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STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – Sweden’s government on Tuesday gave its go-ahead for a controversial mining project in the country’s far north, sparking ire from activists who argue it would harm the environment and the indigenous Sami people. Jokkmokk Iron Mines, a British-owned company that filed an application for the Kallak mine in 2013, is eyeing Sweden’s largest-known cache of untapped quartz-banded iron ore as well as rare earth minerals. The company still has to win […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto announced Thursday it would sever all business ties with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The company said in a statement that it “is in the process of terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business”. No timeline has been announced for the severance, which may be a complex disentanglement given the miner’s ties with Russia. In Australia, Rio Tinto co-owns one of the world’s […]
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) – Two subsidiaries of Swiss mining company Solway Investment Group hid reports of pollution in an indigenous area of northeastern Guatemala, an international consortium of media companies said Sunday. The “Mining Secrets” investigation — in which 65 journalists from 15 countries participated — also accused Solway subsidiaries Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN) and PRONICO of intimidation and influence peddling. The investigation run by the Forbidden Stories NGO “reveals the strategies that Solway […]
by Annie THOMAS and Lucien KAHOZI Agence France-Presse MANONO, DR Congo (AFP) – Near the rusting carcass of a smelter, barefoot men and women scratch at the ground in the quest for cassiterite — the tin oxide ore that generations ago gave the town of Manono a brief taste of the good life. The diggers carry the sandy earth to the Lukushi River where women wash the grit in metal bowls, hoping to find some […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — At least 17 people are feared dead after a landslide trapped dozens of workers inside a Myanmar jade mine, sources and local media said Tuesday. The incident came on Monday evening near Hpakant township in northern Kachin state — the same region where a massive landslide in 2020 entombed 300 workers in the country’s worst ever mine disaster. Pictures of the scene showed the aftermath of the landslide, with a broad […]
by Maddison Connaughton Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Gas and mining projects in Australia are emitting significantly more greenhouse gases than their operators promised, with an environmental group reporting Thursday that one pipeline was releasing 20 times the initial estimate. During an 18-month investigation, researchers from the Australian Conservation Foundation found one-in-five fossil fuel companies reporting their emissions had exceeded the amount approved by the government. One gas pipeline in the state of Queensland, operated […]
RIO DE JANERIO, Brazil (AFP) – Major mining companies are seeking to expand to currently protected indigenous lands in the Amazon rainforest, bolstered by billions of dollars in financing from international banks and investment firms, a report found Tuesday. Nine mining giants including Brazil’s Vale, Britain’s Anglo American and Canada’s Belo Sun have filed applications seeking authorization to mine on indigenous reservations in Brazil — even though that is currently illegal, said the report by […]
Brasília, Brazil (AFP) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro launched a plan Monday to expand gold mining in the Amazon rainforest, drawing criticism from environmentalists for bolstering an industry accused of rampant deforestation, pollution and attacks on indigenous peoples. Bolsonaro signed a decree creating a program to support the development of artisanal mining, a controversial activity known as “garimpo” that occupies something of a legal gray area in Brazil. The decree says the aim is to “propose […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) – The Czech Republic and Poland on Thursday signed a deal on a giant coal mine near the Czech and German borders to end a dispute that has caused a stand-off between Warsaw and Brussels. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki “signed an agreement” in Prague on the Turow lignite mine, the Polish prime minister’s office said on Twitter. “We managed to push away a stone […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japan will seek UNESCO World Heritage recognition for a centuries-old network of mines on Tuesday, the government said, risking renewed diplomatic tensions with South Korea over forced wartime labour. The controversial gold and silver mine complex on central Japan’s Sado Island dates back 400 years and was once one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to authorities in the coastal region where it is located. But more […]
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AFP) – Underground operations have finally begun at a copper mine in Mongolia, official media has reported, ending years of delays for Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto. The massive Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper mine has been mired in controversy for years and disrupted by protests from locals worried about environmental damage and foreign influence. While it started production from an open-pit mine several years after Mongolian authorities inked a deal in 2009, Rio Tinto secured […]
by Isabel MALSANG Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Europe is seeking to expand its lithium mining and refining capacity and wean itself off imports as the “white gold” becomes a vital resource in the fight against climate change. Alongside nickel and cobalt, lithium allows electricity to be stored and transported, making them essential in electric battery production as car manufacturers move away from polluting fossil fuels. But Europe mostly depends on external sources for […]
