Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
VIBRATIONS DIRECTIVE
BY MONICA DOBIE
MINING companies will have to check their guidelines regarding employees’ safety from exposure to mechanical vibrations from heavy pit equipment because of a proposed European Union directive.
The EU Council of Ministers, (general affairs), last week gave the proposal its formal approval.…
STATE AID REPORT
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has called for the closure of EU coalmines that perform poorly economically, where they have been lavished with state aid paid with the view to them being restructured and turned around.
In its latest report on state aid to the mining industry, (for the year 2000), Brussels adopts an aggressively negative tone about aid paid by national governments to the coal industry, which it claims “is in crisis, despite several years of state aid.”…
MINAS DE RIO TINTO
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has opened a formal investigation into state aid provided by the Spanish government for the restructuring of copper, gold and silver mining company Minas de Rio Tinto SAL, in Huelva.
In 2000, Madrid guaranteed loans of ESP 1,500 million, (Euro 9 million), which were linked to a restructuring plan to turn the company around.…
MINAS DE RIO TINTO
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has opened a formal investigation into state aid provided by the Spanish government for the restructuring of copper, gold and silver mining company Minas de Rio Tinto SAL, in Huelva.
In 2000, Madrid guaranteed loans of ESP 1,500 million, (Euro 9 million), which were linked to a restructuring plan to turn the company around.…
EGYPT V TURKEY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE DISPUTES Settlement Body of the World Organisation has set up a panel to settle the row between Turkey and Egypt, over the anti-dumping duties that have been imposed by Cairo on Turkish imports of concrete steel reinforcing bar.…
UNCTAD REPORT
BY KEITH NUTHALL
COPPER production is expected to continue forging ahead, fuelled especially by surging Chinese demand, the World Commodity Survey 2000-2001, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, (UNCTAD), has predicted.
The annual survey, covering market trends of the trade in most major and minor metals, says that supplies should increase by seven per cent this year, with a number of mining expansion and development projects reaching maturity.…
VOISEYS BAY
BY MONICA DOBIE
THE LIKELIHOOD of Inco’s Voiseys Bay, Labrador, nickel mine project going ahead has come a step closer with the company revealing plans to take on a partner. At a Canadian mining conference, Inco announced that it had bought out a group of shareholders in the project, giving it more control.…
CHAPTERS LOSSES
BY MONICA DOBIE
CHAPTERS INC, Canada’s largest book retailer has revealed heavy losses in the past fiscal year of CAN$84.5 million, compared to a profit of CAN$17.2 million last year. However, the gloomy figures disguises good news about overall sales, which rose to CAN$686.5 million from CAN$660.3 million from the previous year.…
E LEARNING CONFERENCES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NUMBER of international conferences on delivering education via the Internet are being staged over the next few weeks. They include:
*CONNECT/I*EARN Conference, Capetown, South Africa, hosted by Western Cape Schools’ Network and SchoolNet SA. E mail Anne-Marie Ducker at a.ducker@uel.ac.uk.…
TRIPS COUNCIL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
OFFICIALS at the World Trade Organisation have been asked to draw up a detailed report on how the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, (TRIPs), should be amended to take account of e-commerce.
The proposal was tabled by the Swiss government at last week’s meeting of the WTO’s TRIPs Council.…