Mining

ISSUES

Mines and quarries

Mankind uses about 32 billion tons of mineral and energy resources every year. There are 5 main categories: building materials, industrial materials, metals, energy minerals and precious substances.
These resources are spread very unequally throughout the world. Some minerals are relatively common, like iron – the most mined mineral in the world. Its production reached 1.6 billion tons in 2006 and is currently increasing by 10 % a year. The three largest producers are, in order, China, Brazil and Australia. Other minerals are rarer, like hafnium, which is used to make filaments and electrodes. The world stocks are estimated at 1 million tons in total (most of this is in South Africa).
Open air or underground mines
There are different types of mines. An open air mine is a huge basin with rows that are dug by layers of rock being successively scraped. A recent technique which causes many problems is called Mountain top...

NEWS

Sorry, most of the news are only available in French language for the moment.

BELGIUM - La Commission européenne a annoncé qu’elle souhaitait que les mines de charbon déficitaires au sein de l’UE soient...

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - WASHINGTON - La vente d'amiante est florissante dans les pays en développement en dépit du fait qu'elle est cancérigène...

COLOMBIA - TADO - Ses mains usées ont travaillé depuis l'aube pour retourner la terre, laver le sable dans la batée et enfin faire...

Univers GoodPlanet par Netvibes

DEBATES

Provocative New Study Warns of Crossing Planetary Boundaries

Carl Zimmer

Human civilization has had a stable childhood. Over the past 10,000 years, as our ancestors invented agriculture and built...

Some Issues and Trends Currently Affecting Options in Rehabilitation

We know that knowledge of rehabilitation techniques, both...

Mine Closure

Mine closure is an important issue to many governments and...

INITIATIVE

Survival to the rescue of the Bushmen

The Bushmen are among the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa where they have been living for more than 20,000 years. Part of these hunter-gatherers was living in the Central Kalahari Nature Reserve, in Botswana, until important diamonds deposits were discovered...

VIDEOS

25/06/2010	A video about illegal mining in french Guyana and the dirty gold trade.	22/06/2010	Dans le nord du Nigeria, plus d'une centaine d'enfants sont morts ces...
15/06/2010	Avec son premier long-métrage, Marc Barrat. traite de la question de...	18/05/2010	Dans le désert au nord du Niger, l’exploitation de l’uranium laisse des...

GREEN TIPS

Quarries Can Encourage Biodiversity

Disused quarries can represent a real opportunity for biodiversity. In France alone, these sites provide a...

INDICATORS

GDP per capita
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)

CHECK OUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD ON OUR 3D GLOBE

eZ Publish™ copyright © 1999-2010 eZ Systems AS