SPECPOL - World Model United Nations

As the colonial era ended, however, the companies
faced problems. For years the mining laws of the
empires had supported them and allowed them to
hold a monopoly on mineral production. However,
the end of colonialism meant that new African
governments would have the opportunity to rewrite
the laws so as to favor native businesses. In Zambia,
the British South Africa Company transferred its
mineral rights to the government after independence
in 1964, and then a year later the remnants of the
company merged with the Anglo American plc. 85
Other companies, such as the diamond giant de
Beers, negotiated new contracts with countries such
as Angola, Zaire, and Botswana, thus ensuring that
production would continue unabated.
the practices of de Beers in the period following
colonial independence are noteworthy. While the
founder, Cecil Rhodes, and subsequent leaders of the
company had enjoyed great freedom to speculate
and mine where they pleased, the advent of African
independence hindered future endeavors. As such,
the company sought contracts with the states of
Zaire, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Botswana, as well
as others outside of Africa such as israel, Russia, and
Australia. In Africa, the company bought diamonds
from within conflict zones and collected fees and
percentages on every diamond sold. 86 When Zaire
tried to circumvent these charges by releasing their
own diamonds at lower costs, de Beers temporarily
flooded the market to lower prices, rendering Zaire’s
diamonds relatively worthless and forcing them to
adhere to the company’s terms. 87 Other deals saw the
country of Botswana acquiring 15% of the company
in exchange for access to its diamonds, and the
company bought almost the entire stock of diamonds
in Russia and israel, thus maintaining its monopoly of
diamond mining. 88
While other companies took similar, albeit less
extreme, measures, the power of the corporations
continued to grow, especially as smaller companies
were absorbed into just a few, growing conglomerates
which dominate the market today. The Rio Tinto
Group enjoyed great success in Rhodesia, but
eventually sold off its shares in the mines to finance
other purchases. it merged with the Consolidated
Zinc Corporation of Australia, which had capital but
needed the undeveloped assets provided by Rio
tinto. 89 the resulting Rio tinto Zinc Corporation
continued to acquire companies from North America
and Australia and began mining aluminum, borax,
uranium, and coal, among other minerals. 90 the
Brazilian Company Vale, which was formerly stateowned,
merged with the Brazilian ore industry and
acquired companies in China, Australia and North
America. it is now the second largest mining company
in the world. the dutch Company Billiton expanded
its operations to all continents excluding Antarctica
and began mining bauxite, gold, copper and coal.
In 2001, it merged with the Broken Hill Proprietary
Company of Australia, which itself was a powerful,
diversified company. Today, after several other large
acquisitions, BHP Billiton is the largest and most
valuable mining company in the world, accounting for
almost 16% of the global market capitalization. 91
together, these and other large companies
wield tremendous economic and political influence.
As with any large corporation, their presence is
simultaneously beneficial to countries, as they can
provide infrastructure, expertise, and employment
in the mining sector much more easily than many
governments. Yet in doing so they effectively take
power away from the state and can, as seen in Africa,
South America, and currently Asia, exert pressure on
nations to their benefit. This conflict of interests has
led to struggles for power and control over mining
rights between the state and the companies in several
countries.
32
Melbourne Host Directorate PTY LTD | Office of Media and Design