Illegal logging directly fuels many conflicts as timber is a resource available for conflict profiteers or to finance arms sales. Without public order, militants, guerillas or military units impose taxes on logging companies or charcoal producers, issue false export permits and control border points. They frequently demand the removal of all vehicle check points and public patrolling of resource-rich areas as part of the peace conditions followin...

The graphic maps out the areas that are at risk, or already contaminated from nuclear industry after the break-up of the former Soviet Union. Nuclear power has unresolved problems of waste disposal. Waste remains dangerous for thousands of human generations and can be converted to plutonium, a component of nuclear weapons. The mining of nuclear fuel, containing U-235 and U-238, can pollute groundwater with both heavy metals and traces of radioact...

The environmental legacy associated with extraction industries is all too familiar. Badly operated or abandoned mining sites have already caused severe pollution, some with impacts spilling across national boundaries: heavy metal spills from Baia Borsa tailings in Romania; the cyanide spill from Baia Mare in Romania; heavy metal spills from Sasa tailings in Macedonia; and various releases at Majdanpek and Veliki Majdan in Serbia, and Mojkovac in ...

In Kosovo mining itself promises to create 35 000 jobs. A large part of this plan is associated with the exploitation of lignite (a type of coal), which is supposed to be used exclusively for electricity generation. On the basis of existing demand for electricity in Kosovo, the known deposits would produce sufficient energy for about 1 000 years.

Southeast Europe, as we have seen, has a long history of mining base and precious metals, reaching back to the fifth century BC at least. In Serbia, for example, archaeological exploration of the Bor site suggests that copper mining started in prehistoric times.

The Rosia Montana gold and silver mining project in Romania's Apuseni Mountains has been in and out of the environmental headlines in recent years. It is a fascinating case of the new market economy trying to conduct a dirty old industrial activity in a completely new and much cleaner way – at least in Romania.

Between 1944 and 1991, the mining, processing, and downstream exploitation of base metals established the Balkans as a major European source of copper, lead, zinc and a global producer of chromite. Mining was one of the flagship industrial sectors, influencing the area more largely than in simply economic terms.

The Ok Tedi mine is located high in the rain forest covered Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Prior to 1981 the local Wopkaimin people lived a subsistence existence in one of the most isolated places on earth. That was before the 10 000 strong town of Tabubil suddenly appeared in the middle of their community. The Ok Tedi mine was built on the world’s largest gold and copper deposit (gold ore capping the main copper deposit).

The Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is the number one environmental problem facing the mining industry. AMD occurs when sulphide-bearing minerals in rock are exposed to air and water, changing the sulphide to sulphuric acid. It can devastate aquatic habitats, is difficult to treat with existing technology, and once started, can continue for centuries (Roman mine sites in Great Britain continue to generate acid drainage 2000 years after mining ceased)....

The graphic gives a general illustration of a waste generation & management scheme. Using car production as a example, the associated text includes references as follows: Raw Materials: Mining of minerals: copper, iron, lead, zinc, and aluminum (generating waste in the neighborhood of the mines), etc. Production: During the final assembly: paints, coatings, lubricants and fluids (generating excess materials – a specific type of waste) Distributi...

The Ok Tedi mine is located high in the rain forest covered Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Prior to 1981 the local Wopkaimin people lived a subsistence existence in one of the most isolated places on earth. That was before the 10 000 strong town of Tabubil suddenly appeared in the middle of their community. The Ok Tedi mine was built on the world’s largest gold and copper deposit (gold ore capping the main copper deposit).

The Ok Tedi mine is located high in the rain forest covered Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Prior to 1981 the local Wopkaimin people lived a subsistence existence in one of the most isolated places on earth. That was before the 10 000 strong town of Tabubil suddenly appeared in the middle of their community. The Ok Tedi mine was built on the world’s largest gold and copper deposit (gold ore capping the main copper deposit). From the very begi...

The Soviet development model for Central Asia was based on building large-scale irrigation schemes enabling the region to become a major cotton producer and expanding the mining and processing industry. Industrial operations in the region paid little attention to the environment and public health, resulting in the accumulation of pollutants in the local environment. Today, not only active industrial facilities constitute a threat to environment, ...

Regardless of the type of raw material, its extraction always comes with an environmental cost. Most mining leaves a lasting and damaging environmental footprint. For example, during the extraction of common metals like copper, lead or zinc from the earth both metal-bearing rock, called ore, and “overburden”, the dirt and rock that covers the ore are removed. At a typical copper mine around 125 tonnes of ore are excavated to produce just one ton...

Physical alteration and destruction of habitats are now considered one of the most important threats to coastal [and marine] areas. This graphic shows the extent to which twelve different human activities cause environmental degradation in estuaries, inter-tidal wetlands and the open ocean. The activities include the drainage of coastal ecosystems; the construction of dykes, dams and seawalls and the mining of wetlands.

The squares are proportionnal to the estimated amounts of waste generated by sector in 2002, in the OECD countries (in million tonnes). Waste is produced from the very beginning of the life cycle of a product, long before we as consumers are aware of it.

Mining waste takes up a great deal of space, blights the landscape and often affects local habitats. By its very nature it can constitute a serious safety hazard. Poor management may allow acidic and metals containing drainage to the environmnent, it can result in contaminated dusts be spread by the wind, and can also pose a physical risk. Indeed, the failure of structures such as dams built to contain mining waste has lead to many accidental sp...

At 29 per cent of total wastes generated and with over 400 million tonnes of materials, mining and quarrying account for the largest stream of waste generated by countries that are members of the Euro pean Environment Agency.

The production of aluminium involves three main stages: mining bauxite ore, refining bauxite to alumina (Al2O3), and then smelting alumina to produce aluminium. Bauxite comes from open mines mainly located in tropical and subtropical regions. On average it takes 4 to 5 tonnes of bauxite to produce 2 tonnes of alumina, yielding 1 tonne of aluminium. The main solid by-product of the alumina extraction (Bayer process) is red mud and roughly 3 tonnes...

Waste is a major environmental concern for the energy sector. Depending on the type of energy, the production process itself will generate substantial quantities of waste. The energy sector generates specific types of waste: waste from mining and upgrading coal and lignite (tailing); waste from oil and gas refining; combustion waste from thermal power stations; waste from air-pollution abatement devices and fi nally the components of the power st...