Animals abandon deep-sea mining areas for over a year
14 July 2023
Fish, shrimp and other creatures were found in much lower numbers 13 months after a deep-sea mining test in the Pacific Ocean
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Premium
Machine recycles scrap aluminium directly into vehicle parts
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
Tracing lithium's atomic signature could help make ethical batteries
26 July 2022
Lithium is used in batteries for smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles, but some mines have been accused of creating environmental and social problems. A way to trace the origin of the metal could ensure producers only use ethical sources
Rare earth elements for smartphones can be extracted from coal waste
9 February 2022
Recycling rare earth elements from the ash left over from coal burning is cheaper, easier and more environmentally friendly than digging them out of mines
Race to start commercial deep-sea mining puts ecosystems at risk
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
Ants use soil physics to excavate metre-long tunnels that last decades
23 August 2021
3D X-ray imaging and computer simulations suggest ants have developed a behavioural algorithm that allows them to excavate tunnels by using soil physics – the technique could eventually be harnessed to develop robotic mining machines
Asteroid-munching microbes could mine materials from space rocks
10 November 2020
Some microbes break down rocks and leach certain elements out of them for nutrients, and experiments in space show they could be used for mining beyond Earth
Rare plant may prevent the first lithium quarry in the US from opening
14 August 2020
Tiehm’s buckwheat is an extremely rare plant that thrives in soil containing lithium and boron. Both elements are vital for renewable energy technologies, but mining for them will destroy most of the plant's habitat
Japan's Hayabusa 2 may finally kick-start the asteroid mining era
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?
Deep-sea mining could wreck the last unexplored ecosystem on Earth
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
