February 9, 2010
Satellite map of Rio Tinto's planned Humboldt milling facility; Photo courtesy Google Maps
One day before a hearing on the company’s proposed 22-mile haul road, Rio Tinto is announcing it has obtained all state permits for its planned Humboldt milling facility.
At a December public hearing on the mill, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community geologist, Chuck Brumleve, noted that the DEQ’s approval of the Humboldt Project was opposed by both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Reading from an EPA statement, Brumleve reported that the agency is “concerned the currently proposed project may have significant adverse impacts on the ecosystem. We object to the issuance of a permit for this project.”
Brumleve said that the US Fish and Wildlife Service requested “that the MDEQ not issue a permit for the proposed work.” Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | 
Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Michigan, water pollution | Tagged: humboldt, Kennecott, Law, Michigan, Rio Tinto | 
Permalink
Posted by LSMN
February 2, 2010
After slashing more than 16,000 jobs, offering more shares to investors and selling a number of assets, Rio Tinto is doing really well, reports the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Guy Elliott, only two days after the company locked out over 500 workers at its Borax mine, in southern California.
Elliott told the London press that the company might soon expand spending on new projects and possibly start buying new projects.
“We are very happy with the progress of the recapitalization since June,” Elliott said. “We have lots of organic options and this gives us the flexibility to progress those if they require funding.”
Some are even speculating that Rio Tinto may soon have more cash than it can deal with. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Kennecott-Rio Tinto, economy, workers | Tagged: economy, Rio Tinto, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
February 1, 2010
The company reviled by mine workers around the world for its union-busting activities is at it again. On Sunday Rio Tinto locked out roughly 540 unionized workers at its huge Borax mine in Boron, California and replaced them with a non-unionized workforce. Members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 30 are now organizing to ensure that workers and their families will have enough food and other necessities while they are out of work.
“People here are tough and willing to see this through to the end,” union spokesman Craig Merrilees said. “It’s not just about Rio Tinto but all the companies doing this to people across the country. In this little town people are drawing the line.” Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Kennecott-Rio Tinto, economy, workers | Tagged: economy, Rio Tinto, workers | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
January 29, 2010
Cliffs Natural Resources is facing blockades at some of its chromium exploration sites in a region of northwestern Ontario known as “the Ring of Fire,” located 150 miles west of James Bay.
The area has seen an incredible surge in mine exploration activity, with 4,000 claims staked in the past two years, alone, as part of an effort by over 35 companies to get in on the action before Ontario modernizes its antiquated mining laws. Many of the claims are located on traditional native land, amid concerns that companies and the provincial government have not adequately consulted them, as required by law, before moving ahead with plans.
“Exploration on our traditional land is getting out of hand,” said Marten Falls First Nation Chief Elijah Moonias. “Mineral Exploration companies are not respecting our interests.” Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Canada, Cliffs Natural Resources, civil disobedience, indigenous | Tagged: Canada, cliffs, first nation, ontario | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
January 25, 2010
PolyMet plans to purchase this processing site; reportedly, Cliffs would maintain a roughly 7% stake in PolyMet's proposed NorthMet project
Three groups today announced their intent to file a lawsuit against Cliffs Erie, a subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources, for ongoing water pollution from previous taconite iron mining at three sites on Minnesota’s Iron Range. PolyMet Mining Co. plans to utilize two of the sites in order to dispose of wastes from its proposed metallic-sulfide NorthMet project. As part of a purchase agreement, Cliffs would maintain a roughly 7% stake in the project. The other Cliffs site, at the old Dunka Mine, is closer to Franconia Minerals and Duluth Metals’ proposed sulfide projects.
A news release issued by the Center for Biological Diversity noted that, “according to Cliffs Erie’s own monitoring reports, there are numerous ongoing violations of water-quality laws relating to management of the former LTV tailings basin. PolyMet’s proposal for its copper-nickel mine is to pile its own tailings waste on top of those from a former taconite mine that are still polluting.” Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Cliffs Natural Resources, Duluth Metals, Law, Minnesota, PolyMet, water pollution | Tagged: cliffs, Duluth Metals, Law, Minnesota, PolyMet, water pollution | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
January 15, 2010
Dept. rules that sacred rock is ‘not a place of worship’
by Eartha Melzer, Michigan Messenger
A member of the Summer Cloud drumming group performs during a 2008 ceremony at Eagle Rock
Two days before the DEQ ceases to exist and a week after its director stepped down, DEQ moved to wrap up a long standing fight over permits for a planned nickel sulfide mine by concluding that only buildings may be considered “places of worship.”
A rock that is sacred to Anishnabe people need not be considered when issuing a mining permit because state law only recognizes buildings as places of worship, the Department of Environmental Quality announced Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, indigenous, public land | Tagged: deq, Eagle Mine, Kennecott, Law, Michigan, native american, public land, Rio Tinto, yellow dog plains | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
January 14, 2010
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced today that it is giving final approval of Rio Tinto’s proposed Eagle Mine project, located on public land in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The decision comes during a time of transition for the agency. Steven Chester resigned from his post as head of the DEQ three week’s ago and was temporarily replaced by Deputy Director Jim Sygo. Today’s news release issued by the DEQ does not indicate who, at the agency, made today’s decision.
According to DEQ press secretary, Bob McCann, Jim Sygo “delegated” decision-making authority to Frank Ruswick, DEQ Senior Policy Advisor, who ”conducted the review of the case and made the decision to sign the final order.”
The DEQ had earlier approved Rio Tinto’s mining application in December 2007. The decision was appealed in a lengthy contested case hearing.
In an August 2009 recommendation, Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson stated that Rio Tinto and the MDEQ “did not properly address the impact on the sacred rock outcrop known as Eagle Rock” and suggested moving the mine’s entry portal away from the rock. During the contested case , DEQ lawyers argued that Eagle Rock is not a place of worship because it is not a constructed building, such as a Christian church or a mosque.
In November, then DEQ Director Steven Chester requested that Judge Patterson clarify his position on the one stipulation that wasn’t fully in Rio Tinto’s favor.
Today’s DEQ decision affirms the agency’s opinion that Eagle Rock is not a legitimate place of worship, as defined under Michigan mining law, and that the religious rights of area Native Americans are irrelevant in the Eagle Mine case. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, public land | Tagged: Eagle Mine, Kennecott, Law, Michigan, public land, Rio Tinto | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
January 12, 2010
While not the vindication Kennecott wanted, a company-funded report released on the danger of Kennecott’s massive 5,700 acre tailings impoundment, north of Magna, Utah, says the tailings dam may fail, but will not destroy residential areas, as originally thought.
In October, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that the tailings dam could fail in a major earthquake and move across State Road 201 – like a “violent and intense” flash flood - reaching more than twice the distance Kennecott predicted.
“Really, the public-safety concern is the highway,” said Troy Meyer, lead engineer for Colorado-based Tetra Tech, the engineering firm conducting the safety evaluation.
According to Tetra Tech, Kennecott’s tailings impoundment is still far from meeting Utah’s minimum safety standards and the company’s goal of meeting those requirements in 2018 is likely optimistic.
In March 2008, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Kennecott Utah Copper had concealed, since 1988, the potential for a major earthquake-caused tailings disaster in Magna. In 1992, the company conducted a “risk assessment” to determine if full containment of the impoundment would be more expensive than legal costs associated with property damage and citizen deaths. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Prime Meridian, copper | Tagged: copper, Kennecott, Prime Meridian, Rio Tinto | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
January 11, 2010
Does nickel have a continued bleak future? Many miners and analysts seem to think so, while Rio Tinto still clings to its hopes to open a controversial massive nickel laterite deposit in Sulawasi, Indonesia and apparantly hasn’t yet given up hope on its nickel projects in Minnesota and Michigan.
The world’s largest miner, BHP-Billiton, may soon be leaving the nickel business in disgust after having to close, cancel and scale back a number of major nickel projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Michigan, Minnesota, nickel | Tagged: Asia, Australia, BHP-Billiton, nickel | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
December 17, 2009
Resolution Explores for Copper Outside Superior, Arizona; Photo courtesy Flickr
Rio Tinto, a company that has made its name exploiting public and indigenous mineral wealth for decades, is set to make off with an astounding $140 billion in publicly-held mineral rights, in Arizona, for what is expected to be North America’s largest copper mine.
On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a land swap allowing Resolution Copper Mining (a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP-Billiton) access to 2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest. The area contains sites sacred to local Native American tribes and was previously protected from mining activities by the Eisenhower administration.
According to the Arizona Republic, in a deal reached between the Obama administration, Senate Democrats and Arizona Senator John McCain, the only thing standing in Resolution’s way is a federal environmental review that must be completed prior to the land deal.
An opponent of the deal, US Representative Raúl Grijalva has concerns with Rio Tinto’s human rights record and urges a full investigation before a land swap is considered. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Kennecott-Rio Tinto, copper, economy, human rights, indigenous, public land | Tagged: copper, economy, human rights, native american, public land, Rio Tinto | Permalink
Posted by LSMN
LSMN
teresabertossi
doncorvette
