mining

Major Tech and Car Companies May Be Using ‘Blood Gold’ Mined Illegally From the Amazon Rainforest

Major Tech and Car Companies May Be Using ‘Blood Gold’ Mined Illegally From the Amazon Rainforest

Your iPhone may contain gold linked to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.  A new report from Amazon Watch and the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) published Monday reveals that the gold used by major tech and car companies including Apple, Tesla, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors could have been […]

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    EPA Moves to Protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay, Blocking Major Gold Mine

    EPA Moves to Protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay, Blocking Major Gold Mine

    By Jessica Corbett Conservationists, local tribes, and commercial fishers celebrated on Thursday the Biden administration’s move to permanently protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed from the proposed Pebble Mine and similarly destructive projects. “Placing a massive mine at the headwaters of the world’s greatest, most productive wild sockeye salmon fishery has been a terrible idea from […]

    Deep-Sea Mining Not Necessary for Renewable Energy Transition, Experts Argue

    Deep-Sea Mining Not Necessary for Renewable Energy Transition, Experts Argue

    Do we really need to put ocean ecosystems at risk in order to transition to a renewable-energy economy? Proponents of deep-sea mining claim that the as-yet-untested practice is the best means of supplying minerals like cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper, vanadium and indium used in electric vehicles, storage batteries and other green technologies. But a new […]

    Scientists Name New Frog After Led Zeppelin

    Scientists Name New Frog After Led Zeppelin

    A new species of frog has been described by scientists for the first time, and it’s a real rockstar. The new frog, introduced to the world in the journal Neotropical Biodiversity on Sunday, hails from the Ecuadorian Andes and bears the name Pristimantis ledzeppelin, or Led Zeppelin’s Rain Frog. “The name honours Led Zeppelin and […]

    Toxic and Radioactive: The Damage From Mining Rare Elements

    Toxic and Radioactive: The Damage From Mining Rare Elements

    By Michel Penke More than every second person in the world now has a cellphone, and manufacturers are rolling out bigger, better, slicker models all the time. Many, however, have a bloody history. Though made in large part of plastic, glass, ceramics, gold and copper, they also contain critical resources. The gallium used for LEDs […]

    Major Companies Join Call for Deep-Sea Mining Moratorium

    Major Companies Join Call for Deep-Sea Mining Moratorium

    For the first time, major companies are adding their voices to the call for a ban on deep-sea mining. Google, BMW, Volvo and Samsung SD all signed a WWF statement last Wednesday calling for a moratorium on the controversial practice until its environmental impacts are thoroughly understood, Reuters reported. “We welcome this important step, and […]

    Reclaiming Abandoned Mines: Turning Coal Country’s Toxic Legacy Into Assets

    Reclaiming Abandoned Mines: Turning Coal Country’s Toxic Legacy Into Assets

    By Tara Lohan Mined lands reclaimed for biking trails, office parks — even a winery. Efforts like these are already underway in Appalachia to reclaim the region’s toxic history, restore blighted lands, and create economic opportunities in areas where decades-old mines haven’t been properly cleaned up. The projects are sorely needed. And so are many […]

    De Beers: Destruction Is Forever

    De Beers: Destruction Is Forever

    By Matthew Gavin Frank In early 2021, De Beers — the world’s biggest diamond company — achieved something of a public relations coup when it announced two new prestige jewelry lines intended to position the notoriously polluting corporation as environmentally friendly and responsible. The first, the high-end “Reflections of Nature” jewelry line, supposedly celebrates the […]