Currently many international mining companies, including companies from China, are beating a path to Mongolia in hopes of gaining access to some of that country’s vast mineral resources. International mining companies are also being courted by China as well. China too has vast, untapped mineral resources of its own for development. However, in many cases China lacks the technical expertise to exploit its mineral wealth economically, and it lacks the technical expertise to mine these resources with more environmentally methods than have been used in the past. But, before international mining companies commit to working with the Chinese to develop the natural resources in mainland China and in Inner Mongolia where the bulk of China’s rare earth deposits are located, they should take note that they will be facing increasingly tough environmental laws.
In an article posted on the Reuters website (
www.reuters.com
) released on October10, 2012, Reuters reports that,” China is expected to issue new guidelines by the end of the year to encourage metals miners to conserve domestic resources and to protect the environment This information came from Hu Changping, a director of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA).”
The Reuters article goes on to say, Hu Changping, who is the director of heavy metals at CNIA said, “Beijing aims to tighten the requirements on firms allowed to mines metals and will announce guidelines before the end of the year.”
“Copper, lead and zinc mines will be included”, Hu told Reuters…”Authorized firms would be required to submit mining projects to the Ministry of Land and Resources and also to receive approval from environmental authorities.
Currently there is a growing “sensitivity” to environmental issues in China. An Associated Press article in the Washington Post (
www.washingtonpost.com
) on November 12, 2012 reported this about the situation:
“BEIJING — The Chinese government will require that future industrial projects include assessments of their risk to social stability, following several large protests around the country over pollution, a top official said Monday.
The government will also increase transparency and public involvement in decisions regarding large projects with potential environmental impact, Minister for Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian told reporters on the sidelines of a Communist Party congress at which a new generation of leaders will be installed.
Pollution has become a major cause of unrest in China as members of the rising middle class become more outspoken against environmentally risky projects near them. The demonstrations are a reminder to the incoming generation of leaders that they face a public increasingly unwilling to accept environmental and health hazards as an inevitable consequence of breakneck, unbridled economic growth.
About a week before the party congress opened, thousands of residents in the eastern city of Ningbo gathered in front of the municipal government office and marched through the streets to protest against the proposed expansion of a petrochemical plant. It was the latest massive protest over fears of health risks from industrial projects —“
China is a major player in most commodities. In terms of scale and magnitude, China’s mining industry ranks third in the world, although production statistics are sketchy. Most of China’s mineral production is consumed locally by state owned enterprises or banks. The country has about 80,000 state-owned mining enterprises and 200 000 collectively owned mines. China is the world’s leading producer of gold and rare earth metals and they produce large amounts silver as well. There are many minerl resources in China to lure foreign mining companies into joint ventures with Chinese mining companies to develop them. The foreign mining companies however should be very cautious about entering into joint ventures before they have done their due diligence and consulted with legal counsel familiar with doing business and investing in China.
Hawkeye in China
– LEX Smith