Land swap would boost huge Ariz. copper mine

[Dover]

Source: The Hill

House moves ahead with bill allowing copper mine in Arizona


The House on Tuesday afternoon approved a rule for a bill that would allow a land swap between the federal government and a foreign-owned mining company, which would allow that company to extract copper from a massive copper deposit in southeast Arizona.

The rule was approved in a 245-178 vote in which less than a dozen Democrats voted for it. Democrats lodged several protests against the bill, including that it would only help foreign owned companies. Resolution Copper Mining LLC would be permitted to mine the copper, and that company is owned by Rio Tinto and BHP-Billiton, which both have headquarters and major offices in Britain and Australia.

"Today's bill is not written for the American worker," said House Rules Committee Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY). "It was written for foreign mining giants who hope to profit for our generosity."

Democrats also argued that Rio Tinto in particular is known to run mines remotely with robots, and said that fact undercuts Republican arguments that allowing the mining to take place would help create U.S. jobs...cont'd



Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/189685-house-moves-ahead-with-bill-allowing-copper-mine-in-arizona

---

Okay, here's something odd -

About 3o minutes ago there was an AP story out about this and I was in the process of cutting and pasting it here.
But when I went back to it to grab it it had disappeared and a search of the AP site on the subject didn't bring it up either.
I've also done a google search of their article and nothing. So all that's left on this whole topic as far as I can find
right now is the above piece. Very strange the way it disappeared from every place.
Seems like a pretty big story, so I'm sure it will come out later.

This was posted 5 days ago and has more info on the copper mine land swap:
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/188783-house-preparing-to-approve-arizona-copper-mine-land-swap




RED ALERT!!! Aggressive land grabs and plundering by big corporations are in full swing now!!!

AMERICA ARE YOUR EYES OPEN? ARE YOU SEEING THIS?!

[Dover]

1. And in related news - Uranium mining ban challenged by GOP bill

10/18/2011 11:30:00 AM


Lawmakers behind legislation claim moratorium will hinder job growth -


GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - Republican lawmakers introduced new legislation last week in an attempt to thwart a department of Interior 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims on close to one million acres of land around the Grand Canyon.

Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, representing Arizona's Sixth District, along with Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) introduced in the House the Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011 Oct. 12.

The legislation would also uphold the agreement reached by the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (AWA) that would not ban mining on some of the public lands in the proposed withdrawal. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced the legislation in the Senate.

In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Flake emphasized the potential moratorium on new mining claims would hinder job growth in the area.
In a recent press release, Flake said uranium can be mined safely with little environmental impact.

cont'd

http://grandcanyonnews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=9566

-------------


HERE WE GO FOLKS. VERY AGGRESSIVE LAND GRABS BY BIG CORPORATIONS!!. ARIZONA, AMERICA....ARE YOU SEEING THIS?

[SpiralHawk]

2. There is indeed something very queer about this --

Isn't the Bush cabal involved with Rio Tinto?

[Dover]

3. I've not heard that. Where did you hear it? Have you done a search on it?

I think what is VERY odd is that there is absolutely no coverage of what happened yesterday in Congress.
Not a peep as far as I can tell. And then that AP article just vanishes......

[SpiralHawk]

4. This is one thing that popped up

Bush Gives Big Iron a Steely Grip on a Key Sector of the Economy

The Iron-ore industry was already concentrated in the hands of a few mega-firms -- now it will be an even smaller group.

July 8, 2008

Iron ore prices have recently been in the headlines, having jumped eighty-five percent. This news is troubling as such price increases threaten to raise steel prices, which will add to cost inflation and further undermine economic activity.

Behind these price increases lies the unusual structure of the iron ore market which is best characterized as bi-lateral oligopoly.

That structure makes enormously troubling the Bush administration's decision to give regulatory clearance to a combination of the number two (Rio Tinto) and number three (BHP Billiton) ore producers.

(snip)
http://www.alternet.org/story/90670/bush_gives_big_iron_a_steely_grip_on_a_key_sector_of_the_economy/

[SpiralHawk]

5. BREAKING: Rio Tinto soon to be sued for War Crimes

lots of deeply disturbing dots to connect...

"South Pacific islanders can sue a multinational mining company in U.S. courts for alleged complicity in their government's slaughter of its people, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Tuesday, adding its voice to a legal controversy now before the Supreme Court.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/BA5M1LM8B0.DTL#ixzz1btkWxfzK

[Dover]

6. Wow.... will be interesting to see how the right-leaning supreme ct. will rule.

Sounds like these are some very bad dudes.

[SpiralHawk]

8. Why did AP 'disappear' the news report?

What is their reason?

Somebody needs to put AP 'on the record' in answer to that question.

Otherwise, at this stage of the skunkfest, AP has again totally jumped the CRED shark with this 'disappearance' and is once again serving as a Ministry of Truthiness.

[Dover]

10. I have no idea...see my latest post in this thread below.

They just re-released the story about 40 minutes ago.

[lonestarnot]

7. Fucking A.

K & R

[Dover]

9. At last...here is the AP article I originally wanted to post.

I wish I had saved it last night so I could see if AP edited the original in the interim:


WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan to clear the way for North America's largest copper mine by swapping federal forest land for private acreage in Arizona has House Republicans at odds with the Obama administration.

GOP lawmakers and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Mining Association, say the project would pump billions of dollars into the Arizona economy and help create nearly 4,000 mining-related jobs.

They are pushing a bill, up for a House vote Wednesday, that would approve the land exchange for the mining project 70 miles southeast of Phoenix. The legislation hasn't yet come up in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it's expected to encounter greater resistance.

Under the plan, first proposed in 2005, a subsidiary of global mining giant Rio Tinto would gain access to more than 2,400 acres of federal forest land thought to contain vast resources of high-grade copper, potentially worth billions of dollars.

cont'd
http://news.yahoo.com/land-swap-boost-huge-ariz-copper-mine-071035357.html

[SpiralHawk]

11. The utter rape of the land is roaring along

with the Republicons greazing the skids and blowing kisses every frakking step of the way down down down into the Hell Realms...