The Russian town of Noril’sk contains the world’s most valuable source of mined nickel.
Noril'sk mine and town, 2014.
The Noril’sk nickel deposits In Russia are unique: giant volcanic eruptions 250 million years ago released colossal amounts of nickel into the atmosphere, kickstarting the Great Dying.
The photo that confirms the Night Parrot’s existence in Western Australia.
Bruce Greatwitch
A Night Parrot snapped in Western Australia confirms the mysterious species survives across Australia, but now the real conservation work begins.
South Africa’s economy was built on strong mining activity which has declined in recent years.
REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
The economic transformation discussion document released by South Africa’s governing party, the ANC, fails to be radical.
Workers walk past a Lonmin Marikana platinum mine, a site that represents industrial strife in South Africa.
Reuters/Skyler Reid
South Africa’s mining industry is on an unsustainable trajectory and needs to undergo fundamental transformation that emphasises transparency, equity, and community participation.
California is particularly earthquake-prone, hosting the great San Andreas fault zone.
wlscience/flickr
Can California’s wet weather make earthquakes more likely? Scientists are still learning about what triggers these events. Even human activity can be a culprit.
Industrial emissions have blown across Mount Isa for decades.
Mark P. Taylor
Glencore has admitted responsibility for air pollution in Mount Isa, but its latest report puts the onus on residents to minimise their exposure to lead contamination in their homes.
Sheep move through public lands near Shoshone, Idaho.
BLM/Flickr
Republicans in Congress are working to kill an Obama administration rule that broadens public input into federal land use planning. Hunters, fishermen, hikers and environmental groups are opposed.
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Devastation in Sichuan province after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, thought to be induced by industrial activity at a nearby reservoir.
dominiqueb/flickr
A new project tracks earthquakes accidentally induced by human activity. It suggests the problem is bigger than some scientists thought.
Shutterstock
Mining brings some benefits to some but when extraction is over, the lack of wider benefits to all is keenly felt.
Coal seam gas developments in Queensland near Chinchilla in 2013.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
The latest survey of residents in coal seam gas regions reveals continuing lukewarm attitudes towards the industry.
Timber stockpiled along a logging road.
Day Edryshov/Shutterstock
A new mapping study shows that roads have sliced and diced almost the entire land surface of Earth, leaving huge areas prone to illegal logging, mining and hunting.
Swartberg House in the Karoo, designed by Jennifer Beningfield, Open Studio.
Richard Davies
Buildings, thinkers, books, films and works of art can ask central questions about how to live on this planet and its consequences.
Alexandra Lande/Shutterstock
Problems occur when a country falls in love with gold, and silver might be about to get a boost from proposed solutions.
Hundreds of small-scale miners are scraping out tiny quantities of increasingly precious gold in El Corpus, southern Honduras.
Edgard Garrido/Reuters
Are high levels of violence and displacement in Central America and Mexico caused by natural resource exploitation?
123dartist / shutterstock.com
More than 95% of industrial diamonds are synthetic so why aren’t more people using them in engagement rings?
Rosey Perkins
The island’s latest mining boom threatens a critically endangered lemur – and puts human lives at risk.
South Africa’s currency, the rand, has been highly volatile recently.
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South Africa’s central bank should urgently insulate the rand from further financial chaos by imposing tighter exchange controls.
The people who live on the Niyamgiri mountain have tried to say no to mining. But the government is not listening.
Reinhard Krause/Reuters
Local people in India are supposed to be protected by progressive laws. But the reality is a far cry from that.
Mozambique has recorded significant poverty reduction in recent years.
REUTERS/Grant Lee Neuenburg
Mozambique has made significant progress in its fight against poverty despite recent economic and political challenges