Vedanta group is the first Indian group that has obtained a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, in 2003, and within a short period of time moved into the select band of FTSE 100 Metals & Mining Majors, signifying the well crafted and visionary approach of Mr. Anil Agarwal. In no time, Vedanta Group's market capitalization increased from USD 1.9 Billion to USD 11 Billion.

Mining Journal, one of the most reputed international weekly magazine presented "Lifetime Achievement Award - 2009" to Anil Agarwal, the Chairman of Vedanta Group in a black-tie dinnerin London on Wednesday, 2nd December. the Mining Journal announced their Outstanding Achievement Awards for 2009. Anil Agarwal was given this award for his contribution in the mining industry.

The event was compared by John Humphrys, one of Britain's best known broadcasters. While describing Anil Agarwal as a 'visionary entrepreneur' and the founder of one of the most prominent, and fastest growing, metals and mining groups in the world, the Mining Journal described his business approach as 'to visualize and then to allow his team to deliver'.

The Mining Journal emphasized that Anil Agarwal greatest strength is his patience. Vedanta group is the first Indian group that has obtained a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange,in 2003, and within a short period of time moved into the select band of FTSE 100 Metals & Mining Majors, signifying the well crafted and visionary approach of Anil Agarwal. In no time, Vedanta Group's market capitalization increased from USD 1.9 Billion to USD 11 Billion.

Mr. Anil Agarwal's story is a true tale of passion and determination. It is a story of a humble beginner - a metal trader - who is today, one of the most prominent and successful metalsentrepreneur. The experience of taking over the first privatized company in India, Bharat Aluminium and later Hindustan Zinc, and turning them into world class assets, prompted him more recently to take over Sesa Goa and enter into the iron ore business; a move that surprised most in the world.

Vedanta group is today on course to become the largest producer of zinc, 2nd largest producer of copper and 4th largest producer of aluminium in the world. Vedanta is already the largest private sector iron ore exporter in India. Assessing the need to contribute and supplement power requirement in India, Anil Agarwal decided to enter into commercial power production. The group is now aiming to produce 11,000 MW of power in a couple of years, and also be one of the largest power producers in India.

Ask him about his approach, and he promptly replies, "I only visualize, it is my team that executes to perfection".Agarwal's passion for inclusive growth has resulted in extensive benefits to the people in India and Zambia. His philosophy has been 'whatever you have earned a portion of it should go back to the society'.

Some call him 'Metal King' and some call him a 'billionaire philanthropist', but at Vedanta he is known as a man with a golden heart who is determined that group benefits the people living in the vicinity of business operations. Vedanta today touches the lives of over 2.5 million people living in over 425 villages in India, through corporate social responsibility, an initiative driven directly byAnil Agarwal.

Nutrition and Mid-day meal for children, computer education to under-privileged, agriculture development and multi-cropping, infrastructure development in rural India, livelihood programmes and women empowerment through creation of self-help groups in villages, are bringing significant upliftment in the lives of rural poor. Anil Agarwal is determined to bring 2.5 million under-privilegedchildren under the umbrella of education and nutrition within 3 years in India.

By pledging USD 1 billion from his personal wealth, for the most coveted USD 3 billion Vedanta University, - a state-of-the-art research and development centre in India, for about 100,000 students, Anil Agarwal aims to build this educational institution at par with world 's most reputed institutes like Harvard and Stanford. It is a testimony of his passion for contributing in the education sector in India.

Mr. Anil Agarwal is clear, he says, 'India has abundant natural resources like coal, iron ore, bauxite and precious / semi precious metals, at par with countries like Australia, Canada, South Africa and Brazil, and can contribute significantly to India's GDP and become an alternative revenue source for the infrastructure development'. India is one of the most preferred investment destinations in the world today, all the more so because of the robust Indian economy and regulatory system that has proven time and again.

He has a simple statement - ' Nothing is big till you know you can do it.. Toughness is a phrase, that exists in books - practically you only have to know.. You CAN do it.’

Source: www.indiaprwire.com

In response to requests from the media and interested parties, PMC issues this up-date on the press release dated 16 October 2008 (PMC sets the record straight - What really happened at the Crew Gold LEFA mine in Guinea), and the subsequent action taken to recover the illegally seized equipment, materials, facilities, and documentation owned by PMC and PMC subcontractors at the LEFA mine site in Guinea.

After consecutive urgent proceedings in Guinea were stalled due to the political instability and the inability to enforce court orders in Guinea, PMC has commenced registration of it's claims in a jurisdiction that will provide a workable legal system, were court orders can be enforced. The dispute will now continue through the arbitration proceedings as court orders obtained in Guinea for the return of goods, equipment and cash were unable to be enforced, as Crew through their operating subsidiary, in contempt of these court orders, denied our people access to the site.

PMC can advise that as of the 18th of January 2010 a request has been sent to the ICC in Paris to register a claim for an amount in excess of US$80,000,000 against Crew. PMC has become increasing concerned that even though Crew has forcibly taken possession of goods, equipment and spare parts clearly owned by PMC, Crew has not yet made any provision for repayment of same, while Crew has settled with other major creditors.

PMC is concerned that the Crew Gold Prospectus dated December 28, 2009 as it includes a statement on page 60, item 14.11 Legal and Arbitration Proceedings that states: "Crew has not been involved in any governmental, legal or arbitration proceedings during the past 12 months which may have or have had a significant effect on Crew's or the Crew group's financial position or profitability, and Crew is not aware of any such proceedings pending.". PMC wishes to advise that this statement is inconsistent with Crew's knowledge of unpaid PMC invoices and the PMC claim for the equipment illegally seized by Crew and damages for totalling approximately 80 million. The Claim was delivered to Crew management 6th October 2008. Nor is the Crew Prospectus statement consistent with the legal actions taken by PMC in Guinea.

The PMC claim relates to actions taken by Crew on September 20, 2008, when the directors and officers of Crew Gold authorized the illegal seizure of equipment, materials, facilities, documentation and cash owned by PMC and its sub subcontractors at the LEFA mine site in Guinea. The Crew operating subsidiary personnel arrived in the early hours of the morning accompanied with armed military and security forces to forcibly detain then remove PMC management from site. Crew then attempted to hire away our key expat and local managers.

PMC International was operating as a third party mining contractor at Crew's LEFA project since 2006. According to Crew, and as witnessed by Crew's own press releases, PMC were ahead of schedule. Crew had been encountering difficulties with their processing plant at LEFA and we were aware that they were losing money and as a result PMC had been lenient and patient with respect to enforcing payment for 10 million dollars in legitimate outstanding invoices since 2006.

Following the illegal seizure, PMC had been advised by management of Crew Gold that they were in desperate need of a cash injection and that the company is on the verge of financial collapse. In the opinion of PMC, this was clearly the real motivation behind the illegal seizure. For more information about the situation, please contact C. Clarke at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rio Tinto today announces the appointment of Ms Ann Godbehere and Mr Robert Brown as non executive directors to join the boards of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited. In addition, the boards have received notification from Sir David Clementi and David Mayhew that they will be retiring as non executive directors upon the conclusion of the 2010 annual general meetings.

Ann Godbehere joins the boards and the Audit committee today and will succeed Sir David Clementi as chairman of the Audit committee. Ann has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry. She spent 10 years at Swiss Re, latterly as chief financial officer. Her non executive directorships include UBS AG and Prudential plc where she is chair of its Audit committee.

Sir David Clementi has notified the boards that he will be retiring as a non executive director and therefore as chairman of the Audit committee upon the conclusion of Rio Tinto’s annual general meeting in Australia on 22 April 2010. Sir David has been a non executive director of Rio Tinto since 2003.

As indicated at the 2009 AGMs, David Mayhew will also be standing down from the boards upon the conclusion of Rio Tinto’s annual general meeting in Australia on 22 April 2010. He has been a non executive director of Rio Tinto since 2000.

Jan du Plessis, chairman, said “I am very pleased to welcome Ann to the Rio Tinto boards. She brings substantial financial services’ experience that will be of particular value to the Audit committee. I would also like to pay tribute to the valuable contributions made by Sir David Clementi and David Mayhew during their many years as non executive directors. I wish them well for the future.”

Robert Brown joins the boards on 1 April 2010. He has considerable global business experience. He is currently chairman of Groupe Aeroplan Inc and serves on the board of Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE Inc), the holding company for Bell Canada. He recently retired as president and chief executive officer of CAE Inc, a world leader in flight simulation and training. Before that he spent 16 years at Bombardier Inc where he was first head of the Aerospace Group and then president and chief executive officer. He has also served as chairman of Air Canada and of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada.

Yves Fortier has also given notice to the boards of his intention to retire as a non executive director at the end of his term upon conclusion of the 2011 AGMs. He joined the boards upon the acquisition of Alcan Inc in 2007.

Jan du Plessis, chairman, said, “I am very pleased to welcome Bob to the Rio Tinto boards. I am most grateful to Yves for committing to serve his full term during an important transition period for Rio Tinto following the Alcan acquisition. He has also been very helpful to me in identifying Bob as someone who can bring commensurate skills and experience to the boards.”

Together with Sam Walsh, chief executive Rio Tinto Iron Ore and chief executive Australia, who was appointed by the boards as an executive director since the last AGMs, Ann Godbehere and Robert Brown will offer themselves for election to the boards at the 2010 AGMs.

BHP Billiton announces the appointment of Mr Chris Campbell as President of its Iron Ore business, replacing Ian Ashby who will become the CEO of the Western Australia Iron Ore production joint venture with Rio Tinto. Mr Campbell's appointment is expected to become effective as Mr Ashby's workload in the JV increases, which is expected to occur progressively over the coming months. In his new role, Mr Campbell will have overall responsibility for the Company's global Iron Ore operations.

Mr Campbell has been with the BHP Billiton group for 20 years and has extensive experience in the mining industry. During this time, he has had various Australian and overseas roles in marketing, business development and project management, including overall leading of the successful integration of the former WMC Resources Ltd into BHP Billiton. Since June 2009, Mr Campbell has been leading the BHP Billiton Project Office for the Western Australia iron ore production joint venture with Rio Tinto, with responsibility for co-ordinating the delivery of the joint venture and preparing for the integration of the businesses for BHP Billiton.

BHP Billiton Chief Executive Ferrous and Coal, Marcus Randolph, said, "Chris' previous roles across marketing and operational areas of the industry and his deep history within the Group will be invaluable in his new position leading the Iron Ore business. I am delighted to have Chris on the team and believe that this structure will give additional focus to our non-Western Australia Iron Ore assets," he said.

Once the Western Australia iron ore production joint venture with Rio Tinto takes effect, the remaining Iron Ore business under Mr Campbell's leadership will include the Company's:

Samarco iron ore operations (Brazil);
Nimba and the proposed Arcelor-Mittal joint venture (West Africa);
iron ore growth opportunities outside Western Australia;
marketing of BHP Billiton's share of the Western Australia production joint venture with Rio Tinto; and
governance of the production joint venture with Rio Tinto, through the Owners Council.

Mr Campbell will be based in Perth, reporting to Mr Randolph.