Another SHOCKING mining development in Zambia (Australian Company)

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi guys.
Sorry to be flagging this up here as well.
Please do read this post on Africa Geographic Magazine's blog.
http://blog.africageographic.com/afr...battle-begins/

It seems an Australian resource company is about to open an OPEN CAST COPPER MINE in the middle of the Lower Zambezi National Park! This comes on the back of mining developments which are being challenged by environmental groups in the Mana Pools National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Zimbabwe. Big corporates are showing less and less regard for Africa's natural heritage and are using the famously corrupt African political and tender-award system for their own gain (what's new, right?) - only most of these corporates always talk a big game when it comes to SHERQ issues and environmental sustainability. It seems that the investors in this company are not told in ANY of the press releases related to this mine about the fact that it's situated inside an important National Park.

Maybe some of our Ozzie BPN members can share these facts and this post with people in the circles that matter in their own country???

[Andre van As]

Morkel
It is indeed a travesty particularly as none of the mineral resources of Zambia have been commercialized to the benefit of the population since the British pulled out of the country on Oct 24th 1964. After that Chiluba's privatisation of the mines backfired when investors closed operations and since then nothing happened internally. Now with the price of copper at an all time high the multinationals naturally want to capitalize on this easy resource. It will be an uphill battle to compare the revenue from mining with that from a game reserve. Certainly a large chunk of money will change hands at the "administrative" level and some Swiss bank accounts will swell. But very few Zambians will benefit apart from salaries that may be comparable to those of the miners at Marikana which is run from London.
So how does one change this? Apart from those few of us really care about nature very few people have the empathy that we have. Perhaps some intense lobbying at the local, international and UN level to extend the boundaries of the Lower Zambezi National Park may compensate for the loss of game habitat somewhat. Certainly the company needs to be forced to set aside a portion of the profits to restore the landscape when they have finally depleted the copper reserves - which is a worthwhile long term goal. I visited the Gorongosa park in 1962, where I did my first big game photography, and was dismayed to learn about the mass slaughter of animals during the time when Frelimo was fighting for the independence of the country. However apparently the region has rebounded due to the reintroduction of game from RSA and other regions. So in the long term there is hope but in the medium term what happens to the Zambians when copper is depleted and they all go back to square 1. So another initiative will be to induce the mines to reinvest in the education, health and environment of the country so they leave something behind and the people can enjoy their natural resources. As individuals we can all visit the region and speak to local administrators and let our feelings be known.

Regards

Andre

[Hilary Hann]

Morkel, some of us tried very hard when first we heard about this which was sometime last year I think. If I had more clout maybe the message would have gone somewhere useful. :(

[Morkel Erasmus]

It looks like some sanity has prevailed (can you believe it!). I wonder if the furore surrounding this was partially responsible.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8KCG3K20120912

[Steve Uffman]

It looks like some sanity has prevailed (can you believe it!). I wonder if the furore surrounding this was partially responsible.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8KCG3K20120912

Much better story now! Let's hope it sticks

[Andre van As]

Hi Morkel
Thanks for sharing this - indeed very good news. I hope this stays in place as we are literally putting a lot of pressure on other species.

Regards

Andre

[Morkel Erasmus]

Indeed Andre. I can only hope the same happens to the current mining threats to Mana Pools...
See the facebook group http://www.facebook.com/savemana for more info