The environmental impacts of electric vehicle batteries range from mining, and energy and water use to the hazards of discarded batteries. These issues can be resolved, but there’s no time to waste.
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Articles on Mining
Displaying 1 - 20 of 489 articles
As toxic water continues to spill from tailings ponds across mining developments, decades of scientific research provides evidence of how wildlife will be affected.
It’s quite common to see whole Indigenous families on bikes – including pets and tiny children.
Lithium extraction in Bolivia poses more than environmental questions: It illustrates how notions about ‘raw materials’ can be at odds with Indigenous relations with the land.
New research shows that northern peatlands may not help regulate our climate by the end of the century.
Dignity is at the centre of many rights-based declarations, but to eradicate racist policy and practices, we must commit to noticing each other’s personhood in new ways.
Making the green energy transition a success requires governments to pay attention to environmental factors and socioeconomic imperatives.
A ‘second gold rush’ has seen amateur and professional miners return to Victoria with modern technology.
A new process to quickly remove radioactive chemicals from water and other liquids and trap them in a clay-like substance could make nuclear waste management much easier.
A gradual drawdown of gold mining is a critical step towards sustainability.
More than 60% of global intact forest loss is unrelated to farming, our research shows
The WA radioactive capsule was discovered within two weeks. But in 1980, when a mine worker was discovered to have stolen 2,200 kilograms of uranium oxide, it had been missing for 3 years.
Should the capsule not be found immediately, we can’t just write it off as lost. A long term system of monitoring is needed to protect humans and the environment.
Proponents of mining in space often point to the potential benefits for Earth and its people. But this research casts doubt on many of them.
The lost radioactive source may never be found.
Mining nodules from the deep ocean seabed could provide the metals crucial for today’s EV batteries and renewable energy technology, but little is known about the harm it could cause.
Destructive mining in Congo’s protected areas is rampant because it generates money for citizens, officials and armed groups.
Energy transition minerals are essential to tackling climate change. But First Nations people must have a genuine say in where and how this happens.
Tellurium is a critical mineral for renewable energy – but little is known about its environmental effects and how it circulates in the wild.
Locals from Asunción Mita, Guatemala recently voted against the development of mining activities in their municipality, in a referendum contested by a Canadian mining company that owns a gold mine.
Top contributors
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Professor and Director, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, RMIT University
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Victoria's Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
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Professorial Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
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Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University
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Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment, University of Delaware (USA); Honorary Professor, The University of Queensland
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York Research Chair in Environmental Law & Justice in the Green Economy, York University, Canada
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Professor, Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne
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Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), University of Technology Sydney
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Andrew Dempster is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW Sydney
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Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
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Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland
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Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Professor, Griffith Business School, Griffith University
