It doesn't hurt to have mining rights to the world's largest known deposits of nitrates and iodine.
Fighting between two Arab tribes over land and mining rights in the area this year has killed hundreds of people.
Some Colombian officials think he might have been colluding with the guerrillas to drive Greystar out of the area and scoop up its mining rights.
Yet the Kols found themselves ensnared in a new sort of servitude, woven by contractors with mining leases obtained from the raja (who still claims mining rights to 46 villages).
Luo Bingsheng, the deputy secretary of the steel association, said China has overseas mining rights capable of producing 150 million tons of iron ore each year, but most of them have not yet started producing.
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The Japanese, who buy the majority of unprocessed rare earths from China, are certainly busy: Sumitomo and Toshiba are both setting up projects in Kazakhstan, and other Japanese investors are looking at buying mining rights in Vietnam.
Under the UN's Convention on the Law of the Sea, mining rights on the ocean floor are controlled by a little-known body, the International Seabed Authority, which since 2001 has issued 13 licences - with another six in prospect.
BBC: UK Seabed Resources joins deep-ocean mineral-mining rush
Nevertheless, her campaign has echoed Mr Humala's pledges to levy a windfall tax on mining companies and give Andean Indian communities veto rights over mining and oil projects on their land.
The Chinese government, they say, is willing to pay over the odds for mining or drilling rights to secure access to physical resources.
If ratified by Congress, it will grant a Kingston, Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA) the power to regulate deep-sea oil exploration, seabed mining, and fishing rights.
He had campaigned against mining operators claiming that their activities violated the rights of indigenous people in the region.
The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights was established in 2000 as a code of conduct for oil, gas, and mining companies, to maintain the safety of their staff and assets while avoiding human rights violations.
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On Thursday, the judges maintained the ban on bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hill range and said the rights of local tribespeople must be considered.
NGOs and big energy and mining companies, have signed up to a set of Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
Finally, crossbench peer Baroness Coussins asked the government whether its discussions with the President of Colombia during his visit included monitoring human rights and environmental impacts of British and other multi-national corporations engaged in mining activities in Colombia.
The married father of three took millions of pounds of investors' funds, promising to invest the money in lucrative rights-issue releases from companies such as HSBC, Lloyds TSB, and the mining companies Xstrata and Rio Tinto.
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