The United States is increasingly being drawn into the opaque supply chains of illicit mining after an investigation by The New York Times tied some of its gold supply to Colombian criminal networks. Drawing on interviews, trade records and field…

State tenders are handing Kurdistan’s resources to companies, leaving vast areas under threat from geothermal, solar and mining projects. Ecological devastation is unfolding across every part of Kurdistan. Forests, valleys, rivers and mountains are under intense assault. The state and…

A new mining agreement provides no benefits for Mexico and fails to address health and environmental impacts. The U.S. and Mexico have established a mining agreement which has Indigenous and other residents of the Sierra Norte mountains, as well as…

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, access to critical minerals has become a new frontline in great power competition. Rules governing their extraction and management remain fragmented, but one UN agency says it has developed tools that may help bridge regulatory gaps.…

Democratic Republic of Congo’s mines inspectorate said on Monday it had ‌created a paramilitary mining guard to secure mining sites and mineral supply chains, as the world’s top cobalt producer tries to curb smuggling and insecurity in the sector and…

I watched Armageddon again fairly recently with Bruce Willis, oil drillers in space and an asteroid the size of Texas bearing down on Earth. Buried beneath the Hollywood chaos is a genuinely interesting question, what exactly could we do with…

A group of monks piled into Harry Browne’s one-room cabin earlier this year for morning Mass. They left proof of their presence: a crucifix and a medal of St. Benedict. Browne isn’t a member of their flock, but the group…

In Brazil’s eastern Amazon, a bright red flower found nowhere else on Earth is threatened with extinction from expanding iron ore mining, scientists warn. The flowering plant, Ipomoea cavalcantei, known locally as flor-de-Carajás, only grows in cangas, an island-like ecosystem…