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MINING

Swiss mining giant plans Philippine project exit

Swiss mining giant Glencore Xstrata is expected to pull out of a $5.9 billion gold-copper mining project in the Philippines, its Australian partner Indophil said.

Published: 1 February 2014 08:21 CET
Swiss mining giant plans Philippine project exit
Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Melbourne-based Indophil Resources NL said in a quarterly report released this week that "Glencore Xstrata has advised Indophil of its preference to pursue divestment of its interest in Tampakan."

"All indications point to Glencore Xstrata seeking to divest its majority interest in the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project," the report added.

It said that a possible divestment of the Tampakan project had been under consideration since April 2013, seen as necessary in order to fulfil conditions set by the Chinese government to approve the merger of commodities giant Glencore and the mining company Xstrata.

Glencore Xstrata also announced in September that it was no longer focusing on "greenfield" mines started from scratch – such as the Tampakan site – preferring to work on existing mines instead.

The Indophil report conceded that the Tampakan project, located in the troubled southern island of Mindanao, had run into problems, chiefly the provincial government's ban on open-pit mining which delayed the start of development.

The mine would be the Philippines' largest ever foreign investment but it has faced opposition from church, community and environmental groups and would require numerous other government and community permits to be obtained.

In August, 2013, Glencore Xstrata said it was laying off nearly all workers at the Tampakan project amid continued delays.

Indophil said in its quarterly report that the company and its local partners "remain optimistic that the pathways for the development of Tampakan will be cleared."

Glencore Xstrata owns 62.5 percent and Indophil owns 37.5 percent of a joint venture that holds a 40-percent controlling stake in Sagittarius Mines, Inc., which operates the Tampakan project.

Glencore Xstrata was also providing the "technical, financial and managerial resources for the development of the Tampakan Project," the Sagittarius Mines website said.

The Indophil statement did not say how the divestment would be carried out. 

But it stressed that "with Indophil holding a strategic pre-emptive right over Glencore Xstrata's interest, Indophil has a considerable 'say' in any Tampakan divestment process."

"We will work with Glencore Xstrata to assist in meeting objectives for the project," the report added.

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MINING

Spain’s vast supplies of untapped rare minerals pit environmentalists against high-tech

Spain's untapped rare earths (the second biggest supply in Europe) are stoking tensions between mining companies and environmentalists over fears of the devastating impact of extracting minerals considered essential for a high-tech and low-carbon economy.

Published: 7 October 2021 12:07 CEST
Spain's vast supplies of untapped rare minerals pit environmentalists against high-tech
Rare earths are essential in a range of high-tech products key to combatting climate change. Photo: Christophe ARCHAMBAULT/AFP

The group of 17 minerals are — despite their name — widely distributed across the globe, but exist in such thin concentrations that extracting even small quantities requires the processing of enormous quantities of ore.

Still, they are key ingredients in a range of high-tech and cutting-edge products, from wind turbines and electric vehicles to smart phones, medical devices and missile-guidance systems.

With China having a stranglehold on global supply and demand surging to meet the transition to a low-carbon economy, the political pressure – and financial incentive – to put strategic interests ahead of the environment is growing.

“Spain has the largest amount of rare earths in Europe after Finland. There is real potential,” said Vicente Gutiérrez Peinador, president of the National Confederation of Mining and Metallurgy Companies (Confedem).

Ninety-eight percent of the rare earths used in the EU are imported from China, prompting Brussels to recently urge member states to develop their own extraction capacities.

Spain’s reserves are estimated at 70,000 tonnes, according to the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain.

“On a global level this is not much, but on a European scale it is significant,” said Roberto Martínez, head of mineral resources at the institute.

‘Opportunity for Spain’

And it is enough to arouse the interest of investors as demand for the minerals continues to surge.

“It is an opportunity for Spain,” said Confedem’s Peinador, but also “for Europe”.

“Two sites in particular are considered interesting: one in Monte Galineiro, in Galicia,” and the other in the province of Ciudad Real, in the Castilla y Leon region, said Martinez.

Only the 240-hectare (590-acre) Matamulas site in Ciudad Real has so far been the subject of an application to mine.

The site is rich in monazite — an ore containing rare earth minerals including thorium, lanthanum and cerium.

A cyclist wears a protective face mask while riding along a dusty roadv where dozens of factories processing rare earths
China has a stranglehold on global supply of rare earths — along with the environmental devastation their extraction creates Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP

However, the project has been blocked: the region refused the mining permit filed by Madrid-based Quantum Mineria in 2019 due to concerns about its environmental impact.

“This deposit is located in an area of great environmental value”, between two protected areas, said Elena Solis, coordinator for mining issues of the NGO Ecologists in Action.

It would involve “moving an astronomical amount of earth, which would put the whole area at risk”, said Solis, who also pointed to the “enormous amount of water” needed for this operation and the risk of pollution by toxic or even radioactive dust.

Holes filled in

These arguments were rejected by the company, which lodged a legal appeal.

The refusal of the permit “is incomprehensible” because “we are in a territory considered suitable for mining” by the administration, said Enrique Burkhalter, project director of Quantum Mineria, who denounced “unfounded fears” around the proposal.

According to the company, the extraction would take place on the surface, using a technique that limits the risk of toxic dust: the earth would be transported by truck to a factory, then sieved and finally returned to the site, once the minerals have been removed.

“It is not an open pit… The holes would be quickly filled in so that the crops could be cultivated again,” said Burkhalter.

These arguments are in turn rejected by Ecologists in Action, which believes that the land concerned will be permanently affected.

What will the courts say?

Beyond their differences, industrialists and environmentalists agree on the importance of the court’s decision, which could make or break the extraction projects.

The ruling, expected in several months’ time, will be “important” but “will not put an end to the debate”, said Martinez, who pointed to a paradox inherent in mining: “On paper, everyone wants to reduce external dependence, but as soon as we talk about concrete projects, it’s a different matter.”

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