World Bank and Others Poised to Invest in Rio Tinto’s Flawed Mongolian Mining Project
September 24, 2012
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — The World Bank Board of Directors has announced plans to consider a copper and gold mining project in the Mongolian South Gobi desert even though the Bank itself acknowledges that there is not enough water in the region to support the life of the Project. Despite ongoing community opposition to Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi mine and its associated facilities (“OT Project”), the World Bank is considering a financing package of US$900 million in loans and up to US$1 billion in political risk insurance for the OT Project in early November.
The EBRD in Mongolia: Economic diversity is something else
September 18, 2012
Investment data for Mongolia illustrates that without improving the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s plans for the mining sector, the bank may add to the dependence on raw materials exports in resource rich countries.
Lonely advocacy at Kolubara lignite mine
June 28, 2012
On a visit to the Kolubara mining complex in Serbia, Bankwatch staff was denied a meeting with the mining company, because of them caring for the environment.
Mining in protected areas, an update on Kumtor and Centerra Gold
March 28, 2012
Centerra Gold is being criticised for its activities in protected areas at the Kumtor gold mine and at another project in Mongolia. More lessons to be learnt for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Out of left field: A Kyrgyz inspiration for the EBRD
February 23, 2012
Following the publication of one official and one shadow report on the Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyz authorities have responded to the calls of Bankwatch and other environmental groups to take a tougher stance on the Kumtor mining operations. The EBRD should follow their example.
Earth’s riches, people’s troubles. Mining in Central Asia
January 31, 2012
Two new reports and two videos on the impacts of mining operations in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia unearth some of the downsides of the mining business in Central Asia.
Video: Spirited away – Mongolia’s mining boom and the people that development left behind
January 27, 2012
Earlier this week we published an overview of two Central Asian mining projects financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and the Ukhaa Khudag coal mine in Mongolia’s south Gobi desert, which is part of the much larger – in fact the world’s largest – coal deposit at Tavan Tolgoi.
Rushing into gold can leave people behind, EBRD
January 25, 2012
A look at mining projects in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia reveal a need to carefully revise the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s involvement in the exploitation of natural resources.
Did the glimmer of gold blind the EBRD?
October 11, 2011
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has become a stakeholder in a company that is involved in gold mining in a UNESCO World Heritage site in Russia. Not only does this violate its own Environmental and Social Policy, but it also tells me a lot about the bank’s assessment of partner companies.
Bankwatch co-production on Kyrgyz gold mine wins at DOK Leipzig while EBRD sights financing for company featured in the film
October 26, 2010
During last weeks internationally-renowned 53rd Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, DOK Leipzig, Bankwatch’s most recent co-production about the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan All that Glitters collected two awards: the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk award for an excellent Eastern European documentary film and the Healthy Workplaces Film Award for the best documentary film about the subject of work.
