Article; After the Diamond Rush
https://www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/after-the-diamond-rush/
For over 150 years, mining has constituted a core feature of the South African economy. The seemingly inexhaustible bounty of the earth made the country the wealthiest in the continent and financed one of the most all-encompassing systems of racial segregation in the world. Blessed with the largest gold deposits on the planet, successive governments in the colonial and apartheid periods cultivated a tight relationship between industry and the state. Mining wealth was used on a large scale to economically uplift white residents and to finance industrialization through state-owned corporations.

Verantwoorde edelstenen
https://www.abeautifulstory.eu/pages/responsibly-sourced-gemstones
Omdat iedereen in onze keten een leefbaar loon verdient en goede arbeidsomstandigheden, willen we van elk onderdeel in onze producten weten waar het vandaan komt. Edelstenen horen echt bij ons verhaal, en in bijna elk sieraad van ons zit er één. Maar als we de edelstenen traceren, komen we terecht in een ondoordringbaar netwerk van tussenhandelaren. Hoe hard we het ook proberen, traceren lukt nog niet. Dat wringt, want onze droom is een keten zonder misstanden. Daarom beginnen we bij de bron: de mijnen. ?
gemstones mining traceability | permalink | 2024-12-02 15:18:44

Book; Cobalt Red
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/cobalt-red-how-blood-congo-powers-our-lives


The technology giants that produce these sleek electronic consumer goods argue that they observe the necessary regulations with respect to local labor practices and environmental protection. In fact, the book astutely shows how lax enforcement by a weak and corrupt Congolese state has allowed shocking abuses in the working conditions and treatment of miners, as well as the degradation of the environment in the region with appalling health consequences for locals. Kara also reveals a system of intermediary agents that connects individual miners to a diffuse array of buyers, depots, concessionaires, processors, and refining industries that all take in a share of the value of the mined cobalt. At the other end of this sequence of actors are the battery producers under contract with the global technology corporations, which can plausibly plead ignorance about the many abuses occurring at the far end of the chain.

The Extracted Earth
https://granta.com/the-extracted-earth/
What has been hailed as the ‘green transition’ – the global project to end large-scale extraction of fossil fuels – requires a shift to a new set of extractive projects. Green technologies depend on minerals and metals locked in the earth: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and, above all, iron for steel. The exploitation, corruption and environmental destruction involved in the mining of these materials are not on the wane. But what can be done to counter the interests behind them? What possibilities are there for a less ecologically compromised and economically stratified future?
Interview with Thea Riofrancos.

One company nickel supply chain
https://nornickel.com/business/on-the-map/


Nornickel is the leader in the metals and mining industry in Russia and globally
map mining nickel russia | permalink | 2023-09-16 15:19:11

Article; Global Race for Lithium Lands in Rural Brazil
https://nacla.org/global-race-lithium-brazil
The global energy transition is set to require a staggering increase in the lithium supply. An essential element in EV batteries, demand could increase as much as 42 times over two decades according to International Energy Agency projections. Jequitinhonha Valley sits on 85 percent of Brazil's known lithium deposits, which has sparked a race to invest and develop. In May, Minas Gerais governor Romeu Zema and Brazilian federal officials traveled to Nasdaq in New York to launch the “Lithium Valley” project, looking for international investors for the lithium mining companies operating in the region. A "Preserve the Environment!" sign representing the Araçuaí Environmental Secretary and Sigma Lithium (Sam Klein-Markman) A "Preserve the Environment!" sign representing the Araçuaí Environmental Secretary and Sigma Lithium (Sam Klein-Markman) The Valley of Opportunity? In promoting this investment, officials are making the case that lithium mining will remake the long-neglected region into a “valley of opportunity.” Central to that campaign is Sigma Lithium, which began production in April, the first of the new mining companies in the region to do so. Sigma promises to produce a “green” lithium using renewable energy and 90 percent recycled water, to hire local, and to voluntarily invest more than the country requires in local municipalities and environmental projects. Sigma expects its Grota do Cirilo mining site to be in production for 13 years, generating over $5 billion for the company and over $200 million in payments to local municipalities. This year, the company expects to pay around $10.7 million to Araçuaí and its neighboring town Itinga, just under a tenth of the two municipalities’ combined GDP according to data from Brazil’s 2022 census. Sigma has also instituted programs to construct wells for rural communities, create lines of microcredit for local women entrepreneurs, and pay for the preservation of local forest land. Even so, as the region appears to be undergoing a transformative lithium boom, there is growing concern about the costs for rural communities that are most vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining, and about whether local governments can translate the presence of international mining businesses into lasting gains for the region’s residents. The Movement for People Affected by Dams (MAB) has been campaigning against the advance of lithium mining, citing inevitable environmental degradation, water-intensive practices, and the opposition of federally protected quilombo communities—settlements generally founded by escap

Paper; Global mining footprint mapped from high-resolution satellite imagery
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00805-6


Mining is of major economic, environmental and societal consequence, yet knowledge and understanding of its global footprint is still limited. Here, we produce a global mining land use dataset via remote sensing analysis of high-resolution, publicly available satellite imagery. The dataset comprises 74,548 polygons, covering ~66,000?km2 of features like waste rock dumps, pits, water ponds, tailings dams, heap leach pads and processing/milling infrastructure.

New study reveals fine detail on location and scale of mining sites worldwide
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/new-study-reveals-fine-detail-on-location-and-scale-of-mining-sites-worldwide/
We live at the center of a spiderweb of global mining supply chains. The vehicle that took you to the market, the rechargeable battery in your headphones, and the phone or computer you’re reading this article on right now — all required the extraction, processing, transport and sale of minerals that likely originated from points all over the planet. But measuring the cumulative impact of these supply chains, which can span multiple continents and involve dozens of entities, formal and informal, is a tricky business. A new study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment may have just given a big boost to anyone looking for a clear picture of what those supply chains look like at their point of origin. Using high-resolution satellite data, researchers meticulously pored over images from across the globe, isolating and marking the boundaries of a combined 65,585 square kilometers (25,323 square miles) of mining sites. The data set, which includes large-scale mining operations as well as informal artisanal sites, is one of the most detailed ever created. And to make sure that others can build off their work, the study’s authors have made it available to the public for free.
data dataset gis map mining science | permalink | 2023-05-12 08:50:32

Tooze: Gold Mining in Africa
https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-209-the-sudan-crisis-and


The activities of Africa’s artisanal miners have attracted media coverage around the world. This tends to concentrate on the primitive conditions in which they work. Dramatic pictures of artisanal mining conjure up comparisons to the “19th century” or some other imagined past. Frequently comments are made about the stark contrast between the smartphones that the rare earths end up in and the primitivism of the conditions in which gold, coltan etc are mined.

The contrast between affluence and poverty is only too real. But the idea that they reflect different eras of history, or different stages of development is an illusion.

The activity of artisanal mining is quite new in most of the places in Africa that have been caught up in the current resource boom. It has certainly never been practice on this scale before. Giant artisanal mine sites in Mali or Darfur are no more more natural or native to Africa than the deforested cocoa regions of CdI. Furthermore, all this activity involving millions of people organized across huge distance, would not be possible without the extensive use of modern technologies at the African sites of production. In 2018 Mali registered 150 cellphone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and rising. But there is one gizmo of which the Sahel’s gold miners can claim to be the most important users worldwide - the cheap portable metal detectors, which became widely available in the region around 2008-2009.

By 2009 the Sahelian demand for metal-detectors was so intense that it produced a global shortage of the equipment, with order books backed up for 6-9 months, and Chinese imitators scrambling to steal technology from Western market leaders. At one point the British army in Afghanistan blamed its lack of mine detectors on the African mining boom.
africa gold mining resources tooze | permalink | 2023-04-18 16:56:40

Glencore, Responsible sourcing and supply
https://www.glencore.com/sustainability/esg-a-z/responsible-sourcing-and-supply
Our Purpose as a company is to responsibly source the commodities that advance everyday life. Responsible sourcing is our commitment to take into account social, ethical and environmental considerations with regards to our products and supply chains and when managing our relationships with suppliers.

Re-Source; Company Website
https://re-source.tech/
A digital platform for the traceability of minerals, enabling sustainable supply chains. Powered by blockchain technology, ReSource is a digital platform for the minerals’ supply chains — from the mine to electric-vehicle batteries and beyond.

Book; The Rare Metals War
https://scribepublications.co.uk/books-authors/books/the-rare-metals-war-9781912854264


Translated from the French, Guillaume Pitron’s The Rare Metal War (2018) is a blistering journey through the political, strategic and environmental consequences of the world’s need for rare earth minerals to drive the energy transition. China’s strategic manipulation and landgrab of skills, industries and resources is detailed with admiring scorn while the western’s world apathy is considered as a general weakness of capitalism. The book is high on opinion and is meant to pack a punch. There are however also several informative appendices with data and a number of interesting factoids that I enjoyed. This is a activism more than journalism ending with the conclusion that Europe, and France especially, should restart their mining industries and do it to the highest standards; on the argument that clean mines in Europe for metals we use ourselves will prevent unmitigated environmental degradation in less regulated places like China.

KoBold Metals; Company Website
https://www.koboldmetals.com/
Finding the materials of the future with AI KoBold Metals® discovers the materials critical for the electric vehicle and renewable energy revolutions

Open database on global coal and metal mine production
https://zenodo.org/record/7328050#.Y7_kExWZND8
This data set covers global extraction of coal and metal ores on an individual mine level. It covers 1171 individual mines in 80 different countries, reporting mine-level production for 80 different materials in the period 2000-2021. Furthermore, also data on mining coordinates, ownership, mineral reserves, mining waste, transportation of mining products,as well as mineral processing capacities (smelters and mineral refineries) and production is included. The data was gathered manually from more than 1900 openly available sources, such as annual or sustainability reports of mining companies. All datapoints are linked to their respective source documents. After manual screening and entry of the data, automatic cleaning, harmonization and data checking was conducted. Geoinformation was obtained either from coordinates available in company reports, or by retrieving the coordinates via Google Maps API and subsequent manual checking. For mines where no coordinates could be found, other geospatial attributes such as province, region, district or municipality were recorded, and linked to the GADM data set, available at www.gadm.org.
data dataset mining | permalink | 2023-01-12 12:44:44

Mine-to-manufacturer traceability of a conflict mineral
https://www.hyperledger.org/learn/publications/tantalum-case-study


UK-based Circulor created a system that ensures tantalum is mined, transported, and processed under approved conditions with an unbroken chain of custody. Powered by a permissioned blockchain built on Hyperledger Fabric, the system uses facial recognition and QR codes to deliver a world first: mine-to-manufacturer traceability of this vital resource.

Article, A global-scale data set of mining areas
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-00624-w


The area used for mineral extraction is a key indicator for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts caused by the extractive sector. To date, worldwide data products on mineral extraction do not report the area used by mining activities. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by presenting a new data set of mining extents derived by visual interpretation of satellite images. We delineated mining areas within a 10?km buffer from the approximate geographical coordinates of more than six thousand active mining sites across the globe. The result is a global-scale data set consisting of 21,060 polygons that add up to 57,277?km2. The polygons cover all mining above-ground features that could be identified from the satellite images, including open cuts, tailings dams, waste rock dumps, water ponds, and processing infrastructure.

National Resource Governance Institute
https://www.resourcegovernance.org
NRGI’s aim is that countries rich in oil, gas and minerals achieve sustainable, inclusive development, and that people receive lasting benefits from the extractive sector and experience reduced harms.

Austalian Mines Dataset
https://catalogue.data.wa.gov.au/dataset/operating-mines/resource/f5453f34-2f4d-40b8-8b66-365b39351eec?inner_span=True
MINEDEX provides a coordinated, project-based enquiry system for textual information on mine, deposits, prospects, etc., and related infrastructure. The Operating Mine Map custom data extract is a regularly-updated point representation of the State's mines that have a Status of either operating or under development that appear on an annually produced map. The mines are automatically selected by Status and updated regularly.

Deep Sea Mining Watch
https://deepseaminingwatch.msi.ucsb.edu


The mission of this project is to provide scientifically rigorous data that will allow people around the world to watch over seabed mining and empower them to play a role in determining if and how it begins.
deepsea mining robotics transparancy | permalink | 2022-08-15 08:56:34

Copper Alliance - copper pathways
https://copperalliance.org/sustainable-copper/copper-pathways-map/
A global view of copper production and trade

Article: Source Material, mining & devastation
https://reallifemag.com/source-material/
Over the last several years, a growing number of studies have tried to trace the vast networks of human labor, data, and natural resources that fuel our digital lives. From Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler’s “Anatomy of an AI System” to David Abraham’s The Elements of Power, these investigations cast new light on the exploitative practices masked by the staggering complexity of global supply chains.