Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Brazil Mining Giant Vale Warns Another Tailings Dam Could Collapse
Mar 25 2019 // Brazilian mining giant Vale said Saturday [March 23] that communities in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais have been ordered to evacuate after independent auditors found that one of its dams could collapse at any...
Australia Mining Firms Report Some Impact from Cyclones as Clean Up Begins
Mar 25 2019 // Mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals said their Australian operations had suffered some impact after two cyclones hit the country over the weekend, with clean up starting on Monday in the wake of the...
Northern Australia Braces for 2 Cyclones, Disrupting Mining, Shipping Operations
Mar 22 2019 // Commodity giant Glencore on Friday said it had suspended operations at its McArthur River zinc mine in northern Australia as a cyclone approaches. Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the region as Tropical...
Mine Worker Advocates Worried Coal Firm’s Tax Cut Jeopardizes Black Lung Fund
Mar 22 2019 // The Trump administration and coal industry allies are insisting that a federal black lung trust fund will continue to pay benefits to sick miners despite a drastic cut in funding. But the expected shortfalls will be...
Brazil’s Backlash over Vale Dam Disaster Deepens with Mine Closure, Frozen Funds
Mar 19 2019 // Vale SA’s shares declined on Monday as the world’s biggest iron ore producer faced continued backlash from Brazilian authorities after a deadly mining accident in January. Rio de Janeiro-based Vale was ordered...
Brazil Miner Vale Fired Inspection Firm for Refusing to Certify Dam’s Safety: Prosecutors
Mar 6 2019 // Brazilian iron ore miner Vale fired an inspection firm because the company refused to certify one of its dams as safe, months before the barrier collapsed and killed hundreds, prosecutors said in a document filed this...
Brazil Tailings Dam Disaster Pushes Mining CEOs to Make Safety Changes
Feb 27 2019 // After last month’s deadly tailings dam disaster at a Vale SA facility in Brazil, Freeport-McMoRan Inc Chief Executive Richard Adkerson sent a memo to his 29,000 employees telling them to immediately report any safety...
Brazil Miner Vale Knew Its Tailings Dam Had Higher Risk of Collapse: Reuters
Feb 12 2019 // Vale SA , the world’s largest iron ore miner, knew last year that the dam in Brazil that collapsed in January and killed at least 165 people had a heightened risk of rupturing, according to an internal document seen...
Brazil’s Burst Dam Disasters Blamed on Cheap Storage of Mining Waste
Feb 1 2019 // The deadly collapse of a Vale SA tailings dam in Brazil is serving as a wake-up call for an industry that regularly cuts costs by storing mining waste in the cheapest possible way. The slurry of ground rock and effluents...
Brazil Dam Disaster Could Delay Settlement for 2015’s Samarco Mine Disaster
Jan 30 2019 // Brazil’s deadly tailings dam collapse is likely to complicate a settlement for a similar disaster less than four years ago at the Samarco iron ore mine, owned jointly by Vale SA and BHP Group, investors said on...
Brazil Weighs Management Overhaul at Vale After Mine Disaster; Death Toll Rises
Jan 29 2019 // Brazil’s government weighed pushing for a management overhaul at iron ore miner Vale SA on Monday as grief over the hundreds feared killed by a dam burst turned into anger, with prosecutors, politicians and...
Collapsed Brazil Mining Dam Kills at Least 58, in Echoes of 2015 Disaster
Jan 28 2019 // Brazilian rescuers searched into the night on Sunday for hundreds of people missing after a burst mining dam triggered a deadly mudslide, as the death toll rose to 58 and was expected to keep climbing more than two days...
