Glencore and PolyMet – Bad Deal for Minnesota (April 2018) PolyMet’s “partnership” with its Swiss-based multinational parent corporation, Glencore, is a bad deal for Minnesota. PolyMet’s dependence on Glencore places Minnesota’s precious clean water resources in the hands of one of the world’s worst corporations, while sending profit and metals overseas. Glencore – Huge Multinational Corporation Ranked among World’s “Worst” • Glencore is a controversial multinational corporation with mining and commodities interests across the globe. In 2017, Glencore’s revenues were $205 billion and its total assets were $136 billion. 1 • Glencore is notorious for environmental and human rights violations worldwide. In 2013, Glencore was identified as one of the worst corporations in the world for environmental and human rights abuses. 2 • In 2015, members of the United Steelworkers union ranked Glencore the second-worst corporation in terms of lifetime corporate irresponsibility: “Glencore is truly deserving of this recognition as one of the most irresponsible companies on the planet . . . Glencore has mistreated workers and harmed communities on nearly every continent.” 3 • Glencore’s Board Chairman is Tony Hayward, 4 who was group chief executive of British Petroleum from 2007 to 2010; during the time of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. PolyMet – Glencore Financing, Rights to Production and Influence • Glencore owns all of the rights to all products from the PolyMet NorthMet mine and plant for the entire duration of the project. 5 • If Glencore were to exercise all of its rights under agreements with PolyMet, it would own 40.0% of PolyMet. 6
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Glencore and PolyMet – Bad Deal for Minnesota (April 2018) PolyMet’s “partnership” with its Swiss-based multinational parent corporation, Glencore, is a bad deal for Minnesota. PolyMet’s dependence on Glencore places Minnesota’s precious clean water resources in the hands of one of the world’s worst corporations, while sending profit and metals overseas.
Glencore – Huge Multinational Corporation Ranked among World’s “Worst”
• Glencore is a controversial multinational corporation with mining and commodities interests across the globe. In 2017, Glencore’s revenues were $205 billion and its total assets were $136 billion.1
• Glencore is notorious for environmental and human rights violations worldwide. In 2013, Glencore was identified as one of the worst corporations in the world for environmental and human rights abuses.2
• In 2015, members of the United Steelworkers union ranked
Glencore the second-worst corporation in terms of lifetime corporate irresponsibility:
“Glencore is truly deserving of this recognition as one of the most irresponsible companies on the planet . . . Glencore has mistreated workers and harmed communities on nearly every continent.”3
• Glencore’s Board Chairman is Tony Hayward,4 who was
group chief executive of British Petroleum from 2007 to 2010; during the time of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
PolyMet – Glencore Financing, Rights to Production and Influence
• Glencore owns all of the rights to all products from the PolyMet
NorthMet mine and plant for the entire duration of the project.5
• If Glencore were to exercise all of its rights under agreements with PolyMet, it would own 40.0% of PolyMet.6
• Glencore executives currently hold three positions on PolyMet’s board of
directors; they serve on all of PolyMet’s management committees.7
• PolyMet depends on Glencore for financial and technical services, and Glencore has set various PolyMet product and design requirements.8
• Since its 2012 Technical Feasibility Report, costs for the NorthMet project have
skyrocketed, while the predicted rate of return has dropped by two-thirds, from 30.6% to around 10%.9 PolyMet is much less attractive to independent investors.
PolyMet and Glencore Serve Global Profit, Send Minnesota Metals to China
• Glencore profits would not benefit Minnesota, or even many
Americans. Investors cannot even buy ordinary Glencore shares directly in the United States.10
• Due to PolyMet’s exclusive contracts with Glencore, metals
mined in Minnesota will bolster China, not U.S. independence.
• As a condition of its 2013 merger with the Xstrata mining company, Glencore must supply China with copper concentrate through the end of the decade.11 Glencore also made a recent deal to send China one-third of its cobalt.12
For more information, contact Paula Maccabee, WaterLegacy Advocacy Director and Counsel, [email protected]. 1Glencore - Statistics & Facts, https://www.statista.com/topics/2081/glencorexstrata/ , visited Apr. 2018. 2 “Who’s the ugliest of them all? Glencore Xstrata is a hot contender for worst corporation award” (Dec. 4, 2013) available at http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2013/12/04/glencore-xstrata-worst-corporation-award/, visited Apr. 2018. 3 United Steelworkers ,“Sherwin Owner Glencore Takes 2nd in ‘Worst Company’ Contest” (2015), visited Apr. 2018 at http://www.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2015/sherwin-owner-glencore-takes-2nd-in-worst-company-contest. 4 Glencore Board of Directors, http://www.glencore.com/who-we-are/our-leadership/ visited Apr. 2018. 5 PolyMet Mining NorthMet Project Form NI 43-101F1 Technical Report, March 26, 2018 and filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on March 27, 2018. 6 Glencore Early Warning Report Form 62-103F1, filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) March 28, 2018. 7 PolyMet Mining Annual Information Form, filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) March 28, 2018 8 PolyMet March 2018 Technical Report, supra. 9 PolyMet March 2018 Technical Report, supra, and PolyMet Mining NorthMet Project Form NI 43-101 Technical Report filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) October 12, 2012. 10 Glencore Shareholder FAQs available at http://www.glencore.com/investors/shareholder-centre/shareholder-faqs/ visited Apr. 2018. 11 “Glencore Wins China’s Blessing for Its $30 Billion Takeover of Xstrata,” New York Times (Apr. 16, 2013) available at http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/glencores-30-billion-takeover-of-xstrata-gains-chinese-approval/ last visited July 2015. 12 “Glencore signs massive cobalt sale deal with China's GEM,” (Mar. 2018), visited Apr. 2018, http://www.mining.com/web/glencore-signs-massive-cobalt-sale-deal-chinas-gem/.
