Rio Tinto has notified the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Ottawa National Forest (ONF) that it “no longer wishes to pursue” exploration on public forest land in Bates Township, located in Iron County, Michigan.  Rio Tinto’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Kennecott Exploration, applied to explore the lakefront parcel in 2007.

A fisherman docks his boat on Perch Lake, no longer a proposed Rio Tinto exploration site; May 2009 GC

“I would like to think the public opposition that formed, when residents were finally indirectly informed of Kennecott’s application, was a major factor in Kennecott’s decision,” said Richard Sloat, lifelong resident of Iron County.

According to Gale Stowell, Bates Township Zoning Administrator, the township has a strong zoning ordinance that places certain restrictions on mining and exploration.

“If anyone came to do mining in our township they would have to have a public hearing.”

At a hearing, local residents would likely be concerned that exploration or mining could pollute lakes, rivers and local groundwater.  Iron County has been dealing with mine contamination for years.  Acid drainage from the Buck and Dober mines, which produced iron ore, continues to pollute the Iron River.

Bates Township has a history of questioning potentially dangerous mining practices on public land.  In 1980, the township, along with Houghton County’s Portage Township and Baraga, Delta and Charlevoix counties adopted a resolution opposing the leasing of state land for uranium exploration and mining.

Scenic Perch Lake and its surrounding public land is prized by cabin owners, anglers and hunters; May 2009 GC

Nearly thirty years later Kennecott’s exploration project on scenic Perch Lake drew not only the ire of local citizens but a strong critique from Forest Service staff analyzing the application.

In a May 5 letter, Barbara Van Alstine, the ONF’s Kenton District Ranger, noted that discussion with Forest Service personnel coordinating review of Kennecott’s exploration application, indicated that certain sensitive sections in the proposed project area would have to be “dropped from consideration. . . due to concerns regarding wildlife, heritage, old growth and botany resources.”

The letter noted that public comment played a deciding factor in excluding the most sensitive areas from consideration.

However, later that month, the Kenton District was notified by the BLM that parcels could not be removed from consideration without changing the Ottawa National Forest Plan or using a “formal withdrawal process via Congress.”

Did Kennecott halt the project due to Forest Service skepticism, township and public opposition or a strong zoning law?  Mining companies are often reluctant to attribute the cancellation of projects to public or local government opposition.

While Bates Township officials expressed concern with Kennecott’s exploration activities, Gale Stowell isn’t sure exactly why the company dropped its plans.

Richard Sloat suggests that the answer may be related to the vibrant public opposition to Kennecott’s proposed Eagle Mine, in nearby Marquette County, currently “deferred” and stalled for years.

“Why would Kennecott want to launch another public relations campaign in another region of the U.P.?,” questioned Sloat.

Kennecott, and a joint venture project of Bitterroot Resources and uranium giant Cameco still have exploration proposals on public land pending with the Forest Service for five other areas in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Should you care to know, I was thrilled upon hearing that Vale wants to start iron ore contracts (2010/2011) negotiations this month. Thrilled because the last negotiations ended up being a succession of drama and political games. Who needs tv series when iron ore contract negotiations can do just as well?

There are a number of developments that have persisted or unfolded since the previous round of negotiations. Mr. Hu is still detained. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are struggling to make their Pilbara iron ore tie up bearable to regulatory authorities in Europe and elsewhere. In a bid to calm authorities on their monopolistic tendencies, they have decide not to market jointly 15 per cent of their Pilbara production. On its side of the Pilbara, Fortescue, which has started Q4 negotiations with China roughly a month ago (and with Japan and Korea this week), has unveiled the Solomon project which plans on for a new mine, new rail and new port to produce roughly 60 mtpa to 100 mtpa of iron ore. Western Australia ventures are also at risk of facing higher royalties.

At present time, I guess it makes sense for iron ore producers to secure prices at a time where recovery is gathering speed amid the persistent risks of a double-dip recession materializing. The tone of the negotiations may be different this time around. BHP Billiton highlighted this autumn that China realised that it had to play with the big boys. Whether this means that China will stop pleading in favour of a Chinese mechanism in iron ore contracts is unclear. The recent rise in spot prices is also a contributing factor to weakening the Chinese position in negotiations, it has been reported.

- ¿Por qué se llora?
- ¿A qué te refieres?
- ¿Qué pasa físicamente?, digo.
- Bueno… los lacrimales cumplen la función de lubricar y proteger el ojo. Cuando te emocionas se excitan y producen lágrimas.
- ¿Por qué?… ¿por qué se excitan?
- No lo sé
- Tal vez… la emoción se vuelve tan intensa que el cuerpo no logra contenerla, la mente y los sentimientos se vuelven poderosos y el cuerpo se lamenta.

"These colors don't run!," says a Borax miners' union website; Photo courtesy I.L.W.U Local 30

Regardless of whether it’s true or not, Rio Tinto always seems to know what to say.

Rio Tinto boasts to the public, gullible politicians and job hopefuls in Michigan that the company is doing well financially, in order to lend the impression that the company’s Eagle Mine, in the Huron Mountains of the Upper Peninsula, is an inevitability.

In Boron, California, home of Rio Tinto’s vast US Borax operations, workers are being sold an entirely different tale.  To the nearly 600 workers at Local 30 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, AFL-CIO, fighting for respect and decent working conditions at California’s largest open pit mine, company brass is claiming they are in hard times.  While overseas investors are courted and assured that billions more than expected will be available for new project development in 2010 and southern California business leaders are informed that “the financial position of the company is very strong,” workers in Boron are told there is a need for cutbacks.  It’s all part of a broader effort to break I.L.W.U. Local 30 and force workers to sign a weak contract.

The union has received support from workers in Maritime Union of Australia, the Construction Forestry and Mining Union, Mining and Energy Division, as well as mine workers’ unions in Denmark, Poland, Turkey and India.  US Representatives Linda Sanchez, Stephen Lynch and Michael Michaud from the Labor and Working Families Caucus, as well as Representative George Miller, also expressed support for the workers.

In an October 15 statement the Maritime Union and CFMEU said:

“While our Unions have had a long and bitter experience with Rio Tinto and their anti-union, anti-workforce tactics and policies here in Australia, we continue to be amazed at the way in which multi national corporations like Rio Tinto, demand and expect working men and women to sacrifice hard won conditions of employment in order to prop up already bloated corporate profits.”

In a letter to Gary Goldberg, Rio Tinto US Borax President and CEO, Darrell Steinberg, from the California Senate and Karen Bass, Speaker of the California State Assembly, warned the company that they had “been informed that employees who have spoken up on job related issues have been reassigned, in apparent retaliation for exercising their right to free speech on the job.  This gives the impression that management at US Borax is intentionally increasing the adversarial nature of its relationship with its employees and their union.”

Poland’s Trade Unions Alliance wrote Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese to express concern that Rio Tinto was contradicting its “own policies concerning sustainable development” by showing a willingness to “punish the workers and their community which have been responsible for [the company’s] success” in Boron and was “seeking to weaken the trade union.” 

The letter noted company demands that “are unjustified and draconian” and maintained that “the company proposes to dramatically reduce worker rights, provided under the current agreement; terminate the current pension plan; drastically increase costs for dental and medical benefits; eliminate leave for sick workers; take away bidding rights of older workers; and offer no wage increases over 8 years while cutting wages if productivity falls.”

“Near slave conditions” in Namibia

Rio Tinto has an infamous labor rights record around the world.  The compay’s Rossing Uranium Mine, a joint venture with the government of Iran, operated in violation of the United National Council for Namibia’s “Decree No. 1” and various UN and International Criminal Court sanctions related to apartheid South Africa’s illegal occupation of the country.  A UN report at the time noted that workers at the mine operated under “near slave conditions.”  The twenty million member International Federation of Chemical, Mine, Energy and General Worker’s Unions accused Rio Tinto of racially segregating mine workers and paying black workers less than their white counterparts.

“Targeted retaliation” at Kennecott Utah Copper

Back in the US, at the company’s most profitable mine, Rio Tinto has long tried circumventing US labor law, in attempts to bust the union at the Bingham Canyon copper mine.

In 2003, the United Steelworks of America (USWA), which represents 600,000 workers, and the Kennecott Coordinated Bargaining Committee, representing local workers in five unions were outraged when Rio Tinto subsidiary, Kennecott, in a show of force to intimidate unionized workers, abruptly layed off 120 workers, including many military veterans and one worker on active duty in Iraq, only two days following the settlement of a six-year labor agreement.

“Judging by the manner and timing of these layoffs, we can only conclude that this company has exercised targeted retaliation against union members and union-represented workers for exercising their legal and constitutional rights: in violation of the two-day old agreement, in apparent violation of labor law, and in violation of the most basic rules of human conduct and decency,” said Leo Gerard, International President of the USWA.

In defiance of US labor law, senior workers eligible for voluntary retirement bonuses under the new agreement were escorted from their jobs by Rio Tinto, alongside union leaders and injured workers receiving worker’s compensation.

Kate: One of the potential challenges to maintaining Australia’s capacity for mining innovation is predicted to be the increasing dominance of large, conglomerated, multinational organisations.

Historically, the mining industry had a number of medium sized organisations that could drive rapid and diverse innovation, however the rationalisation in the industry means that the policies and objectives of the large players may increasingly narrow the focus on future mining innovation. Head of Innovation and Technology at Rio Tinto John McGagh, recently spoke about Rio Tinto’s Innovation Strategy being implemented through a closed innovation model, whereby research and development is done by Rio Tinto and selected partners with innovations retained exclusively. This Closed Innovation Model is very different to the traditionally more open innovation models in the sector where typically university research projects are funded by a large number of mining industry sponsors through an intermediary such as AMIRA. This Open Innovation Model allowed any innovative mining solutions to be taken up fairly rapidly across the sector. The early adopters have an advantage of several years but any significant advantage is usually short lived.  With closed innovation, companies can lower their mining cost curve (a competitive advantage) preferentially over their competitors until the competitors obtain the innovative solution themselves. One potential downside of such a strategy is the risk associated with the typically high staff turnover within the mining industry. Time will tell. An overview of the implications of closed and open innovation models for industry more broadly is provided by the Australian Institute for Commercialisation here.

Another challenge arising from the global reach of multinational mining companies is the ability for Australia to maintain flows of benefits from innovation to Australian companies and institutions. Any successful innovation produced in Australia will be quickly transferred to the other global operations of a given international company. In this environment niche technology innovation (such as the technology developed by GroundProbe) may be important, as long as first mover advantages are significant. Agility may be the key for smaller companies operating within a market dominated by large players. In the worlds of Rupert Murdoch, in a rapidly changing world “Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.” (IBM Global CEO Study 2006)

Small innovative companies and research groups are going to have to develop evolving strategies to deal with the challenges of operating in an industry dominated by large multinational players. It will be the role of the Australian mining industry, universities, research centres and government to develop coherent policies to maximise the potential of competitive advantage from innovation in Australia.




But mining company spent more than $700,000 on U.P. uranium exploration in 2009

By Eartha Jane Melzer, Michigan Messenger

Upper Peninsula lawmakers are railing against a ballot measure to create standards for uranium mining, claiming that no uranium ore has been discovered in Michigan. However, a Canadian uranium mining company says it’s found uranium in the U.P., scientists have warned that its uranium exploration could harm groundwater, and the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department is warning that residential wells in several counties already have elevated levels of the radioactive metal.

In a statement this week, Sen. Mike Prusi (D-Ishpeming), Sen. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City), Rep. Mike Lahti (D-Hancock), Rep. Steve Lindberg (D-Marquette) and Rep. Judy Nerat (D-Wallace) accused sponsors of a proposed 2010 ballot measure on mining of talking about uranium mining in order to scare people and destroy the mining industry.

“No ‘uranium mining’ activity has ever existed,” the lawmakers stated, “nor has any uranium ore been discovered, in our state.”

However, according to a July 2009 financial report from Bitterroot Resources Ltd., a 17-hole uranium exploration drilling program concluded last December “identified several areas which warrant additional exploration.” The company said it spent $717,403 on Michigan uranium exploration in the first nine months of 2009.

On the sections of the company website devoted to its Upper Peninsula uranium exploration Bitterroot states that early drilling “encountered a 0.6-metre interval containing 75 ppm U, including two 0.12-metre intervals containing more than 100 ppm U. These intervals are significant as they confirm that uranium-bearing fluids have been mobile within the Jacobsville Basin.”

The presence of uranium in this area is also known to local health officials. The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department has issued a uranium advisory.

“Scattered drinking water sources in the Western Upper Peninsula have been found to contain uranium in amounts that exceed the federal Maximum Contaminant Level,” the health department states. “The source of the uranium may be the shale deposits that run inconsistently through the Jacobsville Sandstone formation. Water supplies with radioactivity have been found in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon Counties.”

The department states that uranium-laced water may be associated with kidney damage and cancer and that people with wells constructed in the Jacobsville Sandstone formation should have their water tested for uranium.

Last year the National Forest Service granted permits for uranium exploration in the Ottawa National Forest and spokeswoman Lee Ann Atkinson told Michigan Messenger at the time that 50 test wells were authorized.

During the public comment period on this uranium exploration proposal by Trans Superior Resources, a subsidiary of Bitterroot Resources Ltd., Todd Warner, natural resources director for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, noted that the company’s plan to bury drill cuttings on Forest Service land could result in radioactive compounds leaching into area groundwater.

“If a uranium ore body is disturbed in its natural geological setting, radium and polonium will inevitably be released into our environment,” Warner wrote in comments entered into the record. “The Forest Service has not noted that any additional or added precautions or testing is being required due to the potential or likely presence of uranium, radium, polonium and other radioactive elements.”

Because of the risk of chemical reactions that can cause minerals to contaminate the water supply, metallic mining requires permits from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said Hal Fitch, director of the agency’s Office of Geological Survey. But due to what Fitch called “a weakness in the statute,” exploratory mineral wells in the rocky western half of the Upper Peninsula are exempt from permit requirements.

In the case of the uranium test wells in the national forests, the DEQ will visit and observe operations after being voluntarily contacted by the mining company, Fitch said.

The Michigan Save Our Water Committee says U.P. lawmakers are mischaracterizing their proposed ballot initiative.

“We are not talking about banning future uranium mining,” said spokesman Duncan Campbell. “We don’t have any regulations covering uranium, all we are asking is that we have some regulations to cover uranium.”

Read more of Eartha J. Melzer’s articles at Michigan Messenger.

Michigan Senator Mike Prusi was one of five politicians to issue a statement attacking a proposed mining ballot; Photo courtesy State of Michigan

State senators Mike Prusi and Jason Allen, as well as state representatives Michael Lahti, Steven Lindberg and Judy Nerat issued the  statement claiming the proposal attacks the Upper Peninsula’s (U.P.) economic interests.

Perhaps using erroneous information from mine supporters, the politicans claim that the ballot’s focus on uranium mining is a scare tactic as ” no ‘uranium mining activity has ever existed, nor has any uranium ore been discovered, in our state.”

A joint venture between Bitterroot Resources and uranium giant, Cameco, continues to actively search the U.P. for uranium deposits.

Dishonestly, the politicans claim that the ballot proposal would “BAN any future mining.”  The ballot proposal affects only “Part 632″ Michigan mining law, which regulates only nonferrous metal mining.

Just this week, the Marquette Mining Journal printed an editorial by citizen, Teresa Bertossi, asserting that the failure of Michigan elected officials to force Kennecott-Rio Tinto to follow current metallic mining law in pushing for its proposed Eagle Mine has led to a group trying to strengthen the current law.

SYDNEY (AFP) –

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto said Tuesday it was interested in collaborating with Chinalco, months after rejecting a massive cash injection from the state-owned Chinese firm.

Rio chief executive Tom Albanese also said the company hoped for a “timely and transparent resolution” of the case against top executive Stern Hu, who was arrested weeks after the 19.5 billion US dollar tie-up collapsed.

“We are still keen to work with Chinalco in future on projects of mutual benefit,” Albanese told a conference in Perth.

“It is too early to say what these might be but I am encouraged that we have had some recent engagement,” he added.

“We want the underlying common interests between Rio Tinto and China to once again drive us towards ever-deepening co-operation.”

Rio snubbed Chinalco’s offer in favour of a joint venture in Western Australia with bitter r…

See the full post at Rio Tinto wants to work with Chinalco: chief

High-kicking: North Korea going for gold?

On October the 22nd, North Korea’s state news agency, the Korea Central News Agency ran a typically terse one paragraph report on the visit of a foreign business delegation to Pyongyang.

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, met and had a conversation with the visiting delegation of the Swiss Commodity Holding AG led by Chief Executive Ms. Shanti Sen at the Mansudae Assembly Hall.

A President of a Presidium had a conversation with a visiting delegation? Stop the press! It is highly doubtful that the KCNA’s finest caused front pages or breaths to be held in news rooms globally and frankly, if anyone even bothered to read the report, they must have thought little of it.

But to a handful of football fans halfway across the world as tightly knit and fervently loyal as any group of North Korean cadres, the visit represents just the latest installment in a saga involving a former England football manager, the mysterious Swiss company led by Ms. Sen and the octogenarian autocrats of Pyongyang.

Notts County Football Club lays claim to the title of oldest professional football league club in the world. Despite its lowly status in the footballing echelons it has a loyal following who have tracked “The Magpies” recent financial travails with a (perhaps morbid) fascination.

Not least because they seem to involve, through some twist of fate, promises of gold buried in the mountains of distant North Korea… But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s rewind.

Sven: "Show me the money"

Footballing minnows Notts County were initially delighted this summer when the club was taken over by a Middle Eastern consortium called Qadbak. The firm — which claimed to have some £100 billion in assets — expunged its £1m debts, hired former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football, and promised to propel the club into the Championship within five years. Bang, crash, ker-pow! Eat your heart out Roman Abramovich…

But doubts didn’t take long to grow and the ownership of the club began to come under the scrutiny of the Football League, which states that all club directors and significant shareholders must pass a ‘fit and proper person’ test: not an easy thing to do given that Qadbak is registered in offshore banking haven the British Virgin Islands and its owners seemed reluctant to come forward.

The interest of sports journalists was piqued and many began to sniff around.

A lot of the funny smells seemed to be emanating from Swiss Commodity Holdings (SCH). Described by most simply as a Zurich-based mining company, it emerged from obscurity when Qadbak was reported to have handed a sizeable stake in it to Sven-Goran Eriksson in return for the former England manager joining Notts County. (Which was quite a step down for the globetrotting, bespectacled Swede).

All that glitters..?

British broadsheet the Daily Telegraph found that two ambassadors for the miner had approached the investment banks Rothschild and Cazenove for advice about a public listing, claiming to have mining assets worth more than commodity giants BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto and gold reserves of $153bn, more than the current market leader, Barrick Gold, which has $117bn.

Strangely none of the above companies had ever heard of SCH and it declined to disclose publicly the location of its claimed $1.9 trillion of reserves. But according to the Telegraph, representatives of the firm told bankers that some of its assets are in Africa and North Korea. Yes. That North Korea.

The bizarre bond between SCH and Pyongyang became even more apparent when the Guardian reported that Sven Goran Eriksson was on the brink of a deal that could see the Swede leaving Notts County on loan to coach the North Korean football team during their World Cup campaign.

Although the coach denied the veracity of the reports and was later said to have turned down the offer, the whole situation seemed increasingly iffy. A report in the Guardian claimed Eriksson was assured that when the company was floated on the stock market, his stock would be worth millions overnight and that the initial public flotation would take place by July. (The company has yet to be floated and rumours have emerged of Sven leaving the club…)

Then in September Russell King, a senior representative of Qadbak, the offshore company that owns Notts County, has had £1.9m of his assets frozen by the courts in Jersey over an unpaid debt. Things seemed to be unraveling*

If Qadbak and SCH are counting on North Korea to provide a solid backstop for their singularly impressive claims to wealth, one suspects they are out of their depth. Although foreign interest in North Korea’s natural resources has grown, partly on the back of a South Korean government report issued in early October valuing the North’s mineral reserves at $6,000bn, getting the glittery stuff out is no simple task.

Sanctions slapped on North Korea as a result of its nuclear tests render most North Korean products toxic to players in the international financial system. As British businessman Colin McAskill, chairman of Koryo Asia Ltd., which invests in North Korea through the Chosun Development & Investment Fund told reporter Donald Kirk in 2007.

“The US has been using coercion, innuendo, and sheer force to intimidate banks from dealing with North Korea….

…they have a wealth of minerals – gold, silver, zinc, magnesite, copper, uranium, platinum – that needs investment to extract.

SCH seems, judging from their reported conversation with the President of the Presidium, to be making a serious move on that “wealth of minerals”. Shanti Sen, who the KCNA reports as leading the firm’s delegation to Pyongyang, previously worked for the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, where she headed the Corporate Investment Group and is also listed as a bigwig at City Property Investors, which manages global real estate. Interesting choice of CEO.* (Incidentally Singapore recently signed an Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA) with the North, under which:

Investors will be accorded non-discriminatory treatment, compensation in the event of expropriation or nationalisation of their investments, and free transfer of capital and returns from investment.

What with Singapore’s IGA, The Gold Diggers’ visit, Sven’s involvement and the South Korean government’s report, there seems to be a real sense in the air that North Korea is there for the taking.

But whether it’s footballing gold or the aurum itself that has led the Magpies (which as everyone knows are attracted to shiny things) to look east for funding, one can only feel for the fans that the future of their club is no longer simply in the hands of  its players but is in no small part perhaps dependent on State Department sanctions officials, the dictatorial geriatrics of Pyongyang and “$153bn” of North Korea gold that is, for the time being — and despite the best efforts of those in the Mansudae Assembly Hall — going nowhere, one suspects, for the foreseeable future.

*****

*After posting this story I was emailed anonymously by a German offering their “Freundliche Grüsse” and the link to AAH Group Inc., whose board of directors includes the very same Shanti Sen. There is absolutely jack all information on the group on the internet or indeed, their own homepage other than that they are:

“A mining corporation with a focus on the extraction of gold and precious minerals. The group owns various rights in South East Asia and South America. AAH Group, Inc. own one of the largest reserves bases in the public gold sector.”

Their claims sound a lot like SCH’s don’t they? And after a little more digging I found out that Pyongyang has in the past primarily sold  its gold to global buyers via Thailand. According to official Thai Customs Department statistics dug up by reporter Bertil Lintner in a few years back, North Korea shipped 500 kilograms of gold worth 398 million baht (US$11 million) to Thailand in April 2007 alone.

Lintner, who’s done his homework, writes that North Korea’s main gold mine is in Unsan county in North Pyongan province, about 150 kilometers north of Pyongyang.

Consultants from Clough Engineering of Australia in 2001 inspected the same mine under the sponsorship of the United Nations Office for Project Services. They estimated that Unsan held 1,000 tons of gold reserves, which if true would make it one of the world’s major gold mines.

There truly is gold in them thar hills! No wonder businesses with distinctly opaque structures are popping up left right and centre, claiming to have the rights to all Smorg’s treasure.

I’d speculate (wildly) that given Sen’s background in Singapore and the city state’s recent MOU with the Norks that AAH Inc. and SCH may be aiming to sell gold via Singapore… Just a shot in the dark though. They may also be gambling that sanctions will be lifted as the North moves to rejoin six party talks, which looks likely in the near future…

*Notts County’s takeover has since been approved by the Football League. As the Guardian noted, however:

There is, however, no means test for ownership of English football clubs, nor is there currently any way of knowing whether Notts County’s claims that it is backed by billions of pounds are true. Other public claims made by the club in the past three months have later unravelled.

Cause of much stress!!

Front-page news in most papers this week has been the Lloyds tsb share offer. If you read my previous posts Lloy has been a great buy this year. If you had of invested when all was thought to be lost in March then you would well and truly have doubled your money. That is if you had of sold in September! Now things look a bit grimmer if you’re an Lloy holder like myself. Due to the fact that Lloyds had to accept government help earlier this year it’s suddenly facing attack from the EU competition watchdog. The cry that ‘Lloyds is a great buy because its got a monopoly share of the UK mortgage and savings account market’ is loosing its shine as it’s faced to sell of parts of is business. I think a figure of around 4% of its market share!!

In order to escape from the Asset Protection Scheme Lloyds is seeking to raise £13.5 billion in a rights issue. As soon as investors hear those dreaded words ‘Rights Issue’ it means only one thing, dilution! To make things worse whilst people are in the dark about the RI there is a load of speculation going on as to how Lloyds are going to actually do this. If it looks like that the offer is going to be made at a bargain rate then it could see the value of LLoyds in the next couple of weeks go up as investors try to get in to secure a helping. However, if the sentiment is that you’re not going to gain anything from taking up the issue then this could spell disaster for shareholders. Now it’s a bit like do i stay or do i go? A big reason to stay in is that rights issues can be good things as they let investors’ acquire more shares without having to pay brokerage fees or Stamp Duty. The FT this weekend put it straight and says that either you take up your offer or you get out. I’m hoping to see an increase in the share price leading up to the offer and selling out. I will then buy back in after things have settled. I don’t see the share doing anything but plummeting to match the diluted price once the offer has been finalised. If you look at past history the share peaked at around £1.20 prior to the offer and then nose dived to a low of around 64p!!

A great buy and something that i have much faith in at the moment is Tesco the supermarket mega chain. It has steadily grown this year and continues to grow. It has great fundamentals and the company is into almost everything at the moment from pet insurance to talks of setting up its own bank. I can go to sleep at night knowing that unless there is suddenly a way of surviving without having to eat then my money is safe.

A good buy also has been RioTinto this is a share that will continue to grow as the world economy strengthens. The setting of prices in China and a deal to mine minerals in Mongolia has seen the share go from strength to strength. The Share has been listed by a number of brokers as a buy with a target price in excess of £30.

BAE Systems

This seemed a good buy at the time when they were winning multi million dollar contracts. However, these were never reflected in the share price for some reason. Thankfully I have only a very smallholding of £100. Being investigated for corruption has put it in hot water. The company cant admit liability and pay a fine as this would mean it could no longer bid for defence contracts in the U.S. at the same time thjis investigation isn’t going to go away. Ethically, also I’m not a fan of this company so steering clear.

Steven Chester, Michigan DEQ Director; Photo courtesy State of Michigan; Oddly enough, Chester makes the final decision on whether or not his own agency followed the law in approving Kennecott-Rio Tinto's Eagle Mine application

According to the Associated Press, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director, Steven Chester, wants further information from Judge Patterson on whether or not Eagle Rock is legally a place of worship and is asking Patterson to reverse legal advice that would somewhat protect the religious rights of Native Americans in Michigan.

In August,  Patterson recommended nearly unconditional support of Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s proposed Eagle Mine, in the Huron Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  The judge’s one stipulation was that Eagle Rock, a place of worship for indigenous peoples, be protected.  During the contested case on the mine proposal, 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.

Patterson’s recommendation mirrored, nearly identically, Kennecott’s view of its own application and took the company’s court testimony as solid fact.  Immediately prior to the judge’s ruling, Kennecott acknowledged, to the Environmental Protection Agency, that indigenous access to Eagle Rock was a significant issue, perhaps reflecting the motive behind the judge’s opinion on the sacred site.

Apparently not under consideration is that the DEQ’s coordinator for review of the Eagle Mine application, Joe Maki, said, under oath, that neither he or his team followed a central tenet of Michigan’s “Part 632″ mining law.

Also swept under the rug are comments made by the State’s commissioned rock mechanics expert, Dr. David Sainsbury,  that the company’s mine plan was “technically antiquated, sloppy and equivalent to high school level work.” Sainsbury also insisted that the DEQ kept relevant local geological information out of his reports and repeatedly said that Kennecott’s conclusions regarding the ability of the mine to not collapse “are not considered to be defensible” and does “not reflect industry best practice.”

Judge Patterson’s ruling is simply a recommendation to Chester.  In a bizarre sort of justice, Chester will soon issue a final decision on whether he and his agency followed the law in approving Kennecott’s application.

Whether or not it ever was truly “deferred,” Kennecott-Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine, in the Huron Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula may become a top priority for the London miner next year.

According to the Financial Times, Rio Tinto intends to spend $5 – $6 billion on project development in 2010.

Where’s the demand for upper Great Lakes metal coming from?  According to CEO Tom Albanese the company’s three primary markets for metals are “China, China – and then again, I would say, China.”

Speaking in London, Albanese stressed that the company’s relationship with China is of “critical importance to Rio Tinto.”

In the interview sponsored by Legal Week, Professor Richard Susskind evokes really useful insights from Rio Tinto managing attorney Leah Cooper into both the motivation for LPO and the process of implementing it with CPA Global.

This year in MLS has been, in my humble opinion, the best one yet.  The combination of having more teams in the league than ever before, the success of the expansion side, the resurgence of the two bottom teams towards the end of the year, the raised level of play, and the nail-bitter of a playoff race all combined to make this the most enjoyable season to watch (personally) since the league began.  We have definitely had some great debates during the course of the year that can only be healthy for the future of a league, and we have learned some lessons this year that we can apply in the future.

Back on March 1st my co-contributor and I wrote some predictions for the MLS season, and given that the regular season has come to a close and the playoffs are set to start I felt it was time to go back and hold myself accountable for my errors, as well as give myself credit for the few things I guessed right.

A quick recap of my picks to refresh our memories (or you can go to the full article):

Most Likely To Succeed: Columbus, Chicago, Toronto

Needs Improvement: Los Angeles, San Jose, Dallas

Sleeper Pick: Chivas, Seattle

The Rest To Make The Playoffs: Houston, New York, New England, Kansas City

The Rest To Miss The Playoffs: DC, Salt Lake, Colorado

The track record is there, unedited, to be picked over.  So, what was I wrong about?  Well the most glaring errors are my Toronto and L.A. Galaxy picks.  It appears I had a wire crossed when I categorized them.  Toronto may only be in it’s third year, but it’s performance-to-talent ratio is baffling to those of us who were excited about that team at the start of the season.  As for the Galaxy, well, they pulled off all of the crazy things I said they’d need to to be competitive, and then some.  Bruce Arena ran a very tight ship, they did indeed find their diamonds in the ruff (Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts, anyone?), and Beckham came back and actually proved he had dedication to spare for the Galaxy.  They look a dangerous team poised to make a deep playoff run.  Two other rather obvious errors were saying that New York could carry on the momentum of last year and make the playoffs and calling Kansas City for a playoff run.  In my own defense I said that New York would be in trouble if Juan Pablo Angel went down for any length of time, and although he didn’t have a serious injury, he did have his lowest MLS goal total and several scoring droughts.  I also pointed out Kansas City as an extremely inconsistent team, which they were, but I didn’t think it would stop them from making the playoffs.  And although I was wrong about Salt Lake missing the playoffs, I don’t consider that as big an error as the others considering their limping fashion through the second half of the year.

Of course, there were some picks I’d say have made good on my confidence in them (or at least where they’d finish).  Columbus started slow, but now looks like a real contender; Seattle has looks like a solid sleeper pick to challenge; Houston and New England both made the playoffs, and DC and Colorado both missed the playoffs.  Don’t be fooled by Columbus losing to New England on the last day, they really are the strongest team right now in terms of challenging for the MLS Cup, but I’m also riding high in Seattle’s bandwagon and their momentum.  These two teams are the ones that I’m most interested in following.  I’m proud of my Revs for making it in, but they are hurting big time and made it in on piss and vinegar, and the shoulders of Shalrie Joseph, alone.  I’ll be cheering them on none the less and praying for a miracle, but I’m not overly optimistic about a real run.

I’ll admit that I had a few other questionable calls, like having Chicago listed as one of the more successful teams, and Chivas as a sleeper to make a deep run, but I think they’re border line enough that I don’t need to chastise myself for those.

In the spirit of making predictions that I can later catch flack for I’m going to make the following first-round playoff predictions:

Columbus tops Real Salt Lake 3-1 on aggregate (1-1 @ Rio Tinto and 2-0 @ Crew Stadium)

Chicago tops New England 2-1 on aggregate (1-0 @ Gillette and 2-0 @ Toyota Park…please let me be wrong)

Seattle tops Houston 3-1 on aggregate (2-0 @ Qwest and 1-1 @ Robertson)

Los Angeles tops Chivas 4-1 on aggregate (2-0 and 2-1)

Legal Week has published a video of a very interesting discussion between Dr. Richard Susskind and Leah Cooper, Rio Tinto’s Managing Attorney, of Rio Tinto’s June 2009 decision to outsource certain of its legal services to the outsourcing firm CPA Global.

The discussion discloses much interesting information about Rio Tinto’s motivations for outsourcing, and about the details of its outsourcing arrangement, particularly respecting quality control.

The potential implications for law firms and legal education, of this kind of outsourcing arrangement seem quite substantial. Rio Tinto’s use of outsourcing seems consistent with the trends identified by Dr. Susskind in his 2008 book, The End of Lawyers?. (See background and commentary on the book here.)

Legal services outsourcing is relevant to legal informatics because such outsourcing is a key context for legal information processing, and often involves the use or development of new legal information technologies.

HT @complexd.

If you are thinking about working with a Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) vendor, you will generally do well to evaluate vendors with the assumption that your relationship with the selected vendor(s) will be a long-term relationship and not simply a single transaction.  Even if you are seeking a vendor for a discrete instance of work (e.g., a privilege review of documents for a single piece of litigation), you are likely to have recurring instances of similar work, and may want to outsource them again in the future.  By investing the resources up front to make sure that the right vendor is selected, you can save potential future costs by (i) minimizing the likelihood of incompetent or otherwise inappropriate vendors, (ii) having selected an alternative vendor in the event a primary vendor is conflicted out or otherwise unavailable, and (iii) having selected a vendor that has the desire and ability to grow with your needs.  In forming a relationship with a vendor, I generally recommend that clients establish a dedicated team at the vendor to service their needs.

Law firms in the U.K. seem more prepared to accept and manage LPO teams than their U.S. counterparts (or perhaps they are more willing to do so publically?).  As a result, U.K. firms seem to be developing more holistic relationships.  The widely publicized deals between Rio Tinto & CPA Global (see Times of London article by Richard Susskind), and Simmons & Simmons and Integreon (see article in The Lawyer) are two examples.  U.S. clients have typically been more focused on transactional discovery work. 

As an LPO client, the benefits of conducting a relationship with permanent, dedicated resources are ultimately related to quality.  Ideally, you will gain a vendor account representative who understands your needs and a core team of professionals dedicated to your matters.  A core team will learn your processes, procedures, tastes, and eccentricities, resulting in faster turnaround, fewer errors (errors include “missed preferences”), and lower costs.  In addition to familiarity with your practice processes and procedures, dedicated teams also allow outsourced staff to become familiar with the substantive and procedural law affecting your legal work, whether that law governs Delaware, New York or England. A dedicated team will also allow you to take an incremental approach to outsourcing by experimenting and gradually increasing the mandate of offshore resources.  If a significant one-time transaction suddenly arises, you – and your LPO vendor – will be much better prepared to take it on quickly and efficiently.

For vendors there are multiple benefits to a long-term relationship: predictable revenues, a client coordinator (i.e. sales person/manager), the ability to better anticipate resource needs, and a set of standardized roles and services that can be used develop talent and manage growth.  All of these benefits serve to incent the vendor to work more collaboratively with your team and to provide a high level of service and ensure a continuing relationship.

There are, of course, potential downsides to establishing a relationship with an LPO vendor or vendors.  When you send work to an outside vendor, particularly one in a different country, you lose a measure of control.  The best way to mitigate the uncertainty associated with a loss of control is by starting with a small initiative, and incrementally increasing the use of LPO as trust and comfort builds.   Another potential downside is that vendors with an established revenue stream may become complacent, and may not work as hard to earn your future business.  At the current stage of the LPO industry, I don’t think any LPO vendor can afford to be casual with any of their client relationships, no matter how well established.  However, there is always the risk that a relationship will not work out, so make sure that your contracts provide exit clauses, and that you have a plan to transfer your processes and data back in-house, should that become necessary.

Clients will always need to make sure that vendors can meet their needs, but when clients and vendors maintain a continuous, cooperative relationship, the lessons from the BPO and IT industries show that benefits can accrue to both parties.

SYDNEY (AFP) –

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto doubled its stake in Canada’s Ivanhoe to nearly 20 percent on Wednesday, just weeks after the two companies signed off on a landmark Mongolian copper-gold project.

Rio spent some 388 million US dollars on the new investment, raising its share of ownership by 9.8 percent to 19.7 percent, a statement said.

Rio said it would own 43.1 percent of Ivanhoe if it converted all of its warrants and securities, adding that it had “no present intention” of increasing its stake further.

Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto this month sealed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Mongolia to develop the Oyu Tolgoi mine, one of the world’s richest copper deposits.

The project about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Chinese border, is expected to produce 450,000 tonnes of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold annually over 35 years.

Copyright © 2009 …

See the full post at Rio Tinto doubles Ivanhoe stake to nearly 20 pct

From the Salt Lake Tribune: 

Although those tailings could sweep across State Road 201 like a “violent and intense” flash flood in a 7.25-magnitude temblor, an independent investigation has determined that the slurry likely would stop before reaching any homes or buildings.

If a major earthquake strikes the Salt Lake Valley, Kennecott’s mine-tailings impoundment on the northern edge of Magna could fail and spill soupy sediment more than twice as far as the copper company had predicted.

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, Utah.  The tailings impoundment is located north of Magna and stores an estimated 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes.  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. 

The Tribune published a 1997 confidential memo, written by Ray D. Gardner, former Chief Legal Officer for Kennecott, that is highly critical of the company’s handling of the potential tailings disaster:  “Prior management’s decisions to disregard and conceal legal advice, forego public notice, attempt to establish a residential buffer surreptitiously, collude with the State Engineer to withhold the KL studies from the public, and restrict the distribution of the Reduction Study, collectively and individually, give the appearance of a conspiracy to cover-up a profound threat to public safety.”

During the cover-up, G. Frank Joklik was Kennecott’s president and CEO (1980 to 1993).  Joklik, now a mining consultant, is currently on the board of directors for Prime Meridian Resources (PMR), a mining firm seeking to develop several metallic mineral deposits in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

To read more about what Joklik and Kennecott did to cover up the tailings dam threat, go to the Lake Superior Mining News‘ coverage of the scandal:  Kennecott Hides Potential for Deadly Tailings Disaster

Australien hat einige der weltgrößten Goldminen wie hier die Kalgoorlie Mine von Barrick Gold hervorgebracht

Goldexperten machen sich Sorgen: Denn im vergangenen Jahrzehnt wurde nur eine Handvoll großer neuer Goldfunde gemacht. Vor allem, weil die aussichtsreichsten und am besten zu erreichenden Vorkommen bereits vor längerer Zeit entdeckt und ausgebeutet wurde. Eine neue Realität, die langfristig zu deutlich höheren Goldpreisen führen könnte.

Der Mangel an neuen Goldfunden von Weltklasseniveau entwickelt bereits Auswirkungen auf die Bilanzen in der Minenbranche. Seit dem Höhepunkt 2001 ist die weltweite Goldproduktion um fast 5 Prozent pro Jahr gefallen – obwohl sich der Goldpreis seither mehr als verdreifacht hat. Noch deutlicher fällt der Abwärtstrend in Nord Amerika aus. Dort ist die Produktion in den letzten zehn Jahren von 17,06 Millionen Unzen 1998 auf 10,59 Millionen Unzen 2008 zurück gegangen.

Teil des Problems ist, dass in der Vergangenheit an Gold reiche Gegenden wie der Abitibi Greenstone Belt im Osten Kanadas und der Carlin Trend in Nevada in den letzten Jahren keine wirklich großen Goldfudne vorweisen konnten. Die Geologen der Branche können auf immer weniger unerforschtes geologisches Terrain zugreifen, das Potenzial besitzt, wirklich gigantische Vererzungen zu beherbergen. Der größte Teil der Welt wurde schon viele Male von Explorationsgeologen untersucht, erklären Experten.

Was dazu führt, dass die Goldexplorationsbranche sich nun an die letzten geologischen Grenzgebiete machen muss. Wobei es sich oft um gerade erst entstehende Demokratien handelt, die hohe geopolitische Risiken aufweisen. Wie zum Beispiel die Mongolei. Dort hat einer der wenigen Weltklassefunde der letzten Jahre lange Zeit kaum Fortschritte gemacht, da die Regierung immer wieder die Entwicklung verzögerte. Erst nach sechs langen Jahren erhielt das Rio Tinto und Ivanhoe Mines gemeinsam gehörende Gold- und Kupferprojekt Oyu Tolgoi diesen Monat grünes Licht und konnte die in die Minenentwicklungsphase eintreten.

Doch die Aussicht auf riesige Goldfunde in entlegenen Regionen der Welt hat schon immer eine große Anziehungskraft auf Anleger ausgeübt, die es lieben zu spekulieren. Entsprechend konnten die Juniors der Bergbaubranche –Explorer und Entwickler und nicht Unternehmen, die bereits Minen bauen – allein an den kanadischen Wagniskapitalmärkten zwischen 2003 und 2008 fürstliche 37 Milliarden kanadische Dollar aufnehmen, wie Daten von Analysten zeigen.
 
Doch trotz dieser Flut an spekulativem Kapital wurde in den letzten sechs bis sieben Jahren nach Ansicht der Experten nur eine wirklich epische Goldentdeckung gemacht. Das 2006 von dem kleinen kanadischen Explorer Aurelian Resources aufgespürte Fruta del Norte-Vorkommen verfügt mittlerweile über 13,7 Millionen Unzen hochgradigen Goldes und über 22,4 Millionen Unzen Silber. Und es könnte noch Jahre dauern, bis diese Minen in Betrieb geht, da sich die ekuadorianische Regierung immer wieder einmischt.

Vielleicht sind nicht alle wirklich großen Goldfunde bereits gemacht, doch es wird immer schwerer, sie aufzuspüren und zu entwickeln. Vor allem auch auf Grund immer strikterer Gesetze zum Umweltschutz auf dem ganzen Globus, die viele Projekte unwirtschaftlich machen.

Ein weiteres Hindernis auf dem Weg zur Steigerung der Goldreserven untertage ist die Tatsache, dass die Errichtung neuer, großer Minen sich in der Regel über Jahre hinzieht. Und natürlich, dass die Kosten dafür in den letzten Jahren deutlich gestiegen sind. Zudem verlangen viele Investoren jetzt, da die Goldpreise ein Rekordhoch nach dem anderen erreichen, von den Juniors der Branche, ihre Ressourcen im Boden so schnell wie möglich nachweisen. Weshalb sich diese Unternehmen verstärkt darauf konzentrieren, bestehende Lagerstätten zu aktualisieren und die Ressourcen in höhere Kategorien zu überführen, anstatt den längeren Weg zu gehen und Grasswurzelfunde methodisch voranzubringen.

Und viele der aussichtsreichen Goldlagerstätten, die zum Teil seit Mitte der 90er auf Grund des niedrigen Goldpreises auf Eis gelegen haben, hätten nun die Chance wieder zum Leben zu erwachen. Das Rennen um die Kommerzialisierung der besten Projekte ist eröffnet und ein kleiner Teil davon könnte eines Tages richtig viel Geld einbringen. Nicht alle Bemühungen aber waren von Erfolg gekrönt.

In den vergangenen Jahren aber gab es eine Handvoll Erfolgsgeschichten. Beispielsweise im Fall der Exeter Ressource Corporation, die das Weltklassekupfer- und Goldprojekt Caspiche entwickelt. Das Unternehmen sorgte für einiges an Aufsehen, als man im September eine aktualisierte Ressourcenschätzung von 19,8 Millionen Unzen Gold, 137 Millionen Unzen silber und 4,8 Milliarden Pfund Kupfer meldete. Nach Ansicht der Analysten von Canaccord Adams hat das Caspiche-Vorkommen alle Anzeichen einer wirklich signifikanten Entdeckung.

Gleichzeitig weisen andere Branchenbeobachter darauf hin, dass gerade die ganz großen der Goldbranche ständig darum kämpfen, ihre ausgebeuteten Reserven zu ersetzen. Insbesondere Erz mit hohen Goldgehalten, dessen Bestand oft gerade zu einem Zeitpunkt deutlich verringert wurde, als Gold deutliche weniger einbrachte als derzeit.

Man muss bedenken, dass die drei größten Goldproduzente der Welt – Barrick Gold, Anglogold Ashanti und Newmont Mining allein jeweils zwischen 5 und 8 Millionen Unzen Gold pro Jahr produzieren. Das bedeutet: Eigentlich müssten sie pro jahr mindestens ein neues mehrere Millionen Unzen lieferndes Vorkommen in Produktion, nur um diesen Ausstoß auszugleichen. Aber das gelingt ihnen nicht.

Und auch die anhaltend über der Marke von 1.000 US-Dollar je Unze notieren den Goldpreise sorgen nicht dafür, dass die Entwicklungszeit von Minen von 3 bis 7 Jahren wesentlich reduziert wird, da diese zu einem großen Teil auch von regulatorischen Dingen abhängt. Dieses Szenario wird zweifelsohne dafür sorgen, dass die Goldpreise in absehbarer Zukunft auf hohem Niveau verweilen und wahrscheinlich noch weiter ansteigen. Gute Nachrichten also für Mineunternehmen, die über Reserven und/oder Ressourcen verfügen, die damit immer wertvoller werden.

Disclaimer: Die hier angebotenen Artikel stellen keine Kauf- bzw. Verkaufsempfehlungen dar, weder explizit noch implizit sind sie als Zusicherung etwaiger Kursentwicklungen zu verstehen, jedwege Haftung diesbezüglich wird ausgeschlossen. Dies gilt insbesondere für unvollständige oder falsch wiedergegebene Meldungen, falsche Kursangaben und redaktionelle Versehen. Die Artikel und Berichte dienen ausschließlich der Information der Leser und stellen keine wie immer geartete Handlungsaufforderung dar. Zwischen dem Autor und den Lesern dieser Artikel entsteht keinerlei Vertrags- und/oder Beratungsverhältnis.

Sticker distributed before meeting by Rio Tinto's Senior Advisor for Government and Community Relations, Chantae Lessard

West Ishpeming, Michigan - Last week Rio Tinto’s head spokesperson for the proposed Eagle Mine, Deb Muchmore, informed AP that she is the new spokeswoman for a “citizen” campaign:  Citizens to Protect Michigan Jobs.  Today’s public meeting regarding Rio Tinto’s proposed haul road, for the mine, featured public comment from a number of current and potential Rio Tinto employees, many sporting pro-road stickers passed out by Chantae Lessard, Senior Advisor for Government and Community Relations for Rio Tinto.

The organizing effort paid off for the company with a large turnout in support of the project and, as is the case at any meeting concerning the proposed mine, jobs were a main talking point among Rio Tinto supporters with high unemployment, locally and statewide, cited as an incentive to approve the road plan.  Details of perceived employment benefits were not outlined.

While advertised as a “multi-use” road that would benefit the logging, gravel and tourism industries, and only incidentally the mining industry, the road, as designed, goes from the proposed Eagle Mine to the proposed milling facility, in Humboldt, the project will not get off the ground if Rio Tinto can’t use it as part of its mining operations and the company is paying the entire $50 million cost to build the new road.

On September 29, Rio Tinto’s chief operating officer for the haul road project, Ken Wooley, insisted that the road was not specifically for the proposed Eagle Mine:  “The road is not tied to the mine. This is truly a multi-use road.”

At today’s meeting, Mark Holmes, a concerned citizen, said , “As of right now it [the road] has nothing to do with the mine – although in the future it might have.”

However, the Marquette County Road Commission was not sure if the road would move forward regardless of whether the Eagle Mine would go in or not.  Darryll Sundberg asked Rio Tinto’s lobbyist and community relations manager, Matt Johnson, “is this road going to be built whether or not the mine goes through?”

Johnson said that “depending on whether or not the mine goes in” Rio Tinto would have to consult with other partners in the project to decide whether or not the road should move forward.

Adrian Baker, from Big Bay, told the commission that while the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken at the beginning of the meeting,  “this country was not founded on catering to British business interests.”  Baker showed the audience that Marquette County will actually lose tax money with Rio Tinto’s plan to build a new road, rather than use existing roadways, to much laughter from the audience.

One man, claiming to represent “the tourism industry” said that Lindberg & Sons, the contractor planned to build Rio Tinto’s road, has “been building state and federal highways for years.  I can’t imagine that they couldn’t build a quality road that would meet the county road commission’s specifications.”

According to an expose by the New York Times, Lindberg & Sons is one of few known violators of the federal Clean Water Act in Marquette County.

Safety concerns weren’t addressed at the meeting.  According to a confusing statement on Rio Tinto’s website, the company believes that using existing roadways would be safer for the public than building a new road:

“Ore-carrying trucks, familiar to area residents, would likely follow the AAA and County Road 510 to County Road 550 to area rail connections, which would then transport the ore to existing offsite processing facilities. Use of existing truck routes will help ensure public safety and minimize burden on area roads.”

Jackie Koski, Humboldt Township trustee assured the commission that the township was in full support of Rio Tinto’s project, while Deb Pellow and Bob Struck indicated that the Marquette County Board was also in full support of the project.

Michigamme Township supervisor, John Olson, expressed his township’s support of the project.  A visibly agitated Olson said that it is “ironic” that mine opponents drove to the meeting in metal cars and noted that he saw “two people” talking on cell phones outside of the meeting hall.

“How do they get here if they don’t use mining projects to get here,” said Olson.

According to Rio Tinto’s John Meier, the company plans to fill in wetlands to construct the road over the Yellow Dog River, Mulligan Creek, Wildcat Canyon Creek, the Dead River, Voelkers Creek, Koops Creek, Second Creek and the Middle Branch of the Escanaba River.