Critical minerals News

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A deep-sea cucumber among polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Image courtesy of ROV-Team GEOMAR/ROV KIEL 6000/GEOMAR.

US deep-sea mining claims in Pacific’s high seas now rival the area set aside by international regulator

Elizabeth Claire Alberts, Andrés Alegría 20 Oct 2026
Nigeria's Parks chief, Ibrahim Musa Goni. Photo, African Nature Investors Foundation.

Nigeria’s parks chief stresses conservation gains amid struggle to protect wildlife

David Akana 20 Oct 2026

Lawmakers in Suriname call for investigation, stricter oversight amid new mining activity

Maxwell Radwin 9 Oct 2026

US contractors reportedly purchase tin from company accused of illegal Amazon mining

Mongabay 23 Sep 2026
A herd of vicuña in Salar de Chalviri, Bolivia

Copper boom fueling energy transition puts Earth’s wildlands at risk

Gerry McGovern, Sue Branford 22 Sep 2026

Bolivia’s mining law overhaul raises environmental and community concerns

Maxwell Radwin 16 Sep 2026

Brazil’s Senate passes rare earth minerals regulation, paving the way for boosted exploration

Associated Press 4 Sep 2026
An artisanal miner holds up a fragment of copper-bearing ore.

On renewable energy, it’s time to debunk the ‘transition minerals’ narrative (commentary)

Shaan Sood 3 Sep 2026
Destroyed crops along the Chambishi Stream after the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia tailings spill, taken around 6 March 2025. Image courtesy of Southern Africa Litigation Center.

Development banks are backing problematic mineral projects, report finds

Elodie Toto 3 Sep 2026
A man working in a mine in Bicol.

Philippines fast-tracks critical minerals, raising Indigenous, environmental concerns

Keith Anthony Fabro 2 Sep 2026
A remotely operated vehicle explores brine pool formations in the Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico. Image courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust/Nautilus Live.

Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn’t become a carbon dump (commentary)

Craig R. McClain 31 Aug 2026

‘Devastating’ rush for critical minerals has little to do with green energy: Report

Victoria Schneider 27 Aug 2026

Indonesia leads global tally of abuses linked to Chinese transition-mineral investments

Hans Nicholas Jong 18 Aug 2026
Heavy machinery is used to excavate pristine beaches for diamond mining along South Africa’s West Coast. Image courtesy of Arthur Neumeier.

Documentary captures impacts of diamond mining along South Africa’s West Coast

Victoria Schneider 3 Aug 2026

Deep sea mining identified as biggest threat to known and unknown deep-sea creatures

Victoria Schneider 15 Jul 2026

New data reveals surge in human rights abuses linked to transition minerals mining

Aimee Gabay 3 Jul 2026

Human rights abuse allegations continue to rise in the mining sector, report finds

Maxwell Radwin 29 Jun 2026
Kathy Ramos, 17, carries her son Edson near the Patarcocha lagoon, which is used as a dump for sewage and human waste, in the mining town of Cerro de Pasco, Peru. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Lawsuit demands accountability for Cerro de Pasco mining pollution in Peru

Maxwell Radwin 16 Jun 2026
Wild horses gallop on the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Indian Reservation near McDermitt, Nevada. Image by AP Photo / Rick Bowmer.

U.S. defense spending on critical minerals surges in the last decade

Aimee Gabay 10 Jun 2026
Deep-sea glass squid

Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 9 Jun 2026
Model of Jiaolong submersible at the Five-Year Achievements Exhibition. Image by N509FZ via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How we tracked China’s deep-sea mining fleet

Elizabeth Claire Alberts, Kara Fox 1 Jun 2026
A glass octopus, a nearly transparent species whose only visible features are its optic nerve, eyeballs and digestive tract.

As economic case for deep-sea mining weakens, industry should halt urgency to begin operation (commentary)

Andy Whitmore 28 May 2026

Peru’s Quellaveco mine tied to water scarcity, contamination, investigation finds

Maxwell Radwin 26 May 2026
A miner in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. Image by Electronics Watch via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

‘Corporate capture’ of critical minerals risks repeating DRC’s extractive past, warns indigenous leader

David Akana 22 May 2026
A PT IWIP worker walks through the cafeteria after work in early July 2025

Indonesia’s nickel boom linked to rising illness and worker harm, reports find

Rabul Sawal, Yulia Adiningsih 19 May 2026

Tensions rise in DRC mining region as community leaders arrested over protest

Elodie Toto 15 May 2026
Kenyan President William Ruto speaks during an event at the recently-concluded Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. Image courtesy of the Presidency of Kenya.

Kenya’s Ruto rejects “raw mineral export” future for Africa

David Akana 13 May 2026
Small-scale miners in Shinyanga District Council, panning soil believed to contain gold. Image courtesy of Shaaban Njia.

Tanzania cracks down on mining sector, aims for inclusivity and sustainability

Nkwimba Nkwimba 7 May 2026

Asia’s last great free-flowing river faces toxic contamination crisis

Mongabay.com 7 May 2026

Venezuela tells UN court that mineral-rich part of Guyana was ‘fraudulently’ taken in colonial era

Associated Press 6 May 2026

DRC copper exports to US set to surge amid warnings of corruption risk

Elodie Toto 1 May 2026
Children and adults cleaning and washing minerals in Kakanda, DRC. Image by Didier Makal/ Mongabay.

UN report flags disproportionate costs of clean energy transition

Victoria Schneider 30 Apr 2026

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