Mining & Mineral Processing: GLRPPR Sector Resources

News: Coal, Cattle Ranching 'Most Environmentally Costly' Businesses

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:24:55 GMT

Coal-powered energy and cattle ranching are the two most environmentally expensive industries -- and cost the economy more in environmental damage than they generate in revenue, according to a UN-backed report.

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News: Boom in Mining Rare Earths Poses Mounting Toxic Risks

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:55:15 GMT

The mining of rare earth metals, used in everything from smart phones to wind turbines, has long been dominated by China. But as mining of these key elements spreads to countries like Malaysia and Brazil, scientists warn of the dangers of the toxic and radioactive waste generated by the mines and processing plants.

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News: Industry, government team up for conflict-free mineral markets

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:31:44 GMT

In this continuing series on conflict minerals, Patricia Jurewicz of the Responsible Sourcing Network highlights industry efforts to trace and maintain conflict-free supply chains, while also contributing positively to Congolese communities.

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News: Tackling tungsten, tin: Choosing tools for conflict mineral reports

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:47:10 GMT

Now that the SEC rule for Section 1502 for reporting conflict minerals has been approved, many companies are asking themselves how to know if their products contain tin, tantalum, tungsten, or gold -- the four designated "conflict minerals." It's actually fairly simple to find out the "ingredients" in a given product. But knowing where the mineral ore comes from and under what conditions it was mined is much more complicated. To comply with the new rule, companies will have to determine the source of the four minerals in thousands of components in their products. How can a company achieve this and not be bogged down by required time and detail needed to get the job done? That's where technology and software come in.

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News: Intel, Dow Cut Water Use, Spend Millions on Public Infrastructure

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:16:09 GMT

Intel is spending more than $200 million on public infrastructure, including water and wastewater facilities, at its operations in Ocotillo, Ariz., and has partnered with the nearby City of Chandler to implement water usage technologies that benefit both the company and the local community, according to a report by CH2M HILL. The report examines how water and wastewater costs affect business decisions across five industrial sectors: semiconductor manufacturing, thermal power generation, mining, chemicals, and oil and gas. It says an increasing demand for water resources is prompting companies to seek technological innovations and create partnerships to improve efficiency -- both at their facilities and in the surrounding communities -- and cut water-related costs.

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News: SEC's conflict minerals vote comes under fire

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:41:41 GMT

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Wednesday vote to require public companies to disclose whether they use conflict minerals from the war-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries came under fire this week. But not from people who opposed it -- from those who argue it doesn't go far enough. Humanitarian groups said they were disappointed with the final rule, which included a provision allowing companies to report that they couldn't determine the origin of their products. The rule, called Section 1502, requires companies to trace their supply chains and disclose if their products use tantalum, tin, tungsten or gold from the DRC, minerals that are said to fuel the conflict in the troubled Central African nation. The SEC voted 3-2 to adopt the controversial rule, a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

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News: Mineral Can Reduce Pollution From Diesel Engines by Almost Half

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:24:09 GMT

Engineers at a company co-founded by a University of Texas at Dallas professor have identified a material that can reduce the pollution produced by vehicles that run on diesel fuel. The material, from a family of minerals called oxides, could replace platinum, a rare and expensive metal that is currently used in diesel engines to try to control the amount of pollution released into the air. In a study published in the August 17 issue of Science, researchers found that when a humanmade version of the oxide mullite replaces platinum, pollution is up to 45 percent lower than with platinum catalysts.

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News: Landfills Are The Mines Of The Future

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:49:48 GMT

There are greater concentrations of precious metals in our e-waste than there are in the ground. And it's a lot cheaper and cleaner to get things out of e-waste than starting a giant mining operation. Where would you rather get the materials for your next gadget?

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News: E-waste seen as precious metal resource

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:38:00 GMT

Less than 15 percent of the gold and silver used to make cellphones and other electronic products is recovered from the resulting e-waste, a U.N. report says. At least 320 tons of gold and more than 7,500 tons of silver are now used annually to make PCs, cell phones, tablet computers and other new electronic and electrical products worldwide, adding more than $21 billion in value each year to metals eventually available through "urban mining" of e-waste, the United Nations University reported Friday. Most of those valuable metals will be lost, however, as less than 15 percent is recovered from e-waste today in developed and developing countries alike, the report said.

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News: Microsoft, General Electric, and Motorola Solutions Break from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Conflict Minerals

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:52:18 GMT

Throughout the month of June, three major companies broke ranks from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announcing that they do not support its stance against Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 1502 requires companies that use conflict minerals-- tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold sourced from Congo and its neighboring countries--to carry out due diligence on their supply chains and report publicly on the steps they have taken. In May, the UK-based Business and Human Rights Resource Centre wrote to prominent electronics and automotive companies asking them to clarify their positions on the Chamber's attempts to derail section 1502. In the following weeks, Microsoft, General Electric, and Motorola Solutions took a stand and separated themselves from the Chamber's position on conflict minerals.

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