NEWS ARCHIVE

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTING TO UNEP ON THE RISE

UNEP - 30 November 2001 - The number of countries contributing to the core funding of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is set to increase significantly during 2001 signaling renewed confidence in the ability of the organization to deliver on environment and poverty related issues. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

TANZANIAN POLICE RAID LAYWERS' ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION TEAM

Lycos News (ENS) - 30 November 2001 - Tanzanian police have raided the offices of the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) in Dar es Salaam and searched the homes of two LEAT attorneys, according to an international association of public interest attorneys based in Eugene. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ENVIRONMENTAL, TRIBAL COALITION CAMPAIGNS AGAINST COAL STRIP MINE

Lycos News (ENS) - 30 November 2001 - A coalition four grassroots and environmental groups, and the Pueblo of Zuni, is working to save the sacred Zuni Salt Lake from destruction by a sprawling strip mine. Further information can be obtained from the news article. (Scroll down to the article.)

INDUSTRIAL MINERAL FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION

AllAfrica.com - 29 November 2001 - The mineral industry of Ghana (formerly Gold Coast) has been dominated over the years by gold mining for obvious reasons. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION OFFICIAL FAVORS PROPOSED MINERAL-EXTRACTION RULES

EnviroLink Service - 29 November 2001 - The president of a mining trade organization on Wednesday supported proposed rules for mineral extraction on federal land and a proposed new mining law, saying they could spur more mining. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

NETHERLANDS GIVES BIG BACKING TO UNEP IN RUN UP TO WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

UNEP - 28 November 2001 - The Government of the Netherlands have almost doubled their contribution to the core budget of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the year 2001, it was announced today. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

SURFACE MINING TAKES 70 PERCENT OF TARKWA LAND

AllAfrica.com - 27 November 2001 - Surface-mining concessions have taken over 70 percent of the total land in the Tarkwa area, Mr Joseph Aidoo, Western Regional Minister said on Saturday. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CLEAN AIR CATALYTIC CONVERTERS EMIT PLATINUM POLLUTANTS

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 27 November 2001 - The devices on cars that keep polluting emissions from reaching the air are spewing out other potentially toxic substances that are building up along US roads. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

LANDOWNERS SHUT PNG OK TEDI COPPER MINE - RADIO

Planet Ark - 27 November 2001 - Landowners claiming a share of BHP Billiton LTD/Plc's 52 per cent stake in the OK Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea have shut down operations, Australian Broadcasting Corp radio reported yesterday. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ILLEGAL MINING GETS SHAFTED

EnviroLink Service - 27 November 2001 - A crackdown on illegal mining and tighter control of mineral resources were placed at the heart of a new government campaign launched yesterday in China. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

MINNESOTA REMOVES MERCURY SWITCHES FROM ITS FLEET VEHICLES

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 26 November 2001 - The State of Minnesota is replacing mercury-containing light switches with mercury-free alternatives in its vehicles and those that it puts up for auction. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

MT CHARLOTTE MINE TO LEAVE NO SCARS

Western Australia - Minerals & Energy - 26 November 2001 - When the MT Charlotte gold mine starts to close its doors in December this year, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources will work together with Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) to make sure the decommissioned mine does not become an unsightly and unwanted legacy for the people of Kalgoorlie. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ONE MINER KILLED IN MINE ACCIDENT IN SIBERIAN PROKOPYEVSK

EnviroLink Service - 26 November 2001 - One miner was killed as a result of an accident at the Zenkovskaya mine in the Siberian town of Prokopyevsk on Sunday, sources from the local department for civil defence and emergency situations told Itar-Tass on Monday. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

IRON-LOVING BACTERIA CAN LEARN TO CONSUME URANIUM

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 26 November 2001 - One researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia thinks she has found a type of bacteria (Desulfovibrio desulfuricans) that can be modified to clean up uranium contamination. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ANCIENT MINES CAUSE MODERN POLLUTION

Yahoo News - 23 November 2001 - Toxins produced by mines and smelters thousands of years ago may be taking their toll on the health of people living today in the Middle East, according to researchers. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINA MINE BLAST KILLS 16

BBC News - 23 November 2001 - In China, 16 coal miners are reported to have died and another 10 are missing after an explosion at a coal mine in northern Shanxi province. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

LESSON STILL NEEDS TO BE LEARNED

EnviroLink Service - 23 November 2001 - The four gas explosions in coal mines in Datong, North China's Shanxi Province that killed 58 and trapped 14 others last week aroused a quiet anger from the public again. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

HOPE FADES FOR COLOMBIAN MINERS

BBC News - 23 November 2001 - Rescue teams in Colombia have recovered the bodies of 28 people killed after landslides engulfed a gold mine abandoned for safety reasons. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

NEW CHILE COPPER PLANT FOR ROCK-EATING BACTERIA

Planet Ark - 23 November 2001 - Copper mining giants BHP Billiton and Codelco will begin construction in early 2002 of a plant in Chile for the use of bacterial technology that could revolutionize the industry, a company official said. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

KLAUS TOEPFER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNEP, HAS BEEN REELECTED FOR A SECOND TERM

UNEP - 22 November 2001 - The United Nations General Assembly, meeting in New York, approved UN Secretary-general, Kofi Annan's, nomination of Mr Toepfer. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINESE MINE ACCIDENTS HAVE KILLED 4,547 PEOPLE, GOVERNMENT SAYS

EnviroLink Service - 22 November 2001 - Coal-mining accidents in China have killed 4,547 people between January and October, authorities said, noting, however, that the figure is still 7 percent lower than in 2000. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

COMMITTEE SET UP TO STEER SMALL MINING DIVERSIFICATION

AllAfrica.com - 22 November 2001 - A Steering Committee has been set up to run the Small Scale Mining Diversification Programme to be funded from the Euro 30 million credit facility. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

MINING COMPANY PAYS PART OF COST TO REPLACE FISH KILLED BY MINE WASTE SPILL

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 21 November 2001 - A mining company has paid $225,000 to replace the estimated 2 million fish killed by a huge spill of coal waste that filled miles of creeks and rivers with thick sludge. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ARCO PAYS FOR MINE CLEANUP, CONSERVATION

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 21 November 2001 - The East Fork Carson River, downstream from the Leviathan Mine, has been contaminated by acid mine runoff. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINA CALLS ON ALL MINES TO FOLLOW SAFETY RULES

EnviroLink Service - 21 November 2001 - The State Administration for Safe Production Supervision (SASPS) has said those officials responsible for last week's series coal mine explosions in Shanxi Province will be punished. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

WISE PLEDGES TO SPEND MORE ON MINE SAFETY

EnviroLink Service - 21 November 2001 - Gov. Bob Wise said Sunday he will ask the Legislature for more money for the state mine safety agency and pledged to pursue more aggressive regulation of industry contracting practices in an effort to eliminate mining fatalities. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

FIRMS URGE PHILIPPINE COURT TO RESOLVE MINING LAW

Planet Ark - 21 November 2001 - - Philippine mining firms urged the Supreme Court yesterday to speed up resolution of a legal challenge to a law passed in 1995 allowing foreign firms to own up to 100 percent equity in local mining projects. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINA ADMITS 'GRIM' SAFETY RECORD

BBC News - 20 November 2001 - A Chinese official has blamed obstructive local officials for hampering government efforts to shut down unsafe coal mines. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

LAWSUIT CLAIMS NEW MINING RULES AREN'T TOUGH ENOUGH

EnviroLink Service - 20 November 2001 - Charging that new Bush administration rules governing hard-rock mining on public lands will stick taxpayers with cleanup costs for toxic messes, environmentalists sued yesterday to block the regulations from going into effect. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

SMALL COAL MINES IN SHANXI ORDERED TO STOP PRODUCTION FOR SAFETY

EnviroLink Service - 20 November 2001 - All small coal mines in Shanxi Province, north China, have been ordered to stop production to undergo safety checks after 58 miners were killed in a series of coal mine gas explosions last week. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ATTLE OVER CYANIDE SPILLAGE VILLAGERS PUSH CASE

AllAfrica.com - 20 November 2001 - For the past two or three weeks, Abe Kuase, a small village in the concession area of Tarkwa Goldfields, and the latter have been in the news, following the spillage of cyanide, a poisonous chemical used in separating gold from sand, into the Huni River, which is a source of drinking water for the people of the village. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

BOLIDEN SAYS COURT CLEARS IT OF LOS FRAILES CRIME

Planet Ark - 20 November 2001 - Swedish mining and metals group Boliden said yesterday an appeals court in Spain had upheld a lower court decision clearing it of any crime in connection with an ecological disaster at its Los Frailes mine. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

58 DIE IN FOUR MINE EXPLOSIONS IN SHANXI

China Daily - 20 November 2001 - Fifty-eight mine workers have died within six days in a series of unrelated gas explosions at mines that the government had already slated for closure in North China's Shanxi Province. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHILE FISH FARMERS OPPOSE NORANDA ALUMINUM PROJECT

Planet Ark - 19 November 2001 - Chilean salmon farmers have vowed to fight plans by Canadian base metals group Noranda Inc. to build an aluminum project in the remote Aysen region of southern Chile. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINA HALTS COAL PRODUCTION FOR SAFETY CHECKS

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 19 November 2001 - All small coal mines in Shanxi Province, in northern China, have been ordered to stop production to undergo safety checks after 58 miners were killed in a series of gas explosions last week, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Monday. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

SWITZERLAND: INCREASED GOLD DEMAND FROM SMALL INVESTORS SINCE US TERROR ATTACKS

EnviroLink Service - 18 November 2001 - Erhard Oberli, chief executive of the Swiss-based precious metal refiner Argor-Heraeus, told Swissinfo that these sorts of investments had diminished prior to the events of 11 September. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINA MINE BLASTS KILL 37

BBC News - 17 November 2001 - Thirty-seven miners have been killed in gas explosions in two coal mines in China's northern Shanxi province this week, according to Chinese media reports on Saturday. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

REPORT SEEKS NEW VISION FOR BLM LANDS

Lycos News (ENS) - 15 November 2001 - A new report by two conservation groups concludes that the Bureau of Land Management is failing to protect the long term health of America's public lands and the natural resources they support. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

FORUM ON WORLD SUMMIT HELD IN LONDON

AllAfrica.com - 13 November 2001 - An international forum on the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) kicked off in London yesterday. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

MONTANA COMPANY 'GETTING PLANTS TO GROW WHERE OTHERS AREN'T ABLE TO'

Environmental News Network (ENN) - 13 November 2001 - When crews put 46,000 plants in the soil on mined Navajo land in Arizona this fall, the work was steered by a Montana company with a niche in the vast business of trying to undo environmental damage. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

EPA HONORS SUMMIT COUNTY, COLO., MINE FOR WASTE RECYCLING PROGRAM

EnviroLink Service - 13 November 2001 - The Climax Molybdenum Co.'s innovative use of wood chips and sewage waste from five wastewater districts in Summit County has won national recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

LAST BODIES REMOVED FROM ALA. MINE

EnviroLink Service - 10 November 2001 - The bodies of the last nine of 13 miners killed in a September explosion were recovered from tunnels 2,140 feet underground. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

GOVERNMENTS AGREE ON FINAL CLIMATE PROTOCOL RULEBOOK

Lycos News (ENS) - 10 November 2001 - They negotiated the terms of a new climate change agreement through the night, and at dawn the exhausted delegates achieved success. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

AFTERMATH OF CYANIDE SPILLAGE HUNGER, DISEASE THREAT LOOMS

AllAfrica.com - 08 November 2001 - Despite claims by the management of Goldfields Ghana Limited that the October 16 cyanide leakage at the Takwa Gold mine posed no threat to lives and property, Chronicle can report of a looming hunger and disease in the affected communities of Abekuase and Huninso. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

THE CYANIDE SPILLAGE AND WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION

AllAfrica.com - 08 November 2001 - Strange things are happening in this country in the name of "expert" advice. "The Water Resources Commission has stated that water in River Asuman is safe and does not pose any danger to health of humans, flora and fauna." (Daily Graphic 3rd Nov. 2001) Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CONTRACTOR KILLED IN MURRIN MURRIN ACCIDENT

MiningNews.Net - 08 November 2001 - A 30-year old contractor died at Anaconda Nickel's Murrin Murrin nickel project yesterday in what was the sixth fatality in the Australian mining industry this year. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

MMSA--A LEADERSHIP RESOURCE FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY

EnviroLink Service - 07 November 2001 - Do you know what the MMSA is? Have you ever seen the listing in the SME annual meeting program for the MMSA annual meeting and wondered what that meeting was about? Further information can be obtained from the news article.

BLM BEGINS MAKING CHANGES TO 3809 REGULATIONS

EnviroLink Service - 07 November 2001 - The "substantial irreparable harm" provision would allow the BLM to deny a mining permit for any reason. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

EXPERT GIVES TIPS ON MINING

AllAfrica.com - 06 November 2001 - Benson Abele Strict laws to protect affected populations against the adversities of large-scale mining are necessary, a Canadian mining expert has proposed. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

PLACER DOME CLEANUP THREATENED - Philippines rejects firm's plan to dump mine waste in ocean

Globe and Mail - 06 November 2001 - A plan to complete the cleanup of a river in the Philippines is threatened because of a report commissioned by Placer Dome Inc. that concluded a pit containing toxic mine waste is in danger of spilling. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

MINING LAW IS INEFFECTIVE

AllAfrica.com - 05 November 2001 - A human rights lawyer has blamed the social, economic and environmental problems associated with surface mining in the country on the law governing the mining sector. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

CHINESE TROOPS BATTLE CYANIDE SPILL

BBC News - 05 November 2001 - The Chinese authorities have mobilised thousands of soldiers, police and civilians after a cyanide spill in a river in central Henan province. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ABANDONED MINES: PROBLEMS, ISSUES AND POLICY CHALLENGES FOR DECISION MAKERS WORKSHOP REPORT HAS BECOME AVAILABLE FROM THE MRF-Environment.

UNEP DTIE - 05 November 2001 - Workshop Summary Report on ABANDONED MINES: Problems, Issues and Policy Challenges for Decision Makers, Santiago, Chilem, 18 June 2001, has become available from UNEP. Further information can be obtained from the Abandoned Mines Workshop Report site.

ELEVEN TONNES OF CYANIDE SPILLS INTO CHINESE RIVER

f2 Network - 05 November 2001 - Thousands of soldiers have been mobilised to contain a massive cyanide spill in a river in central China which is posing a health risk to local residents and farm animals, officials said today. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION ADOPTS CLINTON'S ARSENIC RULE

Lycos News (ENS) - 01 November 2001 - The Bush administration, under pressure from environmental groups and the public, has decided to adopt the Clinton era standard for arsenic in drinking water. Further information can be obtained from the news article.

ANOTHER CYANIDE SPILLAGE AT TARKWA

AfricaOnline - 01 November 2001 - Barely two weeks after several villages around Tarkwa were hit by a cyanide spill, there has been another case of cyanide spillage into a marshland at Kubekro near Wassa Akyempim in the Mpohor Wassa East District of Ghana’s Western Region. Further information can be obtained from the news article.