Monthly Archives: April 2016

Mine dump rehabilitation

Black-owned green technology company G-Tech is running a mine dump rehabilitation pilot project in Randfontein, West of Johannesburg, on one of South Africa-focused gold miner Mintails’ tailings sites.

G-Tech rehabilitates wasteland by restoring indigenous biomes and the biodiversity by “planting” polylactic acid (PLA) – a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer that stimulates the regrowth of uprooted plants and produce on any type of surface. The pilot project is on a 1 ha scale.

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Silicosis case

Former gold miners to receive more that R500m in silicosis case.

Former gold miners and relatives of deceased former miners… reached a landmark settlement in excess of R500m in their long running legal battle against mining giants Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti.  Read more…

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Defying President Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe’s High Court told the government on Friday to let the largest diamond-mining firm in its Marange fields return to its mines and take control of its assets there, defying President Robert Mugabe who said all operations had been nationalised. Mugabe on Thursday said his government would take possession of all diamond operations because existing miners had robbed the country of its wealth.
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Mongolia settles row with Canadian miner

The government of Mongolia has settled a dispute over an arbitration award that required it to pay more than $100 million to Canada’s Khan Resources (TSX:KRI) for revoking a uranium mining licence. Read more…

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Thank the Wind

GURGAON:   The pollution board said fall in dust and increase in wind speed was behind the decline in the PM2.5 level. “PM2.5 is a major pollutant in the city. It is largely caused by dust rising from roads and non-concrete, non-green areas along the roads. We have noticed a reduction in dust pollution. Apart from increased wind speed, vacuum cleaning of roads seems to have played a major part in the reduction of PM2.5 concentration,” an official of HSPCB told TOI.  Read more…..

Zimbabwe orders diamond miners to halt operations

Zimbabwe orders diamond miners to halt operations

“Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines has ordered all diamond producers operating in the diamond-rich Marange area to halt mining effectively immediately, after the government didn’t renew their licenses.

The firms are meant to leave behind equipment and vacate their premises and a newly created state-owned company, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Co., is expected to take over, The Independent reports.

The move follows a refusal by six mining companies to accept the nationalization of their assets.

The government’s decision follows a refusal by six mining companies, including Anjin Investments, Diamond Mining Co., Jinan Mining Ltd., Kusena Diamonds, Marange Resources Ltd. and Mbada Diamonds to accept the nationalization of their assets.

Minister Walter Chidhakwa said private firms affected, which include Chinese and Russian firms, may negotiate joint ventures with the state mining company. He also said they had 90 days to vacate the area.

Most of the companies in Zimbabwe, one of the world’s top diamond-producing nations, concentrate on alluvial diamond mining, which requires less capital as they are easily extractable through open cast mining.

But the country has practically run out of alluvial gems deposits and existing local miners had argued they had neither the expertise nor the resources to search for new deposits underground.

Last year, Chidhakwa said the decision to merge all diamond miners aimed to bring more transparency and accountability in the sector. It is also supposed to enable small and medium-scale miners to extract kimberlite diamonds, which are capital intensive.

The post Zimbabwe orders diamond miners to halt operations appeared first on MINING.com.”

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Energy drinks

Vermont’s Middlebury College stops selling energy drinks

“It’s time for college students to find another way to gain energy — at least the students at Middlebury College.

The Vermont college has stopped selling energy drinks on campus after a student made the argument to the school’s community council. The community council is made up of students, faculty and staff who have the ability to recommend policies that affect the campus community.

“We’re not ‘banning’ or ‘forbidding’ anything. We’ve simply made a decision to stop selling these products in our own stores. Students — or faculty or staff for that matter — are still free to drink these beverages if they wish, and there are plenty of places in our town where they can be purchased. We just don’t want to encourage or contribute to their consumption,” said Stephen Diehl, Middlebury’s news director.”

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