mining

Take This Mine and Shove It: India Fights Coal, as Tribe Fights Mountaintop Removal

Last fall, Tom Zeller at the New York Times Green Inc. blog wrote an eye-opening piece on a possible Indian government and corporate venture in Appalachia's coal mines.

And as the Sierra Club's Carl Pope pointed out, an even bigger coal story took place this week in India. Members of parliament from various political parties in the eastern part of the state of Maharashtra put aside their differences and called on the Prime Minister to stop a coal mine in a forest reserve.

Posted in coal, Environment, mining, mountaintop removal

Colombia and Ecuador: Two Different Countries, Two Mining Futures

They may have torn relations and be at constant loggerheads, they may have wildly contrasting political cultures and leaders, but Colombia and Ecuador do have at least one thing in common: they both appear destined to become major mining countries. They also have both been slow developers on the mining front, lagging behind countries like Peru and Chile. In 2008, while mining accounted for 7.3 percent of Peru’s GDP and 6.7 percent of Chile’s, the figure for Colombia was just 1.5 percent, and even lower for Ecuador. Both countries, though, have significant mining potential.

Posted in Environment, mining, pollution, colombia, ecuador

And We Call This Progress?

Bauxite mountains are part of a very delicate ecosystem. The mining of bauxite and the process by which it is turned into aluminum is among the most toxic, environmentally devastating processes imaginable.

Posted in climate change, Human Rights, mining

Hope of Freedom for Orangutans Dashed

A world-renowned programme to return hundreds of orang-utans threatened with extinction to the wild has been thrown into disarray by the withdrawal of Britain's biggest mining company from Borneo.

Dozens of orang-utans that had been due to be released this month have been left locked in cages after BHP-Billiton warned it could no longer guarantee the safety of the animals on forests it had been surveying for coal.

Posted in conservation, mining

Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country

TEEC NOS POS, Ariz. - It was one year ago that the environmental scientist showed up at Fred Slowman's door, deep in the heart of Navajo country, and warned that it was unsafe for him to stay there.

Posted in mining, pollution

Uranium Protesters Descend on Global Uranium Conference

ANTI-URANIUM protesters have rallied in Fremantle this morning throwing yellow sand as international delegates arrive for uranium talks.
More than 120 people converged on the doorstep of the Global Uranium Conference, throwing dyed yellow sand - representing yellow cake or uranium concentrate - and demanding BHP's proposed $17 million Yeelirrie mine be scrapped.

Ban Uranium Mining Permanently campaigner Kate Vallentine said the protesters want to make it clear that uranium is too dangerous, too dirty and too risky.

Posted in mining, nuclear power, protest, uranium

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2009
3:45 PM

CONTACT: Environment America

Anna Aurilio, 202-725-0268 (cell), 202-683-1250 (office)

Department of Interior Takes a Critical Step Toward Protecting the Grand Canyon

Statement of Environment America Washington DC Director Anna Aurilio

WASHINGTON - July 20 - "Amid ever-increasing threats to the beauty and wildlife of the Grand Canyon, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that he would be placing a two-year hold on new mining leases on more than one million acres of public lands around the Grand Canyon. During this time, the Department of Interior plans to study the environmental impacts of hardrock mining in the area and has reserved the ability to extend this moratorium for up to 20 years.

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Environment America is a federation of state-based, citizen-funded environmental advocacy organizations. Our professional staff in 27 states and Washington, D.C., combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for the environment. Environment America draws on 30 years of success in tackling environmental problems.

Environment America Links:

Posted in conservation, mining, pollution

Interior to Halt Uranium Mining at Grand Canyon

WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will announce Monday that his department is temporarily barring the filing of new uranium mining claims on about 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, an Obama administration official said.

The land is being "segregated" for two years so that the department can study whether it should be permanently withdrawn from mining activity, said the official, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Posted in conservation, Environment, mining

El Salvador's Gold Fight

As El Salvador transitions from decades of conservative rule to the administration of leftist President Mauricio Funes, the country faces an international showdown triggered by a restrictive free-trade agreement between the United States and Central America. Canada's Pacific Rim Mining Corporation is suing the government for its refusal to allow it to mine gold in El Salvador's rural north. If Pacific Rim succeeds in securing the $100 million settlement it seeks, that would set a troubling precedent.

Posted in global trade, globalization, mining, wto, el salvador

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2009
2:10 PM

CONTACT: Public Citizen
Phone: 202-588-1000

Congress, Obama Urged to Address Mountain of Unheard Mining Safety Cases

Thousands of Safety Violations Still Pending Because of Lack of Funding; Agency Needs New Leadership

WASHINGTON - July 14 - Facing a backlog of more than 13,000 unheard safety cases, the federal agency responsible for ruling on mine safety violations is in urgent need of more resources and new leadership, Public Citizen said in letters sent today to President Obama and members of Congress.

Agency officials estimate that under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission's current funding level, the commission will need at least five years to address its existing case backlog, excluding any new cases that arise during that time, according to Public Citizen's letter.

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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and the courts.

Public Citizen Links:

Posted in mining