‘A bunch of pirates who are here to loot’: New claims against Chinese miner

The Chinese miner at the centre of a $395 million lawsuit by an Australian company has been accused in court of trespassing on another miner’s land, intimidating workers and colluding with local officials to threaten villagers with military action.

Ghana’s High Court has ordered an interlocutory injunction blocking the Chinese-state-linked miner Earl International, formerly known as Shaanxi, from mining a 10-hectare area in eastern Ghana until the case is resolved after claims it had “blatantly disregarded” the local mining concession run by Nanlaamtaaba Enterprises.

Aerial view of the Earl Mining facility in the Gban community. Credit: Francis Kokoroko

In a separate claim, Australian miner Cassius alleges that Earl dug tunnels hundreds of metres underground into its concession and plundered tens of millions of dollars in gold from its veins. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s revealed last year that the Chinese miner had also been accused of causing dozens of deaths in the Gban area through poisonous gasses. Earl has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

The cases have put the spotlight on the alleged human rights abuses of Chinese-state-linked operations as Beijing pushes for greater investment worldwide.

In an interlocutory injunction by the High Court in Bolgatanga on Thursday, Judge Alexander Graham said he had ordered Earl to “stop interfering with [Nanlaamtaaba Enterprises’s] mining concession”.

Nanlaamtaaba Enterprises claimed in its motion that Earl’s alleged acts of trespass have caused the company grave economic loss. The local miner alleged that Earl had given grants to the regional minister to pay local miners between $5000 and $17,000 for their concessions but no “such agreement was entered into between myself and the [Earl] in this regard”.

“The [district chief executive] called me to threaten me with military action against me if I took any step to restrain [Earl] in its unlawful acts of trespass on my concession,” said Nanlaamtaaba Enterprises owner Zongdan Kolog in his motion filed with the High Court.

Cassius formally commenced proceedings in the London Court of International Arbitration for $395 million in losses from its Gban project on February 7. It has engaged global firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to act on its behalf. The company is suing the Ghanaian government over claims it failed to prevent Earl from trespassing on its land. Cassius is also pursuing Earl in local courts in Ghana, but the case has been bogged down for years amid claims of corruption.

“I look forward to the hearing of the arbitration against the government of Ghana,” said Cassius chairman James Arkoudis. “After the extensive preparations that we have made, together with our legal team, we are confident of a successful resolution in the company’s favour.”

Samuel Ablakawa, an opposition MP and member of Ghana’s foreign affairs committee, said the mining industry had become the “most sordid, the most corrupt, the most despicable sector in our country”.

James Arkoudis with local leaders in Ghana.

Ablakawa said the government had allowed companies like Earl, which had “absolutely no regard for human life,” to flourish.

“They are just a bunch of crooks who are just here to exploit and take advantage of the mineral resources that we have,” he said. ″⁣They don’t believe in fair trade. They don’t believe in ethical businesses. They are just a bunch of pirates who are here to loot.

“Entities like that, who are just engaged in naked exploitation must not be allowed to continue with what they do. They are committing mass murders. They are subjecting Ghanaians to dehumanising working conditions. I can’t understand why they still have a licence.”

Samuel Jinapor, Ghana’s minister for lands and natural resources was contacted for comment. In September, Jinapor said the Ghanaian Minerals Commission would investigate the alleged theft of millions worth of gold and the deaths of dozens of miners.

Earl has denied the allegations and maintained that it is “a proper licensed mining company, mining according to the rules and laws of the mining industry in Ghana”.

Australia’s Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts, who travelled to Ghana in December to meet with representatives from the industry, declined to comment.

“A number of Australian mining companies are successfully operating in Ghana and are making vital contributions to the economies and livelihoods of local communities,” a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

“As the dispute between Australian company Cassius Mining Ltd and Chinese company Shaanxi is the subject of legal action, it would not be appropriate to comment on this, including during the assistant minister’s visit to Ghana.”

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