mining

Wal-mart (falsely) claims its Love, Earth jewelry line is eco-friendly because consumers can trace the mine origins to the “Jewelry Sustainable Value Network”. Not so, according to a statement by Global Response who reports that the "mines are not monitored or certified by any credible independent agent." 

As humanity runs out of oil and minerals, the extraction of previously untouched deposits suddenly pays off -- financially. But experts warn that it will likely further accelerate climate change and seriously damage the environment.  Studies from Australia and Italy point out that peaks in the production of some minerals are to be expected in this century, too -- for example, of copper and gold. Others like mercury and phosphate might have hit their peak already.

At the Denver Gold Forum this week, market events and future gold prospects dominate discussion. What isn't on the agenda, but should be, is acknowledgement of the serious pollution and human rights concerns that plague the industry worldwide and meaningful discussion about how and when the industry will begin to produce gold more responsibly.

The Colorado Supreme Court today tried to balance state authority against county powers to determine whether Summit County can ban a type of cyanide gold mining.

The court heard oral arguments in a case pitting the county against the Colorado Mining Association.

At issue is a countywide ban, issued under zoning regulations, on open-pit cyanide heap leach gold mining — which uses a cyanide solution to separate gold from rock.

It's the gold that Pam Mortensen has come here to see. Mortensen, 52, is in charge of buying fine jewelry for Wal-Mart. And recently she has moved the world's largest retailer to the forefront of a loose alliance of businesses and environmental groups that have set out to clean up gold mining, one of the world's dirtiest industries.

Ever heard of Pel's flying squirrel? Its home in Ghana's forests is currently under threat from gold mining. US-based Newmont Mining Corporation wants to develop an open-pit gold mine that would destroy over a quarter of Ajenjua Bepo, a protected Forest Reserve in Ghana. The mine would eliminate habitat for many threatened species of plants and animals. The Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency is considering Newmont's proposal. Ominously, it seems to be ignoring the advice of environmental technical experts and the affected communities.

Environmentalists from four East European countries Wednesday urged their governments to ban polluting effluents after a lake containing heavy metal waste spilt over in Romania following flash floods.

"Stop the pollution of our rivers with toxic mining waste," 45 environmental organisations said in a joint letter to the governments of Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine.

The letter also underlined the "vulnerability of the mining industry in extreme climate conditions" such as the torrential rains experienced recently in Romania and Ukraine.

Several First Nations groups met last week to unite on one issue ‹ mining.The meeting, hosted by the Williams Lake Indian Band on Friday, July 18, included chiefs, councillors, technical staff and band members of 11 bands from the Chilcotin, Shuswap and Carrier Nations from Williams Lake to Kamloops.The biggest issue discussed, says Joe Alphonse, director of government services for the Tsilhqot'in Nation Government, was the proposed Prosperity mine project, a project he says is touted as being a benefit to Williams Lake.

A newly filed lawsuit accuses the Department of Energy of violating federal law during agency approval of uranium leases in the Uravan mining district in Montrose, Mesa and San Miguel counties.Durango-based Energy Minerals Law Center and Western Mining Action Project in Lyons sued DOE¹s Office of Legacy Management in Denver¹s U.S. District Court Thursday for failure to follow the National Environmental Policy Act in assessing the environmental impacts of nearly tripling uranium mining leases to over 27,000 acres of land.

Lexington Herald-Leader cartoonist Joel Pett takes a jab at Kentucky Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo over his professed love of mountaintop removal. See Pett's parody of John Prine's "Paradise" and the comments Mongiardo made about MTR in eastern Kentucky.

Even the bighorn sheep will likely abandon the Silver Bell area once mining eliminates more of their habitat, said Krausman, a former University of Arizona professor. The study is becoming part of the debate today as wildlife officials and mining officials disagree over likely effects of the proposed Rosemont open-pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, southeast of Tucson.

Tousands of dangerous and deteriorating mine shafts scattered across California, Arizona and Nevada contain unhealthy levels of arsenic, lead and mercury, according to a report from the Department of Interior inspector general.

Inspectors said they visited about 45 federal parks and conservation areas with abandoned mines between March 2007 and April 2008 and found the lands to have "dangerous physical safety and serious environmental hazards."

Questions for the nuclear industry.

Mining operations along the Arau River in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) have damaged a section of the waterway, changing the lives of residents of Arau village as they struggle to cope with the environmental degradation and its effects on them. The state of the Arau River, downstream from the mining operations is radically different as compared to the portion upriver from the mines. Upstream, the colour of the water is dark and clean while as it passes through the open mines pits, it changes to a yellowish colour and the water is filled with sediment.

The World Bank and its partners need to do a far better job of considering the environmental effects of projects they finance in poor countries, its internal review group concludes in a new report. The review, released Tuesday, examined some of the $400 billion in investments in nearly 7,000 projects from 1990 to 2007. It found that recent pledges for environmental sustainability by the bank and sister institutions, including the International Finance Corporation, were often not put into practice when dollars were turned into dams, pipelines, palm plantations and the like.

The Ontario government just announced the single largest conservation effort in Canadian history - with their pledge to save 50% of Ontario's share of Canada's Boreal Forest. An area roughly the size of Great Britian will now be saved from development forever.   Way to go Canada!

A huge swath of Canada’s northern Boreal forest will be permanently protected from tree harvesting and mining as part of a plan to combat climate change, the Province of Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty announced Monday.

More than a quarter of natural World Heritage sites are under pressure by existing or future mineral extraction. For this reason, IUCN is calling on the private sector, state-run companies and governments themselves to adopt and enforce the "no go" principle, meaning that no mining and/or mineral and oil exploration and production can be carried out in World Heritage sites. The call was made today in Québec City, Canada, during the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee.

There is also a trend called sand mining that is dangerous to environment. Excessive mining of sand in river beds spoils rivers and also results the decrease of ground water level. Ponds and lakes store rain water and also inject water in to underground and help in conserving ground water level. Sand mining increases the depth of river beds and more extent of rain water flows into rivers rather than flowing in to ponds and lakes if river bed depth increases. Ponds and lakes dry up and cannot contribute in conserving rain water and level of ground water.

Residents and activists from the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosí travelled to Toronto to tell the shareholders of a Canadian mining company that their investments are at risk because the billion-dollar Cerro San Pedro gold and silver mine is illegal and environmentally unsafe. "We want the Canadian people to be aware their investments have serious environmental and social damages in other countries. The mining is right next to monuments of national importance."

God help us.

A really interesting article from Ingle & Rhode talking about their recent trip to the Jujury region of Arentina where they some of the people who mine their gold along with members of the EcoAndina foundation – a United Nations and NGO-funded mining operation which uses the ‘green gold’ trade to fund sustainable villages and support the local communities of the Puna plateau.

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday denied Vancouver-based mining giant Teck Cominco's application for the re-hearing of a lawsuit launched by Washington State citizens over pollution in the upper Columbia River. As a result it is possible that Teck Cominco will have to pay millions of dollars to U.S. citizens who claim to have been affected by its pollution. Actually enforcing a cross-border "pay-up" command against Teck Cominco is still a challenge untested. Actually seeing a cleanup of the upper Columbia River? It may be impossible.

More people are now asking about “green” gold. CBS 2’s Rob Johnson reports on just what it is, and if it should be on your wish list. .

The wealth of a nation is its people, its cultural heritage, its environment and its natural resources. Obviously, this is not the case.

There has been a renewed push in the last few years for nuclear power plants. The big argument in favour of nuclear is the claim that they are “zero emissions”. Because they don’t actually burn anything, the power generation (fission) produces no greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. But nuclear plants need fuel, and getting that fuel is not emission free!

Need some uranium for a power station? School science project? A bomb? Hair removal or pest eradication? Maybe just in case you need it? After all, it's handy stuff to have in the cupboard and a great talking point at dinner parties. Ask Australia, we've got the cure for what ails ya!

The world's 2nd largest mining company and one of Brazil's largest multinationals, has notified several of its clients that they have 30 days to prove that they are in compliance with Brazil's environment and labor laws or else be cut off from all iron ore shipments. CVRD controls about half of Brazil's iron ore and much of the higher grade ore. Will CVRD be applying similar standards to its bauxite, aluminum, copper, nickel, manganese and potash clients? Will other mining firms follow its example?

The Bush Administration is proposing to EXPAND mountaintop removal mining - the process where they clearcut and destroy a mountain to get at the coal. This practice obviously destroys habitat, but also pollutes the waterways for the local communities.

Take action - submit your comment to oppose mountaintop removal mining.

The Humboldt Penguin population has fallen by nearly half since the early 1980s and it could soon appear on the endangered species list. Find out how over fishing, pollution, coastal development, and climate change are threatening the species.