Category: Mining

The Great Barrier Reef, lying to the Northeast of Australia, has long been regarded as a national and international gem. Known as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef is home to over 3000 individual reef systems and coral cays.… Read More

In 2011, a Canadian company Nautilus Minerals was awarded both environmental and mining licnese to mine from the seabed off the coast of Papua New Guinea, it was the first project in the world to gain deep sea mining rights.… Read More

In response to the increasing awareness about the link between mineral extraction and the financing of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), various initiatives aimed at ‘cleaning-up’ the region’s mineral trade have been launched over the past decade.… Read More

It is estimated that 1.1 million people work under small-scale mining (SSM) in Ghana. SSM is comprised of official registered operations and unofficial galamsey (or informal mining). Concerns over galamsey include the loss of biodiversity, environmental degradation, chemical contamination and the employment of child labour.  … Read More

The Aral Sea desiccation is a textbook example of the anthropocene. Children around the world learn about this ecological disaster in schools. The consequences of the desiccation are well-known the world over: the destruction of a fishing industry that sustained local communities for hundreds of years, the appearance of salt-laden dust storms, the spread of fertilizers and pesticides heavily used in the cotton industry over hundreds of kilometers around the sea, soil salinization, and the detrimental effects on the health of local populations.… Read More

Canada co-founded the ‘Powering Past Coal Alliance’ along with the United Kingdom at the United Nations 23^rd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to work to phase-out coal globally due to its negative environmental impacts.… Read More

A Judgment in South Africa

Sometimes, one’s studies and the developments of the “real world” come together in surprising ways. As I make the very last adjustments to my paper on the engagement of mining corporations with the indigenous right to “free, prior and informed consent”, a South African court ruling makes headlines around the world.… Read More

Last summer, I travelled to Sri Lanka and I had the opportunity to visit traditional sapphire mines in Ratnapura. Here the standard pit mine consists of a vertical shaft that measures two by four meters.… Read More

In this world of technology, most of us possess electronic gadgets. But how often do we stop to think about the mineral components that were obtained to manufacture our laptop or smartphone?… Read More