Vale and BHP asked to pay off Samarco’s full $9.5bn debt

19 august | litigation

A bankruptcy court has reportedly received a request from Brazilian prosecutors to compel miners Vale and BHP Group to fully settle their $9.47bn debt related to the Samarco dam disaster.


According to a court document reviewed by Reuters, the prosecutors believe the two miners, who jointly own Brazilian miner Samarco Mineracao, are responsible for the 2015 Brazilian dam collapse.


The 2015 breach of the Fundão tailings dam at the Samarco-owned Germano mining complex killed 19 and resulted in widescale pollution of one of Brazil’s largest river basins.


Samarco was consequently burdened with borrowings of $10bn. According to the latest document, Vale and BHP are also mulling a restraining order that would oblige them to cover their debt. The prosecutors claim that bankrupt miner Samarco has been used by BHP and Vale to obtain immediate gains amid a price boom for iron ore.

16 august | workforce

Report: labour relations have become biggest material risk for miners


According to a new report by intelligence analysis firm Alva, labour relations are becoming the most prominent material risk for the metals and mining industry.


In its Q2 report, which investigated progress on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, Alva stated that “labour issues take the gloss off improved Q2 mining ESG performance”.


The report ranked companies’ performance based on information sourced from over 200 countries, categorised using the taxonomy of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, machine learning, and topic modelling, and contextualised with historical trend data.


According to the methodology, increased industrial action across the sector led labour relations to fall from third to eleventh in Alva’s materiality index. Despite only contributing <1% material impact last quarter, it fell to -11% in Q2 – the most negative issue and third most impactful material issue overall.

13 august | community

BHP Mitsui Coal signs native title agreement with Aboriginal group


BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) has signed a native title project agreement with Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation, representing the Barada Barna people, for South Walker Creek mine in Central Queensland.


The Barada Barna people are the native title holders of an approximately 3,000km² area in Central Queensland. The area includes the South Walker Creek Mine.


This agreement with BMC is expected to provide the Barada Barna with immediate and intergenerational benefits.


It will help provide financial support for community projects, enabling the Barada Barna people to live and work on-country.


The agreement also ensures financial security for socio-economic purposes and non-financial support through contracting, employment, education, business, and training opportunities.

13 august | coal

Coal demand in Asia surges despite IPCC report findings


The 2021 IPCC report offered stark warnings to the impact current energy practices have on the mitigation of temperature rise.


The IPCC report highlighted the prevalence of coal power stations as one of the major barriers to achieving warming below an acceptable level. Despite this, there has been a surge in coal demand within Asia. As of December 2020, more than 350 new coal-fired power plants were under construction across Asia, including 184 in China, 52 in India, 7 in South Korea, and 13 in Japan.


Reuters reported that a total of 80.32 million tons of all grades of coal was discharged at Asian ports in July, according to vessel tracking and port data from Refinitiv. This demonstrates the scale of the problem representing a month-on-month increase explaining the increase in coal prices over the past three months.


China has been leading this current surge for coal. As the worlds biggest producer, consumer and importer, China brought in a total of 30.18 million tonnes in July, a seven-month high, according to official data.

9 august | projects

Canada formally rejects proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project


The Canadian Government has formally blocked the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project in the province of Alberta, citing potential environmental impacts.


The decision was taken after assessing the independent panel’s report and other available information.


In a statement, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson noted that the project would impact surface water quality and threaten the habitat of local animal and plant species.


Wilkinson said: “The Government of Canada must make decisions based on the best available scientific evidence while balancing economic and environmental considerations.


“It is in Canada’s best interests to safeguard our water ways for healthy fish populations like the Westslope Cutthroat Trout, respect Indigenous peoples’ culture and way of life, and protect the environment for future generations.”

5 august | coal

BlackRock joins plans to close coal-fired power stations throughout Asia


Asset manager BlackRock has joined plans with other financial institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC Holdings, and the Asian Development Bank, to hasten the closure of coal-fired power stations throughout Asia. The plan aims to support the eventual phasing out of coal-powered stations.


The initiative has evolved due to investor pressure on commercial and development banks to cease the financing of new and existing power plants in order to meet key climate targets.


Donald Kanak, chairman of Prudential Insurance Growth Markets, who came up with the idea, told Reuters: “If you can come up with an orderly way to replace those plants sooner and retire them sooner, but not overnight, that opens up a more predictable, massively bigger space for renewables”.


BlackRock has placed sustainability as central to its agenda over the past five years, believing that sustainability will act as a new standard for investing. 

In brief

Andes Iron’s $2.5bn Dominga project in Chile secures regulatory approval


Andes Iron has reportedly secured the approval of a regional Chilean environmental commission for its $2.5bn Dominga copper-iron project.

China Molybdenum unveils $2.5bn investment plan for TFM in Congo


China Molybdenum is set to invest $2.5bn at the Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to a Reuters report, the investment is expected to double the production of copper and cobalt at TFM.

Barrick and stakeholders agree on ESIA oversight for Pueblo Viejo tailings


Canadian mining company Barrick and its key stakeholders have decided to have an independent, government-led oversight of the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) studies for a new tailings storage facility at the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic.

Rio Tinto and BHP join Komatsu’s alliance for zero-emission mining


Rio Tinto, BHP and other mining firms have partnered with manufacturing company Komatsu to develop zero-emission mining equipment and infrastructure.

ALROSA launches project to convert its vehicles to natural gas


Russian miner ALROSA has launched a project to convert its vehicles from gasoline and diesel to natural gas to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost economic efficiency.

5 august | sea mining

Northern Territory bans seabed mining on environmental concerns


Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) Government has banned seabed mining in its coastal waters due to concerns that it may adversely affect the environment and marine industries.


The ‘Declaration of Prohibited Action: Subsea Mining’ has been gazetted by Environment Minister Eva Lawler, marking the final step in formalising the subsea mining ban.


The decision by Lawler was informed by reports from the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority and Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority.


While elaborating the rationale, the NT Government said that its decision was based on the potential impacts of seabed mining on the environment, sacred sites and the existing marine resource-based industries, including fishing, aquaculture, pearling, and tourism.

2 august | workforce

Workers at the Escondida mine in Chile edge closer to strike action


Workers at the Escondida mine in Chile have rejected owner BHP Group’s final wage offer. The Escondida mine is the biggest copper-producing mine globally, with proven reserves of 34.7 million tonnes, of which 22.5 million tonnes is estimated to be recoverable, representing 5% of the world’s supply of the metal. The mine is of critical importance to Chile, with copper production accounting for 10%-15% of the country’s GDP.


The rejection of the wage offer has prompted BHP to request government-mediated talks as a last gasp effort to prevent strike action, which could paralyse the country’s copper industry. If confirmed, the talks are likely to last five to 10 days, and if no agreement is reached, the union would call a strike.


Union leaders announced that 99.5% of workers who had voted had rejected the final contract offer, indicating a wide gap between the workers and BHP. This is not the first time that the Escondida mine has been paralysed by strike action.

In brief

Andes Iron’s $2.5bn Dominga project in Chile secures regulatory approval


Andes Iron has reportedly secured the approval of a regional Chilean environmental commission for its $2.5bn Dominga copper-iron project.

China Molybdenum unveils $2.5bn investment plan for TFM in Congo


China Molybdenum is set to invest $2.5bn at the Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to a Reuters report, the investment is expected to double the production of copper and cobalt at TFM.

Barrick and stakeholders agree on ESIA oversight for Pueblo Viejo tailings


Canadian mining company Barrick and its key stakeholders have decided to have an independent, government-led oversight of the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) studies for a new tailings storage facility at the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic.

Rio Tinto and BHP join Komatsu’s alliance for zero-emission mining


Rio Tinto, BHP and other mining firms have partnered with manufacturing company Komatsu to develop zero-emission mining equipment and infrastructure.

ALROSA launches project to convert its vehicles to natural gas


Russian miner ALROSA has launched a project to convert its vehicles from gasoline and diesel to natural gas to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost economic efficiency.