Russian Mining Giant Contests Fine for Massive Arctic Spill
Mining giant Norilsk Nickel said Wednesday it was contesting a fine imposed by the Russian authorities over a massive oil spill in the Arctic that sparked a state of emergency.
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mining
Landslide at Myanmar Jade Mine Kills at Least 113
At least 113 people were killed Thursday in a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, the government and rescue workers said, the latest in a series of deadly accidents at the sites.
Read moreMining
Twelve residents of Belfair, Wash., sued Mason County in a federal class action, claiming it illegally “gifted a private company, Grump Ventures, LLC … with a valuable right to operate a 66.5-acre surface mine in a residential zone where mining is prohibited.
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Miner Becomes Millionaire After Finding Biggest Tanzanite Stones
A Tanzanian small-scale miner has become a multimillionaire after uncovering two of the biggest of the country’s precious tanzanite stones ever found and selling them to the government.
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Mining Firm Granted Approval to Destroy Australian Aboriginal Sites
Mining giant BHP has been given government approval to destroy up to 40 indigenous heritage sites, Australia’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister said Thursday, just days after Rio Tinto sparked outrage by damaging ancient rock shelters nearby.
Read moreTrump Signs Order Waiving Environmental Protections
Citing the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that waives key environmental requirements for some mine, pipeline and highway construction projects.
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Alaska Natives Accuse Feds of Using Pandemic to Silence Public
Few Alaska Natives in the Arctic Circle have reliable cellphone service, let alone internet access. And many say the Trump administration is using that — and the Covid-19 pandemic — to keep them from voicing their disapproval of mining and drilling projects that will destroy their way of life.
Read moreEnvironment
The Wilderness Society et al. sued Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in federal court for renewing hardrock mining leases to Twin Metals Minnesota though the U.S. Forest Service has found they would damage the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Read moreEnvironmental Groups Seek to Halt Minnesota Mining Project
A coalition of environmental advocates and outdoor outfitters renewed their push to stop a controversial mining project near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters in federal court on Wednesday.
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Simulated Deep-Sea Mining Reveals Damage to Seafloor Ecosystems
Researchers found tracks from the 1989 simulation still clearly visible on the seafloor, 13,000 feet beneath the surface.
Read moreSuperfund Suits in Montana Get Supreme Court’s OK
While advancing cleanup claims by a group of people who live on a Superfund site, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must approve of any restoration plans.
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News Outlets Must Face Libel Claims From Former Mining Exec
A federal judge refused to dismiss defamation claims against more than a dozen news outlets that called a former coal CEO and Republican Senate candidate a felon, even though he was convicted of a lesser charge.
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Expert Says Trump Rule Could Kill Billions of Birds
At a former open pit copper mine filled with billions of gallons of toxic water, sirens and loud pops from propane cannons echoed off the granite walls to scare away birds so they don’t land.
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Montana Mine Workers Advance Asbestos Suit Against Insurer
The Montana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a workers’ compensation insurer is liable for damage claims from people who worked at the W.R. Grace vermiculite plant in Libby, Montana.
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Wyoming Coal Workers Settle Over Mine Shutdowns
In the last state in the union to confirm COVID-19 diagnoses, a lawyer for laid-off coal miners said their new settlement in West Virginia is welcome succor for his clients as they grapple with the spreading pandemic.
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Federal Judge Backs Mineral Leases in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters
Advocates against mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters were hit with another setback Tuesday when a Washington, D.C., judge ruled that the Department of the Interior’s return of mineral leases to Chilean-owned mining company Twin Metals was legal.
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Arco Agrees to Pay $28 Million to Clean Up Montana Mining Town
Adding to its $1.4 billion already spent on cleaning up former mining sites near Butte, Montana, Atlantic Richfield Company agreed Tuesday to pay another $28 million for mining cleanup costs in Anaconda, Montana.
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Judge Dismantles Bulk of Feds’ Approval of Arizona Copper Mine
For the second time in less than a year, a federal judge has thrown up a major roadblock to a new copper mine near the Arizona-Mexico border, ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service didn’t adequately assess the environmental impact of the planned Rosemont Mine.
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White House Finalizes Plans to Shrink Utah National Monuments
The Trump administration finalized plans Thursday to shrink two national monuments in Utah while opening up recently freed portions to possible natural resource extraction and grazing.
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Seventh Circuit Says Hands Are Tied in Tribe’s Fight With EPA Over Mine
A Seventh Circuit panel ruled Monday that federal law offers no recourse for a Wisconsin tribe challenging a permit which would allow runoff from a Michigan sulfide mine into a river on the border between Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, leaving the tribe to fight administratively in Michigan.
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