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Geology News
Mining Current Events

“A financial analysis of the global copper market predicts uncertainty in the short term but the possibility of “severe shortages and much higher prices” in the longer term.” Quoted from the Arizona Geology Blog.

The Kimberly Process is a set of standards that a diamond-producing country must meet to assure that the stones are produced legally and without human exploitation. Zimbabwe could be told to stop exporting diamonds until it complies with the KP standards.

“Gold mining permits, or claims, on file with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for California have shot from 15,606 in 2005 to 23,974 this year.” Quoted from the SFGate article.

Article: The Many Uses of Gold

About a dozen virtual tours of global environmental “hot spots” will be featured at the December 17-18 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. One of the hotspots is a mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia.

A YMCA in Illinois sustained over $350,000 in damages from mine subsidence and then was told their insurance does not cover the damage. Now the Y will sue the insurance companies.

Related: What Homeowners Insurance Does Not Cover.

EPA plans to revoke an issued permit for a mountain top removal coal mine in West Virginia. The agency says that the surface mining operation could violate the Clean Water Act.

An angry audience at a public hearing on mountain-top removal mining in West Virginia had representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers making decisions on how to handle a crowd.

This satellite image shows the Carajas Iron Ore Mine, located in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. The open-pit mine has one of the biggest iron ore deposits ever discovered.

A diverse set of historical maps, reports, letters, and photos on mining in Arizona from the Arizona Geological Survey archives is now available online in the new “Arizona Mines” section of the Arizona Memory Project.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding 79 coal-mining permits that use the controversial mining method of “mountaintop removal”. EPA is considering their potential impact on water quality.

One of the largest diamonds in history was discovered at the Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa. The 507-carat white stone is one of many spectacular gems from the Cullinan Mine.

Related: World Diamond Production Map

Nick Rahall, Chairman of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bill that could change the rules for leasing and paying royalties on mineral, oil and natural gas activities on public lands.

The Benld Elementary School in Benld, Illinois has been damaged by mine subsidence. An article on the Boston.com website tells several stories about mine subsidence in Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania states.

The Illinois Geological Survey has a publication titled “Mine Subsidence in Illinois: Facts for Homeowners”. This is a useful and easy-to-understand publication that features: underground mining methods, mine maps, types of subsidence, effects of subsidence and other topics for the homeowner.

In most states mine subsidence insurance is not a hazard covered by the typical homeowners insurance policy. In Illinois, coverage is automatically added to policies in counties where 1% or more of the land has been undermined.

Scott Kleine of Great Basin Minerals shares a few photos from his visit to a working gold trommel at a location near Sumpter, Oregon.

Related: Uses of Gold.

Lots of people are extremely interested in uranium exploration and mining projects in Arizona and Colorado. Lee Alison links to a number of news articles here, and here, and here from his Arizona Geology Blog.

Kuensel Online, Bhutan’s daily news site, reports that the Department of Geology and Mines in Bhutan is in discussions with foreign interests who would like to have exploration rights to the entire country.

Soon-to-be depleted mines could be given a new purpose – producing geothermal energy. Using the mines for energy has some definite advantages.

The mining town of Picher, Oklahoma is slowly becoming a ghost town. The lead mines have contaminated the area’s water, soil, and air, and now the government is trying to encourage the 80 or so remaining residents to leave – before the utilities are shut off for good.

An article at GSA Journals (pdf) reports that United States universities do not have a vigorous program for economic geology. Many economic geology professors are no longer active in the field and fewer than 40 graduate-level economic geologists are graduating each year. That is the status for a nation that has a very high demand for metals and a declining resource base.

The largest water consumer in Arizona’s Sahuarita-Green Valley complains that a proposed mining operation will have a negative impact on water supplies in the valley. The mining company claims that they will recharge 105% of the total mine water production as close to the mine as possible.

A major landslide in one of the jade mining districts of Myanmar has killed dozens of people and displaced hundreds from their homes.

USGS has published a Fact Sheet on copper. It includes information on the uses of copper, how it forms, supply, demand and future projections.

Did you know that copper consumption in the United States is declining but consumption in India and China is rising rapidly?

What is the best way to dispose of waste from mines? The Supreme Court is allowing a gold mine in Alaska to deposit their waste rock into Lower Slate Lake. Environmentalists do not agree with this decision.

The Eland mine shaft in South Africa has been closed for years, but illegal miners are still trying to find gold there. 76 bodies have recently been discovered in the mine.

The Iron Mountain Mine in California was one of the largest copper mines in the world in the early 1900’s. Since then it has discharged some of the world’s worst water. Now there could be superfund money to clean it up.

Earth Observatory published a satellite image of the Jwaneng Diamond Mine, located in south-central Botswana. It shows the deep concentric geometry of the mine, adjacent settling ponds and a nearby community where many of the miners live.

This is a photo gallery showing sulfur mining at Ijen volcano, located on Java island of Indonesia. The miners have a hazardous job and earn an average of $11 a day.

A BBC reporter took a trip to the emerald mines in Afghanistan, and shares the story. Being a miner there is a very dangerous job.

This is another short article that features Vince Matthews, State Geologist of Colorado, and his presentations that focus on the world demand for resources and energy.