The July edition of Mining Monitor, produced by the Sydney based NGO
watchdog, the Mineral Policy Institute, is now out and available at
www.mpi.org.au
Major stories are:
1. UNEP seconds Rio Tinto adviser for mining review: The chief
environmental advisor for one of the world's largest mining companies, Rio
Tinto, has been seconded to help oversee the development of policy
responses by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to the cyanide
spill in January from a part Australian-owned mine in Romania. NGO's are
alarmed that UNEP is pushing proposals for self-regulation with funds from
mining companies and being overseen by seconded mining company staff.
2. Chopper drops cyanide into jungle: When a one-tonne pallet of
concentrated cyanide pellets plummeted from a sling underneath a Tolukuma
Gold Mines (TGM) helicopter, local landowners and villagers downstream were
lucky that the cyanide narrowly missed landing in a stream used for water
supply.=20
3. WMC backs climate sceptics: Western Mining Corporation Executive
Director, Ray Evans, is spearheading a campaign by a newly created
anti-greenhouse lobby group to scuttle Australia=92s timid greenhouse gas
reduction strategy.=20
In a speech to the group, WMC Managing Director, Hugh Morgan said =93we
have a self-interest and, indeed, a moral imperative to be involved in the
greenhouse debate arguing for sound science and for the facts to drive the
debate. In this regard I applaud the objectives of the Lavoisier Group in
airing such important issues of public interest ... I wish it well and it
can rely on my support=94.
4. Baia Mare opposes mine restart: In an attempt to defuse criticism of the
Aurual mine, the source or the devastating cyanide spill in Romania, the
administrator of Esmeralda, Mr Kim Strickland, claimed =93strong local
support=94 for the mid-June re-opening of the mine. =93The people of Baia
Ma= re have indicated in the strongest terms that they support and expect
Aurul to resume operations=94, Esmeralda claimed in its statement to the
Australian Stock Exchange.=20
British journalist, George Monbiot, was at the public meeting too, along
with a BBC TV crew. =93The public meeting the prefect referred to was one
of the most angry ones I have ever witnessed. The great majority of the
audience was fiercely opposed to the re-opening of Aurul=92s operations and
scores of local people spoke vociferously against them, receiving clear
support from almost everyone in the hall=94, he told MM.
5. Freeport dam collapse sparks outcry: The once beautiful Lake Wanagon,
formed by the action of a unique tropical glacier, lies high in the
mountains of West Papua in Indonesia. For the indigenous people, the
Amungme, the lake is sacred. For the massive Freeport gold and copper mine,
the lake is not sacred but simply the site for dumping its waste rock. It
is estimated that 3 billion tonnes of highly acidic waste rock, laden with
heavy metals, will be dumped in the lake by the time the mine closes in= 2041.
6. Heat turned up on ECAs: Over 50 representatives of Indonesian and
international non-government organisations (NGOs) convened in Jakarta and
South Sumatra, Indonesia 1-7 May, 2000 for a strategy meeting on export
credit and investment insurance agencies (ECAs). The meeting launched the
Jakarta Declaration For Reform of Official Export Credit and Investment
Insurance Agencies, which has been endorsed by 347 NGOs from 45 countries.
7. A beginner=92s guide to greenwash: Increasingly mining companies are
producing many reports =97 vision statements, environment reports,
policies, audit reports - proclaiming their environmental virtues. Many
shareholders and community groups are asking how they can tell whether a
company is serious about its stated commitment to the environment or
whether it is just faking it.=20
*******************************************************
Mining Monitor (MM), the quarterly magazine of the Sydney based
non-government organisation the Mineral Policy Institute.
Back copies of MM are loaded on the MPI website at www.mpi.org.au
Subscription rates for MM are $A35 for an individual, $A25 for low income
and $A55 for organisations. Free subscriptions may be provided to
non-government organisations in countries throughout the region on
application.
Please make cheques payable to the Mineral Policy Institute, PO Box 21,
Bondi Junction NSW, 2022. Donations welcome.
Copyright is retained by the author and MPI. Articles may be reproduced
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citing the MPI website address.
Media organisations (both for profit and non-profit) should contact the
Editor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> prior to any use of photos or articles
*******************************************************
Bob Burton,
PO Box 157
O'Connor ACT 2602
Australia
Ph/Fax 02 6247 4072
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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