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Post by wanyee on Jan 15, 2007 9:30:58 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Jan 16, 2007 21:51:06 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Jan 16, 2007 21:53:25 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Jan 18, 2007 8:56:23 GMT 3
We'll get to that EIA yet... --- Meanwhile: MULRONEY MINES OPTIONS Jan. 3 was a big payday for former prime minister Brian Mulroney. According to insider trading filings, he cashed in a chunk of his Barrick Gold options and earned more than $1.7-million on that day. Mr. Mulroney exercised options on 150,000 Barrick shares priced at $23.60 each and the same day sold them for $35.28 apiece, for a profit of $1.75-million. He still holds 200,000 options that were granted in 2000, and a further 200,000 options that were granted in 2004. And according to company and regulatory filings, Mr. Mulroney owns a grand total of 1,000 actual Barrick shares, worth $34,130 at yesterday's closing price. The ex-PM has been a Barrick director since 1993. The gold company, headed by his friend Peter Munk, hasn't granted stock options to its independent directors since 2003. But Mr. Mulroney is considered a company insider and non-independent director. He's employed as the "chairman of Barrick's international advisory board." He is paid an annual salary, bonus and other compensation. How much? Barrick won't say, claiming it doesn't disclose the amount because Mr. Mulroney's earnings are not among the top five at the Toronto-based miner. Mr. Mulroney's job description is to act "as an ambassador and business and policy adviser," according to the gold producer's management proxy circular. Specifically, he is charged with "advancing Barrick's interests in various areas, including North America, South America, Africa, Asia and the former Soviet Union." Company spokesman Vince Borg says "he's been a very valuable member of our management team." Mr. Mulroney isn't done reaping the rewards of his close association with Barrick, either. Look for the savvy former politician to bulk up his stockholdings this year. He has until Jan. 1, 2008, to increase his ownership stake in Barrick shares to a value of "at least $200,000," to comply with Barrick's director share-ownership guidelines. --- Some 411 on Bw. Mulroney, Barrick Gold, and our neighbour Tanzania: Robbing the Poor to Give to the Rich Human Rights Abuses and Impoverishment at the MIGA-Backed Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, Tanzania www.leat.or.tz/activities/buly/eir.submission/New evidence links Canada to death of Tanzanian miners www.canadians.org/media/other/2001/27-Sept-01.htmlwww.leat.or.tz/activities/buly/
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Post by wanyee on Jan 22, 2007 23:57:24 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Jan 27, 2007 21:52:13 GMT 3
This is what the neocolonialists do, when things stand in their way. It is a matter of life and death for them, so they will stop at nothing. My fellow Kenyans, are we waiting for such things to start happening in our country, before we do what should have been done a long time ago? When are we going to realize that these people are our "open enemies"? Today they are smiling with us, but if we refuse to submit tomorrow, we will find out what they are really all about. This could very easily be happening in Kwale, very soon... --- 48 Arrested In Violent Removal of Pascua Lama Blockade Chile, Thursday 25, January 2007 More than 80 people peacefully closed the intersection of the roads to Chollay and Conay, in the community of Alto del Carmen, beginning the night of Monday, January 22. The objective of the action was to prevent the entrance of trucks and vehicles of the mining companies that operate there, specially of Barrick Gold "Responsible Mining" for the Pascua Lama project. The blockade turned back all mining vehicles since this region does not have roads that are adequate for heavy machinery - a situation noted by the Chilean Environmental Commission (CONAMA), which prohibited this type of transport but does not enforce the prohibition. While this action was undertaken in completely peaceful form, when military police special forces arrived from Vallenar at 11am on January 25 to remove the blockaders, it was in a violent manner, with blows and struggles. 48 people were arrested, including Chilean, Spanish, French and Argentinean citizens. Some were handcuffed (among them Councilman Luis Faura) leaving behind only old people and children from the area. The prisoners were transferred to Vallenar in 4 light trucks, 1 van, a military police bus, and a commercial bus. They were taken to the hospital to document their injuries at the hands of the police and then to the Third Commisariat of Vallenar. They are due to appear at a show cause hearing where the judge will let them know the charges they were detained for. The organizations have declared that these actions will be continued in the future, as long as the Huasco Valley is threatened by mining. Contact (Spanish only): Navarrese Iván, Movement Anti Pascua Lama, 011 (56-9) 998-6697 For more information (Spanish only): Lucio Cuenca, OLCA Tel: 011 (56-2) 274-5713 www.olca.cl/oca/--- Road occupied in Huasco Valley to protest mining project Pascua Lama By Maria Jose Martinez Communications, Citizens Anti Pascua Lama Movement Chile, January 23, 2007 Neighbors, residents and environmentalists resisting the Pascua Lama mining project occupied the crossroads between Conay and Chollay beginning January 22, 2007. This is the first of many actions and initiatives within the "Call to Water" events this past weekend in Conay. This action was carried out to create a permanent alert calling attention to the seven mining projects which the State has given concessions to in the area, and specifically to show rejection of the binational Pascua Lama mining project. In addition this nonviolent blockade of the road shows opposition to the lack of information shared with residents regarding these issues. These actions are essential because personnel of Barrick Gold continue to have free access throughout the area of operations despite the fact that their works should be paralyzed due to the ongoing legal challenges. The community has made a call for the defence of land, water and life. News Release - Famatina Self-Organized Neighbors in Defence of Life - Coordination of Citizens Assemblies for Life - Self-Organized Neighbors of Chañarmuyo - Self-Organized Neighbors of Pituil - Self-Organized Neighbors of Los Sauces --- Highway Blockade in La Rioja, Argentina - Out With Barrick Gold La Rioja, January 19, 2007 The Famatina Self-Organized Neighbors in Defence of Life, the Coordination of Citizens Assemblies for Life, Self-Organized Neighbors of Chañarmuyo, Self-Organized Neighbors of Pituil, and the Self-Organized Neighbors of Los Sauces, meeting in assembly on Friday, January 19, 2007, at 8pm, announce that: That in the face of the indifference demonstrated by our elected representatives on many occasions, when presented with our proposed law which would prohibit open-pit mining with the use of cyanide and other toxic substances and the indiscriminate use of our water resources, We Resolve: To carry out a blockade of the National Route #38 at the locality of Patquia in the department of Independencia, 70km from the Provincial capital of La Rioja, on January 29 of this year beginning at 8:00am. Towards this end, we invite all to accompany and join with us, so that together we can demonstrate in defence of our lives, the lives of our future generations and our natural resources. Barrick Gold Out of Famatina, San Juan, Chile and Peru! Out with sold-out politicians and those who would sell our lands and heritage! FAMATINA WILL NOT BE TOUCHED! ARGENTINA, HELP YOUR PEOPLES! --- Meanwhile, these other neocolonialists have already started peddling with our heritage: Fri Jan 26, 2007 Development of the Kwale Mineral Sands Project Moving Ahead: Tiomin Enters into Letter of Intent to Option 50% of Kenya Projects Toronto, Canada. January 26, 2007. Tiomin Resources Inc. ("Tiomin" or the "Company") (TSX: TIO) announces that it has entered into a letter of intent with ATW Venture Corp. ("ATW") providing for the grant to ATW of an option (the "Kenya Option") to acquire up to a 50% interest in Tiomin's Kenyan mineral sands projects (the "Kenya Projects"), including the Kwale project, for US$35 million. In addition, ATW has an option (the "Tanzania Option") to acquire a 50% interest in Tiomin's Tanzanian exploration projects for US$3 million... www.tiomin.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=168348&_Type=News-Releases&_Title=Development-of-the-Kwale-Mineral-Sands-Project-Moving-Ahead-Tiomin-Enters-i... --- Remember that this is being facilitated by President Kibaki, Mr. Raila Odinga, Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka etc. That is why the changes that they are proposing cannot suffice. The only reason why they are "safe" is because the people have not been educated. But by the grace of God, they will soon be, and then we shall see where the hyenas will hide! We humans can be like beasts at times. We can adore you, and the next moment, we are baying for your blood. During the Haitian revolution, the masses were like armies of giant ants, pulling apart the homes of the elite with their bare hands... What goes around does come around, and truly, there is nothing new under the sun. There is NOTHING more powerful that truth, and the truth alone shall set us free. These people better wake up before we do. This is what it all boils down to: “A Pink Cheek man came one day to our Council. He sat in our midst and he told us of the king of the Pink Cheek, who was a great king and lived in a land over the seas. “This great king is now your king,” he said, “and this land is all his land, though he has said you may live on it”. This was strange news. For this land was ours. We had no king, we elected our own Councils, and they made our laws. With patience, our leading elders tried to tell this to the Pink Cheek, and he listened. But at the end he said, “This we know, but in spite of this, what I have told you is fact…In the town called Nairobi is a Council or government that acts for the king. And his laws are your laws” [Chief Kabongo of the Kikuyu recalling his first visitor from the British administration, in Kenya: Promised Land? – Oxfam GB (Oxford), 1998]. --- Wengine wetu hawajasahau bado. Juzi juzi tu... Fate of Titanium Mining Awaits Kenya Polls www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2002/2002-12-19-03.aspHawa watu wametuuza na hamna yeyote baina yao anayestahili kupewa kura. Ndio maana hizo story za katiba kubadilishwa nusu nusu haziingiani. Hawa wasee wanatucheza karata, wakisema sisi sote ni wapumbavu kweli. Sasa wanataka tuwapigie kura, halafu waendelee kutuenjoy?
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Post by wanyee on Jan 29, 2007 19:48:23 GMT 3
Tiomin deals half of Kwale 1/26/2007 Facing difficulties with meeting lenders' conditions at its Kwale mineral sands project in southeastern Kenya, Tiomin Resources (TIO-T) has dealt an option to ATW Venture (ATW-V) to earn 50% in the property. ATW pays US$35 million for the option, a cash infusion that will allow Tiomin to keep work going until it can resolve outstanding issues like a withholding tax agreement and a final mineral lease. Once those issues are resolved with the government, the company can draw down a US$155-million financing package from its lenders. Tiomin says the revised capital cost estimate for the project is US$229 million, US$16 million higher than the previous estimate. ATW must show up with US$2.5 million in cash by month-end and US$4.5 million by the end of February, which will give it a 10% interest in the project. It must deliver the remaining US$28 million by April 3 to gain another 40%. A kicker to the deal gives ATW the option to acquire a half interest in Tiomin's Tanzanian exploration projects for US$3 million, an option it must exercise before the end of January. www.northernminer.com/article.asp?id=64750&issue=01262007&ref=rssATW Ventures Corp - www.atwventure.com/
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Post by wanyee on Feb 1, 2007 9:06:12 GMT 3
Africa set to strip Western giants of mining rights Nick Mathiason The Observer; Sunday, January 28, 2007 - Business & Media business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2000151,00.html African governments are gearing up to seize back valuable mining concessions from the global extractive giants. Angry that at missing out on the unprecedented commodity boom, Tanzania is preparing to renegotiate gold mining concessions. The news will send a shiver down the collective spine of some of the world's biggest mining companies, whose profits and share prices have surged in the past five years. The warning comes from Dr Yash Tandon, executive director of the South Centre, the inter-governmental body representing 49 developing countries. Asked if African governments would follow the lead of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and appropriate valuable commodity assets, Tandon said: 'It's a matter of time...within the next five years or even earlier. 'To some extent, African countries have been a victim of the myth that, if they don't open up their markets to investment, it won't come. They have been competing to give concessions to mining firms and banks. I don't believe the Tanzanians get more than 5 per cent of gold. The rest is externalised.' In an interview with The Observer at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Tandon criticised the Make Poverty History campaign as little more than a 'PR exercise', saying: 'Gleneagles [the G8 summit] wrote off $40bn. At the time, debt was about $400bn for poor countries. You still have $350bn debt. Just the interest rate alone by now has brought that back to $400bn - so on debt relief it hasn't made much difference, because the underlying structure that creates debt is not settled, resolved or even addressed. 'If this becomes the last step, they will have indulged themselves in some kind of public relations exercise which gives the impression they've done their job.' He is advocating a debt audit to determine whether poor countries' debt relief had a 'meaningful impact', or whether money has been recycled. He suspects that lucrative infrastructure contracts have been linked to debt relief. Despite Tony Blair's optimism, Tandon believes WTO trade talks are 'more or less doomed'. He says EU pressure to seal an economic partnership agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific nations by the year's end is 'unrealistic and unfair' because the original intention was to wait until two years after the conclusion of a WTO trade deal. --- Putin signals end to foreign ownership of Russian energy Subcontracting OK; Gazprom to take project from Shell By Carl Mortished The Times, London Foreign energy companies will be welcome in future as subcontractors, but not as owners in Russia’s energy industry, the Kremlin signaled yesterday as Gazprom moved closer toward wresting control of Sakhalin-2, the giant Siberian gas project, from Royal Dutch Shell. The Russian gas giant confirmed that Shell had made a new proposal in negotiations over Gazprom’s participation in Sakhalin Energy, the company building a $20-billion liquefied natural gas scheme in Eastern Siberia. The project has been beset by claims and threats of prosecution from Rosprirodnadzor, the Russian environmental control agency, a campaign that is seen by Moscow energy analysts as calculated to weaken Shell’s negotiating position. Sources within Moscow suggest that Gazprom will acquire 50 per cent plus one share of the Sakhalin Energy company, reducing Shell’s stake to 25 per cent from 55 per cent. Mitsui and Mitsubishi, the current minority investors, would see their stakes reduced further. Mounting pressure on Shell to cede control of Sakhalin Energy to Gazprom has coincided with nationalist sentiment. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladmir, said yesterday the environment had changed and Russian firms no longer needed foreign help. “Our companies have the opportunity to be owners by themselves, to attract finance and certain technologies. This changes the conditions for foreign investors. They won’t be so much owners, they will have opportunities as contractors and subcontractors,” Mr. Peskov said. “We understand that it is better to have a direct share, but you have to understand these are Russian resources. No country in the world would want to give up its natural resources to foreigners.” Existing agreements would be respected, he said, but he suggested that the contracts granting major concessions to companies, such as Shell, were a legacy of a past era. “In the 1990’s, our country was in a poor economic state, we couldn’t develop energy by ourselves. We had to attract investors with extremely favourable conditions. Now the situation has changed drastically,” Mr. Peskov said. Shell confirmed yesterday that its chief executive, Jereon van der Veer, had a meeting last week with Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive, at which “Sakhalin-related issues were discussed.” The meeting, which was attended by Viktor Khristenko, Russia’s energy minister, was described by a Shell spokesman as “positive”. In Moscow, Gazprom said Shell’s proposals were being analysed. “A decision will be taken in view of the existing problems at the Sakhalin-2 project, including ecological,” the Gazprom spokesman said. Shell’s relationship with the Kremlin has been chilly since it signed a draft asset swap agreement with Gazprom last year, under which the Russian utility was to acquire a quarter of Sakhalin Energy in exchange for half of Zapolyarnoye, a large Western Siberian gasfield. A week after the agreement, Shell disclosed that Sakhalin’s costs had doubled to $20 billion.
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Post by wanyee on Feb 2, 2007 9:59:06 GMT 3
www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/africa/2005/1027disposs.htm--- World Bank faces questions over "opaque mining deals" in Congo By Jon Nones 17 Nov 2006 at 02:15 PM The World Bank is facing awkward questions about its role in oversight of opaque mining deals and the mishandling of millions of dollars of reconstruction funds at a critical moment in Congo's transition to democracy. In a confidential memo leaked to the Financial Times, the bank said it ran the risk of "perceived complicity and/or tacit approval" of mining deals signed with a "complete lack of transparency" by Congo's government last year.
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Post by wanyee on Feb 3, 2007 2:10:33 GMT 3
Thu Feb 1, 2007 Tiomin Agrees to Extend Deadline for ATW 1st Payment to February 2, 2007 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Toronto, Canada. February 1, 2007. Tiomin Resources Inc. ("Tiomin" or the "Company") (TSX: TIO) announces that it is continuing to negotiate and finalize the formal agreement with ATW Venture Corp. ("ATW") providing for the transaction announced on January 26, 2007. Tiomin and ATW have agreed to extend the deadline for execution of a formal agreement and for ATW to make the initial US$2.5 million payment to Tiomin from January 31 to February 2, 2007. On January 26, 2007, Tiomin entered into a letter of intent with ATW providing for the grant to ATW of an option to acquire up to a 50% interest in Tiomin's Kenyan mineral sands projects (the "Kenya Projects"), including the Kwale project, for US$35 million. In addition, the letter of intent provides for ATW to have an option to acquire a 50% interest in Tiomin's Tanzanian exploration projects for US$3 million. The letter of intent provides that ATW has the option to acquire a 10% interest in the Kenya Projects by paying US$2.5 million on or before January 31, 2007 (now February 2, 2007), and an additional US$4.5 million (for a total of US$7 million) on or before February 28, 2007. ATW would have the further option to increase its interest in the Kenya Projects to 50% by paying an additional US$28.0 million on or before April 3, 2007. --- ATW Venture Terminates Agreement with Tiomin for the Kenyan Projects TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (CCNMatthews - Feb. 2, 2007) Tiomin Resources Inc. ("Tiomin" or the "Company") (TSX:TIO) announces it has been notified by ATW Venture Corporation ("ATW") that ATW will not execute the formal agreement to acquire an option to purchase up to a 50% interest in Tiomin's Kenyan mineral sand projects. Tiomin believes in the unrecognized value of the Kwale project and will continue to review its strategic options regarding the potential future development of the project. Certain of the information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those respect to the prices of rutile, zircon, ilmenite, estimated future production, estimated costs of future production and the Company's sales policy, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any forecast results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the actual prices of rutile, zircon and ilmenite, the actual results of current exploration, development and mining activities, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the Ontario Securities Commission. ATW Ventures Corp - www.atwventure.com/
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Post by wanyee on Feb 7, 2007 7:34:24 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Feb 9, 2007 1:07:23 GMT 3
The Northern Miner, Monday, February 05, 2007 Mining in Africa Tiomin thinking further about Kwale Cost Review Expected by Late January Faced with delays that may prevent it from meeting financing conditions, Tiomin Resources (TIO-T, TMIRF-O) is "reviewing options" for the development of the Kwale mineral sands project on the east coast of Kenya. Delays in administrative requirements and a last-ditch attempt by seven local landholders to stop a government-authorized expropriation set Kwale's schedule too far behind to meet a February deadline to begin drawing down the debt financing for the project. Some of the administrative items have been completed, and the court action by the landholders was dismissed, but a withholding tax agreement with the government and a final mineral lease, modified to include all land needed for the project, are still under negotiation. The delays have coincided with a decline in the value of the United States and Canadian dollars against a number of other currencies, which has affected the project cost. Tiomin has sought a review of the budget and schedule from its principal project contractor, Ausenco, and expects to have it shortly. www.northernminer.com/issues/ISarticle.asp?id=183106&story_id=197805111911&issue=02052007
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Post by wanyee on Feb 10, 2007 1:56:47 GMT 3
Tiomin Halts the Development of the Kwale Mineral Sands Project, Kenya TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Feb. 9, 2007) Tiomin Resources Inc. ("Tiomin" or the "Company") (TSX:TIO) reports that the development of the Kwale mineral sands project (the "Project") is halted, with the Company remaining in Force Majeure with the Government of Kenya. Delays and rising costs have caused the Project's lenders to withdraw the US$155 million debt facility that was in place for the Project. Tiomin anticipates completing the resettlement of the farmers displaced by the Project by the end of the first quarter. The Company will work towards the evaluation of substantial technical and contractual cost saving measures to improve the economics of the Kwale Project. The Project development is expected to be on hold for a minimum of seven months but Tiomin expects that strong product prices (for zircon and rutile) and reduced capital spending will revive lender interest at the appropriate time. Certain of the information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those respect to the prices of rutile, zircon, ilmenite, estimated future production, estimated costs of future production and the Company's sales policy, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any forecast results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the actual prices of rutile, zircon and ilmenite, the actual results of current exploration, development and mining activities, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the Ontario Securities Commission. CONTACT INFORMATION Tiomin Resources Inc. Jean Charles Potvin CEO (416) 350-3779, ext. 227 or Tiomin Resources Inc. Robert Jackson President (416) 350-3779, ext. 230 or Tiomin Resources Inc. Laurie Gaborit Investor Relations (416) 350-3779, ext. 222 Email: lgaborit@tiomin.com Website: www.tiomin.com
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Post by wanyee on Feb 15, 2007 9:39:20 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Feb 17, 2007 8:25:30 GMT 3
"As long as day-to-day management remains the prerogative of the mining companies, much of the investable surplus needed in Africa for development continues to leave the continent. In the company accounts this surplus sometimes appears as profits, but often it is disguised as inflated ‘head office charges’, ‘management and consultancy fees’, ‘machinery costs’, ‘shipping and handling charges’, and ‘marketing commission’. The paramount concern of the mining companies is to ensure the continuing flow of minerals and profits from Africa. The developmental needs of Africa are likely to be a long way down any company’s list of priorities” [Lanning G. and Mueller M, 1979; Africa Undermined: A History Of The Mining Companies And The Underdevelopment Of Africa, Penguin Books Ltd (Harmondsworth, England)].
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Post by wanyee on Feb 20, 2007 7:00:39 GMT 3
These people have a lot of nerve. To add insult to injury...
NEWS Tiomin wants Sh200m suit cost from farmers
Story by NATION Correspondent Publication Date: 2/14/2007
Litigation can be costly.
This is the lesson for eight Kwale farmers, who went to court last year challenging the Government’s move to acquire their land for titanium mining.
Tiomin Kenya Limited, a party to the suit, has requested the High Court to order the farmers to pay it Sh200 million as the cost of litigation.
The company wants the payment after the eight farmers lost in their bid last December to stop the Canadian firm from extracting the mineral.
In a suit before Mr Justice Joseph Nyamu yesterday, Tiomin Kenya Limited is demanding the amount on grounds that orders issued against it last November affected its operation. The orders for injunction were later quashed.
Last December, after a full hearing, Mr Justice Nyamu dismissed the suit filed by the farmers and ordered them to pay cost to Tiomin Kenya Limited and other respondents. On the cost of litigation, the Canadian firm argues that orders barring mining that were later lifted, resulted in losses.
At the time the injunction was issued, the firm had moved heavy machinery in Maumba and Nguluku in readiness for the first phase of mining.
Tiomin Kenya says the eight farmers, led by Mr Rodgers Muema Nzioka, had filed the suit with a view to killing the multi-billion-shilling project.
Entitled to pay
However, through lawyer Gibson Kamau Kuria, the farmers have raised a preliminary objection arguing that they were not entitled to pay Tiomin Kenya Limited any amount. They argued further that no certificate of cost had been issued so far by the court.
However, Tiomin Kenya’s ability to get this amount appears remote, considering that the only asset the farmers had was their land, which is valued at Sh20 million.
Further, the farmers claim the cost demanded by Tiomin Kenya was likely to contravene their fundamental rights.
Mr Justice Nyamu adjourned that case to allow the parties to research on the issue. The case will be mention in 21 days time.
Last December, Justice Nyamu ruled that the Government was justified in forcibly taking over land to allow for titanium mining.
---
BUSINESS Tiomin to build power plant in Kwale
Story by NATION Correspondent Publication Date: 2/15/2007
Mining firm Tiomin Kenya Limited will build a power plant of 16 megawatts (MW) in Kwale district subject to grant of a licence by Electricity Regulatory Board (ERB).
Tiomin’s general manager, Joe Schwarz, said the power plant will be located 18 kilometres (km) south of Ukunda along the A14 road on Likoni-Lunga Lunga highway and 8 kilometres inland.
He said in a Kenya Gazette Notice No.1176 that Tiomin will on March 12, 2007 submit to the Electricity Regulatory Board (ERB) an application for a power generating licence for electricity to be used in mining project.
Copies of the draft licence to be applied for by Tiomin and other details required can be inspected by members of the public at ERB’s offices along Valley Road in Nairobi
The 16 MW power plant is expected to operate at 12 MW as demand for electricity will average 10 MW, and will be built and operated according to World Bank guidelines.
Any public or local authority, company, person or group wishing to make any representations on the application for the grant of the licence must write to the Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi within 60 days. A copy of the representation marked “Electric Power Act” must also to be forwarded to Tiomin Kenya before the expiry of 60 days from January 29.
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Post by wanyee on Mar 2, 2007 7:40:34 GMT 3
While we're waiting for the verdict regarding Tiomin... --- Sea of mixed fortunes The Kenya Times www.timesnews.co.ke/25jan07/magazine/magazine1.html --- Salt firms abuse rights, says report The Standard www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143965148 --- Human rights body to probe salt firms www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=23873&date=28/6/2005 --- Families Displaced in Salt Rush Daily Nation, 12 August 2005 Charles Njoroge Salt processing companies have been blamed for the displacement of about 600 families in a Malindi District village. The Ngomeni Village peasants say the companies are the cause of heavy soil erosion that has also not spared a tourist hotel, a Kenya Navy camp and the department of fisheries buildings, which were at one time more than 100 metres from the shoreline… --- Salt Firm Ordered to Open Road to Tourist Resort Daily Nation February 14, 2007 By Nation Correspondent, Nairobi A salt manufacturing company has been ordered to open an access road to the tourist haven of Robinson Island near Malindi Town. The only access road to the exclusive beach passes through the company's private land. Its closure has rendered the resort inaccessible to tourists and the local community, a Lands ministry official said. Touring the area In his report after touring the area, the secretary of the Malindi district planning liaison committee, which is a department of the Ministry of Lands and Settlement, Mr Swallah Fred, says the salt firm violated environmental regulations. The office of the district commissioner wrote to the the salt firm through the Malindi county council and ordered it to open the road, arguing that its blockage violated human rights. The Constitution "The access roads must be opened as the residents of Robinson Island demand their right of access road from you as enshrined in the Constitution," says a letter from the DC's office.
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Post by wanyee on Mar 5, 2007 19:02:14 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Mar 8, 2007 8:16:35 GMT 3
P U B L I C D E C L A R A T I O N THE MINING INDUSTRY’S TRACK RECORD ON THE ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: A SOMBRE ASSESSMENT AND A RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE ON This March, the City of Toronto hosts the "International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange - Mining Investment Show", sponsored by Barrick Gold Corporation. The convention brings together mining industry representatives from around the world. This event gives us the opportunity to express our deep concerns and to denounce the critical situation regarding increasing exploitation of natural resources, particularly mineral resources. Today’s unfettered economic growth, with its emphasis on profits, power and wealth, runs roughshod over any concerns for the human, social and environmental effects of unregulated exploitation of resources. This trend is devastating for the environment and for communities. Ecosystems are disrupted. Soils contaminated. Air and water pollution increases. The food chain is disturbed. These often irreversible impacts are a direct result of the industrial extractive activities of the gas, petroleum and mining sectors. The recent GIEC report about climate change clearly outlines these impacts. There are also profound human consequences faced by communities, especially indigenous ones, which inhabit the regions where resource exploitation takes place. The expansion of multinational extractive enterprises, including mining firms, particularly in Third world nations, appear like a new form of colonialism that succeeds by virtue of the use of economic might. These enterprises strip the earth of its natural wealth through full-blown devastation of vast portions of land. Often they set up shop through million-dollar lobby campaigns that provide them with access to the corridors of power of the local political and economic elite, combining seductive promises of profits, the purchasing of "gifts", and the use of fear-mongering, threats and aggressive business tactics, sometimes even repressive actions. These practices constitute a fundamental violation of human rights. A marked increase in violence occurs as mining companies push to expand their operations, including the use of repressive forces within communities as well as generalized militarization in and around the sites. Testimonies of such realities are turning up from all over the world. For example, nickel extraction in Sorowako (Indonesia) by the Canadian firm Inco completely disrupted the Karonsi'e Dongi indigenous community life: the people were forcibly displaced with the complicity of local authorities and the police. Traditional indigenous lands were taken over by the company, part of which was turned into a golf course and Inco constructed buildings on an indigenous graveyard. By taking advantage of local social conflicts, this firm was also able to take control of the territory of other communities in central Sulawesi. In 1999, the United Nations Truth Commission linked Inco to both human rights violations and murders in Guatemala. In San Marcos, one of the poorest regions of this nation, Glamis Gold Ltd. (now Goldcorp Inc.) has created a hostile climate filled with threats and intimidation. It continues to operate the Marlin mining project in spite of almost unanimous opposition from the local population (popular consultation of Sipacapa). The case of the Pascua Lama mining project by the Canadian multinational, Barrick Gold Corporation, at the Chilean-Argentine border further illustrates the potential for unforeseen negative consequences. Situated at the heart of the Andean Cordillera, the Pascua Lama project endangers the entire watershed ecosystem of the Huasco valley, directly affecting the essential water resources within this semi-desert region: the glaciers. Not only does the project diminish the region's already retreating glacial water sources, it will affect the quality of the water available by polluting it with the use of toxic products such as cyanide (already denounced in Berlin Declaration, 2000) and some heavy metals. The amount of water available will also be affected: mining operations needs enormous quantities of water (about 360 L per second). With this project, Barrick Gold has violated the territorial and ancestral rights of the Diaguita indigenous peoples who inhabit the territory of the mine. The firm's efforts to begin mining in a territorial area that is already in dispute has disrupted life in the region, where agriculture is the main economic activity, as well as violating the right of the population to self-determination, that is, the right to choose their own form of development. The extracting industries make enormous profits, among others, because of very low royalties and the often difficult social, economic and political conditions in the countries where they set up business. The traces and repercussions of mining enterprises are not part of community development, collective prosperity, security, well-being nor quality of life, as their official statements would have us believe. On the contrary, their activities mean social, environmental, cultural and human devastation. In the current state of the world in which neo-liberal ideology dominates, foreign investment is naturally given priority above all other consideration. Given this reality, Canada must assume a major responsibility for its firms: a total of 60% of the international mining companies are Canadian. Voluntary measures that encourage them to respect the environment that are currently being adopted are clearly insufficient and despite this the Canadian government is considering them as potential means of regulating enterprises. Firm regulation and a rigorous system of control are vital. Media campaigns that portray mining multinationals as "responsible enterprises," and in the case of Barrick as a "community mining enterprise", are a far reach from the painful reality of their humans rights violations (environmental, social, indigenous) that occur alongside mining development projects around the world. In order to improve this situation, we demand the following: -1. The adoption of clear, urgent and effective measures that ensure the respect of the environment and of communities; -1. The respect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a sine qua non requirement that should be integrated into the extractive projects of the mining industry. March 2, 2007, Montreal Groupe Non à Pascua Lama-Montréal (Canada) L’Entraide Missionnaire (Canada) Chaire de recherche du Canada en éducation relative à l’environnement, Université du Québec à Montréal Social Justice Committee (Canada) Comité chilien pour les droits humains, Montreal (Canada) Association Culturelle Araucaria (Canada) Association québécoise d'organismes de coopération internationale – AQOCI (Canada) Chilean Canadian Community Association of Calgary Club du Fric Éthique (Canada) Coalition Romero, Montreal (Canada) Comité de apoyo al pueblo mapuche, Montreal (Canada) Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine – CDHAL, Montreal (Canada) Comunidad Eclesial de Base "Mártires de El Salvador" - CEBES, Montreal (Canada) Grupo de apoyo a FUNDELIDDI – Montreal (Canada) MiningWatch Canada Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala (Canada) Proyecto Cultural Sur (Canada) Solidarité Laurentides Amérique centrale-SLAM, Saint-Jérôme (Canada) Observatorio latinoamericano de conflictos ambientales – OLCA Concejo de salud de Conay (Chile) Consumidores de agua y regantes del Huasco (Chile) Coordinadora Ambiental de Alto del Carmen (Chile) Coordinadora del Huasco (Chile) Grupo operativo pro defensa del Huasco (Chile) Junta de vecinos de La Pampa (Chile) Movimiento ciudadano anti Pascua Lama (Chile) Pastoral Salvaguarda de la Creación (Chile) Santiago Luis Faura, Enrique Gaytan Arcos and Arturo Aliaga, Town councillors of Alto del Carmen (Chile) Afirmación para una República Igualitaria "ARI", La Rioja (Argentina) APresTur - Chilecito, La Rioja (Argentina) Asociación de Mujeres Riojanas (Argentina) Autoconvocados en Defensa de la VIDA (Argentina) Coordinadora de Asambleas Ciudadanas por la Vida - Chilecito, La Rioja (Argentina) Environment Defense Foundation (Argentina) Grupo Apu Huaira - Chilecito, La Rioja (Argentina) Inka Ñan Turismo EVT - Chilecito, La Rioja (Argentina) Operarios ex Gatilar Chamical (Argentina) Pastoral Social de la Diócesis de San Carlos de Bariloche , Río Negro (Argentina) Proyecto Nexos de articulación entre Universidad y Movimientos Sociales – Universidad Nacional Quilmes (Argentina) Raúl A. Montenegro, Profesor, Alternative Nobel Prize (Argentina) Theomai Network & Journal, Society, Nature & Development Studies (Argentina) Vecinos Autoconvocados de Capital (Argentina) Vecinos Autoconvocados de Chamical (Argentina) Vecinos Autoconvocados de Chañarmuyo (Argentina) Vecinos Autoconvocados de Famatina (Argentina) Vecinos Autoconvocados de Patquial (Argentina) Vecinos Autoconvocados de Pituil (Argentina) Vecinos de Malanzán (Argentina) Vecinos de Punta de los Llanos (Argentina) Frente amplio opositor a la instalación de la minera San Xavier (Metallica Ressources Inc.) en Cerro San Pedro, S.L.P. (Mexico) Comité Regional Ambientalista del Valle de Siria (Honduras) Centro de Investigación sobre Inversión y Comercio – CEICOM (El Salvador) US-El Salvador Sister Cities Comisión Pastoral Paz y Ecología – COPAE, Diócesis de San Marcos (Guatemala)… If you or your group want to sign on to this declaration please contact: marleau.marie-eve@courrier.uqam.ca --- To learn more about the mother of all "Ilmorog" meetings: www.pdac.ca/pdac/conv/index.html
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Post by wanyee on Mar 22, 2007 9:49:43 GMT 3
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Post by wanyee on Mar 22, 2007 23:29:42 GMT 3
This sums it up very well:
March 17 2007, 19h59
Correa warns about a "civil war" between communities and mining companies
Quito, 17 Mar (EFE) - Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, warned today that a kind of "civil war" could take place between communities in mining areas and the corporations that exploit the mineral deposits.
Correa, in his usual Saturday radio program, announced that in the next few days he will issue a "national mobilization" decree for the armed forces in order to confront the "extremely grave" mining problem, as well as to combat the fuel contraband.
"The mining problem is extremely grave, and we have areas where we are on the verge of a civil war", Correa remarked, after acknowledging that some grave confrontations have taken place between locals and mining companies.
There are more than 3,700 mining concessions in Ecuador.
"The whole country has been concessioned", and in some areas, the Mayors "have to ask the mining companies for permission to build sewer systems. It's absurd", said Correa.
He said that the conflict originates in a law approved in 1990, which motivated the creation of mining concessions, but he pointed out that during the last 16 years the concessions have given the State only 22 million dollars.
"We have not received any benefits from this (mining); neither the State nor the people, and that will have to be taken down", the president said, and indicated that the Constitutional Assembly, which his government is promoting, should change the mining laws.
He reiterated that his administration will create the "Ministry of Mines", after pointing out that the law that promotes mining concessions was done with a World Bank loan, which will be revised by his government, and believes that the loan is part of a "illegitimate debt".
Correa also said that the public forces mobilization decree will also attempt to stop the fuel contraband to bordering countries, like Colombia and Peru, and even Panama.
He stated that between 2004 and 2005, during government of ex-president Lucio Gutiérrez, a fuel contraband crisis took place, because during that period the importation of gasoline "went up 40% by volume, at a time the economy only grew three percent."
"It's perverse", Correa affirmed, and said that "it's clear" that the increase in fuel importation was not to satisfy the internal demand, "but rather, for contraband".
Correa indicated that the mobilization decree will attempt to prevent Mafioso groups from shipping the State subsidized fuel to sell as contraband in countries like Peru and Panama, where the price of gasoline is much higher than Ecuador's.
"We are not going to tolerate this any more", Correa noted, while at the same time asserting that it's estimated that the fuel contraband costs the country between 300 and 500 million dollars a year.
He recalled that the fuel contraband problem was recently analyzed by the National Security Council, and said that there is a "coordinated plan" between the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the national company, Petroecuador, and the armed forces, which aims to "capture" the contrabandists.
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Post by wanyee on Mar 23, 2007 17:11:43 GMT 3
Pardon me for posting this twice, but I believe that it is appropriate do so in this case: Deal too good for American firm Publication Date: 3/23/2007 A dispute is raging between Bondo and Siaya county councils on the ownership of Yala swamp, which has been leased out at a throwaway price to an American company, Dominion Foods. Whenever there is such a row between two or more parties, what comes to light is that there is inequality somewhere and one party is feeling deprived. Therefore, equity has to be seriously addressed in order to appease all the parties. On the Yala swamp issue, there is a deep-rooted conflict, which will explode if not resolved soon. That is the dispute between Bondo and Siaya county councils and Dominion Foods. The solution must take into account that socially, historically and economically the residents of Siaya and new Bondo county council are like brothers and sisters who have a common enemy. In determining who owns what, it is important if the agreement that was signed between Siaya council and Dominion Foods is subjected to scrutiny. This will reveal how we have given our land away in a manner akin to how our uneducated ancestors signed land away to the white settlers and slave owners in Mombasa in the 19th century. In the same vein, the Tiomin agreement should be made public so we see how we give land freely to foreigners at the expense of local investors. FELIX O. OKATCH, Nairobi www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=23&newsid=94287
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