: China
moves to rein in unruly, excessive mining Details China's Ministry of Land and Resources said yesterday it has delegated control of its mining programme to provincial governments for the first time to improve the efficiency of the unruly sector. Analysts said the move would improve regulation of mining as regional authorities have a better grasp of conditions and developments in the minerals sector. The ministry said in a statement published on its Web site at www.mlr.gov.cn it had distributed oversight of 31 mineral exploration projects to provincial governments. China, suffering from a lack of mineral resources such as concentrates for copper, zinc, lead, tungsten and antimony, is trying to curtail excessive mining. The sector is also notorious for polluting the environment and has a poor safety record. "We are regulating minerals exploration at the provincial level to ensure that exploration of mineral resources is beneficial to the development of our economy," said Pan Wencan, director of the ministry's planning development department. "The establishment of the programmes will improve the efficiency of exploration and make better use of China's mineral resources," Pan said in the statement. "It will also encourage firms to adopt environmentally friendly mining practices." Title: Chile
Codelco gets OK for Gaby copper mine Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's top copper producer, obtained approval from environmental authorities for its $600 million Gaby project, a company spokesman said. "Yes, the Gaby project was approved by Corema (Regional Environmental
Commission)," Juan Carlos Diaz, spokesman for Codelco Norte, told
Reuters. Gaby, a copper oxides deposit located just south of Codelco's Chuquicamata mine in northern Chile, would produce 170,000 tonnes of copper cathodes per year starting in 2005, according to Codelco in a text published last June on the environmental agency's Web site. "The project would initiate its production at the beginning of 2005 after a 19-month period of construction," Codelco said. "The initial investment is estimated to be $600 million and the project would have a life of 13 years," it added. However, Codelco Executive President Juan Villarzu told reporters recently the company has not yet made a decision on when to begin construction of Gaby. He said the board would decide in May or June of this year. Title: Canada's
Manhattan hands Peru missing mine info Canada's Manhattan Minerals Corp. (MAN.TO) said last week it had given the government of President Alejandro Toledo data needed to decide whether it would get the green light for its controversial plan to build a $405 million gold and copper mine in northern Peru. "The (Energy and Mines) Ministry has asked us for complementary data ... and we hope that is sufficient for their analysis," a Manhattan spokesman told Reuters. A statement released by Manhattan late on Thursday said it provided the government with a surface and subterranean water study, weather data, air quality, soil and noise analysis. Manhattan's plan to move some 1,800 homes in a poor town of 16,000 to make way for its open-cast mine has caused a stir in the fertile Tambogrande valley, some 640 miles (1,050 km) north of Peru's capital, Lima, as locals argue the mine would derail local farming and harm the environment. The project is seen as a test of how the interests of foreign mining firms, which the government is trying to lure to this mineral-rich nation, will stand up against the complaints of locals, who say their health and livelihoods are at risk. Also, see earlier articles: New mayor stands firm against Peru Tambogrande mine Manhattan CEO sees Tambogrande mine on line in 2004 Title: Bush
admin clears way for more coalbed methane projects in USA The Bush administration last week gave the green light to more coalbed methane drilling in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, saying its studies showed that the process of squeezing natural gas out of coal deposits would not harm the environment. In two environmental impact studies that support President George W. Bush's plan to boost energy exploration in the west, the Bureau of Land Management said impact to water, soil and wildlife in the region would be "minor." The BLM, in an about-face from its earlier draft, proposed storing salty water used to extract natural gas in small reservoirs. The plan would prevent water from flowing into streams and rivers used for farming and drinking. ... Title: The
year of freshwater – but are water regulations out-dated? 2003 is the International Year of Freshwater, during which the United Nations will be raising awareness of the importance of protecting and managing freshwater. But European freshwater scientists are concerned that some water regulations are out of date, resulting in excessive costs to the metals industry to restrict metal pollution more than is necessary. Title: Ghana
gold mine spills into river polluted in 2001 A river and communities poisoned by a cyanide spill from a gold mine
in 2001 may have been hit by another spill from the same mining company.
Water from an abandoned underground mine within the mining concession
of Goldfields Ghana Ltd. has seeped into the Asuman River in the Wassa
West District of the Western Region, sparking fears of contamination and
a worsening health situation for area communities. Title: Air
pollution may alter genes Six years ago, scientists found that herring gulls living near steel mills around the harbour in Hamilton, Ontario, tended to have high DNA mutation rates. These mutations were then transferred to the next generation of gulls, increasing the offspring's chances of developing genetic diseases like cancer and birth defects. Researchers suspected at the time that air pollution was causing the mutations, but they couldn't eliminate other factors, such as polluted water or contaminated fish, that also could have been responsible. Now other scientists have published a paper indicating that air pollution is indeed the likely culprit behind the mutations. What's more, there's no reason why human DNA should be immune from the same pollution. So our genes may also be damaged and inherited by our children. It's sobering to think that chemicals in our air affect us at a genetic level. Few studies have been done on this topic outside examinations of animals exposed to radioactive dust from nuclear accidents. Title: Cancel
(Kenya) Titanium Project, Kibaki Gov't Urged The Mombasa business community has appealed to the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) Government to cancel the multi-billion shilling titanium mining project in Kwale District (Kenya). The Narc Government was instead asked to revive collapsed factories in
Coast Province as a new year's gift to residents. He said this was done with total disregard of the plight of farmers who own the land. He said that farmers were given a raw deal and were appealing to the
Mwai Kibaki administration to take steps to save them from exploitation. Title: Nine
states sue Bush administration on clean-air rules Nine Northeastern U.S. states sued the Bush administration over its decision to relax clean-air rules to help coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities avoid costly pollution controls. The consortium of states - Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont - filed the lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, according to a news release. Existing rules require U.S. utilities and refineries to invest in state-of-the-art
pollution controls if a plant undergoes a major expansion or modification. This week the EPA published the so-called "new source review" rules in the Federal Register, formalizing some rules and starting a time clock toward finalizing others. But the nine states accused the administration of gutting the Clean Air Act. Title: EPA
mulling reduction in off-road diesel emissions The Bush administration is drafting new rules to drastically reduce noxious emissions from off-road diesel equipment like tractors and bulldozers starting in 2008, but environmentalists this week warned that industry-friendly loopholes could weaken them. The Environmental Protection Agency has spent months briefing industry groups and environmentalists about the new rules - expected to be released in the spring - requiring refiners to produce low-sulfur fuel and engine makers to build more sophisticated engines to burn it. The EPA this year rolled out new rules to cut on-road diesel emissions by over 90 percent by 2007. The off-road rules, drafted jointly by the EPA and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will slash off-road emissions by similar levels, according to an EPA presentation given in May. Studies show that the new rules could prevent about 8,500 premature deaths a year and reduce asthma and other respiratory ailments linked with human exposure to air particles. See also a related article: U.S. drafting new rules for diesel emissions Title: Kimberley
Process Certification System for Rough Diamonds is launched The Kimberley Process Certification System for Rough Diamonds was officially launched today, 1 January 2003. The certification scheme, developed by representatives from governments, the diamond industry and civil society, is intended to address the problem of conflict diamonds in support of UN Security Council sanctions. By reducing the access of conflict diamonds to the market it is hoped that the certification system will remove a source of funding that has contributed to ongoing armed conflicts in a number of countries. During the first month of operation no punitive action will be taken against States that contravene the systems guidelines. Further information on the certification system is available from the Kimberley Process website.
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