Mining has not been particularly lucrative for New Zealand. It makes little economic sense to focus on digging for minerals, despite claims the new mines will aid in the country’s green transition.
Gold mine head gear, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Martin Brook, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Shane Jones’ draft mining strategy is politically divisive. But New Zealand must face the practical and ethical implications of its own reliance on the critical minerals extracted elsewhere.
As we launch into a Future Made in Australia, we need to map and better understand the social and economic risks – as well as potential benefits – for remote and disadvantaged communities.
Joining us for the podcast Resources Minister Madeleine King pushes back against Coalition claims the green energy projects – developing green hydrogen and investment in processing critical minerals.
Two major critical minerals projects in Queensland and South Australia will receive $400 million in federal government loans to to deliver Australia’s first high-purity alumina processing facility.
People hold rally signs during a Toronto rally raising concerns and opposition to the Ontario provincial government’s plans to expand mining operations in the so-called Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario in July 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Ontario’s Ring of Fire could make Canada a minerals superpower, but Indigenous consultation is essential to ensure doing so does not harm reconciliation or Canada’s global reputation.
China’s two largest EV battery makers are pledging to slash the cost of their batteries this year. Behind the pledge is a cost war – and new battery chemistries.
An aerial view of pools of brine that slowly evaporate, leaving behind lithium and other minerals, in the SQM mine in the San Pedro de Atacama desert, in northern Chile, on April 18, 2023.
(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The temptation to justify critical minerals mining at all costs is a dangerous fallacy. The social and environmental impacts of poorly mined critical minerals are dire.
Australia’s biggest competitor has massively expanded nickel production, funded by Australia’s biggest customer.
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.
Solar power is likely to become the dominant electricity source worldwide by 2050.
Mny-Jhee/Shutterstock
For towns built on mining, mine closures have huge impacts. Because mines inevitably close, communities should be involved from the start in planning for that time.
An ambitious clean energy transition requires more of the metals and minerals used to build clean energy technologies.
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The demand for the minerals needed to build clean energy technology currently exceeds the available supply. If this issue continues, governments may find it hard to reach their clean energy targets.
Martin Brook, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Some New Zealand universities have proposed staff and course cuts in earth sciences. This could leave the country ill prepared to deal with natural hazards and extreme weather.