Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
After a week of protests, Spanish coal miners have decided to go on indefinite strike amid fears their entire industry is about to go to the wall, after the government slashed the coal’s sector subsidy by two-thirds, reports ABC Spain.
The two biggest Spanish unions, the CCOO and UGT, have called a massive demonstration for Friday, in Madrid, where hundreds of miners coming from all over the country are expected to meet to demand the government to reconsider its decision.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government’s budget for 2012 reduced total subsidies to the coal sector to $142 million from the $374 allocated last year.
About 40 coal mines remain open in Spain, employing nearly 8,000 people, mostly in the industrialized north.
In the last two decades, the coal industry in Spain has lost 40,000 workers.
