Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mining Group Has Concerns on Global Tailings Dam Safety Standards
Nov 20 2019 // The world’s largest mining trade group said on Monday it has concerns with standards being considered for global tailings dam safety, especially how the new rules will apply to new and existing facilities. An...
Before Ambush, Burkina Faso Mine Workers Sought More Transport Protection: Reuters
Nov 19 2019 // Five months before an ambush killed 39 colleagues, local workers at a Canadian-owned gold mine in Burkina Faso pleaded with managers to fly them to the site rather than go by a road that was prone to attacks, two people...
Vale’s ‘Negligence’ May Have Cost Lives, Says Brazil Mining Regulator
Nov 12 2019 // Brazil’s mining regulator on Tuesday blasted iron ore miner Vale SA for failing to disclose problems with a mining dam before a deadly collapse in January, saying this kept the agency from taking actions that could...
Dam Collapse in Siberia Kills At Least 15 Gold Miners
Oct 21 2019 // At least 15 gold miners were killed on Saturday when a dam collapsed, flooding an artisanal mining encampment in a remote part of Siberia, officials said. Heavy rains had weakened the dam and water broke through, sweeping...
Report: Kentucky Coal Miner Crushed by 2,000-Pound Rock
Oct 1 2019 // A federal report says failure to control parts of a Kentucky coal mine led to the death of a miner crushed by a 2,000-pound piece of rock and coal. A U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration report says 48-year-old Felix...
Brazil Police Accuse Mining Firm Vale, Auditor of Fraud Related to Deadly Dam Collapse
Sep 23 2019 // Brazilian federal police proposed criminal charges against Vale SA, auditor TÜV SÜD and 13 of their employees, alleging fraud in relation to a deadly dam collapse in January, according to a document seen by Reuters on...
Coal Mine Electrician Dies in Accident at West Virginia Mine
Sep 19 2019 // West Virginia officials say a 40-year-old coal mine electrician has died in an accident. The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says Steven Vernon Keeney of Sylvester died of injuries from an...
Kentucky Coal Miner Dies in Accident
Sep 10 2019 // A coal miner has died from injuries suffered in an accident at a western Kentucky mine. A statement from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet says 39-year-old Jeremy Elder of Providence died Thursday from critical...
Machines Taking Over Jobs at Giant Copper Mine in Chile
Aug 15 2019 // Machines are taking over a giant Chilean copper mine, replacing about a third of the workforce as owner Codelco struggles to keep its title as the world’s largest producer of the metal. Codelco officially inaugurated...
Idaho Tribe Sues Mining Company Over Pollution
Aug 12 2019 // The Nez Perce Tribe has filed a lawsuit to force a Canadian company to clean up an idle central Idaho mining area – which the company says it plans to do if it gets approval from U.S. officials to restart mining at the...
Mining Firm Vale Must Fix All Damages from Deadly Dam Collapse: Brazil Court
Jul 10 2019 // A Brazilian state judge on Tuesday convicted mining company Vale SA for damages caused by the deadly rupture of a tailings dam in January that killed at least 240 people. Judge Elton Pupo Nogueira ruled that Vale is...
EPA Drilling into Colorado Mine for Superfund Cleanup Investigation
Jun 11 2019 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to drill a test well into an inactive mine tunnel in southwestern Colorado to get information for a Superfund cleanup, the agency said. The EPA said it will drill into the...
Global Mining Firms Reveal Safety Plans for Tailings Dams After Deadly Brazil Disasters
Jun 10 2019 // Global miners BHP Group, Anglo American Plc and Glencore Plc revealed details on tailings dams, months after ethical investors sought the information following a second deadly dam disaster in Brazil. BHP, which operates 67...
Miners Tell Trump Silica Dust Rule ‘Desperately’ Needed to Curb Black Lung Disease
Jun 7 2019 // The head of the national coal miners’ union on Thursday urged the Trump administration to impose regulation on silica dust in mines, which researchers believe is responsible for a resurgence of black lung disease in...
West Virginia Coal Industry Data Shows Mines Releasing Excessive Pollution
Jun 5 2019 // Several West Virginia coal mines, including some owned by the governor’s family, have released many times the allowable amounts of pollutants into nearby waterways in recent years without being penalized by...
Vale’s Gongo Soco Mine Tailings Dam Faces 10%-15% Risk of Collapse: Brazil Official
May 21 2019 // Brazilian miner Vale‘s tailings dam in the town of Barao de Cocais in Minas Gerais has up to a 15% chance of breaking, the state’s environment secretary said on Monday. The dam at Vale‘s Gongo Soco mine...
Brazil’s Vale Warns Another Mine Tailings Dam at Risk of Collapse
May 17 2019 // Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA told prosecutors in the state of Minas Gerais that a dam is at risk of rupturing at its Gongo Soco mine, about 40 miles from where its Brumadinho dam collapsed, killing more than 230...
Brazil’s Vale to Invest $2.5B in Technology to Prevent Mining Dam Disasters: Reuters
May 10 2019 // Brazil’s Vale said on Thursday that it plans to invest $2.5 billion over the next five years in technology that removes the need for tailings dams, the waste facilities responsible for two deadly mining disasters in...
Mining Giant BHP Faces $5B Damages Claim over 2015 Brazil Dam Disaster
May 8 2019 // Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP is facing a landmark, $5.0 billion damages claim in England for being “woefully negligent” in the run-up to a 2015 dam failure that led to Brazil’s worst environmental...
Mine Operator Cited for Safety Issues in Fatality at Nevada Gold Mine
Mar 28 2019 // Federal mine safety officials have cited an Idaho-based company for inadequate safety controls at a gold mine it operates in northeast Nevada where a worker was killed in an underground collapse in October. The U.S. Mine...
