Mining News

April 24, 2024

Top Headlines

Critical Minerals Recovery from Electronic Waste

Apr. 23, 2024 — A nontoxic separation process recovers critical minerals from electronic scrap ...

Warming Climate Is Putting More Metals Into Colorado's Mountain Streams

Apr. 23, 2024 — Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage. Concentrations of these metals have roughly doubled in these alpine streams over the past 30 years, ...

Demand for Critical Minerals Puts African Great Apes at Risk

Apr. 3, 2024 — A recent study shows that the threat of mining to the great ape population in Africa has been greatly ...

Streams Connected to Groundwater Show Improved Detoxification and Microbial Diversity

Feb. 23, 2024 — Streams with ample connections to shallow groundwater flow-paths have greater microbial diversity and are more effective at preventing toxic forms of metals -- often products of upstream mining -- ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:54pm EDT

For Mining in Arid Regions to Be Responsible, We Must Change How We Think About Water

Apr. 3, 2024 — In an unprecedented study of the South American 'Lithium Triangle,' hydrologists discover that not all water responds the same way to environmental ...

Pairing Crypto Mining With Green Hydrogen Offers Clean Energy Boost

Mar. 25, 2024 — Pairing cryptocurrency mining -- notable for its outsize consumption of carbon-based fuel -- with green hydrogen could provide the foundation for wider deployment of renewable energy, such as solar ...

Major Environmental Benefits Recycling Gold With Biodiesel

Mar. 22, 2024 — Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly method for recycling and purifying metals. Using gold earrings from a pawnshop in Gothenburg and biodiesel from the nearest filling station, the ...

Even Inactive Smokers Are Densely Colonized by Microbial Communities

Mar. 15, 2024 — Everything is everywhere -- under certain conditions microbial communities can grow and thrive, even in places that are seemingly uninhabitable. This is the case at inactive hydrothermal vents on the ...

Potassium Depletion in Soil Threatens Global Crop Yields

Feb. 19, 2024 — Potassium deficiency in agricultural soils is a largely unrecognized but potentially significant threat to global food security if left unaddressed, finds new ...

Unexpected Biodiversity on the Ocean Floor

Jan. 25, 2024 — Hydrothermal vents and manganese nodule fields in the deep oceans contain more biodiversity than ...

Coal-Based Product Could Replace Sand in Concrete

Jan. 26, 2024 — A new study found that graphene derived from metallurgical coke, a coal-based product, through flash Joule heating could serve not only as a reinforcing additive in cement but also as a replacement ...

Researchers Pump Brakes on 'Blue Acceleration' Harming the World Ocean

Jan. 18, 2024 — Protecting the world ocean against accelerating damage from human activities could be cheaper and take up less space than previously thought, new research has ...

Next-Generation Batteries Could Go Organic, Cobalt-Free for Long-Lasting Power

Jan. 18, 2024 — In the switch to 'greener' energy sources, the demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is surging. However, their cathodes typically contain ...

Cobalt-Free Batteries Could Power Cars of the Future

Jan. 18, 2024 — A new battery material could offer a more sustainable way to power electric cars. The lithium-ion battery includes a cathode based on organic materials, instead of cobalt or ...

The First Assessment of Toxic Heavy Metal Pollution in the Southern Hemisphere Over the Last 2,000 Years

Jan. 11, 2024 — Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are ...

Study on Battery Recycling Shows China Is in First Place

Dec. 8, 2023 — A research team has concluded that China will be the first country worldwide to become independent of the need to mine the raw materials which are essential for batteries. They have also established ...

A Single Bitcoin Transaction Could Cost as Much Water as a Backyard Swimming Pool

Nov. 29, 2023 — Cryptocurrency mining uses a significant amount of water amid the global water crisis, and its water demand may grow further. Researchers provides the first comprehensive estimate of Bitcoin's ...

Minimalist or Maximalist? The Life of a Microbe a Mile Underground

Nov. 28, 2023 — Researchers characterize nearly 600 microbial genomes collected from goldmine. The study illuminates 'microbial dark matter' residing below the surface. Microbes divide into two groups: ...

Sensitive Ecosystems at Risk from Mine Waste

Nov. 27, 2023 — Nearly a third of the world's mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, new research has ...

Deep-Sea Mining and Warming Trigger Stress in a Midwater Jellies

Nov. 21, 2023 — The deep sea is home to one of the largest animal communities on earth which is increasingly exposed to environmental pressures. However, our knowledge of its inhabitants and their response to ...

Blasts to Clear World War II Munitions Could Contaminate the Ocean

Nov. 29, 2023 — World War II concluded decades ago, but live mines lurking on the ocean floor still pose threats, potentially spewing unexpected geysers or releasing contaminants into the water. Experts conduct ...

Cultural Artifacts Serve as 'Cognitive Fossils,' Helping Uncover the Psychology of the Past

Nov. 8, 2023 — No two societies in history think exactly alike. In fact, the mindset of a given society throughout history can help historians unpack important clues about the effects of psychological shifts -- ...

Bitcoin Mining Has 'Very Worrying' Impacts on Land and Water, Not Only Carbon

Oct. 24, 2023 — As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grown in market share, they've been criticized for their heavy carbon footprint: Cryptocurrency mining is an energy-intensive endeavor. Mining has ...

Biological Fingerprints in Soil Show Where Diamond-Containing Ore Is Buried

Oct. 24, 2023 — Researchers have identified buried kimberlite, the rocky home of diamonds, by testing the DNA of microbes in the surface soil. These 'biological fingerprints' can reveal what minerals are ...

Fair and Sustainable Futures Beyond Mining

Oct. 2, 2023 — Mining brings huge social and environmental change to communities: landscapes, livelihoods and the social fabric evolve alongside the industry. But what happens when the mines close? What problems ...

Extensive Impact of Metal Mining Contamination on Rivers and Floodplains

Sep. 21, 2023 — A groundbreaking study has provided new insights into the extensive impact of metal mining contamination on rivers and floodplains across the world, with an estimated 23 million people believed to be ...

New Study Reveals the Power of Railroads to Buffer Coal Plants from a Carbon Emissions Tax

Sep. 7, 2023 — A new study suggests that railroads are likely to cut transportation prices to prop up coal-fired plants if U.S. climate policies further disadvantage coal in favor of less carbon-intensive energy ...

A 21st Century Mining Boom Across the Tropics Is Degrading Rivers

Aug. 23, 2023 — Gold and mineral mining in and near rivers across the tropics is degrading waterways in 49 countries, according to a new study. Published in Nature, the findings represent the first physical ...

Renewable Solar Energy Can Help Purify Water, the Environment

July 22, 2023 — Chemists have demonstrated that water remediation can be powered in part -- and perhaps even exclusively -- by renewable energy ...

Ocean Animals Vacate Areas Both Around and Outside Deep-Sea Mining Operations

July 14, 2023 — In 2020, Japan performed the first successful test extracting cobalt crusts from the top of deep-sea mountains to mine cobalt -- a mineral used in electric vehicle batteries. Not only do directly ...

How Mercury Emissions from Industry Can Be Greatly Reduced

July 4, 2023 — Sulphuric acid is the world's most used chemical. It is an important reagent used in many industries and it is used in the manufacture of everything from paper, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to ...

Researchers Describe the Melting of Gold Nanoparticles in Gold-Bearing Fluids in the Earth's Crust

June 12, 2023 — Gold is a precious metal that has always fascinated humans. From Priam's Treasure to the legend of El Dorado, gold --regarded as the noblest of metals-- has been a symbol of splendour and wealth ...

Hydrogen Battery: Storing Hydrogen in Coal May Help Power Clean Energy Economy

May 26, 2023 — The quest to develop hydrogen as a clean energy source that could curb our dependence on fossil fuels may lead to an unexpected place -- coal. Scientists have found that coal may represent a ...

Deep Sea Surveys Detect Over Five Thousand New Species in Future Mining Hotspot

May 25, 2023 — There is a massive, mineral-rich region in the Pacific Ocean -- about twice the size of India -- called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which has already been divided up and assigned to companies ...