The Alyansa Tigil Mina Blog

By: Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb -
http://www.mineweb.net/int_beat/937288.htm

18-AUG-06

RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) — BHP Billiton Friday temporarily closed operations at Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mining operation, and ended negotiations with striking workers.

Spot copper prices were up as much as 2.45% to $3.4319 a pound in early Friday morning trading since the decision was made to temporarily shut down the mine, which supplies roughly 8% of the world’s copper supply.

Union workers have blocked all access roads to the mine located in Chile’s Atacama Desert. BHP Billiton spokeswoman Emma Meade told Australian press that “this heightened union activity means we no longer feel that we are able to unequivocally guarantee the health and safety of our people or the integrity of the operations infrastructure.” (more…)

By: Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb -
http://www.mineweb.net/base_metals/934228.htm
17-AUG-06

RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) — Facing historically low nickel inventories and a “genuine material shortage,” the London Metal Exchange Wednesday imposed trading restrictions on the metal.

Given the myriad of uses of nickel in construction, public facilities, households, and electronics, an acute nickel shortage has potential impacts for First World and developing nations.

In a news release, the LME announced it had imposed a backwardation limit of $300 per tonne per day in the nickel market and suspended the Lending Guidance in respect to those with dominant long positions in nickel. (more…)

JOHN PARTRIDGE, INVESTMENT REPORTER,
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060817.RGOLD17/TPStory
17th August 06

As the 110th anniversary passed yesterday of a chance discovery by prospector George Carmack that set off the Yukon gold rush, investors’ appetite for the metal appeared set to remain strong for the time being.

However, it will likely take considerably less volatility in prices
to coax jewellers and their customers, gold’s biggest buyers, back into
the market, according to the World Gold Council in London.

The council said yesterday that while identifiable investor demand
for the yellow metal in the second quarter shot up by 19 per cent from a year earlier to 130 tonnes, the jewellers picked up just 62.5 tonnes, down nearly a quarter and the lowest amount in three years. (more…)

Eco Soundings, John Vidal, The Guardian -
http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,1844951,00.html
Wednesday August 16, 2006

Clare Short, the former international development secretary who
resigned in 2003, has just returned from a fact-find trip to the Philippines with some environment and development groups, and seen first-hand the devastation caused by global mining companies. She is angry. “I have never seen anything so systematically destructive as the mining programme in the Philippines,” she says. “The environmental effects are catastrophic, as are the effects on people’s livelihoods.”

Welcome back to the real world, Ms Short. Eco Soundings cannot but remember how, when in office, you used to defend the globalization of poor countries by rich companies, saying they would make the poor richer, and how you used to heap venom on environment groups (”they always end up being anti-development”). Will you now retract your famous quote about how “there is too much talk about the environment”?

http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN2006082172256.html

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said yesterday that it acted on mining firms in Palawan based on existing rules and regulations stipulated in the small-scale mining permits issued by the local government.

Horacio Ramos, DENR Mines and Geosciences Bureau director, said the DENR has documents to support that mining operations in the municipality of Narra, Palawan, particularly that of Platinum Group Metals Corp., were within the bounds of the law. (more…)

http://www.malaya.com.ph/aug21/envi2.htm

The Concerned Citizens Against Pollution (COCAP) has accused a mining company operating in Palawan of extracting ore more than its allowable limit and using heavy equipment in its operations.

Ester Perez de Tagle, COCAP chairperson, said complaint documents filed before the provincial government and the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural resources and photographs and testimonies point to environmental damage allegedly caused by the operations of Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) in Narra, Palawan. (more…)

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=16380
Inquirer
08/21/2006

CITY OF CALAPAN — People residing in and outside Oriental Mindoro province will find two documentary films about the island a source of pride, belongingness and inspiration, according to its supporters and viewers.

One of the films, “Wailing of Paradise,” is a production about the care of the environment, culture and life of Mindoreños.

Directed by Fr. Romeo Villavicencio of the Communication for Evangelization and Development Center of the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan and written by Fr. Edu Gariguez of the Alyansa Laban sa Mina (Alamin), “Wailing in Paradise” shows the strong opposition of the Mindoreños against mining activities by Crew Minerals and their united campaign in the face of the national government’s insistence to allow mining in the province.

The second film, “Sa Dulo ng Paraiso,” shows the richness and beauty of Bulalacao, one of the poorest towns of Oriental Mindoro. (more…)

SECOND BIKOL PRIESTS’ CONGRESS (BPC II)
SIGNATURE DRIVE TO STOP MINING IN RAPU-RAPU
Universidad de Santa Isabel, Naga City, 10 August 2006

We, the Bikol Clergy – Bishops, Priests and Deacons – gathered at the Second Bikol Priests’ Congress (BPC II), wish to convey our strong opposition to the continued presence and operations of Lafayette Philippines, Inc. and its subsidiaries, RRMI and RRPI in Rapu-Rapu, Albay.

Our stand is supported by the findings of the Rapu-Rapu Fact-Finding Commission (RRFFC), headed by Bishop Arturo Bastes, S.V.D., D.D., and solid scientific studies conducted by the Ateneo de Naga University–Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research (INECAR). Studies done by Dr. Emelina Regis, INECAR Director, find the island dangerously unsuitable for mining due to the following reasons:

“[It is an] island ecosystem with steep slopes; [it has a] Type II climate, [i.e.,] there is no dry season, with very pronounced wet period from November to January; [it is] located along the typhoon path; and [it has] massive iron sulfide rocks with acid-generating capacity or Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)… The resulting impacts of AMD include death to living organisms and release of toxic heavy metals that causes loss of productivity of aquatic and terrestrial plants… [and ultimately,] destruction of livelihood in agriculture and fisheries… These impacts will persist for a long time. Heavy rains will continue to erode loosened contaminated soil. Silt and tailings that poison the land and sea will leave behind unproductive land and dead coral reefs… There is no justice in sacrificing the survival of generations of people and other living organisms for the short-term gains of a few.” (INECAR Position Paper regarding mining in Rapu-Rapu: Closure of Lafayette Mine, 15 February 2006) (more…)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060818.RWILLIS18/TPStory
POSTED ON 18/08/06

For those who wonder what displaced executives from Inco and Falconbridge do with the rest of their lives, meet Lars-Eric Johansson. In recent years, Mr. Johannsson was chief financial officer at Noranda, Falconbridge and Kinross Gold. Seemingly endless wheeling and dealing at all three companies prompted the executive to retire this past spring, at age 59. A whole lot of Mr. Johannssons are on exactly the same career path at the big Canadian metal miners.

Given the pressure cooker he lived for several decades, and what he’s earned for standing up to this pressure, Mr. Johannsson has every reason to now devote his time to the vibrant golf-and-martini scene around his home in Oakville, Ont., But he’s not. Mr. Johannsson is back on the Street this week, playing midwife to the next generation of Canadian mining companies for $25,000 (U.S.) a year. He’s stepping up as a director of Nickel Asia, which filed the paperwork this week for a $150-million TSX initial public offering. (more…)

Published today at www.newmatilda.com
By: Techa Beaumont
18 August 2006

Local protests have escalated over the impacts of Australian mining company Lafayette on the fragile island ecosystem of Rapu Rapu in the Philippines. Instead of enforcing or at least encouraging good corporate citizenship, the Australian government is uncritically promoting and defending the activities of Australian mining companies abroad.

The current global resource boom has Australian companies and investment agencies vying to cash in. At the same time, countries such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines are under intense pressure from international institutions, investors and overseas governments to show that they are committed to creating favourable legal regimes and a stable investment environment for foreign companies to exploit these resources. (more…)