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LONDON (Alliance News) - GCM Resources PLC saw its shares rise Friday, after it said that the OECD Watch had now finished an examination of a complaint against the company and its plans for a controversial open pit coal mine in Bangaldesh and it was "looking forward" to communicating the results to its shareholders once an embargo is lifted.
OECD Watch is an international network of civil society organisations promoting corporate accountability. In December 2012, activist groups lodged a complaint against GCM Resources alleging it had breached the OECD guidelines for multinational companies with its plans for the developing the Phulbari coal project in Bangladesh.
The Phulbari coal project is a proposed open pit coal mine in northwest Bangladesh and includes the construction of at least one 500 megawatt power plant. It has been part of a controversial tussle over allowing it to proceed for over a decade.
Critics allege that the plans would displace thousands of people, turf farmers off their land, leaving them landless and without a job, deplete the local water table, potentially pollute water courses for miles, and require the destruction of whole towns and villages.
The company has defended its plans, saying they will enhance the human rights for the people of the Dinajpur area as well as the Bangladesh population because the project will support up to 4,000 megawatts of power generation for the country. It said it had extensively studied the potential impact of mining at the site, and prepared plans to mitigate any adverse impact while providing benefits, such as improved water quality and living conditions.
Still, OECD Watch's so-called national contact point decided in June last year to investigate further.
"The company is pleased to report that the (national contact point) has concluded its examination in respect of the company. The results are currently embargoed, pending a review into the NCP's procedures as requested by the complainant following their apparent dissatisfaction with the outcome of the examination, which was disclosed to the parties," GCM Resources said in a statement.
"GCM has fully cooperated with the NCP and been completely transparent in providing all information requested to facilitate a thorough analysis. We appreciate the professional and impartial approach taken by the NCP over the last 18 months, and look forward to a successful and early conclusion to the examination," GCM Chairman Michael Tang added.
In its most recent financial statement in January, the company had said it had continued its engagement with the local community both within and surrounding the Phulbari coal project area, and support for the project was increasing within the local communities, it said.
GCM Resources shares were up 17.4% at 23.92 pence Friday morning, one of the biggest gains on the AIM All-Share index.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @SteveMcGrath1
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