The minerals needed for clean energy are driving widespread forest loss across Africa, much of it far beyond the mine itself and largely preventable.
Articles on Copper
Displaying 1 - 20 of 44 articles
The rapid expansion of critical mineral extraction is trading away human and ecological well-being for technological breakthroughs. There are ways to fix this.
There’s lots of copper in the ground, but demand is already outstripping usable supply – and the shortfall is likely to get worse.
There’s a growing interest in mining the ocean seabed for minerals essential to technology. But whose minerals are they? A Law of the Sea scholar explains.
Native American lands contain 30% of the nation’s coal, 50% of its uranium and 20% of its natural gas, as well as copper, lithium and rare earth elements.
There are different rules in different states on selling scrap copper. A 2023 inquiry found that makes it hard to stop thieves – who are even targeting cemeteries.
The competition for Africa’s critical minerals between China and the West presents an opportunity.
New study links dietary copper to sharper thinking in later life. But the story is nuanced.
Between the 10th and 15th centuries, the gold market boomed, especially in Egypt, Persia, India and China. Southern Africa played a crucial role in meeting demand.
Lubumbashi is little known, but its minerals electrified the world, created atom bombs and are key to greener energy, the defining geopolitical issue of our time.
A material called niobium phosphide has just blown copper out of the water.
Archaeologists preserve records of their excavations, but many are never analyzed. Digital archaeology is making these records more accessible and analyzing the data in new ways.
Uncontrolled pollution from hundreds of disused mines has contaminated the water and soil used by Soweto’s urban farmers.
Australian mining giant BHP has kicked off a new round of mergers by bidding for Anglo American.
Extractive mining disrupts the balance of the planet’s ecosystems and is set to rise. Could urban mining or degrowth help curb unsustainable practices?
Hard rock minerals like gold, silver, copper and lithium on public lands belong to the American public, but under a 150-year-old law, the US gives them away for free.
One study found a zinc-containing gel stopped symptoms of thrush in the majority of women.
Since the 1990s, transnational corporations have once again become the dominant force as owners and managers of major mining projects.
While chlorine plays a role in making your hair appear green, there’s actually another main culprit – copper.
The common timber treatment CCA is made up of heavy metals copper, chromium and arsenic. They don’t decompose and leach into soil and water. Why does New Zealand still allow its use?
Top contributors
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Reader in International Development, University of Bath
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Researcher, Leiden University
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Director, Technology Transfer, Stanford University
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Materials Chemist and Science Communicator, University of Sheffield
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Sêr Cymru Chair of Low Carbon Energy and Environment, Swansea University
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Professor of Geochemistry and Petrology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Senior Lecturer (Development Economics/Project Appraisal), University of Bradford
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Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry, University of Hull
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Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Bond University
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Research Professor of Energy, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
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Professor, Finance, The University of Western Australia
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Teaching Fellow, University of Birmingham
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Graduate Fulbright Fellow pursuing Masters of International Affairs with track in National Security and Diplomacy, Texas A&M University
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Professor of Media and Cultural Politics, RMIT University
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Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Science Leader, and Head of the Virtual Nanoscience Laboratory, CSIRO