PolyMet is now owned by Switzerland's Glencore. Why it matters

[TexasTowelie]

PolyMet is on the verge of building Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine, and now it has a new — and controversial — owner.

At a shareholders’ meeting Wednesday in Toronto, Glencore — one of the world’s largest companies and a juggernaut in the mining industry — took nearly 72 percent of equity in PolyMet Mining Corp. Some had seen the move as inevitable since PolyMet was already $240 million in debt to Glencore and was working to finance its $1 billion mine before starting construction.

Glencore, which has a hefty bankroll, a wealth of experience in the field and a history of labor issues and pollution problems, already owned roughly one-third of issued stock in the company. Yet the change is still significant. Here’s what we know about Glencore and what the move means for the PolyMet project:

-snip-

And the downside?

Glencore has a checkered past dating back to allegations against its founder, Marc Rich, who was indicted for tax evasion and dodged sanctions on apartheid South Africa and elsewhere to cut oil deals. (Rich was pardoned by Bill Clinton in 2001.) The company is currently facing investigations into corruption and money laundering by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Critics also point to Glencore’s history of labor disputes and environmental problems as evidence that having a giant multinational corporation as PolyMet’s majority shareholder could hurt Minnesota.

Read more: https://www.minnpost.com/environment/2019/06/polymet-is-now-owned-by-switzerlands-glencore-why-it-matters/

Cross-posted in the Environment & Energy Group.

[hermetic]

1. That totally sucks

And thanks a bunch, Bill, for nothing.