In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Category: Mining
Chinese Copper Miner and Processor Faces Multiple Environmental Lawsuits From Zambian Communities
Lawyers representing communities and civil society groups in Zambia have opened settlement talks with Sino-Metals, a Chinese-owned copper mining and processing company, over one of the country’s worst toxic spills, raising the possibility of an out-of-court resolution in multiple cases that could reshape corporate accountability in Africa. ...
Zambian Farmers Sue Chinese Mining Firms Over Toxic Spill
By Clément Varanges Almost 200 people affected by a major toxic spill at a northern Zambian mine have filed an $80-billion lawsuit against the Chinese firm that owns the mine, according to legal documents seen by AFP Wednesday. ...
China’s Big Bet on Indonesian Nickel Faces a Harsh Reckoning
For years, China raced to secure the critical minerals needed to fuel its economy and the global clean energy transition. Nickel was supposed to be one of the surest bets. Now, one of China’s largest investments in Indonesia’s nickel industry is unraveling—and with it, some of the ...
China-Linked Mines in Myanmar Blamed for Toxic Pollution Flowing Into Thailand
By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee and Sally Jensen A sprawling new mine is gouged into the lush rolling hills of northeast Myanmar, where civil war has weakened the government's already feeble writ, and pollution levels are rising downstream in Thailand. ...
China Carefully Assembling a Deep-Sea Mining Strategy
By Amelie Bottolier-Depois with Mary Yang in Beijing In a world hungry for crucial resources, China may not be poised to start deep-sea mining but it is planting seeds for such operations in a meticulously planned economic and geopolitical strategy.
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
India to Work with Central Asian Countries on Rare Earths
India has reportedly reached a collaboration agreement with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for the exploration and development of rare earth minerals. The agreement, which was finalized at the recent India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi, follows recent reports that ...
Kiribati Eyes Deep-Sea Mining Deal With China
Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of the Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative ...
Uncertainty Roils Minerals Markets
Uncertain economic outlooks for key markets and the erupting trade war are disrupting markets for critical minerals. While prices for some tech-related minerals are spiking as countries scramble to secure supplies, others are slumping. The latter is due to ongoing economic uncertainty in China and Monday’s plunge ...
Nigeria’s Lithium Boom: Chinese Buyers, Local Struggles, and a Global Race
By Leslie Fauvel At an open-cast mine, Abdullahi Ibrahim Danjija carefully chisels away at a hunk of whitish rock before stuffing a sack with the pieces that break off the walls. In the course of ...
Signing Ceremony Takes Place in Kinshasha for Revised Sicomines Deal
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi oversaw a signing ceremony in Kinshasha on Thursday for the fifth revision of the Sicomines copper and cobalt mining deal with a consortium of Chinese companies. The latest revision of the controversial deal marks some ...
China and the Indonesia Nickel Trade: Measuring the True Labor and Environmental Cost
A lot of EV consumers bought new battery-powered cars in the hope it would be better for the environment than a vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine that runs on fossil fuels. By some measures, that's no doubt true.
Three Dead in Newest Attack on Chinese Mine In DRC
Three people were killed and five injured in an attack on a Chinese mining operation in the Nganja district of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province earlier this week. According to reports on Chinese community WeChat sites, the victims were all Congolese, including one of ...