1 May 2023
A machine that moulds scrap aluminium into automotive parts could help speed up production of electric vehicles while cutting down the industry's dependence on aluminium mining and extraction
8 December 2021
Governments are meeting in Jamaica this week to decide how rules for commercial mining of metals on the ocean floor will be thrashed out, but there are big sticking points
10 November 2021
Creating green technologies like batteries and solar panels requires a lot of minerals, and a lot of mining. The challenge now is to extract what we need without destroying the environment
6 January 2021
Farms that grow metal-rich plants are cropping up around the world and promise a greener, less destructive alternative to mining for rare minerals
4 November 2020
As the race to extract valuable minerals from the deep ocean ramps up, how can we also protect unique marine ecosystems?
20 February 2019
The turn of the decade saw a huge surge of interest in asteroid mining, but now this would-be industry has flopped. Can a tiny Japanese probe revive it?
31 January 2019
As mining firms begin tests to pick up metal ores from the Pacific seabed, we need rules to protect this unusual ecosystem, says Olive Heffernan
30 January 2019
The environmentally damaging melting of polar ice is also exposing minerals, archaeological wonders and even ice volcanoes and there's a race to get to them
14 February 2018
Unregulated sand mining is a problem in at least 70 countries. It’s an easy, lucrative venture - and one with a violent underbelly
14 February 2018
From electronics to concrete, modern life depends on sand. With supplies running low and mines harming the environment, it’s time to use it smarter
