Critical minerals News

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A mine in Likasi on November 26, 2025. Image by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP).

In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests stand on the frontline

Didier Makal, Latoya Abulu 16 Jan 2026

Minerals treaty proposed by Colombia & Oman gets pushback at UN meeting

Aimee Gabay 9 Jan 2026
Indigenous people attend the People's Summit during the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30). Photo by Rafa Pereira/COP30.

Top 10 Indigenous news stories that marked 2025

Aimee Gabay 29 Dec 2025
This sea cucumbers belongs to the same family as sea pigs and swims in search of food and to escape predators. Behind it is a stalked glass sponge.

Deep-sea mining interests raise alarms among Mariana Trench communities

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 10 Dec 2025

In Chocó, river defenders say race for energy transition threatens lifelines

Euan Wallace 8 Dec 2025
The Quilapilún solar energy plant, a joint project by Chile and China in Colina, Chile. Image by AP Photo/Esteban Felix.

Critical minerals dropped from final text at COP30

Aimee Gabay 2 Dec 2025

A fragile Sri Lankan island fights back against the threat of mineral extraction

Malaka Rodrigo 28 Nov 2025
Sámi reindeer herders and conservationists set up a protest camp at the facilities of the Blue Moon Metals Nussir mine in Finnmark county, Norway. Photo by Rasmus Berg / Natur og Ungdom.

Plans to dispose of mining waste in Norway’s Arctic Ocean worries Sámi fishers, herders

Aimee Gabay 18 Nov 2025

Global Energy Outlook sees promise in Africa’s power transition — funds permitting

David Akana 13 Nov 2025
Ofelia Samboni an Indigenous Yanacona member and landowner in Monclart, holds a stone containing copper. The stone was found in the river close to the mining area. Image by Antonio Cascio for Mongabay.

‘Clean energy is just one driver of mining’: Cleodie Rickard on critical minerals

Aimee Gabay 13 Nov 2025

Expedition charts Cook Islands seafloor, amid scrutiny over mining motives

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 6 Nov 2025

Congo Basin communities bear the costs of industrial expansion

David Akana 5 Nov 2025
Mount Mulanje in southeastern Malawi. Known as the “Island in the Sky,” Mount Mulanje, with 13 peaks and high-altitude basins, is rich in biodiversity with over 70 endemic species and provides surrounding communities with freshwater, natural forest products and essential protection from storms. Image by David Davies, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr

‘A big no’: Opposition grows to proposed mine in Malawi’s newest UNESCO site

Ruth Kamnitzer 4 Nov 2025

Critical minerals drive legalization of mining on Amazon Indigenous lands

Lucas Berti 3 Nov 2025
Communities in the Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc Basin have activities such as livestock farming, agriculture, crafts and tourism. Image courtesy of Clemente Flores.

Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)

Clemente Flores 27 Oct 2025
Leaching ponds have been drilled into the mountains of Laos, using a mix of toxic chemicals to separate the rare earth minerals from the other materials siphoned out of the ground. Image supplied by source.

Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River

Mongabay 27 Oct 2025
The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), an endangered species and one of the rarest felines in the Americas, in the central Andes of Chile. Image courtesy of Rodrigo Villalobos.

Researchers fear Chile copper project may threaten rare Andean cat population

Aimee Gabay 23 Oct 2025
Cerro Rico mountain above the city of Potosí, Bolivia.

In the heart of Bolivia, the mountain that financed an empire risks collapsing

Benjamin Swift 22 Oct 2025
Mamá Conchita in her chagra with her dogs.

Indigenous women and the path to a just energy transition: Voices from the land (commentary)

Galina Angarova, Daniela De León 20 Oct 2025
Flowing from Myanmar into Thailand, the Kok River carries toxic runoff from rare earth mines into Chiang Mai province. Image supplied by Brian Eyler.

More Thai rivers and downstream communities at risk from Myanmar’s rare earth mines

Mongabay 20 Oct 2025

Nickel mining threatens Raja Ampat ecosystems, communities & conservation: Report

Basten Gokkon 16 Oct 2025
In February, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised planned investments by Vale during a public event in Pará state, urging the company to ensure dam safety. Image courtesy of Ricardo Stuckert/Presidência da República.

Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas

André Schröder 14 Oct 2025
Rainbow over Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo credit: Rhett Ayers Butler.

Just as Raja Ampat fetches UNESCO Biosphere Reserve title, nickel mining looms

Hans Nicholas Jong 2 Oct 2025
Heavy machinery operates at the nickel mining site of PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining on Kawe Island, Raja Ampat.

Religion at a crossroads in Indonesia as Islamic groups bid to operate large-scale mines

Ramadani Saputra 25 Sep 2025
A member of the Sámi Indigenous people tends a reindeer in Sweden.

Europe’s competition over Indigenous Sámi resources: Voices from the land (commentary)

Áslat Holmberg 22 Sep 2025
Nickel mining activity in the PT IWIP industrial area in Central Halmahera.

Norway fund drops Eramet over Indonesia mine threatening forests, Indigenous tribe

Hans Nicholas Jong 17 Sep 2025

Canada’s mining companies destroy biodiversity with impunity, Indigenous journalist reports

Mike DiGirolamo, Rachel Donald 16 Sep 2025

Indonesia reopens Raja Ampat nickel mine despite reef damage concerns

Hans Nicholas Jong 12 Sep 2025
Vilma de Callata, 45, draws water for her animals in Tusaquillas, Jujuy Province, Argentina, Sunday, April 23, 2023. Her native Kolla people have spent centuries climbing deep into the mountains of northern Argentina in search of a simple substance: Fresh drinking water. Image by Photo/Rodrigo Abd.

In Argentina, lithium exploration proceeds amid community disputes

Aimee Gabay 10 Sep 2025
Workers perform maintenance next to pools of brine slowly turning into lithium at the Albemarle lithium mine in Chile's Atacama desert. Photo by: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd.

Lithium mining leaves severe impacts in Chile, but new methods exist: Report

Aimee Gabay 10 Sep 2025

Report links world’s top banks to social & environmental harms from mining

Aimee Gabay 3 Sep 2025

A sales-pitch pivot brings deep-sea mining closer to reality

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 31 Jul 2025

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