Mining Effects
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Constructing soils for climate-smart mining
Surface mining is inherently linked to climate change, but more precise monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is necessary. Here we combined the geolocation of mine sites and carbon stock datasets to show that if all legal active mining sites in Brazil are exploited over the next decades, 2.55 Gt of CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) will be emitted due to the loss of vegetation (0.87 Gt CO2eq) and soil (1.68 Gt CO2eq). To offset these emissions, we propose constructing soils (Technosols) from mine and other wastes for mine reclamation. We show that this strategy could potentially offset up to 60% (1.00 Gt CO2eq) of soil-related CO2 emissions. When constructed with suitable parent materials, Technosols can also restore important soil-related ecosystem services while improving waste management. The construction of healthy Technosols stands out as a promising nature-based solution towards carbon-neutral mining and should, therefore, be considered in future environmental policies of major mining countries.
The federal government is cleaning up a long legacy of uranium mining within the Navajo Nation — some 27,000 square miles spread across Utah, New Mexico and Arizona that is home to more than 250,000 people.
Strip Mining Worsened the Severity of Deadly Kentucky Floods, Say Former Mining Regulators. They Are Calling for an Investigation
by James Bruggers 7/8/22 Inside Climate News
In past flooding, hydrologists have calculated runoff 1,000 times greater than without mining. Scientists say climate change will intensify heavy rains.
Deep-Sea Mining—Bonanza or Boondoggle?
This is the world of deep sea hydrothermal vents, geothermally active fissures that are often miles beneath the ocean’s surface. It’s also, improbably, the next frontier of the mining industry—the future home of what some are calling a new gold rush.
Seven Mining, Metals Companies Partner on Responsible Sourcing with World Economic Forum
by Amanda Russo 25/10/19 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The Mining and Metals Blockchain Initiative will pool resources and cost, increase speed-to-market and improve industry-wide trust that cannot be achieved by acting individually. It aims to be a neutral enabler for the industry, addressing the lack of standardization and improving efficiency. The intention is to send out a signal of inclusivity and collaboration across the industry. The group will look to develop joint proof-of-concepts for an inclusive blockchain platform. Over time, this could help the industry collectively increase transparency, efficiency or improve reporting of carbon emissions.
The Wartime Mining Boom Exporting Rare Earths, and Toxins
by Hannah Beech 11/6/25 The New York Times
Unregulated rare earth mining in Myanmar, directed by Chinese enterprises, is poisoning the Kok and at least three other rivers that flow through Thailand. For months, levels of arsenic and other toxic metals have spiked to dangerous levels in Thai waterways, including the Mekong, government data shows.
Trump May Approve Strip Mining on Tennessee’s Protected Cumberland Plateau
by JAMES BRUGGERS 13/2/20 Inside Climate News
LAFOLLETTE, Tennessee—Even as the nation’s demand for coal tumbles, the Trump administration is considering a permit that would allow strip mining on protected ridgelines in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau over the objection of environmental groups and the state’s Republican attorney general.
How mountaintop mining affects life and landscape in West Virginia
by Miles O'Brien 3/5/17 PBS NEWS
Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.
Sago: The Anatomy of Reporting Gone Wrong
by David Folkenflik 4/1/06 npr
National news organizations flooded the small mining community of Sago, W. Va., to cover the trapped miners. But mistaken information from seemingly authoritative sources allowed good news to outrace the truth.
Biden’s order to increase mining to power electric vehicles raises contamination concerns
by Matthew Daly 30/4/22 PBS NEWS
Biden’s action, part of his efforts to find alternatives to fossil fuels and combat climate change, does not waive or suspend existing environmental and labor standards, the White House said. Nor does it address the chief hurdle to increased domestic extraction of so-called critical minerals: the years-long process needed to obtain a federal permit for a new mine.
In Southern Arizona, Community Opposition to Mining Grows in Towns That Once Depended on the Industry
by Wyatt Myskow, Yana Kunichoff 8/5/25 Inside Climate News
A rush of proposals to mine the state’s famed “sky islands” with water drawn from overtaxed aquifers is drawing opposition from people who know the industry’s boom and bust cycles.
Gold mining leaves heart of Peruvian Amazon a wasteland
by Leo Schwartz 21/9/19 PBS NEWS
A decade of illegal gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon has left thousands of acres of rainforest a wasteland. Unpermitted miners cleared vast sections of trees near Peru's border with Brazil and infused the land with mercury, causing an environmental disaster. But some miners have fled after Peruvian troops moved in. Special correspondent Leo Schwartz reports in the first of a two-part series.
In Philippines, workers toil among hazards in compressor mining
by Richard C. Paddock 27/1/14 PBS NEW
He works on a floating wooden platform in shallow Mambulao Bay in what is one of the world’s most dangerous professions: compressor mining.
Natural capital accounts: What are they and how can mining companies use them to measure and value nature
by Mischa Traynor 23/11/23 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The World Bank estimates that the production of energy-critical minerals will increase 500% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy infrastructure, such as wind power and electric vehicles.
In Philippines, workers toil among hazards in compressor mining
by Richard C. Paddock 27/1/14 PBS NEWS
“Sometimes, I am scared to go down because of the possibility it will collapse,” said Brian, the fourth of nine children in his family. “But I like the job because I get money. I give the money to my parents for food.”
Natural capital accounts: What are they and how can mining companies use them to measure and value nature
by Mischa Traynor 23/11/23 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The increasing need for more minerals and metals requires more mining activity, and this can lead to pressure on ecological systems and the environmental, social and economic benefits they support. More than half of the world’s economic output – $44 trillion of economic value generation – is highly or moderately dependent on nature and the biodiversity that underpins our natural systems. Rapid declines in biodiversity, therefore, represent a significant threat to humanity and economic stability.
Corruption and Rights Abuses Are Flourishing in Lithium Mining Across Africa, a New Report Finds
by Katie Surma 15/11/23 Inside Climate News
A subsistence miner, he had been searching for chunks of ore in a rubble pile when a security guard at the mine site fired his weapon without warning, family members and local human rights activists said in interviews. Vito died a week later from his injuries.
How can innovation make mining more sustainable?
by Robin Pomeroy 30/4/24 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
“Whether it's semiconductors or cars or cellphones or the toothpaste that you use to brush your teeth in the morning, it all depends on the mining industry in one way or the other,” says Vivek Salgaocar, director of the Vimson Group and Prospect Innovation. “So if we can actually tackle these issues at the source, we're truly then greening our supply chain. I think that has very, very far reaching ramifications.”
Backed by International Investors, Mining Companies Line Up to Expand in or Near the Amazon’s Indigenous Territories
by Katie Surma 22/2/22 Inside Climate News
U.S.-based financial institutions are among their top funders, according to a new report by Amazon Watch and the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous People, or APIB. In the past, those mining companies caused environmental damage that sickened Indigenous communities, stirred social discontent and contributed to the “trail of destruction” of the Amazon rainforest.
7 ways the mining sector can prepare for the coming economic era
by Jordan Calderon 9/11/20 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The mining and metals industry is facing an unprecedented paradigm shift as it begins to implement new technologies while also managing climate and social challenges. Through raising awareness of these issues, and by focusing on new digital solutions, growing material demand, and investor pressures, the industry can strengthen its foundational role in a rapidly evolving global economy.
New Ghana mining laws to shorten licence periods, boost community investment
ACCRA, July 23 (Reuters) - Ghana plans to shorten mining licence durations and mandate direct revenue-sharing with local communities in its most sweeping mining law reforms in nearly two decades, details of which were announced by a government minister on Wednesday.
Trump Executive Order Streamlines Mining Permits. Environmentalists Fear What Comes Next
by Wyatt Myskow 21/3/25 Inside Climate News
President Donald Trump signed an executive order behind closed doors on Thursday that aims to fast-track mining projects across the country and prioritize mineral production on public lands with suitable resources—a decision natural resource lawyers and environmentalists say has the potential to dismantle protected landscapes like national monuments as well as threaten endangered species, waterways and local communities.
4 ways blockchain will transform the mining and metals industry
by Max Weiland 10/7/18 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The mining and metals industry is a critical component of the global economy. However, many operational and commercial practices remain inefficient and antiquated, leading to critical data omissions, security vulnerabilities and even corruption.
These Tribal Activists Want Biden To Stop A Planned Lithium Mine On Their Sacred Land
McKinney, a Shoshone-Paiute tribal member from the Duck Valley Reservation in Nevada, wears black sunglasses and an American Indian Movement ski hat and tank top, exposing his tattooed, muscled arms. He's one of a dozen or so tribal and environmental activists who started camping here early this year, a peaceful occupation, they say, in protest of a planned lithium mine on federal Bureau of Land Management land.
Chile's Codelco halts mining projects after reporting second worker death
On Monday, the company announced it would keep construction of its Rajo Inca project halted after reporting the death of one worker after a truck driven by a contractor slid off a platform at a dump while the operator was outside of the control cabin. The truck then slid 40 meters (131 feet) down a slope killing the operator. read more It reported another death at its Chuqui Subterranea project, an expansion of the historical Chuquicamatamining, earlier on Wednesday.
Fighting the legacy of mining in Lesotho
by Caelainn Hogan 27/6/16 ALJAZEERA
Lesotho – On a hard shoulder of the God Help Me Pass, a road snaking through the vast peaks of Lesotho, a landlocked mountain kingdom in southern Africa, men who worked for years underground line up in the bright sun outside a cluster of tents.
Drilling, Mining Boom Possible But Unlikely Under Trump’s Final Plan for Southern Utah Lands
by Judy Fahys 7/2/20 Inside Climate News
As ominous as it might seem, the Trump administration’s plan to reverse limits on new mining, drilling and development across a vast swath of federal land in southern Utah is unlikely to unleash a fossil fuel bonanza anytime soon.
Innovation can disrupt the mining industry. These sustainable start-ups are leading the way
by Miranda Barker 29/11/24 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The increasing population and the reliance on technology, such as electric vehicles, energy systems and advanced electronics, has raised the demand for minerals and metals like lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and copper. This transition necessitates an even greater reliance on these minerals compared to conventional methods. For instance, an electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car.
U.S. mining sites dump 50 million gallons of fouled wastewater daily
by Matthew Brown 20/2/19 PBS NEWS
The pollution is a legacy of how the mining industry was allowed to operate in the U.S. for more than a century. Companies that built mines for silver, lead, gold and other “hardrock” minerals could move on once they were no longer profitable, leaving behind tainted water that still leaks out of the mines or is cleaned up at taxpayer expense.
Forget about rare earth minerals. We need more copper
[https://www.npr.org/2025/03/16/nx-s1-5327095/copper-rare-earth-minerals-mining-electronics by Scott Neuman 16/3/25 npr]
In recent weeks, you've likely heard a lot about rare-earth substances, thanks to President Trump's stalled efforts to secure a minerals deal with Ukraine and his talk of annexing Greenland. These vital substances fuel the growing renewables and electric-vehicle industries. However, many experts warn that the shortage of another crucial metal, used in electronics, wiring and even plumbing could be just as concerning.
Trump signs executive order boosting deep-sea mining industry
by Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw 24/4/25 Reuters
April 24 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, marking his latest attempt to boost U.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy.
How 'modern-day slavery' in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy
Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Panama celebrates court order to cancel mine even as business is hit
by Michael Fox 30/11/23 ALJAZEERA
The country’s Supreme Court of Justice ruled that Panama’s new mining contract with the Canadian company First Quantum was unconstitutional.
Mining Critical to Renewable Energy Tied to Hundreds of Alleged Human Rights Abuses
by Katie Surma 7/6/23 Inside Climate News
The Business and Human Rights Resource Center said the alleged abuses involve global mining for copper, lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel and zinc, all used in critical renewable technologies like solar panels, vehicle batteries and windmills.
Arizona Residents Fear What the State’s Mining Boom Will Do to Their Water
by Wyatt Myskow 9/8/24 Inside Climate News
MAMMOTH, Ariz.—Overlooking a ridge in the Galiuro Mountains, one of Arizona’s famed Sky Islands that provide refuges for wildlife in the hot Sonoran Desert, Melissa Crytzer Fry and her husband, Steve, stand above what could one day become an underground mine.
As the US Rushes After the Minerals for the Energy Transition, a 150-Year-Old Law Allows Mining Companies Free Rein on Public Lands
by Jim Robbins 13/3/22 Inside Climate News
A new open pit lithium mine was approved last year at Thacker Pass in Nevada, on publicly owned land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management, to tap into this country’s largest known deposit of the mineral, worth nearly $4 billion.
Why innovation in the mining sector is critical for the energy transition
by Vivek Salgaocar 2/11/22 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Amid our global energy transition, corporations and governments are conscientiously building pathways to decarbonize our energy sources. These efforts hinge on how readily we embrace renewable energy sources, yet even renewable-based technologies require a massive input of materials, including metals and minerals. Conversely, they are more material intensive than traditional fossil-fuel-based systems, which creates a vital caveat in the global push to decarbonize.
In a Deep Red State, a Mining Regulator Is Wary of Possible Trump Cuts to Its Budget
by Lee Hedgepeth 13/6/25 Inside Climate News
The Department of Interior makes that clear, or at least that is how she reads Title V of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. And “nobody wants that,” said Love, who heads the Alabama Surface Mining Commission. She met Thursday with commissioners and explained some of the budget woes still brewing in Washington.
Indigenous mining complicates Brazil's fight against illegal gold
by Ricardo Brito and Adriano Machado 2/12/24 Reuters
JACAREACANGA, Brazil, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The involvement of Indigenous people in illegal gold hunting, lured by the prospect of easy money due to record prices, has made Brazil's task of cracking down on wildcat mining in the Amazon far harder, environmental agents and police say.
Failure of State: For Decades, Alabama’s Mining Regulator Has Left Citizens Unprotected
by Lee Hedgepeth 22/12/24 Inside Climate News
Alabamians have for decades been raising their voices about the risks of longwall mining, an aggressive method of extracting coal that has left sinking homes in its wake and increased the risks of an explosive gas seeping to the surface.
Clean Mining a Deception in Kentucky, Groups Say
by Michael Wines 17/11/14 The New York Times
In a state where coal-country creeks run red with iron, Frasure Creek Mining has been unusually clean of late: Amid tens of thousands of measurements that it submitted to Kentucky regulators in 2013 and early 2014, fewer than 400 exceeded the state’s limits for water pollution from coal-mine runoff.
Mining is necessary for the green transition. Here’s why experts say we need to do it better
by Bella Isaacs-Thomas 8/12/23 PBS NEWS
Before a solar panel can be installed on a roof or an electric bus can hit the streets, manufacturers first have to get their hands on key metals and minerals. But to meet the demands of the transition away from fossil fuels, experts say more sustainable approaches are needed to minimize the effects the mining industry can have on the planet, people and their communities.
Connected, safe, intelligent – mining in the modern age
by Zou Zhilei 26/6/23 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The days of mines as dirty and dangerous workplaces are ending. Digital technologies are empowering the mining industry to become cleaner and safer for workers. Technological change chimes in with a transition in the underlying logic of mining. Formerly, the major way to increase mining output was to add sites and staff. In light of price volatility, shortages in talent and other hurdles, the industry is now transitioning from this method to one of intensifying the use of existing sites instead.
Deep Sea Mining Negotiations Resume Amid Industry Pushback and Environmental Alarm
by Teresa Tomassoni 17/7/25 Inside Climate News
The three-week summit is dedicated to finalizing a long-debated set of rules known as the Mining Code that would govern how, when and where companies could extract cobalt, nickel and manganese from the ocean floor. These metals are often found in potato sized rock-like mineral deposits called polymetallic nodules. But progress towards adopting the code remains uncertain as critics raise mounting concerns about the harm the industry would cause to marine life.
Tailings Dams: Where Mining Waste is Stored Forever
by Gretchen Gavett 30/7/12 PBS NEWS
Imagine a big hole in the ground, similar to the one pictured above. Now imagine that pit filled with up to 10 billion tons of tailings — waste that’s derived from mining — that will remain there forever.
Demand for minerals sparks fear of mining abuses on Indigenous peoples' lands
WIKIEUP, Ariz. — In the desert hills of western Arizona, Ivan Bender drives his ATV to inspect holes in the ground. The holes are near the property of the Hualapai tribe, and an Australian mining company drilled them in recent years as it explores for lithium, a key metal in many electric vehicle batteries.
In Canada’s ‘Silicon Valley’ of Mining, Speculators Power a Hunt for Alaska’s Minerals
by Max Graham, Northern Journal 17/6/25 Inside Climate News
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—On a January evening, dozens of people crammed into a banquet space at the glitzy Pan Pacific Hotel overlooking Vancouver’s waterfront.
An Epidemic Is Killing Thousands Of Coal Miners. Regulators Could Have Stopped It
Greg Kelly's grandson, Caden, scampers to the tree-shaded creek behind his grandfather's house to catch crawdads, as Kelly shuffles along, trying to keep up. Kelly's small day pack holds an oxygen tank with a clear tube clipped to his nose. He has chairs spaced out on the short route so he can stop every few minutes, sit down and catch his breath, until he has enough wind and strength to start out again for the creek.
Papua New Guinea leaders struggle to monitor deep-sea mining activities off its coast
by Willem Marx 19/9/24 PBS NEWS
Governments often struggle to move quickly when it comes to regulating new industries or products. One area where international organizations and governments around the world have failed to agree on regulation is far out at sea beyond national maritime boundaries.
Trump Admin. Halts Mountaintop Mining Health Risks Study by National Academies
by Phil McKenna 21/8/17 Inside Climate News
The Trump administration has ordered a halt to an independent study looking at potential health risks to people living near mountaintop mining sites in Appalachia.
Peru's Nazca Lines face mining threat after protected area slashed
Peru's Culture Ministry last week slashed the protected zone from 5,600 to 3,200 square kilometers, attributing the move to topographical and archaeological studies that more precisely demarcated areas with "real patrimonial value."
by Fergal Smith 9/7/25 Reuters
July 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday, with the materials group leading a broad-based advance as gains for U.S. technology shares fed recent investor exuberence.
Your Next Car May Be Built With Ocean Rocks. Scientists Can't Agree If That's Good
by Alexandra Gillespie 3/9/21 npr
Sprawling fields of rocks about the size of your fist coat the Pacific seabed. Below miles of ocean, these nodules burst with copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt, all key to building batteries for electric vehicles.
Coal Mining Emits More Super-Polluting Methane Than Venting and Flaring From Gas and Oil Wells, a New Study Finds
by Phil McKenna 15/3/22 Inside Climate News
Methane emissions from coal mines worldwide exceed those from the global oil or gas sectors and are significantly higher than prior estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Energy Agency, a new Global Energy Monitor report concludes.
Appalachia’s Strip-Mined Mountains Face a Growing Climate Risk: Flooding
by James Bruggers 21/11/19 Inside Climate News
The tranquil scene belies the devastation the creek delivered one night a decade ago as heavy rain fell on soggy soil and thousands of acres of nearby strip mines. Witnesses spoke of awakening in the dark of May 9, 2009, to the sound of rushing water like they had never heard before, entering their homes from underneath their doors.
Australia digs in as top destination for mining listings
by Melanie Burton and Divya Rajagopal 23/3/25 Reuters
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is growing its market share in metals and mining partly at the expense of Toronto and London rivals, just as the sector needs to expand by $100 billion a year to produce the metals needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, industry figures show.
Australia digs in as top destination for mining listings
by Melanie Burton and Divya Rajagopal 23/3/25 Reuters
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is growing its market share in metals and mining partly at the expense of Toronto and London rivals, just as the sector needs to expand by $100 billion a year to produce the metals needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, industry figures show.
Deep-Sea Mining Could Help the Clean Energy Transition. But Is It Worth the Risk?
by Kristoffer Tigue 1/7/22 Inside Climate News
Three Pacific island nations announced this week that they had formed a new alliance calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining until the environmental risks of the nascent industry are better understood and appropriate regulations are put in place. Whether countries should be allowed to extract minerals from the seafloor has become an increasingly important debate as countries race to find the metals needed for batteries that will power the clean energy transition.
Focus: Chile's parched mines race for an increasingly scarce commodity: water
by Fabian Cambero 6/5/22 Reuters
SANTIAGO, May 6 (Reuters) - A record-breaking drought in Chile is impacting mining operations and forcing companies to escalate their search for more sources of water, from water treatment and pricey desalination plants to even encouraging workers to use less water in the shower.
The cobalt mining industry is a human rights failure - here's what needs to be done
by Anna Pienaar 10/1/20 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The wealth of companies purchasing cobalt for use in everything from mobile phones to cars and the wretchedness of those who pick it from the ground with their bare hands, in some cases at the risk of death is a global public scandal.
Could Robots Replace Humans in Mines?
It's an increasingly urgent question, given the recent high-profile mining accidents in Sago, W.Va., and Huntington, Utah. A small corps of engineers and robotics experts envision a day in the not-too-distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work, and even help rescue trapped miners, like the six men trapped in a mine in Utah.
In the race for space metals, companies hope to cash in
by Sarah Scoles, Undark 12/5/24 ars Technica
Potential applications of space-mined material abound: Asteroids contain metals like platinum and cobalt, which are used in electronics and electric vehicle batteries, respectively. Although there are plenty of these materials on Earth, they can be more concentrated on asteroids than mountainsides, making them easier to scrape out. And scraping in space, advocates say, could cut down on the damaging impacts that mining has on this planet. Space-resource advocates also want to explore the potential of other substances. What if space ice could be used for spacecraft and rocket propellant? Space dirt for housing structures for astronauts and radiation shielding?
S African gold miners gun for mining firms
by Ilham Rawoot 26/12/12 ALJAZEERA
The powerful words reflect a scourge that has stalked South African miners for more than century. Now, the prevalance of tuberculosis, silicosis and other occupational lung diseases have spurred the biggest class action lawsuit the country has seen.
China accelerates coal mining to ensure winter power supply
LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - China has boosted domestic coal production and imports to record highs, even as surging power from hydro dams and solar farms has trimmed thermal generation during the summer heatwave.
Sand Mining In Cambodia And Dams Upstream Threaten Mekong River
by Michael Sullivan 17/2/20 npr
MICHAEL SULLIVAN, BYLINE: In the capital Phnom Penh, a construction boom is transforming the city. High rises are replacing the low-slung French colonial architecture, and sand from the Mekong sediment is used to make concrete that's key to that growth, says government mineral resources Director-General Yos Monirath.
‘Gentleman’s Agreement’: Despite Mining Ban, Russia Scours Antarctica for Massive Fossil Fuel Deposits
Despite the 1998 Antarctic mining ban — ratified by Russia and 28 other states — some of the so-called loot in the Kremlin’s crosshairs appears cached within large marine sedimentary basins off East Antarctica’s Indian Ocean sector.
Who Did This To Peru's Jungle?
In the 21st century, the demand for gold is once again having a profound effect on Peru. As world gold prices have risen over the last decade to record highs, thousands of subsistence farmers from the Peruvian Andes have flooded east into the Amazon basin in hopes of uncovering tiny specks of the metal. A decade ago, when gold was trading at $400 an ounce, deposits in old riverbeds wouldn't have been worth pawing through. They became incredibly attractive as the price of gold shot up to as much as $1,800 an ounce.
China's Zijin Mining to invest $380 mln in Argentina lithium plant
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Chinese mining firm Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd will invest $380 million to construct a lithium carbonate plant in Argentina via local subsidiary Liex, the country's Ministry of Production said on Friday.
Grisly Peru mining murders spotlight 'gold curse' in the Andes
by Sebastian Castaneda and Marco Aquino 7/5/25 Reuters
TRUJILLO, Peru, May 7 (Reuters) - Peruvian mining sector worker Frank Monzón was aware of the risks, but the lure of gold deep in the Andean rock of northern Pataz province outweighed the danger. Now he and 12 others are dead in one of the country's worst mining massacres.
The race for electric vehicle parts leads to risky deep-ocean mining
by Tatiana Schlossberg 4/8/21 PBS
Nauru, lying about halfway across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Hawaii, is the world’s smallest island nation. But in the emerging industry of deep-sea mining, it punches far above its weight.
Treasure and Turmoil in the Deep Sea
by By Steven H.D. Haddock and C. Anela Choy 14/8/20 The New York Times
There is treasure in the sea, and much of it lies in plain view on the deep ocean floor. Fields of metallic nodules and towering hydrothermal chimneys accumulate precious and industrially prized metals, estimated to be worth many billions to even trillions of dollars.
The weirdest ways scientists are mining for critical minerals, from water to weeds
Since ancient history, mining has been a dirty business. While we’ve developed new tools, chemicals, machines, and techniques, most of today’s mining still boils down to digging in the dirt. As the world ramps up production of the technologies it needs to move away from fossil fuels, this widespread disturbance of Earth and ecosystems will continue in the accelerating search for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare-earth elements.
Nations Denounce Deep Sea Mining Company’s Bid to Exploit Metals in the Pacific Under US Law
by Teresa Tomassoni 29/7/25 Inside Climate News
As delegates from member states of the International Seabed Authority entered the third and final week of high-stakes negotiations on deep-sea mining, they condemned a move made earlier this year by The Metals Co. to bypass the authority’s protocols by applying for a permit to mine in international waters under U.S. law.
Mining is an environmental and human rights nightmare. Battery recycling can ease that.
Rows of dead batteries stretch across some 30 acres of high desert, organized in piles and boxes that are covered to shield them from the western Nevada sun. This vast field is where Redwood Materials stores the batteries it harvests from electric vehicles, laptops, toothbrushes, and the litany of other gadgets powered by lithium-ion technology. They now await recycling at what is the largest such facility in the country.
Metal mining on land versus the ocean in the context of the current Biodiversity Crisis
by Verena Tunnicliffe 5/3/25 npj
As climate change and biodiversity loss intensify, the deep seabed beckons as a source of metals for batteries. Initiating this new exploitation conflicts with international agreements to decelerate biodiversity loss through wider protections of ecosystem integrity. The poor record of terrestrial mining must not be an excuse to mine the ocean floor. Improved oversight and biodiversity protection as miners increase production on land will produce a better global biodiversity outcome.
A destructive industry
The global Greenpeace network is working to prevent a new destructive extractive industry from ever getting started in the oceans. Our position: no deep sea mining, not ever! To achieve that, we are joining Pacific Island communities, champion nations, environmentally concerned companies, and dozens of allied organizations across the globe in calling for a UN moratorium on deep sea mining.
Report finds that mines and other brownfields are an untapped resource for accelerating the clean energy transition.
by Nels Johnson 18/7/24 The Nature Conservancy
Fortunately, there’s a promising solution. Mining the Sun, a report by The Nature Conservancy, suggests that siting clean energy infrastructure on degraded lands like mining sites, landfills and brownfields can be a win-win solution for climate, conservation and communities.
Biomass carbon emissions from nickel mining have significant implications for climate action
by Evelyn M. Mervine 8/1/25 nature communications
Commitments to boost low-carbon energy production and end deforestation by 2030 were two key outcomes of the COP 28 conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change1. Together, these measures could make substantial progress towards mitigating anthropogenic climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius2. However, their effects are not independent, and, without careful planning, progress on one could undermine the achievement of the other.
Mining: A Toxic Legacy for Nevada
Families across the country live with pollution from irresponsible mining, and taxpayers—not polluters—too often pay for a cleanup bill which has reached $50 billion. Why? Because our mining laws were written 150 years ago for pick and shovel miners. They’re out of touch and out of scale with modern industrial hardrock mining, and desperately need to be updated. We need mining laws that will allow taxpayers to be fairly compensated for the wealth private corporations extract from publc lands, to protect drinking water, the environment, and communities, and to hold mining companies responsible for their pollution.
Weaning the world off fossil fuels is going to take a whole lot of metal.
The world needs massive amounts of critical minerals to power the transition to clean energy. But as countries and industries explore new mining opportunities, a major question looms: Can all of this extraction be done without the same environmental and human costs associated with fossil fuels?
Digging for minerals in the Pacific’s graveyard: The $20 trillion fight over who controls the seabed
by Anita Hofschneider 26/3/25 Grist
Solomon Kahoʻohalahala steadied himself on the double-hulled voyaging canoe called Hōkūleʻa as a 15-foot swell rose and the vessel took off under the midday sun. He had been paddling since dawn along the south shore of Molokaʻi, and his arms were tired.
What Is Open-Pit Mining? Definition, Examples, and Environmental Impact
by Rebecca Coffey 26/7/22 Treehugger
Open-pit mining is one of several non-tunnel approaches to mining that gives miners ready access to minerals and stone near Earth’s surface. Explosives help create massive, canyon-like holes. Heavy machinery refines the holes into workable pits and extracts the valuable materials that large trucks then cart away. Solid and liquid waste are usually kept at disposal sites near the pit.
Blocking Destructive Mining
Mining — the extraction of minerals from the earth — has deep roots in Wisconsin. For millennia, Native Americans living near Lake Superior used the region’s abundant copper supply to forge tools, weapons, and jewelry, developing what is now called the Old Copper Culture. And beginning in the early 1800s, Wisconsin’s accessible lead deposits in the southwest part of the state attracted immigrants and helped to fuel the nation’s early growth.
The Rights of Nature Become a Rallying Point Against an Ascendant Mining Industry
by Katie Surma 6/3/25 Inside Climate News
Jofré and other residents in the downstream town of Jáchal learned of the spill only after an employee at the mine, owned and operated by the Canadian company Barrick Gold, sent a WhatsApp message to a family member, warning of the danger.
Can We Mine the World’s Deep Ocean Without Destroying It?
by Richard Schiffman 15/6/23 YaleEnvironment360
Few people know the deep ocean as intimately as Lisa Levin, an ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Not content with doing pure science, Levin, who has participated in more than 40 oceanographic expeditions, co-founded the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative, a global network of more than 2,000 scientists, economists, and legal experts that seeks to advise policymakers on managing the ocean’s depths.
Transparency on greenhouse gas emissions from mining to enable climate change mitigation
by Mehdi Azadi 3/2/20 nature geoscience
The climate change impacts of mining are often not fully accounted for, although the environmental impact of mineral extraction more generally is widely studied. Copper mining can serve as a case study to analyse the measurable pathways by which mining contributes to climate change through direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. For example, mining, processing and transportation require fuel and electricity, and the decomposition of carbonate minerals, employed to reduce environmental impacts, also releases carbon dioxide. Overall, we estimate that greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary mineral and metal production was equivalent to approximately 10% of the total global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. For copper mining, fuel consumption increased by 130%
Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity
by Laura J. Sonter 1/9/20 nature communications
Renewable energy production is necessary to halt climate change and reverse associated biodiversity losses. However, generating the required technologies and infrastructure will drive an increase in the production of many metals, creating new mining threats for biodiversity.
REVEALED: Undercover video shows deep sea mining tests tainted by pollution and flawed monitoring
by Tanya Brooks 10/1/23 GREENPEACE
Undercover footage of the latest deep sea mining tests in the Pacific Ocean by Canadian miner The Metals Company (TMC) and its Swiss operating partner and shareholder AllSeas shows that wastewater sucked up from the seabed was dumped directly onto the sea’s surface. The wastewater contained rock debris and sediment. TMC and Allseas have not publicly reported the incident.
Mining’s climate accountability
by Nature Geoscience 4/2/20 nature geoscience
Human populations have been defined by the technologies they use and the resources they exploit. In pre-history Europe and west Asia there were the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages; in modern times the Industrial Age is more universal. Fuelled by hydrocarbons, industrialization has led to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, with unintended but well-documented changes in climate and environment.
In Rush for Key Metals, Canada Ushers Miners to Its Fragile North
by Ed Struzik 21/6/23 YaleEnvironment360
In the wilderness north of Great Slave Lake, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, mining companies are eyeing a potential treasure trove of critical minerals as demand for lithium, nickel, graphite, and copper has risen sharply to meet the needs of the burgeoning electric vehicle and solar power industries.
Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
by Laura J. Sonter 18/10/17 nature communications
Mining poses significant and potentially underestimated risks to tropical forests worldwide. In Brazil’s Amazon, mining drives deforestation far beyond operational lease boundaries, yet the full extent of these impacts is unknown and thus neglected in environmental licensing. Here we quantify mining-induced deforestation and investigate the aspects of mining operations, which most likely contribute.
Norway hits the brakes on mining the Arctic Ocean — for now
[https://grist.org/oceans/norway-hits-the-brakes-on-mining-the-arctic-ocean-for-now/ by Gautama Mehta 13/12/25 Grist]
Over the last decade and a half, deep-sea mining has captured worldwide attention as a potential source for minerals like manganese, nickel, and cobalt that are needed to make electric vehicle batteries and other technology in support of the global energy transition.
Chile’s lithium boom promises jobs and money — but threatens a critical water source
by Muriel Alarcón 26/3/25 Grist
Peine sits on the edge of the nearly 1,200-square-mile Atacama Salt Flat, or Salar de Atacama. Sitting beneath its surface, dissolved in underground saline waters called brine, is one of the largest, most concentrated reserves of lithium in the world.
Uranium Mining Revival Portends Nuclear Renaissance in Texas and Beyond
by Dylan Baddour 1/12/24 Inside Climate News
In the old ranchlands of South Texas, dormant uranium mines are coming back online. A collection of new ones hope to start production soon, extracting radioactive fuel from the region’s shallow aquifers. Many more may follow.
The US funds lithium mining, risking water supplies
Increased lithium mining is critical for the energy transition, but it threatens water resources and ecosystems, especially in arid regions. Effective regulations and alternative battery technologies are needed to balance environmental concerns with energy needs.
Global mining footprint mapped from high-resolution satellite imagery
by Liang Tang 22/4/23 communications earth & environment
Mining is of major economic, environmental and societal consequence, yet knowledge and understanding of its global footprint is still limited. Here, we produce a global mining land use dataset via remote sensing analysis of high-resolution, publicly available satellite imagery.
Frac Sand Mining
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is the controversial practice of extracting fossil fuels from hard-to-reach shale deposits.
An update on global mining land use
by Victor Maus 22/7/22 Scientific data
The growing demand for minerals has pushed mining activities into new areas increasingly affecting biodiversity-rich natural biomes. Mapping the land use of the global mining sector is, therefore, a prerequisite for quantifying, understanding and mitigating adverse impacts caused by mineral extraction.
The Mining Statistics of the World
by BENNETT H. BROUGH 4/4/01 nature
IT is impossible to imagine a more concise, more intelligible, or more inexpensive collection of comparative mineral statistics than is contained in the General Report on Mines and Quarries prepared by Dr. C. Le Neve Foster for the Home Office, and it would be difficult to find an editor possessing in a more marked degree the requisite technical knowledge, literary skill and critical acumen for the difficult task of abstracting and collating the heterogeneous official mineral statistics of foreign countries and of rendering them intelligible to the general reader.
