Large stretches of salmon-spawning streams and thousands of acres of wetlands would be wiped out if a large-scale mining project were to be built in southwestern Alaska's copper-rich Bristol Bay region, according to a report issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The report, while not directly addressing it, is a potential blow to the massive Pebble copper and gold mine operation proposed by an international alliance of mining interests, and opposed by environmentalists and local native groups.

Large stretches of salmon-spawning streams and thousands of acres of wetlands would be wiped out if a large-scale mining project were to be built in southwestern Alaska's copper-rich Bristol Bay region, according to a report issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The report, while not directly addressing it, is a potential blow to the massive Pebble copper and gold mine operation proposed by an international alliance of mining interests, and opposed by environmentalists and local native groups.

Chile's Supreme Court suspended a key permit for Canadian miner Goldcorp Inc's El Morro copper-gold project, the latest setback for the controversial project and one of the biggest legal blows to a mining project in the world's top copper producer.

El Morro, Goldcorp's only major asset in Chile, had its environmental permit for the $3.9 billion project struck down in February by an appeals court at the request of an indigenous agricultural community. Chile's Supreme Court upheld the ruling on Friday.

A consortium of four state-owned Indian companies - SAIL, Nalco, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Corp - has been shortlisted to invest in new gold and copper deposits in Afghanistan. Two private players - Monnet Ispat & Energy and Jindal Steel & Power - have also made the cut, opening up the possibility of a public-private partnership for a strategic bid by the Indian metals majors.

The Indian companies are among the 25 chosen from 41 firms from the US, UK, Australia, Canada, UAE, Turkey and Afghanistan.

London Vedanta posted a drop in full-year iron ore output on Tuesday, hit by a ban on mining in Karnataka and logistical bottlenecks in Goa that dented one of its key profit contributors.

Iron ore, a steelmaking ingredient, is typically one of Vedanta’s most profitable products along with zinc, accounting for almost a third of profits, but output has been constrained in recent quarters by curbs to combat illegal mining.

The selected private party will hold 50 per cent stake in the projects, estimated to cost Rs 12.5 crore each, followed by 25 per cent each by the State and the Union governments.
Kolkata, Feb. 23:

The West Bengal government in collaboration with the Centre will set up e-waste dismantling facilities in the State on a public private partnership (PPP) basis.

MD assures portfolio of aluminium, copper will help the company in difficult times

Aluminium, on the London Metal Exchange (LME), has been falling since the beginning of the year. So has been the core earnings of Hindalco Industries and in turn, the profits. The company maintains that its two businesses, aluminium and copper, complement each other well. D Bhattacharya, managing director, Hindalco Industries, says,

Sterlite Industries has completed taking 23 out of the 30 environment protection measures mandated by the Supreme Court for its copper smelter plant at Tuticorin, officials of the company told visiting journalists on Saturday.

The plant has come under focus lights after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had ordered it shut citing grounds of pollution, which was subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court on the condition that the company would undertake specific environment protection measures.

Three Chinese companies are part of consortiums that have bagged Rs 1,800-crore worth of five contracts awarded by state-owned Hindustan Copper to raise its production four-fold to 12 million tonnes over the next five years. While Chinese companies are already building steel plants in India, it will be the first time that they will be involved in developing domestic copper mines.