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GCM Resources
GCM Resources plc (AIM: GCM), formerly Asia Energy and Global Coal Management, is a mining company quoted in the London Alternative Investment Market. Its major asset and goal is to exploit open cast coal mining opportunities in the Phulbari region of Dinajpur District, Bangladesh.
GCM Resources plc (formerly Asia Energy plc) was incorporated in London in September 2003 and acquired 100% of Asia Energy Corporation Pty Ltd, which held the licences to explore and mine the Phulbari Coal Project in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
Asia Energy Corporation Pty Ltd entered the coal mining scenario in 1998 by buying the mining contract originally awarded to the international coal giant, BHP, on 20 August 1994. BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is Australia's largest coal producer and a leader in the international coal industry. BHP claims it sold its rights for strip mining at Phulbari because the coal is deeper than 130 meters (it is at 151 meters depth).
Asia Energy must pay Deepgreen Minerals Corporation $1 per tonne of ore sold. Deepgreen ceased to be listed when it merged with Cambrian Mining in 2004.
Opponents in Bangladesh and an alliance of groups in London have protested the plans for open-pit mining in the Phulbari region, because of adverse environmental and social effects. They estimate 120,000 people may be displaced, including the local Shantal indigenous group. Protesters have said such a mine would endanger an important food-producing region, as well as the quality of the water supply depended on by tens of thousands of people. There were major protests in Bangladesh in 2006, with an estimated total of 70,000 people involved over weeks.
On 30 August 2006 six protesters were shot dead, allegedly by paramilitary forces, and 300 were injured when a crowd of 30,000 people stormed the local offices of Asia Energy. Further unrest occurred the days after the shootings, when widespread half-day strikes were organised across the country, and another 20 people were injured. The Bangladesh government banned further protests at the mine site.
Gary Lye, chief executive of Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pty Ltd, was quoted as saying, "It is up to the authorities to determine exactly what happened, but it would appear that the unforgivable events and the needless loss of life and suffering that took place yesterday in Phulbari are entirely the fault of the organisers (of the protest)". Asia Energy had its right to mine in Bangladesh withdrawn. Asia Energy said that fewer people would be displaced and they would be compensated. Spokesmen noted the benefits of the $1.1bn (£700m) project. The government closed the mine at the time because of the violent protests.
A 2009 leaked US diplomatic cable showed that American diplomats pressured the Bangladeshi government to reopen the Phulbari Coal Project with GCM. As of late 2010, there was still potential to proceed with the project.
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GCM Resources
GCM Resources plc (AIM: GCM), formerly Asia Energy and Global Coal Management, is a mining company quoted in the London Alternative Investment Market. Its major asset and goal is to exploit open cast coal mining opportunities in the Phulbari region of Dinajpur District, Bangladesh.
GCM Resources plc (formerly Asia Energy plc) was incorporated in London in September 2003 and acquired 100% of Asia Energy Corporation Pty Ltd, which held the licences to explore and mine the Phulbari Coal Project in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
Asia Energy Corporation Pty Ltd entered the coal mining scenario in 1998 by buying the mining contract originally awarded to the international coal giant, BHP, on 20 August 1994. BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is Australia's largest coal producer and a leader in the international coal industry. BHP claims it sold its rights for strip mining at Phulbari because the coal is deeper than 130 meters (it is at 151 meters depth).
Asia Energy must pay Deepgreen Minerals Corporation $1 per tonne of ore sold. Deepgreen ceased to be listed when it merged with Cambrian Mining in 2004.
Opponents in Bangladesh and an alliance of groups in London have protested the plans for open-pit mining in the Phulbari region, because of adverse environmental and social effects. They estimate 120,000 people may be displaced, including the local Shantal indigenous group. Protesters have said such a mine would endanger an important food-producing region, as well as the quality of the water supply depended on by tens of thousands of people. There were major protests in Bangladesh in 2006, with an estimated total of 70,000 people involved over weeks.
On 30 August 2006 six protesters were shot dead, allegedly by paramilitary forces, and 300 were injured when a crowd of 30,000 people stormed the local offices of Asia Energy. Further unrest occurred the days after the shootings, when widespread half-day strikes were organised across the country, and another 20 people were injured. The Bangladesh government banned further protests at the mine site.
Gary Lye, chief executive of Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pty Ltd, was quoted as saying, "It is up to the authorities to determine exactly what happened, but it would appear that the unforgivable events and the needless loss of life and suffering that took place yesterday in Phulbari are entirely the fault of the organisers (of the protest)". Asia Energy had its right to mine in Bangladesh withdrawn. Asia Energy said that fewer people would be displaced and they would be compensated. Spokesmen noted the benefits of the $1.1bn (£700m) project. The government closed the mine at the time because of the violent protests.
A 2009 leaked US diplomatic cable showed that American diplomats pressured the Bangladeshi government to reopen the Phulbari Coal Project with GCM. As of late 2010, there was still potential to proceed with the project.