CHARTS: The coming critical minerals trade war is BRICS short of a load
"While a large number of countries around the world continue to talk about securing raw material supply, China is actually doing something about it."
Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) (TSX:NM), one of the world’s top five gold miners by production, reserves and market capitalization, is facing a lawsuit that challenges its licence to Australia’s largest underground gold mine, Cadia Far East.
According to The Land, the permit was granted by New South Wales power broker and former politician, Edward Obeid, and it is likely to drag Newcrest into a high-profile corruption scandal, involving authorities from the NSW mines department.
Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating the circumstances surrounding a decision made in 2008, by the then Minister for Primary Industries and Minister for Mineral Resources, Ian Macdonald, to open a mining area in the Bylong Valley for coal exploration. The probe aims to also unveil whether Obeid influenced the verdict, dubbed “Operation Jasper.”
In October the Australian Financial Review ran a story that covered claims by a small exploration company, Gold and Copper Resources, that Newcrest had been mining in the Cadia/Ridgeway area without a mining licence, which the firm denied in a statement.
This morning, the Sydney Morning Herald said it has actually obtained a claim served to Newcrest on the issue. The lawsuit questions the legality of the mining licence itself as well as the leases covering the underground mine.
Even if those mining rights are lawfully justifiable, the ongoing ICAC investigation is likely to include a review of all approvals granted by Obeid, Macdonald as well as those by former planning minister Tony Kelly.
Newcrest operates mines in four countries, and has a global workforce exceeding 19,000 employees.
Image: Making a tackle in a game of Rugby, Brisbane. By State Library of Queensland, Australia.
3 Comments
Tim
Not sure what the New Zealand All Blacks playing rugby in Queensland has to do with this story about New South Wales, but thanks anyway. It looks like the ABs are about to set up the switch back inside and score under the posts!
alan
I dont want the underground gold. I want the Placer gold. Much much cooler
Undergroundminer
Great, we will all stick with the underground. Bigger volume than a simple surface claim.