Chile closes state copper smelter that polluted bay for decades
June 1, 2023 GMTSANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile's state-owned copper mining giant Codelco on Wednesday shut down its Ventanas copper smelter after decades of polluting Quintero Bay with toxic gases and turning it, along with 15 other companies, into what environmentalists called a “sacrifice zone.”
4 Cambodians die in accident at unlicensed gold mine
May 5, 2023 GMTPHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Four Cambodian prospectors who were digging for gold in the central province of Kampong Thom were killed when earth collapsed into the pit where they were mining, a government official and a fellow villager said Friday.
9th Circuit denies emergency bid to halt Nevada lithium mine
March 2, 2023 GMTRENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals court refused Wednesday to block construction of the largest lithium mine in the U.S. while it considers claims by Nevada conservationists and tribes that the government illegally approved it in a rush to produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.
DOE grants $375M loan for lithium battery recycling plant
February 28, 2023 GMTThe effort to satisfy a vast demand for lithium for electric vehicle batteries moved one step forward with a $375 million loan from the Department of Energy to Li-Cycle, a battery recycling company, to build a lithium-ion battery recovery plant near Rochester, New York.
Mexico in talks with mining companies about lithium
January 12, 2023 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president said Thursday the government is in talks to persuade companies that have started lithium mining projects in Mexico to give up their plans.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not say what the talks involved or whether the companies would be offered compensation.