Namibia and Malawi troubles for Australian uranium miner Paladin

Some of the issues pertain to female worker’s miscarriages; [CEO] Duvenhage’s apparent failure to engage with the union; the company’s reluctance to give workers a “single cent” for an annual increment; unfair performance bonuses; nepotism and corruption.

Australian-based Paladin Energy Ltd. (TSE:PDN) owns 100% interest in the mine.

Protests hit second largest uranium mine in Namibia http://www.mining.com/protests-hit-second-largest-uranium-mine-in-namibia-85919/ Vladimir Basov | July 2, 2013 About 300 workers, including mine staff and contractor employees, picketed at Langer Heinrich Uranium (LHU) mine last Thursday over pay and working conditions, The Namibian reported.

Workers and media were barred from the minesite where the demonstration was supposed to take place although the protesters had organized the peaceful demonstration at the beginning of last week and had announced it to the mine’s management.

As a result, all day shift buses were forced to stop inside the concession area where workers then had to disembark – about five kilometres away from the actual site. To their dismay, the protesters were forced to picket at the concession area. The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) branch executives felt that the mine’s management snubbed what it termed a legal and democratic action.

Werner Duvenhage LHU Managing Director (MD) was allegedly out of town but Hein Daiber, the mine’s Human Resources consultant, received the petition on behalf of the mine’s board of directors.

This protest follows another demonstration that was held two months ago during which a petition requesting the removal of Duvenhage was delivered.

Some of the issues pertain to female worker’s miscarriages; Duvenhage’s apparent failure to engage with the union; the company’s reluctance to give workers a “single cent” for an annual increment; unfair performance bonuses; nepotism and corruption.

“We demand that the interest of the marginalised workers of this mine must receive your urgent intervention,” the petition reads. “The interest of workers of LHU is overlooked and ignored intentionally with the purpose only known to the managing director Mr Werner Duvenhage. Different attempts to report this issue to different stakeholders has been exhausted, however, notwithstanding our endeavors to that extent, nothing has been addressed to this date.”

With 2,306 tonnes of uranium oxide produced in 2012, Langer Heinrich is the second largest uranium mine in Namibia, after Rössing.

Australian-based Paladin Energy Ltd. (TSE:PDN) owns 100% interest in the mine.

CEO John Borshoff doing very well thank you, despite Paladin’s uranium losses

Paladin boss earnings increase while Kayelekera cut jobs http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/02/14/paladin-boss-gets-massive-pay-hike-after-malawi-job-cuts/ By Nyasa Times Reporter February 14, 2013 Despite uranium miner, Paladin Energy limited claiming that its Malawi operations in the northern district of Karonga at Kayelekera are operating on massive losses and that world uranium prices are low, the company’s managing director John Borshoff  elected to cash in his leave entitlementment, Nyasa Times has established.

Paladin’s annual report reveals that despite Borshoff  honouring a promise to cut his salary by 25% between November 2011 and November 2012 – a promise he extended to June 2013, the CEO was able to boost his remuneration after a review of annual leave entitlements thereby pocketing a 52% rise in earnings. The review focused on annual and long-service leave in a bid to cut Paladin’s liabilities, and Borshoff responded by cashing out 220 days of leave.The transaction approaved by the remuneration Committee and the board netted  Borshoff $1,717,000 and helped increase his remuneration to $3,464,000, from $2.26 million in 2012.

The uranium miner recently retrenched 110 staff from its Kayelekera mine in Malawi in an austerity drive which others commentators fault Boshoff for excercising his right to cash in the leave entitlement when local staff just had their calls for a 66 per cent pay rise rejected.

”Its total mockery to the Malawian workers at Kayelekera who were retrenched but have not had their benefits yet. These people are suffering. That’s a wake-up call to Malawi Government that Paladin is making profits despite plunge in prices” Karonga Business Community Chairperson Wavisanga Silungwe said in a statement made available to Nyasa Times.

“While production has gone up, the uranium price has not; hence Kayelekera continues to operate at a loss. We had warned government that this situation was unsustainable and would lead to job losses unless the uranium price improved, which it has not,” said Paladin’s (African) Ltd General Manager, international affairs, Greg Walker.

Walker said the staff reduction is in “response to economic pressures on the company caused by the continuing depressed uranium price” Borshoff’s contract with Paladin has one year left, and provides him with three months’ long-service leave for every five years of service. He is entitled to two years of double base salary when he retires or has his employment terminated.

Australian uranium mining companies get away with poor occupational health practices, overseas

Comment on article  Man loses sight due to Kayelekera radiation rshaba , 20 May 13,  Does this mean that Paladin does not offer protective clothing including protective glasses to its employees? This is a no-brainer for someone dealing with radioactive substance business. I am shocked! It seems Paladin is taking advantage in people’s ignorance by not investing in appropriate protection especially for its front-line employees doing the “dirty” work. I could understand if it were a Chinese or Indian based company,

BUT Australian & Canadian based, my foot! Where are the government regulators? This should be a basic issue on their “checklist”: no protection and insurance cover for front-line staff, no business, simple and straight forward. The problem is that once someone has been exposed to radioactivity then whoever or whatever they come into contact with, will indirectly be exposed to radioactivity. Does the Government run regular radioactive on water, foods etc around the area? http://www.bnltimes.com/index.php/sunday-times/headlines/national/15108-man-loses-sight-due-to-kayelekera-radiation

Paladin’s Kayelekera uranium mine; bad conditions led to loss of eyesight

Man loses sight due to Kayelekera radiation, SUNDAY TIMES, 19 MAY 2013   KAREN MSISKA  It is all doom and gloom for a Kayelekera Uranium Mine ex-employee who has lost his sight, his job and any means of eking out a leaving to fend for his extended family.

On July 7, 2010, Abraham Siliwonde started working as a labourer at [Australian]  Paladin Africa’s Kayelekera Mine in Karonga bubbling with hope that he would use the remuneration to improve living standards in his household.

But less than three years later, the 31-year-old, along with his six children and five wards from his deceased relatives, is a mere dependent on a small banana business his wife conducts at Karonga town market.

He lost sight in July 2012 and medical examinations have linked his condition, uveitis or inflammation of the uvea – the part of the eye that contains the iris and ciliary body and choroid – to exposure to radioactive chemicals.

Uranium ore is known to be highly radioactive.”In February 2012, I was moved to spotting. This is where one stands and guides the dumpers on where to drop the uranium ore from the pit as it is set to get into the crusher, the first point in uranium processing,” said Siliwonde on Friday.

“I was guiding dumpers carrying high grade uranium ore; the other grades are low and medium. I could feel intense heat from lumps of uranium ore and the next day I would be passing yellowish urine and feeling malarial symptoms.” He said regardless of the gear one puts on while at spotting, they feel the heat being emitted by the uranium ore, stressing “the situation is worsened by supervisors who keep people there longer than more productive.”

He said he was drafted into driving dumpers in January 2012 but by July, he had lost his vision and instead of working, he was a continuous visitor to health facilities seeking to restore his vision. ”After a series of visits to the mine clinic at Kayelekera, I was referred to Karonga district hospital where I was further referred to Mzuzu central hospital on 30 November 2012,” he added.

“At Mzuzu Central Hospital, they asked whether I had an eye operation before because they said my eyes had cracks. I underwent strenuous tests but after telling them the environment I was working in, they identified exposure to radiation as the possible cause and referred me to Kamuzu Central Hospital.”

According to medical documents The Sunday Times has seen, Siliwonde’s reference to Kamuzu Central Hospital’s Lions Sight First Eye Hospital was “to determine if patient’s condition may indeed be due to uranium dust exposure.” His situation was not improving even with spectacles. A reference report dated April 15, 2013 indicates that Siliwonde’s acuity (sharpness of vision) for both eyes had slightly improved to 6/36 from 6/60.

A report signed by Dr J Msosa, Chief Ophthalmologist at Lions Sight First Eye hospital, confirms exposure to radiation as the possible cause.

Part of the report reads: “The vitritis (posterior uveitis) may indeed be due to exposure to radiation. It is well known that all radioactive substances can cause radiation retinopathy which appears like posterior uveitis………

“The only source of income is a small banana business my wife conducts. It’s a pity that the situation at Kayelekera is not closely monitored. A lot of people are suffering because they are exposed to radioactive dust blowing from the pit area since the surface is not kept wet as per agreement.”

However, Paladin officials pushed the bucket to one of their contractors. In response to an emailed questionnaire, Paladin Energy Limited’s General Manager – International Affairs, Greg Walker, said Siliwonde was employed by one of their contractors at the mine. He added that the issue has not been brought to Paladin’s attention……http://www.bnltimes.com/index.php/sunday-times/headlines/national/15108-man-loses-sight-due-to-kayelekera-radiation

Exposing uranium industry’s inflated claims about economy, employment, in Australia

AUSTRALIA’S URANIUM EXPORT REVENUE IN PERSPECTIVE  YELLOWCAKE FEVER Exposing the Uranium Industry’s Economic Myths , Australian Conservation Foundation “…..IBISWorld’s market report (March 2013) states there are just 650 jobs across Australia in uranium mining.  In May 2006, the federal Department of Industry,  Tourism and Resources estimated “over 700 jobs” in  uranium mining and in October 2007 the Department’s

estimate was “over 800 jobs”. The World Nuclear  Association puts the figure at 1,760 jobs (1,200 in  mining, 500 in exploration and 60 in regulation).

Even the higher World Nuclear Association figure  represents just 0.015% of all jobs in Australia2 and considerably less than 1% of jobs in  mining, oil and gas operations (while all mining  accounts for about 2% of the total workforce). Prime Minister Julia Gillard puts the figure at “over  4,200 jobs” in uranium mining in Australia – presumably  using a 1,400 x 3 multiplier for indirect jobs. Yet Dr  David Gruen from the Macroeconomic Group at  Treasury states that “with unemployment close to  its lowest sustainable rate, it is not the case that  individual industries are creating jobs, they are simply  re-distributing them … there really isn’t a multiplier’’.

Inflated claims and estimates of uranium employment  are neither new nor the domain of one political party.  In 1988, Labor MHR Gordon Bilney claimed that  the unfettered expansion of the uranium industry  would generate 250,000 new jobs. In 2012, Premier  Campbell Newman stated the industry would generate  “thousands of jobs” in Queensland despite not having  any economic analysis to justify this implausible claim.

The Australian Uranium Association claims the  industry is a “significant employer of First Australians,  with some workforces comprising up to 15 per cent  indigenous employees.” In order to better reflect the  Indigenous employment variance between projects, if  we apply a 5% discount rate to the Association’s claim  and assume that Indigenous people comprise 10%  of the uranium workforce (still a generous estimate),  and if we take the highest of the available estimates  of total employment (1,760), that amounts to 176  jobs or roughly one job for every 3,000 Indigenous  Australians – hardly a fast track to closing the gap.  And this is before Dr Gruen’s point about redistribution  is considered in the employment equation…. http://www.acfonline.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/ACF_Yellowcake_Fever.pdf

Two women given charge of Wiluna uranium project – the poisoned chalice?

Women call shots at U-miner Nick Butterly Canberra, The West Australian April 3, 2013, 

WA’s first uranium miner will be headed by two women.The company Toro Energy is led by Dr Vanessa Guthrie and Dr Erica Smyth, both boasting a long list of achievements in the State’s male-dominated resources sector.

Dr Guthrie is managing director of Toro and Dr Smyth is its non-executive chairman.

Dr Guthrie acknowledged it was unusual for a miner to have both a female chief executive and a chairman…..

Dr Smyth  said the fact a mining company headed by two women was succeeding showed how the resources industry was changing and stereotypes were being broken down. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/16515070/women-call-shots-at-u-miner/

Christina’s comment – “Oh yeah!  – more like the stereotype of giving the impossible jobs to women!”

Radioactive water still leaking from Mary Kathleen uranium mine – 30 years after closure

Queensland’s last uranium mine still leaking radioactive water 30 years after production stopped   John McCarthy  The Courier-Mail  March 21, 2013  THE state’s last uranium mine at Mary Kathleen – in the Selwyn Range between Mount Isa and Cloncurry – is still leaking radioactive water from the site 30 years after production stopped. But, according to a committee report handed to the State Government this week, the return of uranium mining to Queensland is “risky but manageable”.

“The uranium mining industry has a number of inherent environmental risks,” the report said….. The report says the Mary Kathleen mine’s pit is still full of highly contaminated water to a depth of about 50m, and since the mine closed in 1982, several other studies have found “ongoing environmental legacy issues”.

Those include the seepage of acidic, metal-rich, radioactive waters from the base of the tailings dam into the former evaporation ponds and local drainage system.

 Surface waters downstream of the mine’s tailings dam have concentrations of contaminants that exceed the Australian water quality guideline values for livestock drinking water.

Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Dave Sweeney said there was no evidence that uranium mining was safe because not one former mine had been rehabilitated properly.

“In the Northern Territory there is a range of old mines, maybe a dozen or more, that are still being cleaned up 50 years after the event,” Mr Sweeney said…… http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queenslands-last-uranium-mine-still-leaking-radioactive-water-30-years-after-production-stopped/story-e6freoof-1226601866129

Even Premier New,am has to admit that uranium mining is not much of a job provider

No evidence jobs flow from uranium mining ABC News By Eric Tlozek, 26 Oct 12, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman admits the State Government has no economic modelling or studies to show lifting a ban on uranium mining will create jobs or investment in the state.

In announcing the lifting of the ban this week, Mr Newman said the decision was partially prompted by Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s recent support for uranium sales to India…

.. Mr Newman says the State Government has no modelling to show the industry will create jobs or increase investment in regional areas. He says the proposal was put to Cabinet after just one meeting with the Mines Minister.

Uranium has not been mined in Queensland since the closure of the Mary Kathleen mine in the state’s north-west in 1982.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-25/no-evidence-jobs-flow-from-uranium-mining/4333390?section=qld

Uranium mining will not be a job provider for Queensland

As for respecting the wishes of Aboriginal Queenslanders, neither our State nor Federal legal frameworks give traditional owners the right to refuse mining on their lands, so it is difficult to see how their wishes will be respected should they not wish to host a uranium mine.  And given the findings of a 2006 study  that found a 90% higher incidence of cancer amongst indigenous peoples living in close proximity to uranium mines in Kakadu, one can well understand how that might be their preference.

 Queenslanders have thus far decided we don’t want to be part of an industry that generates toxic waste with no functioning long-term storage solution, fuels weapons of mass destruction, and has no future in electricity generation because it grows ever more expensive while clean energy alternatives grow ever cheaper.

The jobs aren’t in uranium: Stone Opinion: Adam Stone | 6th October 2012 “……..The LNP obviously decided to insulate their campaign from public concern about uranium mining by committing that they would not change Queensland’s anti uranium mining policy, but their underlying conviction on the subject is completely at odds with this position.   After all, they openly campaigned in favour of repealing the policy in the 2009 State election …..

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and Australian Uranium Association (AUA) have opened  by arguing that uranium mining in Queensland will: provide jobs, respect the wishes of indigenous Queenslanders, cut greenhouse gas emissions, only supply uranium for peaceful purposes, and is necessary for baseload power generation as only nuclear, hydro and fossil fuels can meet this need.

Jobs – it is conceivable uranium mining in Queensland could generate some additional jobs, just as asbestos mining could, although when the QRC and AUA release their forthcoming report  on uranium opportunities in Queensland, be alert to two common tricks for inflating job projections:

1. The use of dodgy modelling  and multipliers to generate an exaggerated estimate of indirect job creation, such that “if the number of indirect jobs associated with every industry were totalled, the number of jobs in the economy would exceed 30 million-almost three times the size of the Australian labour market.” (The Australia Institute )

2. Ignoring the fact that new jobs in one sector often come at the expense of jobs in another sector, such that additional employment is not really created:

In a well-functioning economy like ours, with unemployment close to its lowest sustainable rate, it is not the case that individual industries are creating jobs, they are simply re-distributing them… there really isn’t a multiplier. (Dr David Gruen , Executive Director of Treasury’s Macro-Economic Group)

As for respecting the wishes of Aboriginal Queenslanders, neither our State nor Federal legal frameworks give traditional owners the right to refuse mining on their lands, so it is difficult to see how their wishes will be respected should they not wish to host a uranium mine.  And given the findings of a 2006 study  that found a 90% higher incidence of cancer amongst indigenous peoples living in close proximity to uranium mines in Kakadu, one can well understand how that might be their preference.

Nuclear power has a very limited ability to cut global greenhouse gas emissions as it takes so long to build nuclear power plants.  In his 2006 report, prominent nuclear power advocate Ziggy Switkowski  said that the best Australia could hope to achieve from nuclear power would be a 7-17% reduction in our business as usual greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which is far below what is required to avoid dangerous climate change.

By contrast, renewable energy can be rolled out infinitely faster, with a 2010 Bloomberg New Energy Finance report  forecasting that 34 nuclear reactors worth of wind generation would be constructed in that year alone. Queensland uranium exclusively for peaceful purposes? 

We have absolutely no way of guaranteeing that.  Australia already sells uranium to India – a nuclear-armed country that is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  And in any case, as recent events in Japan have so vividly reminded us, “peaceful” is not the same as “safe”.

As for the persistent baseload myth, stubborn repetition does not make it true.  The simplest way to debunk this, without getting into more complex arguments about baseload electricity being a product of the entire grid rather than a single technology, is via quick reference to a single renewable technology that does fit the bill: solar thermal with molten salt storage .

The QRC and AUA ask “why is it permissible to mine and export uranium from South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia but not Queensland?”

Because Queenslanders have thus far decided we don’t want to be part of an industry that generates toxic waste with no functioning long-term storage solution, fuels weapons of mass destruction, and has no future in electricity generation because it grows ever more expensive while clean energy alternatives grow ever cheaper. ..http://www.thesatellite.com.au/story/2012/10/06/jobs-arent-uranium-stone/

Contractors laid off: OLympic Dam uranium mine expansion in doubt

BHP reviews contractors, staff amid project uncertainty Business Spectator, 24 Jul 2012 In the latest sign that BHP Billiton Ltd may not approve the expansion of its Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine in South Australia later this year, the miner is conducting a review of contractors and staff across its mining mega-projects, looking for potential cost-saving cuts, according to The Australian Financial Review.

In the wake of BHP’s indication recently that it may not approve its three mining mega-projects before December, the company in charge of conducting a feasibility study on the $US20 billion-plus Olympic Dam project laid off several workers last week after its contract expired, according to the AFR.

The company, Jacobs Engineering, made the layoffs on the basis that it could not justify the staffing levels unless BHP’s board approved the project….. If the BHP board fails to approve the Olympic Dam project by December 15 the South Australian government will have the right to allow an indenture agreement setting royalty rates for 45 years to lapse. … http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BHP-reviews-contractors-staff-amid-project-uncerta-pd20120723-WGLXZ?OpenDocument&src=hp10&WELCOME=AUTHENTICATED%20REMEMBER