The historic New River, which flows through central Appalachia – across North Carolina and West Virginia, in Virginia (USA) -, is showing signs of high levels of zinc that is poisoning the water and polluting the nearby land. New evidence has arisen, but the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is not acting to solve the problem. This … Read more
The indigenous Sami population has been trying to preserve their way of life and culture by protesting against the creation of an iron mine in northern Sweden. The project belongs to the British company Beowulf Mines. The police was called last Wednesday (21) to end a blockade of around 50 people, among locals and Sami. Eight people … Read more
Four days ago, the world pointed the first anniversary of the police massacre that killed 34 platinum miners in the northern town of Marikana, South Africa. The disaster happened last year, on August 16, and also wounded over 75 people. “The attack reminded many people of the massacres inflicted by white supremacist forces during the apartheid era, … Read more
Quarterly results are coming up, so it’s time to talk about some write-downs: in this case, the top ten of this summer. It’s not the best time for the mining companies, with gold hitting new record lows this past quarter and commodity prices generally dropping, something you might be able to “see” in the numbers. … Read more
Doug Lamborn, Colorado US Rep., is fighting to lift restrictions that keep coal mining companies from operating within 100 feet of watercourses. The bill proposed by the Colorado Springs Republican, also sponsored by the Ohio Republican Bill Johnson, talks about two different kinds of waste. It wants to prevent the “waste of taxpayer resources” by cutting regulations that are meant … Read more
The Khanyisa power project, under development in South Africa, will be the first project of its kind in the region to use the innovative circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) technology. The news was revealed at a workshop promoted by the Fossil Fuel Foundation, attended by the project manager Julian Eslait, who works for the company Anglo American Thermal Coal (AATC). Indeed, although CFB … Read more
A conflict between competing groups in a mine located in Johannesburg’s East Rand, South Africa, caused the death of seven illegal miners, about a week ago. Besides the fatal victims, also 12 other men got seriously injured. The local police was alerted on the past Sunday (July 28th) to a violent fight between the groups, … Read more
The story goes back to 2007, when a Michigan-based businessman allegedly stole over $1 million from investors that were lured into a scheme based on a fake Filipino gold mine. Freeman “Buck” Carl Reed, from St. Joseph, is the protagonist of this story, as the man is being charged with several counts of fraud by the US … Read more
Ghana’s government is determined to fight the scourge of illegal mining in the country, especially its scientifically proven consequences to the health of the people that live near the mining areas, announced the vice-president. But what can they really do to stop this disaster? According to Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, “the issue of illegal mining is not just … Read more
A Mineralogical Analysis done using a QEMSCAN can produce Photomicrograph of chalcopyrite (Cpy), pyrite (Py) attached to and locked in sphalerite. (Reflected Light). Photomicrograph showing pyrite attached to and locked in sphalerite. Bornite (Bn) locked in sphalerite (Reflected Light). Photomicrograph of pyrite and chalcopyrite locked in sphalerite. Arsenopyrite (Asp) locked in pyrite (Reflected Light). Photomicrograph of pyrite … Read more