Acid Mine Drainage in Gauteng, South Africa, has polluted the water and soil in Soweto.
Courtesy Professor Craig Sheridan, University of the Witwatersrand
Extractive mining disrupts the balance of the planet’s ecosystems and is set to rise. Could urban mining or degrowth help curb unsustainable practices?
Aerial view of the Pinto Valley copper mine, located on private and U.S. national forest lands in Gila County, Ariz.
Wild Horizon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Hard rock minerals like gold, silver, copper and lithium on public lands belong to the American public, but under a 150-year-old law, the US gives them away for free.
The majority of yeast infections are caused by Candida albicans.
Kateryna Kon/ Shutterstock
One study found a zinc-containing gel stopped symptoms of thrush in the majority of women.
Processing facilities in Tenke Fungurume Mine, one of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world, in south-eastern DRC.
Photo by Emmet Livingstone/AFP via Getty Images
The common timber treatment CCA is made up of heavy metals copper, chromium and arsenic. They don’t decompose and leach into soil and water. Why does New Zealand still allow its use?
The current energy transition could herald a new copper world. But will it be a long-anticipated resource blessing or yet another global scramble for the precious metal?
Expatriates and locals faced similar risks and hazards but for different pay.
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Sally Innis, University of British Columbia; Benjamin Cox, University of British Columbia; John Steen, University of British Columbia y Nadja Kunz, University of British Columbia
Simple economic modelling shows the mining industry would benefit from a carbon tax.
Afghanistan has mineral resources that include precious gems and minerals such as copper and rare earth elements.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Afghanistan has vast mineral resources that have long attracted interest from outside countries, but a lack of infrastructure and political instability means they’re unlikely to aid its economy now.
Stunning mosaic of oxidised copper in the form of azurite (blue) and malachite (green) in a rock.
Dimitri Houtteman
In reacting to the pandemic, architecture can reclaim its impact by conceding its loss of connection with public health, looking beyond Western thinking for its references.
The Bingham Canyon open-pit copper mine in Utah has operated since 1903.
David Guthrie/Flickr
Huon pines in Tasmania have locked up significant amounts of mercury pollution from the state’s mining industrial history. And that can be released back to the atmosphere in bushfires.
Copper was part of the deal between the DRC and the Chinese company Sicomines.
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The fossil fuel era won’t last forever. And a new set of countries will find their reserves of lithium, copper and rare earth metals are in high demand.