BACK TO TOP

West Cumbria Mining Ltd and EMR Capital - we reveal all.

Overview

Coal Action Network has commissioned research revealing massive debts of over £29million, Cayman Islands tax havens, corporate structures that undermine responsibility, and taxes that may not get paid.

Who owns who, and how

  • EMR Capital Resources Fund 1, LP. owns EMR Capital Investment (No.3B) Pte. Ltd.
  • EMR Capital Investment (No.3B) Pte. Ltd owns 80% of shares in West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Ltd – enough to control it like a puppet.
  • West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Ltd is the parent company of West Cumbria Mining Ltd.

Why does that matter?

If West Cumbria Mining Ltd gain planning permission for the coal mine, the local council will apply ‘section 106 conditions’ that’ll mandate its responsibilities such as remediating the environment at the end of mining. Legally, West Cumbria Mining Ltd. will need to fulfil these conditions (though they’re often ignored) as well as other responsibilities such as compensation if things go wrong – but it doesn’t have its own money to do that, as it’s financially dependent on EMR Capital. If these liabilities add up to more than the likely profit, EMR Capital could just asset-strip what little West Cumbria Mining Ltd owns, and walk away, leaving taxpayers in the UK to clean up the mess. A similar event happened with Margam opencast coal mine in 2010.

Who are EMR Capital Resources Fund 1, LP.?

A private equity fund that specialises in investments within the mining sector. EMR Capital Resources Fund 1, LP. and EMR Capital Investment (No.3B) Pte. Ltd have offices in the Cayman Islands tax haven, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. The company typically invests in a mine for 3-5 years, then sells it onto another private equity fund at a profit.

Why does that matter?

Selling a company at a profit is often done by cutting costs so the company is more profitable, at least in the short-term. Costs can be reduced by cutting employees (which happened recently), benefits, and operating standards such as environmental protection. The location of the company’s offices mean it has little accountability to the UK government, or us, if things go wrong such as people are injured or the environment requires remediation.

Loans and financial dependence

EMR Capital Investment has loaned West Cumbria Mining Ltd at least £29 MILLION so far. The interest on a portion of this loan rose to 15% in 2020. As of 2020, West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Ltd owed £947,545 in interest alone. West Cumbria Mining Ltd’s 2020 annual financial report documents that the company’s viability is dependent on EMR Capital’s financial support.

Why does that matter?

This means that West Cumbria Mining Ltd is vulnerable to bankruptcy if EMR Capital Investment pull out, which it has reportedly started to consider. That could mean that the mine is started, causing a huge amount of local environmental damage, but not completed, with the taxpayer having to fix the environment to the extent it can afford to.

Taxes

West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Ltd is operating over £12million in losses that’ll be offset against any future trading profit. Together with repaying its loan of £29 million to EMR Capital Investment and huge start-up costs, the amount that West Cumbria Mining pays in UK tax will be minimal for a long time.

Why does that matter?

A company profits from the natural resources and infrastructure owned and funded by us. This costs us in damage to the environment, infrastructure, and loss of natural resources. A key part of why companies are permitted to do this, is because we receive a proportion of that profit back in tax - more than it costs us, though it's obviously difficult to price natural resources and the environment that'll be impacted. West Cumbria Mining Ltd's finances means that we end up paying more than we get back, with company executives walking away with bonuses and huge profits that happen outside the reach of the UK tax authorities.

See a PDF of our parody investment brochure from EMR Capital... are you convinced?

Original research by Vivek Krotecha, 2021

Published: 01/09/2021

Share now:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Never miss an update! Sign up to our Newsletter

OTHER STORIES

Support local campaign group resist Bedwas coal mine

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Nec dui nunc mattis enim ut tellus elementum. Massa massa ultricies mi quis.

Bedwas coal tips: Key facts and impacts

Mining company, ERI Ltd, is applying to mine nearly half a million tonnes of coal from two coal tips dumped in Caerphilly, South Wales, by the mining industry last time it operated in the area. It’s vital we stop this shameless attempt to exploit the mess left behind by the mining industry to justify yet more mining. If the coal tip mining were to go ahead, it would…

Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine quietly becomes a massive reservoir

Coal Action Network’s drone footage on Monday 11th March raised the alarm bell about the rising water levels. With this footage, a local resident informed Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council of the rising water levels, only to be told…

Global Week of Action: Putting Insurance Industry in the Hot Seat

The insurance industry found itself in the spotlight last week as a Global Week of Action blossomed across the world. From February 27th to March 3rd 2024, a wave of protests, both online and in the streets, swept through the doors of insurance giants, demanding accountability over their support for polluters and decisive action on climate change.

Protesters walk with banner reading 'Insure Our Futures Not Polluters'

Success: Yet another major insurer rules out coal and oil projects

After a week of peaceful protest around the world, alongside hundreds of groups, our efforts have paid off. Yet another leading insurance company, Probitas, has ruled out insuring the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

Bedwas coal tip: a new frontier for coal in South Wales?

‘Energy Recovery Investments Ltd’ is proprosing to extract the coal from 3 large coal tips in Bedwas, Caerphilly, South Wales. The company claims that it would use some of the sales of the coal to restore those coal tips later. The coal tips lie above a coal seam, which the company claims it would coincidentally have to dig into to create ‘lagoons’ for processing the coal from the coal tips…

Charges dropped for activists blocking Ffos-y-fran coal mine

The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped all charges against the four Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists who blockaded the entrance to the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine, last summer with a pink boat. While removing the immediate burden of legal confrontation for the defendants, the decision has left a “crater of unfinished business” in the fight for climate justice and accountability for local residents…

Coal clings on in Aberpergwm appeal

Citing different grounds to the High Court, the Court of Appeal has nevertheless found against our appeal. The Court of Appeal judges disagreed with the judge in the High Court, and decided that current statute limits Welsh Ministers to only deciding whether a new conditional licence may be issued…

Aberpergwm coal mine extension debated in court

Today, 6th February 2024, Coal Action Network was back in court, this time appealing last year’s decision by the court that the Welsh Government couldn’t prevent an extension at Aberpergwm coal mine.

CONNECT WITH US

Share now:

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x