Tag: Mines and Mining

The South Korean Mine at the Center of America’s Tungsten Push

Media Library

The front line of America’s scramble for critical minerals lies miles beneath the surface in the cavernous tunnels of Sangdong, South Korea, where miners blast glittering seams of tungsten from craggy rock. With the highest melting point of any metal and a hardness close to that of a diamond, tungsten is essential to manufacturing semiconductors, construction and oil-drilling equipment, and the missiles and armored vehicles used in modern warfare. Like many minerals critical to the technologies the world depends on, tungsten is overwhelmingly controlled by China, which produces roughly 85…

Xi Calls for All-Out Rescue After Coal Mine Explosion Kills at Least 82 in China

Media Library

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, called on Saturday for a redoubled rescue mission in northern China after a gas explosion in a mine there killed at least 82 people, the Chinese state news agency said, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest Chinese mining disasters in years. Mr. Xi “stressed the need to make every effort to treat the injured, organize search and rescue operations scientifically and properly handle the aftermath,” the agency, Xinhua, reported. He also called for an investigation into the explosion, which happened Friday night,…

Dozens Killed in Coal Mine Explosion, China State Media Says

Media Library

new video loaded: Dozens Killed in Coal Mine Explosion, China State Media Says <img alt="An industrial complex at a mountain’s base, with blue buildings. Many yellow buses, white vans and people in orange uniforms are in the foreground." src="https://www.chinastrategy.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/dozens-killed-in-coal-mine-explosion-china-state-media-says.jpg" data-testid="betamax-poster" sizes="(width < 1024px) 100vw, (width A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China killed dozens on Friday, according to Xinhua, a Chinese state news agency. In 2024, China’s National Mine Safety Administration cited the coal mine for “severe safety hazards” and high gas levels. As of Saturday morning,…

Gold Mining Is Poisoning the Planet With Mercury

Media Library

Jeovane de Jesus Aguiar was knee-deep in mud in the 100-yard gash he had cut into the Amazon rainforest, filtering brown water out of a pan, when he found the small, shiny flake he was looking for: a mixture of gold and mercury. Mr. Aguiar had drizzled liquid mercury into the ground in his makeshift gold mine on the eastern edge of the small South American nation of Suriname, just as he had every few days. The toxic element mixes with gold dust and forms an amalgam he can pluck…

China’s Nickel Plants in Indonesia Created Needed Jobs, Plus Pollution

Media Library

For most of his 57 years on the island of Sulawesi, Jamal was accustomed to scarcity, modest expectations and a grim shortage of jobs. People mined sand, caught fish and coaxed crops from the soil. Chickens frequently disappeared from front yards, stolen by hungry neighbors. Mr. Jamal, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, regularly rode his motorbike to construction jobs in the city of Kendari, a half-hour away. Then, six years ago, a towering smelter rose next to his home. The factory was built by a company called…

The U.S. Needs Minerals for Electric Cars. Everyone Else Wants Them Too.

Media Library

For decades, a group of the world’s biggest oil producers has held huge sway over the American economy and the popularity of U.S. presidents through its control of the global oil supply, with decisions by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries determining what U.S. consumers pay at the pump. As the world shifts to cleaner sources of energy, control over the materials needed to power that transition is still up for grabs. China currently dominates global processing of the critical minerals that are now in high demand to make…

Mysterious Killing of Chinese Gold Miners Puts New Pressure on Beijing

Media Library

The Chinese embassy in the Central African Republic had a stark warning for its compatriots in the landlocked nation: Do not leave the capital city of Bangui. Kidnappings of foreigners were on the rise, and any Chinese person outside of Bangui was to leave those areas immediately. Less than a week later, on March 19, a group of gunmen stormed a remote gold mine far away from Bangui and killed nine Chinese workers. The Central African government has said that it investigated the massacre and concluded that a leading rebel group had…

Xi Condemns Killings in African Nation Where Russian and Chinese Interests Compete

Chin@Strategy

Shortly before landing in Moscow on Monday, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, condemned the killing of nine Chinese nationals a day earlier at a gold mine in the Central African Republic, where tensions have flared between Chinese and Russian interests. Among competing claims about who was responsible — including one that blamed the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group — Mr. Xi urged the authorities of the Central African Republic to bring the perpetrators to justice, according to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry. The ministry said two other Chinese nationals…

Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable

Chin@Strategy

Lithium, the common ingredient in almost all electric-car batteries, has become so precious that it is often called white gold. But something surprising has happened recently: The metal’s price has fallen, helping to make electric vehicles more affordable. Since January, the price of lithium has dropped by nearly 20 percent, according to Benchmark Minerals, even as sales of electric vehicles have soared. Cobalt, another important battery material, has fallen by more than half. Copper, essential to electric motors and batteries, has slipped by about 18 percent, even though U.S. mines…

More Than 50 Missing After Coal Mine Collapses in Northern China

Chin@Strategy

Rescuers in northern China were working on Thursday to save 53 coal miners who were missing after the collapse of an open-pit mine. At least four deaths had been confirmed, local officials and state media said. Footage released by CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, showed what appeared to be the moment of the collapse on Wednesday afternoon. As a stream of workers, seen from a distance, are wending through a narrow basin, a landslide occurs, blanketing the area with rock and sand and obscuring the miners from view. More than…