Latest news with #DepartmentofNaturalResourcesandEnvironment
The Star
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Trial of the former Vietnamese deputy minister in rare earth case opened
HANOI: The trial of the case of Thai Duong Company and related units illegally exploiting rare earth at the Yen Phu mine in Yen Bai Province opened in Hanoi on Monday (May 12). Among 27 defendants on trial, seven are former leaders and employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Bai Province. They are prosecuted for the crime of "violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste" as defined under the Penal Code. They are Nguyen Linh Ngoc, former deputy minister; Nguyen Van Thuan, former director of the General Department of Geology and Minerals; Hoang Van Khoa, former director of the Department of Minerals (belonging General Department of Geology and Minerals); Le Duy Phuong, former senior specialist of the Department of Minerals; Ho Duc Hop, former director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Bai Province; Le Cong Tien, former deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Bai Province; Bui Doan Nhu, former deputy director of the Sub-department of Environmental Protection of Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Bai Province. The other 20 defendants are directors, deputy directors, accountants and staffs of companies of Thai Duong, the Vietnam Rare Earth Joint Stock Company, the Truong Son War Invalid Joint Stock Company, Duong Lieu Logistics Company, Hop Thanh Phat Transport Company, Atexim Company and HUYHUANG Company. The charge is for: "violating regulations on resource exploitation, accounting causing serious consequences, and causing environmental pollution, smuggling, and receiving property obtained through criminal acts." According to the indictment by the Supreme People's Procuracy, this is an especially serious case related to the exploitation, business operations, export and State management of mineral resources. Doan Van Huan, acting as the head of Thai Duong Company, organised and directed the illegal mining of rare earth and iron ore at the Yen Phu mine between 2019 and 2023. The total value of illegally extracted minerals is over VNĐ864 billion (US$34 million), of which Huan and his accomplices sold ores worth more than VNĐ763 billion ($30 million). Huan also directed the creation of two accounting systems, causing a tax loss of over VNĐ9.6 billion ($380,000) to the State. In 2012, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment assigned Deputy Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc to oversee matters relating to geology and minerals, and to supervise the General Department of Geology and Minerals – the agency responsible for receiving and evaluating applications for mineral exploitation licence. Previously, in 2011, the general department received a licence application for rare earth mining at Yen Phu mine from Thái Dương Company. Ngoc then signed a report to the Prime Minister recommending the issuance of the licence, stating that 'the application dossier meets all requirements.' The Government Office then issued a document instructing relevant ministries to direct the investor to formulate a project on deep processing of rare earths, along with an environmental impact assessment report. The PM also issued a directive to strengthen State management over the exploration, mining, processing, use and export of mineral resources. Following this directive, Thai Duong Company prepared an investment project for a rare earth deep processing complex, including a hydrometallurgical plant in Yên Bái and a separation-processing plant in Dinh Vu of Hai Phong City. Subsequently, on December 14, 2012, the Government Office sent a document to the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, and Industry and Trade, and the People's Committee of Yen Bai Province to convey the Prime Minister's opinion: 'In principle, approval is granted for the exploitation and processing of rare earth ores at Yen Phu, provided that the ores are deeply processed, no raw ores are exported, and all legal obligations under the Mineral Law are fulfilled; the exploitation rights must not be transferred to foreign organisations or individuals.' Upon receiving this document, Deputy Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc instructed the General Department to finalise the licensing procedures for Thai Duong Company. At that time, the project had changed in both scale and nature. It was no longer just a mining and ore-processing project, as initially proposed in 2011, but included three inseparable components of mining and ore-processing project, the hydrometallurgical plant in Yên Bái and the separation-processing plant in Hai Phong. However, Thai Duong Company's application dossier only included an investment certificate for the mining and ore-processing project, issued by the Yen Bai Province People's Committee in 2011 (which expired in 2012) and had not been renewed or reissued. There were no investment certificates for the hydrometallurgical plant in Yên Bái or the separation-processing plant in Hai Phong. Furthermore, Thai Duong Company's equity capital did not meet the legal requirement of 30 per cent of the project's total investment (having only VNĐ200 billion ($7.9 million) compared to a total investment of VNĐ1.953 trillion ($77 million), which violated the Mineral Law. Nevertheless, officials at the General Department still used the 2011 appraisal results to submit the application. Deputy Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc, despite reviewing and knowing that Thai Duong Company did not meet the necessary conditions, still signed off on the licence in 2013. The procuracy concluded that the actions of the leaders and officials at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment contributed to enabling Huan to illegally exploit and sell rare earth and iron ore worth a total of VNĐ736 billion ($29 million). The trial is expected to last ten days. - Vietnam News/ANN
Fox News
19-02-2025
- General
- Fox News
Experts give up hope for 157 false killer whales stranded on remote Australian beach
Marine experts have given up hope of rescuing more than 150 false killer whales that stranded on a remote beach on Australia's island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday. Experts including veterinarians were at the scene near the Arthur River on Tasmania's northwestern coast where 157 whales were discovered on an exposed surf beach on Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said. Unfavorable ocean and weather conditions, which prevented the whales from being rescued on Wednesday, were forecast to persist for days, incident controller Shelley Graham said. "We have been out in the water this morning and have relocated and attempted to refloat two whales but didn't have success as the ocean conditions weren't allowing the animals to get past the break. The animals are continuously restranding," Graham said in a statement. Marine biologist Kris Carlyon said the survivors would be euthanized. "The longer these animals are out stranded, the longer they are suffering. All alternative options have been unsuccessful," Carlyon said. The department said there were 136 survivors on Wednesday morning but that assessment was revised down to 90 within a few hours. The inaccessibility of the beach, ocean conditions and challenges to getting specialist equipment to the remote area complicated the response. The young whales weighed as little as 1,100 pounds, while the adults weighed 3.3 tons. Despite their name, false killer whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family. Department liaison officer Brendon Clark said the stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania since 1974. That was a pod of more than 160 whales that landed on a beach near Stanley on the northwest coast. Strandings in Tasmania are usually pilot whales. Clark declined to speculate on why the latest pod might have stranded. Carcasses of dead whales would be examined for clues, he said. A helicopter reconnaissance on Tuesday afternoon determined that there were no other whales within 6 miles of the stranded pod, he said. Some could have been stranded for as long as 48 hours by early Wednesday. Arthur River resident Jocelyn Flint said her son had discovered the stranded whales around midnight while fishing for shark. She said she had gone to the scene in the dark hours of the morning and returned after dawn, but the whales were too big to be refloated. "The water was surging right up and they were thrashing. They're just dying, they've sunk down in the sand," Flint said Wednesday morning. "I think it's too late. "There are little babies. Up one end, there's a lot of big ones. It's sad," she added. In 2022, 230 pilot whales stranded further south on the west coast at Macquarie Harbor. The largest mass stranding in Australian history occurred in the same harbor in 2020 when 470 long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars. Most of the beached whales died on both occasions. The reasons for the beachings are unclear. Reasons could include disorientation caused by loud noises, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.
Arab Times
19-02-2025
- General
- Arab Times
Experts give up hope for 157 false killer whales stranded on Australian beach
MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb 19, (AP): Marine experts have given up hope of rescuing more than 150 false killer whales that stranded on a remote beach on Australia's island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday. Experts including veterinarians were at the scene near the Arthur River on Tasmania's northwestern coast where 157 whales were discovered on an exposed surf beach on Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said. Unfavorable ocean and weather conditions, which prevented the whales from being rescued on Wednesday, were forecast to persist for days, incident controller Shelley Graham said. "We have been out in the water this morning and have relocated and attempted to refloat two whales but didn't have success as the ocean conditions weren't allowing the animals to get past the break. The animals are continuously restranding,' Graham said in a statement. Marine biologist Kris Carlyon said the survivors would be euthanized. "The longer these animals are out stranded, the longer they are suffering. All alternative options have been unsuccessful,' Carlyon said. The department said there were 136 survivors on Wednesday morning but that assessment was revised down to 90 within a few hours. The inaccessibility of the beach, ocean conditions and challenges to getting specialist equipment to the remote area complicated the response. The young whales weighed as little as 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), while the adults weighed 3 metric tons (3.3 U.S. tons). Despite their name, false killer whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family. Department liaison officer Brendon Clark said the stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania in since 1974. That was a pod of more than 160 whales that landed on a beach near Stanley on the northwest coast. Strandings in Tasmania are usually pilot whales. Clark declined to speculate on why the latest pod might have stranded. Carcasses of dead whales would be examined for clues, he said. A helicopter reconnaissance on Tuesday afternoon determined that there were no other whales within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the stranded pod, he said. Some could have been stranded for as long as 48 hours by early Wednesday. Arthur River resident Jocelyn Flint said her son had discovered the stranded whales around midnight while fishing for shark. She said she had gone to the scene in the dark hours of the morning and returned after dawn but the whales were too big to be refloated. "The water was surging right up and they were thrashing. They're just dying, they've sunk down in the sand,' Flint said Wednesday morning. "I think it's too late. "There are little babies. Up one end, there's a lot of big ones. It's sad,' she added. In 2022, 230 pilot whales stranded further south on the west coast at Macquarie Harbor. The largest mass stranding in Australian history occurred in the same harbor in 2020 when 470 long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars. Most of the beached whales died on both occasions. The reasons for the beachings are unclear. Reasons could include disorientation caused by loud noises, illness, old age, injury, fleeing predators and severe weather.
Saudi Gazette
19-02-2025
- General
- Saudi Gazette
More than 150 whales stranded on remote Australian beach
SYDNEY — More than 60 false killer whales have died and authorities are trying to save dozens more after a mass stranding on a remote Australian Department of Natural Resources and Environment said a pod of 157 had beached near Arthur River, in the island's 90 of the animals — which witnesses say include juveniles — are still alive, with conservation experts and veterinarians at the site evaluating whether any can be returned to the has seen a series of mass whale strandings in recent years — including the country's worst-ever in 2020 — but false killer whales haven't mass stranded there in over 50 killer whales are technically one of the largest dolphin species, like their orca namesakes, and can grow up to 6m and says the pod has been stranded at the site — about 300km from the city of Launceston — for 24 to 48 hours, and it will be an uphill battle to save any of them."Initial assessments indicate that refloating the whales will be difficult due to the inaccessibility of the site, ocean conditions and the challenges of getting specialized equipment to the remote area," department spokesman Brendon Clarke told rescuers have successfully saved whales at other recent stranding events on the west coast, the complexity of this incident means the same techniques can't be on site are triaging the whales with the best chance of survival and trying to keep them alive and comfortable while rescue options are welfare is a priority, but there are concerns about the safety and wellbeing of rescue teams to consider too."We have... surging tidal waters and breaking surf, and so to try and refloat the animals directly back into that surf would be challenging, and then, of course, that would also present some enormous safety risk for our staff and personnel.""Because the fact that these are large animals, potentially in their death throes, and they could be writhing and moving around on beaches, [there's a] likelihood of somebody being injured."Sharks are also a have asked members of the public to avoid the site, with bushfires burning nearby and limited road resident Jocelyn Flint told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she had travelled to the site on Wednesday morning after her son noticed the pod while out shark fishing overnight."There are babies... There's just families of them. Their eyes are open, they're looking at me, like 'help'.""It's just absolutely horrific. They're all struggling."More than 80% of Australian whale strandings take place in Tasmania — often on its west 470 pilot whales were stranded further south at Macquarie Harbour in 2020 and about 350 of them died despite rescue efforts. Another 200 become stranded in the same harbour in are highly social mammals and are well known for stranding in groups because they travel in large, close-knit communities which rely on constant are a range of theories for why beachings occur. Some experts say the animals can become disoriented after following fish they hunt to the shore. Others believe that one individual can mistakenly lead whole groups to shore. — BBC
Emirates 24/7
19-02-2025
- General
- Emirates 24/7
More than 150 false killer whales stranded on a beach in Australia's Tasmania state
More than 150 false killer whales have stranded on a remote beach in Australia's island state of Tasmania, officials said Wednesday. Marine experts, including veterinarians, are at the scene near Arthur River on Tasmania's northwest coast, according to a statement from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Of the 157 beached whales, only 90 appeared to be alive, department liaison officer Brendon Clark said. Earlier, the department had reported 136 survivors. The remote location, ocean conditions, and difficulty in transporting specialized equipment to the site are complicating rescue efforts. Authorities have yet to determine whether any of the whales—ranging in weight from 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) to 3 metric tons (3.3 U.S. tons)—can be successfully refloated. "Attempting to refloat the animals directly into the surf would be challenging and pose significant safety risks to our staff and personnel," Clark told reporters. "Our experts are on-site, working to determine the most suitable and humane response to this complex situation," he added. This is the first recorded false killer whale stranding in Tasmania since 1974, when a pod of over 160 whales beached near Stanley on the northwest coast. Most whale strandings in Tasmania involve pilot whales. Clark declined to speculate on the cause of the stranding but said carcasses would be examined for possible clues. The whales were discovered Tuesday afternoon, and a helicopter reconnaissance confirmed no other stranded whales within a 10-kilometer (6-mile) radius. Some may have been stranded for as long as 48 hours by early Wednesday. Arthur River resident Jocelyn Flint said her son discovered the stranded whales around midnight while shark fishing. "I went to the scene in the early hours and returned after dawn, but they were too big to move," Flint said. "The water was surging up, and they were thrashing. They're just dying, sinking into the sand. I think it's too late." "There are little babies among them, and further up, many large ones. It's heartbreaking," she added. In 2022, 230 pilot whales stranded further south on the west coast at Macquarie Harbor. The largest mass stranding in Australian history occurred in the same harbor in 2020, when 470 long-finned pilot whales became stuck on sandbars. Most of the beached whales died in both cases. The reasons for these strandings remain unclear but could include disorientation due to loud noises, illness, old age, injury, predator evasion, or severe weather. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
