Critical minerals News

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The Diavik diamond mine in northwestern Canada. Image from Google Maps.

Canada invests $1m into mining exploration on Indigenous land

Shanna Hanbury 25 Mar 2026

China’s deep-sea mining fleet may also track US submarines

Elizabeth Claire Alberts, Kara Fox 24 Mar 2026

Vatican launches campaign to encourage divestment from mining industries

Associated Press 20 Mar 2026

Investigation links DRC air pollution concerns to major copper-cobalt plant

Elodie Toto 19 Mar 2026
Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) conducting an operation to combat illegal gold mining in Indigenous territory in the state of Pará, Brazil.

Mining rush for critical minerals threatens Amazon land reform settlements

Sam Cowie, Cícero Pedrosa Neto, Isabel Harari 9 Mar 2026

Malaysia renews Lynas Rare Earths’ license for 10 years, orders end to radioactive waste by 2031

Associated Press 3 Mar 2026
CHEMAF’s Etoile mine (formerly known as Kalukuluku) in Ruashi-Lubumbashi in the DRC. Image by Didier Makal.

US firm Virtus Minerals closes in on deal for crucial DRC copper and cobalt mines

Ashoka Mukpo 26 Feb 2026

Alcoa pays Australian feds $36 million for ‘unlawful’ forest clearing

Associated Press 19 Feb 2026
Artisanal cobalt miners in the DRC. Image by The International Institute for Environment and Development. Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic.

Scrutiny grows over DRC-US minerals deal, even as other African nations sign up

Elodie Toto 12 Feb 2026
A humpback whale breaching in Alaskan waters.

Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters

Anita Hofschneider 11 Feb 2026
Luwowo Coltan mine near Rubaya, North Kivu. Image © MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Landslides claim more than 220 lives in DRC’s Rubaya coltan mining site

Didier Makal 9 Feb 2026
An artisanal miner holds up a fragment of copper-bearing ore at the Lukuzi.

What’s happening with the global treaty to trace critical minerals?

Aimee Gabay 3 Feb 2026

Peru to invest $7.6 billion to continue critical minerals extraction

Maxwell Radwin 30 Jan 2026
Bags of raw cobalt at the UTK artisanal quarry in Kolwezi. Image by Didier Makal by Mongabay.

DRC plans to export 100,000 metric tons of copper to the US

Elodie Toto 26 Jan 2026
A mine in Likasi on November 26, 2025. Image by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP).

In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests are 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

South Greenlanders speak out on rare earths interests

Arina Kleist, Julia Rignot, Sandy Watt 11 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

What’s at stake for the environment in Chile’s upcoming election?

Maxwell Radwin 13 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

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