Category: Resource Management

Blue Sapphire, among one of the big three precious coloured gemstones, is a variety of the mineral conundrum consisting of Aluminium Oxide. Sri Lanka (or Ceylon), also referred as the Gems Island, is not only the steadiest producer of Blue Sapphires, but the mines here are the oldest in the world and their exports have been in existence for more than 2500 years.… Read More

Diamonds together with graphite are the solid form of carbon. The difference is in the molecular structure, which makes it the hardest known material and the one with the greatest thermal conductivity.… Read More

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

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

Sustainability is one of the main arguments supported by synthetic diamonds manufacturers to promote their product as an alternative to mined diamond. Sustainability is perceived in terms of carbon footprints, ecology and social/human impact.… Read More

This movie is about the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform and the oil spill that happened in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The whole movie revolves around the events occurred before the explosion and around the moment of the explosion itself, which is good because it gives the spectator an idea of how the oil industry works and of how the different actors relate to each other.… Read More

Synthetic diamonds are chemically, physically and optically identical to earth-mined diamonds, but they are man-made with the use of advanced technology. There are two key methods for making synthetic diamonds, High-Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) process and Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD).… Read More