Environmental questions plague deep-sea mining ambitions, but US bodies say the sector needs an adaptive management approach. Despite being an industry that does not yet exist at commercial scale, the deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor is central to long-term conversations around metal and mineral supply security. Industry voices have identified exploration and recovery regulations as the defining factor for the future of the nascent industry, and the Trump administration is moving to streamline permitting frameworks accordingly. However, the scale, persistence and reversibility of environmental impacts remain unresolved. Speaking at the Offshore Technology Conference 2026 (OTC 2026), Principal Deputy…
Author: TJ Markle
A $100-million fine against a global mining giant for contaminating water in Quebec’s Côte-Nord marks the highest-ever infraction of its kind, but experts say the settlement with the federal government also shows the immense challenges in regulating the country’s mining sector. Court documents state that ArcelorMittal “illegally immersed, discharged, or permitted the immersion or discharge of a harmful substance” into vulnerable, fish-bearing waters surrounding its mining operations near Fermont, Que., between 2014 and 2022. The company pleaded guilty to 100 counts of violating the federal Fisheries Act, and will pay a $1-million fine for each count, most of which will go…
Brazil is expected to see the advancement of a new gold project in the state of Amapá, with expected investments of up to 2 billion reais (US$400 million). This week, the Amapá State Secretariat for the Environment (Sema) issued the operating license and the water use permits for Amapá Minerals, the local unit of Canadian company Tucano Gold, owner of the Tucano mine. “The mining company has contracts with 20 service providers and investments for the next 10 years are expected to reach 2 billion reais. Over the next three years, the estimated return to public coffers is approximately 600 million reais…
Anger is growing over alleged safety violations in the wake of China’s worst mining disaster in more than 15 years. At least 82 people were killed and more than 120 injured after an explosion on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, the heart of China’s huge mining industry. For many in China, the tragedy harks back to the 2000s, a period of regular, deadly coal mining disasters, which is widely thought to have been left in the past. Those concerns are now reignited and playing out on China’s tightly-controlled internet, with people calling for justice and questioning…
Lone Star and Stander drilling aims to expand gold resources. Klondike Gold Corp. May 26 reported that its 2026 diamond drilling program is underway at the Klondike District Gold Project in Yukon, where the company is working toward an updated and expanded gold mineral resource estimate that builds on a calculation completed in 2022. Located roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dawson City, the Klondike District Gold Project spans 727 square kilometers (281 square miles) of the historic Klondike placer district, where more than 20 million ounces of gold have been recovered since the late 1800s. According to the…
Geologists cracked a 2-billion-year-old code buried deep in the Earth, and it’s rewriting everything we thought we knew about finding rare earth metals. Finding rare earth elements has never been straightforward. These 17 metals, essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones, and defense systems, are not exceptionally scarce in the Earth’s crust. The problem has always been locating them in concentrations large enough to mine economically. Known deposits appeared scattered across continents without an obvious pattern. Competing theories about how they formed pointed in different directions, and no reliable framework existed to guide exploration toward the most promising groun One…
Mining advocates say Twin Metals is expected to move forward with plans for a copper-nickel mine in the Rainy River Watershed following the U.S. Senate’s passage of House Joint Resolution 140. Environmental advocates, meanwhile, are turning to state lawmakers, urging stronger action on an issue that has seen limited movement at the state level. The permitting process for a new mine can take decades. “On average, it takes nearly 30 years to permit a new mine in the US,” Ryan Sistad, Executive Director of Better in Our Backyard told WTIP. “We still got a long road ahead of us where we could…
Ghana is facing a deepening national crisis caused by illegal small‑scale gold mining, widely known as galamsey, a word derived from “gather them and sell”. The practice is rapidly destroying rivers, forests, and farming communities. While often framed as an environmental or enforcement problem, the crisis represents a profound challenge to children’s rights and long‑term development. Existing legal protections explicitly prohibit exploitative child labour and activities that undermine children’s health, education, or development. However, galamsey has strained this framework to breaking point, as their right to education, right to life, right to health and right to protection from economic exploitation and hazardous work are severely…
Amnesty International is warning that the rapid expansion of lithium mining projects across Nevada is violating the rights of Indigenous peoples, raising concerns about environmental harm, cultural destruction and the failure to obtain tribal consent, according to a new research briefing released by Amnesty International. The report argues that the U.S. government is “breaching international human rights standards” by advancing lithium mining projects “without the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of affected Indigenous Peoples,” despite the projects affecting ancestral tribal lands. According to Amnesty International, Nevada has become central to domestic lithium extraction because the state contains “around 85%…
But the most interesting part is what they are NOT telling us Have you ever wondered where the metals inside an electric car, a wind turbine, or even a phone actually come from? Kazakhstan is trying to put itself closer to the center of that map. Officials identified 38 promising mineral deposits in the first quarter of 2025, including 19 metric tons of gold, or about 21 U.S. tons, along with rare earths, copper, nickel, and brown coal. At first glance, the gold grabs the attention. But the bigger environmental and economic story may be the rare earths, the group…