Mining News

July 4, 2024

Top Headlines

A Breakthrough in Inexpensive, Clean, Fast-Charging Batteries

July 3, 2024 — Scientists have created an anode-free sodium solid-state battery. This brings the reality of inexpensive, fast-charging, high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage closer than ...

Near Chromosome-Level Genome of the Mojave Poppy Bee

July 2, 2024 — Scientists have developed a near chromosome-level genome for the Mojave poppy bee, a specialist pollinator of conservation ...

Trout in Mine-Polluted Rivers Are Genetically 'Isolated'

May 30, 2024 — Trout living in rivers polluted by metal from old mines across the British Isles are genetically 'isolated' from other trout, new research ...

Scientists Develop New Geochemical 'Fingerprint' to Trace Contaminants in Fertilizer

May 17, 2024 — An international team of scientists has revealed high levels of toxic metals in global phosphate fertilizers using a isotopic variants of the element strontium as a tracer to uncover metals in soil, ...

Latest Headlines

updated 4:08pm EDT

Can Coal Mines Be Tapped for Rare Earth Elements?

May 20, 2024 — A team of geologists analyzed 3,500 samples taken in and around coal mines in Utah and Colorado. Their findings open the possibility that these mines could see a secondary resource stream in the form ...

Copper Can't Be Mined Fast Enough to Electrify the US

May 15, 2024 — Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current U.S. policy guidelines to transition the country's electricity and vehicle infrastructure to renewable energy, according to a new ...

Making Batteries Takes a Lot of Lithium: Some Could Come from Gas Well Wastewater

May 15, 2024 — A new analysis suggests that if it could be extracted with complete efficiency, lithium from the wastewater of Marcellus shale gas wells could supply ...

Final Dust Settles Slowly in the Deep Sea

May 15, 2024 — 'Dust clouds' at the bottom of the deep sea, that will be created by deep-sea mining activities, descend at a short distance for the biggest part. Yet, a small portion of the stirred-up bottom ...

Getting Dirty to Clean Up the Chemical Industry's Environmental Impact

May 9, 2024 — The global chemical industry is a major fossil fuel consumer and climate change contributor; however, new research has identified how the sector could clean up its green credentials by getting ...

Origin of Roman Lead

May 7, 2024 — Three ingots from the site of Los Escoriales de Do a Rama (Belmez) and dating from the Roman era demonstrate the importance of lead production and exportation in northern ...

Critical Minerals Recovery from Electronic Waste

Apr. 23, 2024 — A nontoxic separation process recovers critical minerals from electronic scrap ...

Warming Climate Is Putting More Metals Into Colorado's Mountain Streams

Apr. 23, 2024 — Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage. Concentrations of these metals have roughly ...

For Mining in Arid Regions to Be Responsible, We Must Change How We Think About Water

Apr. 3, 2024 — In an unprecedented study of the South American 'Lithium Triangle,' hydrologists discover that not all water responds the same way to environmental ...

Demand for Critical Minerals Puts African Great Apes at Risk

Apr. 3, 2024 — A recent study shows that the threat of mining to the great ape population in Africa has been greatly ...

Earlier Headlines

Pairing Crypto Mining With Green Hydrogen Offers Clean Energy Boost

Mar. 25, 2024 — Pairing cryptocurrency mining -- notable for its outsize consumption of carbon-based fuel -- with green hydrogen could provide the foundation for wider deployment of renewable energy, such as solar ...

Major Environmental Benefits Recycling Gold With Biodiesel

Mar. 25, 2024 — Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly method for recycling and purifying metals. Using gold earrings from a pawnshop in Gothenburg and biodiesel from the nearest filling station, the ...

Even Inactive Smokers Are Densely Colonized by Microbial Communities

Mar. 15, 2024 — Everything is everywhere -- under certain conditions microbial communities can grow and thrive, even in places that are seemingly uninhabitable. This is the case at inactive hydrothermal vents on the ...

Streams Connected to Groundwater Show Improved Detoxification and Microbial Diversity

Feb. 23, 2024 — Streams with ample connections to shallow groundwater flow-paths have greater microbial diversity and are more effective at preventing toxic forms of metals -- often products of upstream mining -- ...

Potassium Depletion in Soil Threatens Global Crop Yields

Feb. 19, 2024 — Potassium deficiency in agricultural soils is a largely unrecognized but potentially significant threat to global food security if left unaddressed, finds new ...

Coal-Based Product Could Replace Sand in Concrete

Jan. 26, 2024 — A new study found that graphene derived from metallurgical coke, a coal-based product, through flash Joule heating could serve not only as a reinforcing additive in cement but also as a replacement ...

Unexpected Biodiversity on the Ocean Floor

Jan. 25, 2024 — Hydrothermal vents and manganese nodule fields in the deep oceans contain more biodiversity than ...

Next-Generation Batteries Could Go Organic, Cobalt-Free for Long-Lasting Power

Jan. 18, 2024 — In the switch to 'greener' energy sources, the demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is surging. However, their cathodes typically contain cobalt -- a metal whose extraction has ...

Cobalt-Free Batteries Could Power Cars of the Future

Jan. 18, 2024 — A new battery material could offer a more sustainable way to power electric cars. The lithium-ion battery includes a cathode based on organic materials, instead of cobalt or ...

Researchers Pump Brakes on 'Blue Acceleration' Harming the World Ocean

Jan. 18, 2024 — Protecting the world ocean against accelerating damage from human activities could be cheaper and take up less space than previously thought, new research has ...

The First Assessment of Toxic Heavy Metal Pollution in the Southern Hemisphere Over the Last 2,000 Years

Jan. 11, 2024 — Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are ...

Study on Battery Recycling Shows China Is in First Place

Dec. 8, 2023 — A research team has concluded that China will be the first country worldwide to become independent of the need to mine the raw materials which are essential for batteries. They have also established ...

A Single Bitcoin Transaction Could Cost as Much Water as a Backyard Swimming Pool

Nov. 29, 2023 — Cryptocurrency mining uses a significant amount of water amid the global water crisis, and its water demand may grow further. Researchers provides the first comprehensive estimate of Bitcoin's ...

Minimalist or Maximalist? The Life of a Microbe a Mile Underground

Nov. 28, 2023 — Researchers characterize nearly 600 microbial genomes collected from goldmine. The study illuminates 'microbial dark matter' residing below the surface. Microbes divide into two groups: ...

Sensitive Ecosystems at Risk from Mine Waste

Nov. 27, 2023 — Nearly a third of the world's mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, new research has ...

Deep-Sea Mining and Warming Trigger Stress in a Midwater Jellies

Nov. 21, 2023 — The deep sea is home to one of the largest animal communities on earth which is increasingly exposed to environmental pressures. However, our knowledge of its inhabitants and their response to ...

Blasts to Clear World War II Munitions Could Contaminate the Ocean

Nov. 29, 2023 — World War II concluded decades ago, but live mines lurking on the ocean floor still pose threats, potentially spewing unexpected geysers or releasing contaminants into the water. Experts conduct ...

Cultural Artifacts Serve as 'Cognitive Fossils,' Helping Uncover the Psychology of the Past

Nov. 8, 2023 — No two societies in history think exactly alike. In fact, the mindset of a given society throughout history can help historians unpack important clues about the effects of psychological shifts -- ...

Bitcoin Mining Has 'Very Worrying' Impacts on Land and Water, Not Only Carbon

Oct. 24, 2023 — As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grown in market share, they've been criticized for their heavy carbon footprint: Cryptocurrency mining is an energy-intensive endeavor. Mining has ...

Biological Fingerprints in Soil Show Where Diamond-Containing Ore Is Buried

Oct. 24, 2023 — Researchers have identified buried kimberlite, the rocky home of diamonds, by testing the DNA of microbes in the surface soil. These 'biological fingerprints' can reveal what minerals are ...