Tag: Mining

Philippines lifts ban on new open-pit mines

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – The Philippines has lifted a four-year ban on new open-pit mines, an official said Wednesday, in a bid to revitalise the country’s coronavirus-battered economy slammed by activists as “short-sighted”. The move sees the Philippine government reverse a ban imposed in 2017, when the then-environment minister blamed the sector for widespread ecological damage. Manila has since reversed course, encouraging mining investments to shore up government revenues as lockdowns and quarantine restrictions ravaged […]

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At least 70 missing after landslide at Myanmar jade mine: rescue team

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — At least 70 people were missing and one confirmed dead on Wednesday following a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, a member of the rescue team told AFP. “About 70-100 people are missing in a landslide that happened around 4:00 am” at Hpakant mine in Kachin state, said rescue team member Ko Nyi. “We’ve sent 25 injured people to hospital while we’ve found one dead.” Around 200 rescuers were […]

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Thousands block roads in Serbia to protest mining project

BELGRADE, Serbia (AFP) – Thousands of demonstrators blocked major roads across Serbia Saturday as anger swelled over a government-backed plan to allow mining giant Rio Tinto to extract lithium from the Balkan nation. In the capital Belgrade, protesters swarmed a major highway and bridge linking the city to outlying suburbs as the crowd chanted anti-government slogans while some held signs criticising the mining project. Smaller protests were held in other Serbian cities, with small scuffles […]

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Greenland passes law banning uranium mining

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) – Greenland’s parliament voted Tuesday to ban uranium mining and exploration in the vast Danish territory, following through on a campaign promise from the ruling left-wing party which was elected earlier this year. The Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party won snap elections in April that were originally triggered by divisions over a controversial uranium and rare earth mining project. The IA won 12 seats in the 31-seat Greenlandic national assembly, beating its rival Siumut, […]

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Rio Tinto says to ‘halve’ emissions by 2030

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia-based mining giant Rio Tinto on Wednesday announced plans to cut direct carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030, ramping up previous targets as the firm tries to green its highly polluting operations. Rio Tinto said it would spend around $7.5 billion from now until the end of the decade to cut so-called scope one and two emissions — from mining operations and power consumption. “Governments are setting more ambitious targets and […]

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Green energy springs from abandoned UK coalmine

by Olivier DEVOS Agence France-Presse Dawdon coalmine in northeast England was abandoned three decades ago, but is being brought back to life as the unlikely setting for a green energy revolution. The carbon-intensive colliery, near the town of Seaham on the windswept northeast English coast, hauled coal from deep underground until its closure in 1991. Dawdon has long since flooded with water because part of the mine is below sea level, and is heated by […]

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In Siberia, a copper mine hopes to become a global energy pivot

by Andrea PALASCIANO Agence France-Presse UDOKAN, Russia (AFP) – In 1949, a Soviet expedition in Siberia was looking for uranium to supply the national nuclear arsenal when it stumbled on a vast deposit of copper. More than 70 years later, a mining complex in Russia’s Far East between Lake Baikal and the Pacific Ocean is finally due to launch operations next year. With copper key to the world’s energy transition away from carbon, the hope […]

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Conservation meet mulls moratorium on deep sea mining

by Laure FILLON Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – The world’s top conservation forum will vote this week on whether to recommend a moratorium on deep sea mining, with scientists warning that ecosystems degraded while dredging the ocean floor 5,000 metres below the waves could take decades or longer to heal. The proposed ban is among a score of measures deemed too controversial to be decided remotely ahead of the International Union for the Conservation […]

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Mystery stones spark diamond rush in poor South African region

by Claire DOYEN KWALHATHI, South Africa (AFP) — Single mother Lihle Magudulela spat out a mouthful of dirt as she sucked on a stone dug up from a hillside in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, convinced she might have found a diamond. Thousands have flocked to the outskirts of KwaHlathi village, more than 300 kilometres (186 miles) southeast of Johannesburg, after a cattle herder last week unearthed a handful of unidentified crystal-like stones. News of the […]

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Seven killed in landslide at Indonesia gold mine

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least seven people were killed and one reported missing after a landslide at an Indonesian gold mine, authorities said Tuesday. Torrential rains triggered a landslide on Monday, inundating the mine with mud mixed with stones and debris in South Solok regency, West Sumatra, said the local emergency department head Fikri, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. In a statement, the department said “at least seven killed and one […]

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President Duterte lifts ban on new mining deals

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has lifted the ban on granting new mine agreements in a bid to spur economic growth. In signing Executive Order No. 130, the government may now effectively “enter into new mineral agreements, subject to compliance with the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and other applicable laws, rules, and regulations.” Then-president Benigno Aquino III  had ordered the ban in 2012 “until a legislation rationalizing existing revenue sharing schemes and mechanisms shall […]

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Search on for 11 trapped in illegal goldmine in Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Rescuers were working against the clock to rescue 11 people trapped in a flooded illegal goldmine since last week, Colombian authorities said Monday. The group has been trapped since last Friday in a 17-meter (55-foot) deep shaft flooded in a heavy downpour. According to the National Mining Agency (ANM), rescuers were using electric pumps to remove water from the mine. “Eleven people are still missing,” Luis Velasquez, governor of the northwestern […]

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