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by Adam PLOWRIGHT Agence France-Presse WITTELSHEIM, France (AFP) — Jean-Pierre Hecht, a miner in eastern France, remembers how attractive the idea sounded when he first heard about it: a dying pit could be turned into something useful and environmentally friendly. Back in the 1990s, the local state mining group MDPA approached the community in the town of Wittelsheim in Alsace with an idea for stocking hazardous waste in a nearby potash mine. “The pitch was […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Thursday effectively approved a new deep coal mine in northwest England, opting to leave the decision to the local authority which has already given the provisional green light. The decision to allow the country’s first new deep coal mine in decades came after a long-running campaign against the project by environmental groups, which accused the government of undermining its climate pledges. The project, whose developer is Australian-owned West […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Twenty-three miners have been confirmed dead after an accident at a coal mine in southern China, state media reported, with only one person rescued. A carbon monoxide leak on Friday evening at the Diaoshuidong mine in the city of Chongqing left 18 miners confirmed dead the next day as rescue efforts continued. But state media said Sunday that the toll had risen to 23 with only one survivor. The accident occurred […]
by Helena Kobogau, with Haeril Halim in Jakarta TIMIKA, Indonesia (AFP) — With the coronavirus devastating jobs across the country, desperate Indonesians are flocking to illegal gold mines as the soaring price of the precious metal overrides the risk to their lives and the environment. Spooked by the economic destruction wrought by the pandemic, consumers and investors around the world have been snapping up gold, which is seen as a hedge against volatility, sending its […]
HPAKANT, Myanmar (AFP) — The battered bodies of more than 160 jade miners were pulled from a sea of mud after a landslide in northern Myanmar on Thursday, after one of the worst-ever accidents to hit the treacherous industry. Scores die each year while working in the country’s lucrative but poorly regulated jade trade, which uses low-paid migrant workers to scrape out a gem highly coveted in China. The disaster struck after heavy rainfall pounded […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The bodies of at least 100 jade miners were pulled from the mud after a landslide in northern Myanmar on Thursday, in one of the worst ever accidents to hit the perilous industry. Scores die each year while working in the country’s lucrative but poorly regulated jade industry, which uses low-paid migrant workers to scrape out a gem highly coveted in China. The disaster struck after an early bout of heavy […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Russian mining giant behind an enormous Arctic fuel spill last month said Sunday it had suspended workers at a metals plant who were responsible for pumping wastewater into nearby tundra. Norilsk Nickel cited a “flagrant violation of operating rules” in a statement announcing it had suspended employees responsible for dumping wastewater from a dangerously full reservoir into wildlife. The incident occurred at the Talnakh enrichment plant near the Arctic city […]
DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania (AFP) — A Tanzanian small-scale miner has become a multi-millionaire after uncovering two of the biggest of the country’s precious tanzanite stones ever found and selling them to the government. Saniniu Kuryan Laizer, 52, found the stones weighing 9.27 and 5.1 kilograms (20.4 and 11.2 pounds) respectively in the northern Mirerani hills, an area which President John Magufuli had fenced off in 2018 to stop smuggling of the gem. He sold […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Tropical cyclone Damien lashed Australia’s northwestern resource-rich region of Pilbara on Saturday as locals heeded a code red emergency warning and hunkered down indoors. The category three storm brought winds of 150 kilometres per hour (93 miles per hour) that were expected to strengthen to gusts of 220 kph as the cyclone further advanced toward the coast. The Bureau of Meteorology said Damien had brought “very destructive winds” and “very […]
PIARACU, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s pledge to open up the Amazon to mining companies was tantamount to “genocide”, indigenous leaders said Friday at a meeting to oppose the government’s environmental policies. Hundreds of elders gathered this week at Pairacu, deep in the rain forest, to form a united front against Bolsonaro’s environmental policies, which have seen deforestation in the jungle nearly double since the Brazilian leader came to power a year ago. […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Siemens boss announced Sunday that the German conglomerate has decided to remain involved in a controversial Adani Carmichael coal mining project in Australia, despite massive environmental criticism as the country faces unprecedented bushfires. The contract for some 18 million euros ($20 million) calls for Siemens to supply rail infrastructure for the Carmichael mine in Queensland, near the Great Barrier Reef. “We have just finished our special meeting…. We have evaluated all […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A coal mine explosion killed 15 people in north China’s Shanxi province, state media reported Tuesday. Nine other people were injured by the gas explosion on Monday afternoon, which took place in a mine owned by Shanxi Pingyao Fengyan Coal & Coke Group Co, according to official news agency Xinhua. Xinhua reported that 35 miners were working underground when the blast happened, but 11 miners were able to escape. The injured […]
