A recent study has revealed significant deforestation linked to global mining activities in the 21st century. Researchers examined the environmental impact of mining operations worldwide and identified extensive forest loss as a direct consequence of resource extraction. The findings highlight the scale of deforestation driven by mining, which has often been overlooked in discussions about environmental degradation. The study analyzed data from various regions and found that mining-related deforestation is widespread, affecting ecosystems across multiple continents. Mining operations for materials essential to modern infrastructure and technology have expanded significantly, contributing to forest loss in areas rich in natural resources. The…
Author: TJ Markle
More than 60% of global critical mineral demands is met through international trade, underscoring the deep structural interdependence between producing and consuming economies as the deployment of clean energy accelerates, according to the International Energy Forum (IEF). This level of reliance on international trade, the group said, makes the world’s supply chains highly sensitive to geopolitical tensions, export controls, and refining bottlenecks, as minerals become the backbone of electrification, digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing. In its latest report titled A Critical Minerals Enabled Energy Future, the IEF highlights the mounting supply-side vulnerabilities as demand for the main energy transition minerals rises…
Deep in the heart of a mountain — about 200 kilometers southeast of Seoul — Benjamin Byun, assistant mine superintendent and survey manager at what was once — and soon will be again — the largest tungsten mine in the world, trained an ultraviolet light on a newly exposed wall of stone. Appearing in the light beam were hundreds of thousands of blue speckles appearing in bands — like stars in the Milky Way. “That’s tungsten,” Byun declared. He was standing at the end of a gallery at the near conclusion of the long journey undertaken by Almonty Korea Tungsten…
In the relentless pursuit of economic growth and resource acquisition, global mining operations have expanded dramatically in the 21st century, underpinning much of the modern world’s infrastructure and technology. However, a recent groundbreaking study has unveiled a critical and underappreciated environmental consequence of this surge—the extensive deforestation caused by mining activities worldwide. This in-depth investigation reveals how the extraction of minerals and metals is not only reshaping landscapes but also silently eroding forest ecosystems at an alarming rate, raising urgent questions about conservation and sustainability. Mining, as a land-intensive industry, inherently involves the clearing of vast tracts of natural vegetation,…
A new tracker designed to monitor and scrutinize the activities of vessels involved in deep seabed mineral exploration has been announced. The new device is the work of the Global Fishing Watch (GFW) and the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The new Deep-Sea Mining Watch portal claims to allow users to monitor vessel activity both in real time and retrospectively. The portal also allows users to monitor data by vessel speed, region and timeframe. Commenting on the new technology, Dr. Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, stated: “The deep ocean has long been a black…
A year ago, a new president and Congress were expected to clear the way for stalled copper-nickel mining projects in northern Minnesota. Today, they provide clear evidence that communication resolves controversy better than ramrod political rhetoric. Take U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber from Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, for instance. He sits in the Republican House majority, down the hall from a Republican Senate majority with a Republican president in the White House. In Minnesota vernacular, that’s a pretty good deal. And yet, he seems to have a hard time availing himself of these advantages. On Dec. 2, Stauber and two GOP…
Heading into year two of the current US administration, the federal government is poised to sharpen its focus on critical minerals as policy, investment, and security priorities converge. Policy momentum, new public-private funding tools, and growing concerns over critical mineral dependencies are prompting Washington to think beyond rare earths and toward broader vulnerabilities in the supply chain. That shift is creating new priorities and new opportunities across extraction, processing, and manufacturing. A look at emerging federal activity reveals two themes rising to the surface — widening support for high-risk minerals and renewed attention to the technologies that power domestic processing. Critical minerals…
As the global demand for critical minerals continues to increase, governments worldwide are continually looking for innovative ways to access these resources, which has led many to discuss the potential for deep-sea mining. However, concerns over environmental damage related to deep-sea operations have prevented greater exploration until now, and recent evidence showing the devastating impact mining could have on marine life could put it on indefinite hold. A study published in December, funded by The Metals Company, which was hoping to become the first firm to carry out commercial seabed mining, showed the damage that mining operations might have on undersea life.…
Battery Cost Deflation Signals Demand Acceleration, Not Weakness Battery pack prices reaching $108/kWh represent a critical macro inflection point rather than a cyclical anomaly. Historically, sub-$100/kWh pricing has been viewed as the threshold for mass EV adoption; in 2025, BEV packs already averaged $99/kWh, while stationary storage costs fell even faster. This price compression is occurring despite rising prices for key battery metals, underscoring that electrification economics are now being driven by industrial scaling and chemistry evolution, not commodity deflation. The implications extend beyond automotive markets. Lower system costs accelerate EV penetration, grid-scale storage deployment, and energy infrastructure investment. Electrification…
It’s been an eventful year in markets, and 2025 will be remembered, in part, for gold (GC=F) and silver (SI=F) reaching new highs, marking one of their best years on record. But these aren’t the only metals that saw major gains in 2025. The price of industrial metals copper (HG=F), aluminum (ALI=F), and steel (HRC=F) have all soared this year, as has the battery metal lithium. And in contrast to gold and silver, which are being bought as safe-haven trades amid global uncertainty, much of the movement in these metals is driven by the AI build-out and energy transition. “The…