Glencore Unit in Congo Made Undisclosed Payments to Businessman Accused of Bribery – by Scott Patterson (Wall Street Journal – November 16, 2016)

http://www.wsj.com/

A mining company run by Glencore PLC in the Democratic Republic of Congo made millions of dollars in undisclosed payments to a company owned by an Israeli businessman accused by U.S. authorities of paying more than $100 million in bribes to Congolese officials.

The firm of businessman Dan Gertler has received payments meant for Congo’s state-run mining company, Gecamines, according to Glencore and Mr. Gertler’s holding company Fleurette Group.

Details of the payments, which hadn’t previously been disclosed by Glencore, Fleurette or Gecamines, were first cited in a Tuesday report by Global Witness, a London-based anticorruption nonprofit that often targets mining and oil companies’ practices. Global Witness said its findings are based on documents detailing the payments, which mirror financial records from 2014 that have been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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Lundin Mining sells stake in giant Congolese copper mine for $1.5 billion – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – November 16, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

TORONTO — Lundin Mining Corp. is selling its stake in TF Holdings, owner of the Congolese Tenke mine, to a Chinese private equity firm for $1.5 billion, as part of a transfer of ownership of the mine to Chinese companies.

The Toronto-based zinc, copper and nickel producer said Tuesday it has a definitive agreement to sell its 30 per cent indirect interest in the Bermuda holding company that owns an 80 per cent stake in Tenke Fungurume Mining.

As part of the deal with China’s BHR Partners, Lundin waived its right to acquire Freeport McMoRan’s majority stake in the holding company. Freeport announced in May it had reached a deal to sell its 56 per cent interest in the company to China Molybdenum Co. for US$2.65 billion.

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Congo state miner handed royalties to Israeli billionaire-NGO – by Aaron Ross (Reuters U.S. – November 15, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

KINSHASA – Nov 15 Congo state miner Gecamines signed over its royalty rights at one of the country’s largest copper mines in January last year to an offshore company owned by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler, according to a copy of the contract obtained by Global Witness and reviewed by Reuters.

The London-based advocacy group said in a statement on Tuesday that the lost royalties from the Kamoto Copper Co (KCC) project could cost heavily indebted Gecamines up to $880 million by 2030, about a fifth of Congo’s annual budget.

“It’s troubling that the state miner Gecamines has signed away rights to potentially huge flows of cash that should go towards building Congo’s future,” Global Witness said.

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SA mining sector generally not yet ready to willingly adopt modernised mining methods – by Dylan Slater (MiningWeekly.com – November 11, 2016)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African mining sector is, generally, not yet in a position to willingly adopt and implement an array of digitalised and modernised mining methods, contrary to advisory and general industry views on the need to modernise mines to prepare them for the future, according to University of Pretoria (UP) Department of Mining Engineering head Professor Ronny Webber-Youngman.

He says, although a lot of “good work” is being done to procure and bring on line some modern equipment and systems, including updated techniques of extraction and processing, the supply chain is still largely stuck in the “old ways”.

During the 2015 edition of resource sector exhibition Joburg Indaba, a survey was conducted to unpack the topic of modernisation, with specific reference to how the South African mining industry measures up in the modernisation stakes and the level of readiness required to adopt the various modalities.

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Chinese tighten grip on Tenke mine as Lundin agrees to sell stake for $1.14bn – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 15, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

After weeks of deliberation, Canada’s Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) said Tuesday it will sell its minority stake in the African copper mine Tenke Fungurume to a Chinese private-equity firm for $1.14 billion in cash.

The deal is a result of the Toronto-based miner’s review of strategic options for its interest in TF Holdings Ltd., the Bermuda holding company that indirectly owns an 80% interest in the massive mine, located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Lundin has an indirect 30% interest in TF Holdings, which translate into the miner owning 24% of Tenke. Congo’s state miner Gecamines owns 20%. The remaining 56% belongs to Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), which back in May signed a deal to sell that stake to China Molybdenum (CMOC) for up to $2.65 billion, a crucial part in the Phoenix-based company’s debt reduction plan.

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Rio chief reassures ‘shell-shocked’ staff – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – November 15, 2016)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Rio Tinto managing director Jean-Sebastien Jacques has told “shell-shocked” staff that he called an investigation the day he found out about potential issues relating to a leaked email exchange between his predecessors Sam Walsh and Tom Albanese over a $US10.5 million payment to a consultant working on the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

In his first comments since Rio first made an announcement on the emails, the new Rio chief said company systems and controls had been strengthened since the 2011 payment was made and that Rio’s culture and values were “fundamentally strong”.

In the email to staff on Sunday, Mr Jacques warned that investigations could last several years. The company last week reported itself to anti-corruption agencies in the US, Britain and Australia after the release of the emails sparked an internal review.

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A million artisanal gold miners in Madagascar wait to come out of the shadows – by Emilie Filou (The Guardian – November 15, 2016)

https://www.theguardian.com/

The downturn in commodity prices has hit the mining industry globally but in Madagascar, it coincided with the end of a five-year period of turmoil, precipitated by a coup in 2009. Any hopes for the sector to propel itself back on the development track were dashed.

“Lots of mining companies came to Madagascar to explore [before 2009] but then we had the political crisis, with all the uncertainty and lack of visibility it brought, and even though we had elections in 2013, that uncertainty has not really lifted,” said Willy Ranjatoelina, executive secretary of the Madagascar Chamber of Mines.

In the mid-2000s, Madagascar had given the green light to two large-scale mining projects: Ambatovy, a $8bn (£6.4bn) nickel and cobalt project developed by a consortium led by Sherritt International, and QMM, a $1bn ilmenite project developed by Rio Tinto. Since then new projects have dried up.

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How Dodd-Frank Led to More Mayhem in Africa – by Tate Watkins (Wall Street Journal – November 13, 2016)

http://www.wsj.com/

Spontaneously combusting smartphones may be in the news, but the danger not being reported is the one caused by the minerals inside these devices. Conflict minerals have fostered violence where they’re mined in central Africa, and the U.S. response has made the situation worse.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the average resident lives on about $400 a year, mining is the most lucrative game around. The value of the Congo’s mineral reserves is estimated at $24 trillion, according to the United Nations Environmental Program, most of them dug by informal miners working with picks and shovels. But in a nation that has been crushed by civil war on and off for two decades, much of the mining sector is now controlled by militias that have committed murder, rape and other atrocities against civilians.

When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial bill in 2010, it included a provision aimed at curbing the violence caused by these minerals. Companies like Apple and Intel use the metals to make electronic components in devices such as cellphones and laptops.

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Billionaire Says Rio Probe Proves Elaborate Plot to Strip Prized Guinea Mine Rights – by Franz Wild and Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – November 11, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Billionaire Beny Steinmetz says the suspension of a senior Rio Tinto Group executive this week over a payment in Guinea is evidence of an elaborate plot that culminated in Steinmetz’s mining company being stripped of its rights to a $20 billion iron-ore project two years ago.

Steinmetz’s BSG Resources Ltd. and Rio, the world’s second-biggest mining company, have been engaged in a bitter dispute over rights to one of the world’s most prized mineral assets for about a decade.

BSGR, which has rejected allegations of bribery, had its rights to half of the iron-rich mountain in West Africa revoked after the government said it had found evidence of corruption in awarding the licenses.

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What Trump in the White House means for the South African mining industry (Mining Review Africa – November 10, 2016)

https://www.miningreview.com/

The election of Trump into presidency may not have positive implications for South Africa’s already-struggling mining industry says Hogan Lovells. America woke up on the morning of 9 November 2016 to the reality that Donald Trump will be its next President.

In the wake of this, world markets instantaneously reflected the uncertainty that surrounds Trump’s economic and geopolitical views. Most world currencies, including the Rand, weakened over-night writes Wessel Badenhorst , Partner at Hogan Lovells.

In the run-up to what will in living memory probably be regarded as the most controversial and personal election campaign in the history of election campaigns, many things have been said. Some in jest, others seriously.

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Mystery surrounding Rio Tinto African payment probe – by Tony Boyd (Australian Financial Review – November 10, 2016)

http://www.afr.com/

The release of the email trail involving three Rio Tinto executives discussing a $US10.5 million payment to a French consultant close to the government of Guinea in 2011 has failed to reveal a smoking gun.

The lack of any evidence of covert corruption will serve to deepen the mystery surrounding Rio’s decision to refer the matter to the US Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Rio said in its initial announcement on Wednesday that once the emails were brought to its attention the company “launched an investigation into the matter led by external counsel”.

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Suspected cattle rustlers kill 36 miners in Nigeria: government (France24.com – November 9, 2016)

http://www.france24.com/en/

KANO (NIGERIA) (AFP) – Gunmen believed to be cattle rustlers have killed 36 miners in northern Nigeria, the government and residents said Tuesday, the latest in a long-running series of such raids.

Motorcycle-riding attackers struck late on Monday at a goldmine outside Bindin village in northern Zamfara state, shooting dead miners and gold merchants, they said. The state governor condemned the attack “in strongest terms” in a government statement, describing it as an “act of terrorism”.

The statement said an investigation had been launched, while local residents said it was just the latest deadly raid by cattle thieves on herding communities in the state.

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Rio suspends senior executive after discovery of $13.5m Simandou mine payments – by Brian Robins (Sydney Morning Herald – November 9, 2016)

http://www.smh.com.au/

Global miner Rio Tinto has suspended one of its most senior executives following the discovery of large payments to a consultant who worked on the Simandou iron ore project in West Africa.

In a statement, the miner said it has suspended Mr Alan Davies, the company’s energy and minerals chief executive “with immediate effect”.

Legal and regulatory affairs group executive Debra Valentine, who sits with Mr Davies on the mining giant’s 10-member executive committee, has stepped aside from her role. She was due to retire on May 1, 2017. Rio said it has “notified the relevant authorities in the United Kingdom and the United States and is in the process of contacting the Australian authorities”.

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Namibia U-turn on phosphate mining – by Timo Shihepo (Southern Times – November 7, 2016)

WINDHOEK–NAMIBIA’S environment minister, Pohamba Shifeta, this week succumbed to public pressure and temporarily suspended the decision to issue an Environmental Impact Assessment clearance certificate for marine https://southernafrican.news/phosphate mining off the Namibian coast.

The controversial decision to grant Namibia Marine Phosphate (NMP) permission to start mining was also subject to a legal suit by the country’s fishing industry before Shifeta’s U-turn on Wednesday.

Shifeta has denied any wrong-doing on his part and that of his ministry. He attributed his change of heart to “public interest”. The Minister of Environment and Tourism maintained that all the procedures were followed when awarding a clearance certificate, which sparked a highly-charged public debate.

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Rio Tinto bets Simandou’s iron ore will take time to come – by Clyde Russell (Daily Mail/Reuters – November 4, 2016)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto’s decision to quit the world’s largest undeveloped iron ore deposit in Guinea is essentially a bet on how quickly and cheaply the new Chinese owners can develop the mine.

Investors have generally welcomed the sale of the Simandou project by Rio to Chinese metals producer Chinalco for between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion, believing it rids the world’s No.2 iron ore miner of an expensive and risky project in a developing country.

Rio has certainly battled to get any momentum going for the project in the West African nation, struggling to find financing for the planned 50-million tonnes a year mine, 400 kilometre railway and deepwater port.

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