Category Archives: Mining

‘Staggering’ rise in women with reproductive health issues near DRC cobalt mines – study

Posted on by

Investigation reveals reports of miscarriages, infections and birth defects among women and girls in mining communities

Women and girls living in cobalt-mining communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are reporting a “staggering” rise in serious reproductive health issues, including miscarriages and birth defects, according to a new report.

An investigation published by the UK-based human rights group Rights & Accountability in Development (Raid) and the Kinshasa-based NGO Afrewatch said that women and girls living around cobalt mines reported experiencing irregular menstruations, urogenital infections, vaginal mycoses and warts.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: alleged fry pan-wielding university stabber pleads not guilty; Melbourne and Sydney make list of ‘world’s coolest streets’

Posted on by

Northcote’s High Street and Sydney’s Foster Street make urban hit list. Follow the day’s news live

Ballarat mayor: ‘ripple effect’ of miner’s death will be with community for a long time

Ballarat mayor Des Hudson also spoke to ABC News Breakfast about the Ballarat mine incident, and said:

It’s a tragic story where a worker who has gone to work at the start of the day and unfortunately has got returned home to his family or loved ones. That’s not the way any workday should pan out. So, our hearts and minds and love is with the family of that person who has died.

And the ripple effect of this will be with them for a long time as they work through the process. Obviously, there will be an investigation as to what happened, as you would expect in any workplace death. But also just that sense of loss that I’m sure will be with them in the days, the weeks and the months ahead as well as they continue to have to come to work.

Continue reading...

Ballarat goldmine collapse: miner killed in underground rockfall in Victoria

Posted on by

Two miners were pinned under a rockfall at the Mount Clear mine in Ballarat, Victoria, with one later rescued

A man has died and another is fighting for his life in hospital after a mine collapse in Victoria’s Goldfields region.

Thirty people were working about 3km from the entrance of the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear when the incident occurred about 4.50pm on Wednesday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

African leaders call for equity over minerals used for clean energy

Posted on by

‘Crucial’ UN resolution attempts to avoid repeat of injustices produced by Africa’s fossil fuel sector

In an attempt to avoid the “injustices and extractivism” of fossil fuel operations, African leaders are calling for better controls on the dash for the minerals and metals needed for a clean energy transition.

A resolution for structural change that will promote equitable benefit-sharing from extraction, supported by a group of mainly African countries including Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Chad, was presented at the UN environmental assembly in Nairobi on Wednesday and called for the sustainable use of transitional minerals.

Continue reading...

Anglo American’s platinum arm to cut 3,700 jobs as metal’s price dives

Posted on by

Johannesburg-based Amplats says one in five jobs will be lost in South Africa amid plunge in profits

The platinum arm of Anglo American is to cut 3,700 jobs in South Africa as the British mining company attempts to improve performance in the troubled division.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) said on Monday it aimed to cut jobs after a sharp drop in platinum metal prices, which had led to a collapse in profits last year.

Continue reading...

Albanese signs WA GST pledge on reporter’s arm and signals possible support for state’s nickel miners

Posted on by

PM says federal government will make ‘no changes’ to Western Australia GST payments, which could hit $50bn over a decade

The federal government is considering “time-limited support” for the nickel industry in Western Australia as it faces growing international competition from Indonesian producers, Anthony Albanese has said.

The prime minister also pledged to maintain WA’s lucrative share of GST payments by signing a promise on a newspaper front page and on a reporter’s arm in marker pen, before encouraging the journalist to get it tattooed on his body.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian-linked mining companies helping to prop up Myanmar military junta, report alleges

Posted on by

Activist group Justice for Myanmar alleges companies have continued operations in war-torn nation since the coup almost three years ago

Australian-linked mining companies are continuing to operate in Myanmar, helping to support the military junta and the junta-dominated mining sector, a new report alleges.

The activist group Justice for Myanmar released a report Tuesday detailing the activities of mining companies either linked to Australia or backed by Australian investors, which it alleges have continued their operations in the war-torn nation since the coup almost three years ago.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

BHP and Vale ordered to pay $15bn in damages for 2015 Brazil dam collapse

Posted on by

Mining companies and their joint venture Samarco ordered by Brazilian judge to pay AU$14.7bn over disaster that killed 19 people

A Brazilian judge has ruled that mining companies Vale and BHP and their joint venture Samarco must pay 47.6bn reais (AU$14.7 bn) in damages for a 2015 tailings dam burst, according to a legal decision seen by Reuters.

Vale, a Brazilian company, and BHP, an Australian listed company, said in separate statements they were not informed by the judiciary about the decision.

Continue reading...

WA police seize 30 tonnes of gold-bearing ore at back yard refinery allegedly linked to bikies

Posted on by

Police charge 20 people with a total of 56 offences in three-day Kalgoorlie operation as part of crackdown on outlaw motorcycle gangs

Western Australian police say they have busted a backyard gold refinery in Kalgoorlie, seizing more than 30 tonnes of gold-bearing ore that was allegedly stolen from the region’s mines.

Investigators believe the alleged racket was connected with outlaw motorcycle gangs, and the gold-bearing ore was stolen with the intention of refining and laundering the gold to gain cash to purchase illicit drugs that would be sold to the community.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

BMA Saraji coalmine incident: worker crushed to death at Queensland mine

Posted on by

Mining safety regulator launches investigation after 27-year-old man killed at BHP-owned mine in the Bowen Basin

The mining safety regulator has begun an investigation after an employee was crushed to death at a central Queensland coalmine on Monday.

The 27-year-old man was working at southern section of the BMA Saraji coalmine located in the Bowen Basin, near Dysart, south-west of Mackay. The mine is owned by BHP.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Norway to allow mining waste to be dumped in fjords

Posted on by

Environmental campaigners say move will threaten marine life and put biodiversity at risk

Norway is to allow mining waste to be dumped in its fjords after the government won a court case against environmental organisations trying to block the plan.

After a 15-year dispute, the private company Nordic Mining has been given the go-ahead to dispose of 170m tonnes of mining waste at the bottom of the Førde fjord, which critics say will threaten marine life and put biodiversity at risk.

Continue reading...

Peter Dutton was flown by a billionaire to Gina Rinehart’s Pilbara party – where he had a message for parents

Posted on by

Federal opposition leader told audience at Roy Hill mine that parents and teachers should instruct children about benefits of mining

Peter Dutton was flown to a party at the Pilbara mine of Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, by another billionaire rich-lister, where he made a speech suggesting parents and teachers talk to children about the positives of the mining sector.

In a speech at Hancock Prospecting’s Roy Hill mine in November last year, Dutton repeatedly thanked those working in resources. He described the work carried out at the mine as a “national treasure”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Illegal mining on rise again in Amazon, says Yanomami leader

Posted on by

Activist Davi Kopenawa says miners are returning after eviction operations were scaled back, and others never left

Thousands of illegal miners are resisting government attempts to evict them from Brazil’s largest Indigenous territory, the renowned activist and shaman Davi Kopenawa has said, nearly a year after operations to displace them began.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made expelling an estimated 20,000 illegal gold and tin ore miners from the Yanomami Indigenous territory one of his top tasks after taking power last January.

Continue reading...

Rainwater tank testing near NSW’s Cadia gold mine finds unsafe levels of mercury

Posted on by

Further testing should be done to reduce the risk of local tank water being contaminated by mercury, expert says

An independent study of rainwater tanks near the Cadia goldmine in central west New South Wales has detected unsafe levels of mercury in some residents’ drinking water, nine months after widespread water testing conducted by NSW Health found no unsafe results.

The results come from an independent testing program conducted by Dr Ian Wright through the Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN), which took water samples from kitchen taps and the top and bottom of rainwater tanks at 42 properties near the mine, between August and November 2023.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter

Continue reading...

Eva Lawler named Northern Territory chief minister after Natasha Fyles resignation

Posted on by

Fyles quit after it was uncovered she owned undisclosed shares in a mining company with interests in the territory

The current treasurer of the Northern Territory, Eva Lawler, will be the territory’s new chief minister.

Lawler will replace the outgoing chief minister, Natasha Fyles, who resigned after it was uncovered she owned undisclosed shares in a mining company with interests in the territory.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Gina Rinehart launches joint bid for lithium miner amid demand for electric vehicles

Posted on by

The $1.7bn offer for Azure Minerals comes during a rush of dealmaking for the metal used in batteries

Gina Rinehart has teamed up with a Chilean miner to take control of a prized lithium asset in the mineral-rich Pilbara, creating a path for Australia’s richest person to become a major producer of the key metal used in electric vehicle batteries.

Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) lodged a $1.7bn bid for Azure Minerals, according to a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Judge throws out Kabwe lead-poisoning case against Anglo American mining

Posted on by

South African court dismisses huge class-action lawsuit over toxic legacy of mining at Broken Hill in Zambia between 1925 and 1974

A South African court has thrown out a case brought against the multinational mining company Anglo American on behalf of 140,000 Zambian women and children, who allege they have suffered lead poisoning from one of its mines.

The lawsuit, one of Africa’s largest class-action cases, was filed in October 2020, accused Anglo American of negligence over its alleged failure to prevent widespread lead poisoning in the Zambian town of Kabwe, where its South African subsidiary is alleged to have played a key role in running a large mine from 1925 until 1974.

Continue reading...

Europe is ‘miles behind’ in race for raw materials used in electric car batteries

Posted on by

EU and UK carmakers have secured just 16% of lithium, cobalt and nickel needed to hit 2030 targets, says study

European carmakers have secured less than a sixth of the key raw materials they will need by 2030 to make electric vehicle batteries, according to analysis that highlights the expected scramble for green-tech resources.

Carmakers have secured contracts for 16% of the lithium, cobalt and nickel required to hit their 2030 electric car sales targets, according to public disclosures analysed by Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based campaign group.

Continue reading...

‘A biodiversity catastrophe’: how the world could look in 2050 – unless we act now

Posted on by

The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutions

The continued destruction of nature across the planet will result in major shocks to food supplies and safe water, the disappearance of unique species and the loss of landscapes central to human culture and leisure by the middle of this century, experts have warned.

By 2050, if humanity does not follow through on commitments to tackle the five main drivers of nature loss critical natural systems could break down just as the human population is projected to peak.

Continue reading...

‘Historic moment’: Panama activists celebrate ruling against copper mine

Posted on by

Campaigners take to streets after supreme court ruling that could shut down contentious copper mining project

Environmental activists in Panama have taken to the streets to celebrate a ruling by the country’s supreme court which could shut down a contentious copper mining project and bring an end to weeks of mass protests which have paralysed the country’s major roads and ports.

“Today Panama celebrates a historic moment that we have been waiting for for years. At first there were only a few of us but now we all understand that Panama’s gold is green,” said Serena Vamvas, who has been protesting the mine since 2021 with Foundation My Sea (Fundación Mi Mar).

Continue reading...