Activists Send Message at Massey Energy Hearing: “Coal is Dangerous” via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Tiffany’s Botswana Operation via Timbuktu Chronicles
In the WSJ:In a windowless factory in this African village, Tiffany is teaching more than 80 workers to transform raw diamonds into gems for Tiffany engagement rings...Sitting at workstations arranged by task, bruters round the diamond pieces. Polishers add top and bottom facets, looking at magnified images of their diamonds captured by a lens near the whirring polishing wheel.On the factory floor on a recent afternoon, a worker learning to make facets walked over to a Laurelton-designed training machine to double-check an angle. When he set the diamond in the protractor, a display flashed 35.2 degrees. Over the whir of grinding wheels, Mr. Hanna nodded in approval.More hereRead related Benin Epilogue post on Africa's diamondsPhoto courtesy of the...
Lisa Jackson’s Reaction To Mountaintop Removal Activist Lock Down At EPA via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Philadelphia activists rally & risk arrest to tell the EPA no more MTR via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Finesse Diamonds and adding value via Timbuktu Chronicles
Alex Twersky of Finesse Diamond Company outlines the challenges and benefits of manufacturing finished stones in Namibia, where ninety percent of their globally sourced stones are cut.Regarding the beneficiation strategy he stated:The biggest thing to be aware of is it is going to take a lot longer than you think it will, even if you have the best people working on it, to make beneficiation work. There are so many obstacles—to manage it and oversee production in a place with no history of it—it keeps the operation not as competitive globally and that takes a lot timeStill, that’s where the future is, and in some ways, it will create more balance and equity of wealth distribution in Africa, which has contributed much to our diamond industry.More herePhoto courtesy of Fair Trade...
ALERT! Resource Boom in Peru’s Amazon Threatens Indigenous Peoples’ Livelihoods and Their Rainforest Homes via Forest Protection Blog
By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal with Rainforest Rescue
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!
Support tens of thousands of indigenous people bravely protesting Peru government's give-away of their rainforest homes [search] to oil, mining and logging industry without their approval; insist peaceful protests are not met with violence by President Alan Garcia's government, and that the focus for Amazonian development be upon benefiting from standing trees and intact rainforest ecosystems.
BRIEF BACKGROUND:
Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon are protesting investment laws passed under a free-trade pact with the United States and against concessions granted to foreign energy companies. Some 30,000 indigenous people have blockaded roads, rivers and railways to demand repeal... ALERT! Resource Boom in Peru’s Amazon Threatens Indigenous Peoples’ Livelihoods and Their Rainforest Homes via Earth Blog
By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal with Rainforest Rescue
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!
Support tens of thousands of indigenous people bravely protesting Peru government's give-away of their rainforest homes to oil, mining and logging industry without their approval; insist peaceful protests are not met with violence by President Alan Garcia's government, and that the focus for Amazonian development be upon benefiting from standing trees and intact rainforest ecosystems.
BRIEF BACKGROUND:
Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon are protesting investment laws passed under a free-trade pact with the United States and against concessions granted to foreign energy companies. Some 30,000 indigenous people have blockaded roads, rivers and railways to demand repeal of new laws that... Minjingu Mines and Fertilizer via Timbuktu Chronicles
African Science News reports on the ambitions of Minjingu Organic Hyper Phosphate:The company plans to produce more than one million tonnes of the natural fertilizer by 2015 for both local consumption and export...When production in the plants starts the company located about 100 km from Arusha will be in a position to export the much needed fertilizers to partners states of the East African...
Mintek & Small Scale Mining via Timbuktu Chronicles
Mintek a mineral research organisation "...supports the small-scale mining (SSM) sector through research and development of appropriate technologies, and by providing training and support so that development can be as sustainable as possible even though based on limited...
Constelor Resources via Timbuktu Chronicles
"Liberating Africa's True Resource Potential" is the tagline of Constelor Resources a diversified Pan African Mining company founded by Paulo Gomes co-founder of AFIG Funds covered earlier.The company's aim is "...to maximize African ownership and participation in the benefits of developing the Continents vast mineral...
Mwana Africa via Timbuktu Chronicles
Founded by Kalaa Mpinga and funded by hedge funds, Mwana Africa "...is a pan-African resources company which was established in October 2005. It is the first African-owned, African-managed business in this sector to be listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investments Market...
A girl’s best friend? via Light in the Heart of Darkness
I was having a few beers and roasted goat with some workmates at a Kinshasa terrace last night, when for the first time since I came to Africa, a hawker wandered over to us to display his pricey wares: raw diamonds. Friends from my Namibia days will remember my indignation at having never been offered diamonds (am I that scruffy-looking?!), but in truth, I am not one for glittering rocks.Amnesty International offers these words on the diamond trade:To many people, diamonds symbolize love, happiness or wealth. However, for many others, they mean conflict, misery and poverty. In some African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, profits from the unregulated diamond trade are used to fund armed conflicts. As a result, tens of thousands of civilians have over the past years...