#extraction_minière

A Tidal Wave of Mud - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/09/world/americas/brazil-dam-collapse.html

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/02/08/us/brazil-dam-collapse-promo-1549657373974/brazil-dam-collapse-promo-1549657373974-facebookJumbo-v3.jpg

The deluge of toxic mud stretched for five miles, crushing homes, offices and people — a tragedy, but hardly a surprise, experts say.

This article is by Shasta Darlington, James Glanz, Manuela Andreoni, Matthew Bloch, Sergio Peçanha, Anjali Singhvi and Troy Griggs.

There are 88 mining dams in Brazil built like the one that failed — enormous reservoirs of mining waste held back by little more than walls of sand and silt. And all but four of the dams have been rated by the government as equally vulnerable, or worse.

Even more alarming, at least 28 sit directly uphill from cities or towns, with more than 100,000 people living in especially risky areas if the dams failed, an estimate by The New York Times found.

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2019/01/29/brazil-dam-collapse/75728a349c20acac537321c9f977ec49bf85e503/dam-locator-Artboard_1.jpg

#Brésil #barrages #catastrophe #extraction_minière

Rupture d’un barrage minier au Brésil : environ 200 disparus
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2019/01/25/rupture-d-un-barrage-minier-au-bresil-environ-200-disparus_5414724_3210.html

https://img.lemde.fr/2019/01/25/74/0/2100/1050/1440/720/60/0/daaae49_BVG3zolLSJOFNYP8Td5wIHBE.jpg

Environ 200 personnes étaient portées disparues, vendredi 25 janvier, après la #rupture d’un #barrage du géant minier #Vale au #Brésil, selon les pompiers. Cet accident a eu lieu dans l’Etat de Minais Gerais (sud-est) – région où un drame similaire avait provoqué, en 2015, la pire tragédie environnementale du pays, faisant dix-neuf victimes et dévastant toute une région.

« D’après les témoignages que nous avons reçus, il y a plusieurs morts », a expliqué à l’Agence France-Presse (AFP) un responsable des pompiers, sans donner de bilan précis, soulignant qu’une coulée de boue de déchets miniers avait recouvert « toute la zone autour du barrage ».

#extraction_minière #désastre #pollution #environnement

Un monde sous perfusion métallique (4/4) : Multinationales versus Etats : à qui revient la rente ?
▻https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/cultures-monde/cultures-monde-jeudi-1-fevrier-2018

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Cuivre, or, cobalt, zinc... le Congo - Kinshasa est une mine à ciel ouvert mais cette richesse des sols profite rarement à la population congolaise malgré les réformes du #code_minier. Alors, entre #multinationales, Etats et population, comment se répartissent les bénéfices de l’extraction ?

#RDC #extraction_minière

Un monde sous perfusion métallique (3/4) : Amérique latine : désastre écologique et luttes sociales
▻https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/cultures-monde/cultures-monde-mercredi-31-janvier-2018

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Au #Chili, au #Pérou, en #Argentine, les conflits se sont multipliés ces dernières années entre les populations locales et les #multinationales minières, accusées de violences et de #dégâts_environnements. Alors quelles sont ces revendications environnementales et sociales ?

#extraction_minière #Amérique_latine #peuples_autochtones #conflits

Militarization and mining a dangerous mix in Venezuelan Amazon
▻https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/militarization-and-mining-a-dangerous-mix-in-venezuelan-amazon

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Venezuela today is gripped by a catastrophic economic crisis, born out of corruption on a vast scale, government mismanagement and a failed petro-economy.
In 2016, President Nicolás Maduro announced the opening of the Orinoco Mining Arc, a vast region in the southern part of the nation perhaps boasting $100 billion in untapped gold, diamonds and coltan, as well as being one of the most biodiverse parts of the Amazon.
Maduro also created an “Economic Military Zone” to protect the region. Today, the army has a huge presence there, ostensibly to reduce the influence of organized gangs doing illegal mining.
In reality, the military is heavily involved in mining itself, often allegedly competing with gangs for resources, with violent conflict a result. Small-scale miners, indigenous and traditional communities, and the environment could be the big losers in this struggle for power and wealth.

#extraction_minière #Venezuela #armée #peuples_autochtones

Another Madagascar environmental activist imprisoned
▻https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/another-madagascar-environmental-activist-imprisoned

Malagasy authorities have held Raleva, a 61-year-old farmer, in custody since September 27 after he asked to see a mining company’s permits to operate near his village.

His arrest is at least the sixth such case of authorities targeting those opposed to wildlife trafficking or land grabs.

Environmental activists say they face bribes and threats from traffickers on one side, and jail time and fines from the government on the other.

#répression #activisme #écologie #Madagascar #terres #extraction_minière #bois

Brazil backtracks on plan to open up Amazon forest to mining | Environment | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/26/brazil-backtracks-on-plan-to-open-up-amazon-forest-to-mining

Amazon conservation groups have hailed a victory as the Brazilian government announced a U-turn on plans to open up swaths of the the world’s biggest forest to mining corporations.

President Michel Temer had sparked outrage in August when he announced a decree to abolish the Renca reserve, an area of 17,800 square miles – roughly the size of Switzerland – that is an important carbon sink and home to some of the world’s richest biodiversity.

But he has now been forced into a humiliating reversal after his move to carve up the area was blocked by a judge, condemned in the country’s congress as the “biggest attack on the Amazon in 50 years” and opposed by environmental campaigners, climate activists, the Catholic church and anthropologists.

#et_toc #Brésil #Amazonie #déforestation #extraction_minière

Troubled firm aims to mine Madagascar forest for rare earth elements : Conservation news
▻https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/troubled-firm-aims-to-mine-madagascar-forest-for-rare-earth-elements

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Solondraza, a 63-year-old farmer in northwestern Madagascar, has led a mostly conflict-free life. He and his wife live in a small house made of ravinala, a type of palm tree that fans out across the hilly landscape. They earn a living on cash crops like vanilla and cacao that grow well in the tropical environs, and this has allowed them to support their 18 children and 54 grandchildren, most of whom still live in and around their village of Befitina.

But in recent years Solondraza has become something of an activist, organizing meetings and rallying neighbors. He wants to stop a foreign-owned company, Tantalum Rare Earth Malagasy (TREM), from mining his land for rare earth elements.

“Our ancestors survived here by living off of the land,” Solondraza said. “If TREM comes here to destroy that harmony, I fear for my children’s future. We do not want TREM and we do not need them.”

#Madagascar #terres_rares #extraction_minière #terres #environnement

India’s tribals at loggerheads with new tree-planting policy, say campaigners | PLACE
▻http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=cb87b996-4cea-48ba-b300-f90af1d8fd9b&cid=social_20170809_73606107&a

Millions of tribal people in India are being denied their rights to forest land and resources and forced from their ancestral settlements due to a recently enacted law promoting an increase in tree cover, an indigenous rights group said on Wednesday.

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF), which represents tribal groups in eastern Odisha state, said the law passed by parliament in July last year has resulted in communities being displaced from their homes in favour of tree plantations.

#Inde #forêt #plantation #peuples_autochtones #extraction_minière

Unexamined synergies: dam building and mining go together in the Amazon
▻https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/unexamined-synergies-dam-building-and-mining-go-together-in-the-amazo

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40 large hydroelectric dams are slated for the Amazon basin over the next 20 years, feeding the massive electricity needs of an energy-hungry mining industry — digging, processing and exporting iron, aluminum, manganese and gold.
But mining’s energy needs are rarely linked to plans for new dams or their environmental impact assessments. Amazon mining and dam building have repeatedly in the past resulted in major harmful environmental and social impacts, including displacement of indigenous and traditional communities.
Transnational mining companies and consortiums are major beneficiaries of government largesse through subsidies, tax breaks and the energy obtained from newly commissioned Amazon dams.
Brazilian infrastructure development in the Amazon, including dam building and mining, could — if environmental and social issues are not properly addressed — turn the Amazon into a national sacrifice zone where biological and cultural diversity are drastically diminished.

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#Brésil #développement #extraction_minière #énergie #électricité #barrages #peuples_autochtones #cartographie#environnement #1_gram_of_gold_per_ton

Jade and the Generals - Trailer | Global Witness - YouTube
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWFTibXmdLY&feature=youtu.be

As Myanmar gears up for landmark national peace talks this new Global Witness film reveals how the country’s massive jade business is helping to drive deadly armed conflict. What’s more, the multi-billion dollar trade is a threat to the peace efforts Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has made her government’s top priority. With the next round of peace talks scheduled for 24th May jade and natural resources need to have a prominent place on the agenda if peace is to be achieved.
See the full film from 17th May 2017 a

#Birmanie #jade #extraction_minière #conflits_ramés #documentaire

Czechs angry at severe water loss caused by Polish mining - The Ecologist
▻http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2988390/czechs_angry_at_severe_water_loss_caused_by_polish_mining.html

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On first sight, life in Vitkov seems idyllic. But right on the other side of the hill bordering the village, lies the Polish Turow lignite mine, an open-pit quarry stretching over more than 3,000 hectares.

In more than half a century of operations, the mine - which uses an estimated 200 million cubic meters of water a year - has been drying up ground and surface waters in the region, including this Czech village of Vitkov.

Inhabitants of Vitkov point to dried up creeks and tell stories of how they have to dig their wells deeper and deeper to get drinking water. To provide water for the local kindergarten, the municipality had to invest 37,000 euros to dig a well as deep as 70 meters. And most locals have had to use their own money to rebuild their wells over time.

The Turow mine was initially planned to operate until 2020. But now Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) - the Polish state-owned company operating Turow - wants permission to keep digging until 2044. It says the coal is needed to fuel a new 450 MW unit the company is planning to build at the Turow power plant, a project for which financing has already been secured.

#Pologne #Tchéquie #extraction_minière #eau

For Apple and others, tin supply chain has ties to rebel-held Myanmar mine | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-tin-insight-idUSKBN13N1VV

From a remote corner of northeastern Myanmar, an insurgent army sells tin ore to suppliers of some of the world’s largest consumer companies.

More than 500 companies, including leading brands such as smartphone maker Apple, coffee giant Starbucks and luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co, list among their suppliers Chinese-controlled firms that indirectly buy ore from the Man Maw mine near Myanmar’s border with China, a Reuters examination of the supply chain found.

The mine is controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which the United States placed under sanctions for alleged narcotics trafficking in 2003. The seven companies extracting tin from the mine are all owned or controlled by Wa military and government leaders, Wa officials and people with close ties to UWSA leadership told Reuters.

This potentially puts companies, which also include industrial conglomerate General Electric, at risk of violating sanctions that forbid “direct or indirect” dealings with blacklisted groups, according to a former and a serving U.S. official and lawyers with expertise in sanctions enforcement.

Several sanctions experts said the U.S. government was unlikely to fine companies who unwittingly used the Myanmar tin. Still, it may force them to shift to new suppliers, they said.

#Birmanie #extraction_minière #multinationales

Gold mining deforestation in Peruvian reserve surpasses 450 hectares
▻https://news.mongabay.com/2016/10/gold-mining-deforestation-in-peruvian-reserve-surpasses-450-hectares

n the past two months, another 100 hectares of tropical rainforest have been demolished in Tambopata National Reserve, where deforestation from illegal gold mining in the reserve now exceeds 450 hectares – 4.5 square kilometers. This could mean trouble for the region’s wildlife – some 600 species of birds, 1,200 species of butterflies, and 200 species of mammals inhabit Tambopata.

Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) has been monitoring Tambopata since November 2015, when deforestation was first detected within its borders. According to MAAP’s recent analysis, mining continues in four regions along the Malinowski River, which forms the northern border of the reserve. MAAP researchers quantified the recent uptick in mining-driven deforestation by analyzing high-resolution satellite imagery from July and September within the reserve.

According to Matt Finer, who heads up the MAPP project, illegal mining has a clear signature recognizable through satellite imagery.

#extraction_minière #déforestation #cartographie #Amazonie

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Mining and Human Rights in #Malawi | HRW
▻https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/27/they-destroyed-everything/mining-and-human-rights-malawi

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When she eventually learned that they were digging coal, she hoped it would bring development to the village and some benefits such as job opportunities and healthcare infrastructure for her and her family. Instead, the mining company cut the community’s existing drinking water supply by destroying the water pipes running through the mining area. They left the community with a few boreholes and river water for drinking and domestic use. Nagomba used to have access to tap water near her house. Since the pipes were destroyed, she has had to make the strenuous hike down to the river about four times a day to fetch water. She worries that the river may be polluted from the mine, and she is uncertain if water from the river is safe to drink.

#extraction_minière #droits_humains #eau #pollution

The mine that displaced India’s indigenous people - Al Jazeera English
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2016/07/displaced-india-indigenous-people-160707062855721.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2016/7/7/69a0f0d9cbf047bb9e2533cfb6874b6b_18.jpg

It was hard to believe looking at the layers of black pits that sink deep into the earth that this land used to be rice fields where cows roamed before the trucks transporting coal arrived.

Lath village also used to be home to 400 Adivasi families. Adivasis are India’s indigenous people, of which there are many different tribes. People in Lath are from the Kawar tribe. We could see signs of Adivasi culture. The older women wear the traditional Indian sarees without a blouse, using only the shawl of the saree to cover their chest. Their arms and faces are often covered in tattoos of tribal patterns, depicting trees, nature, animals - all things they consider sacred.

Families face displacement in India’s coal mining belt

#inde #extraction_minière #évictions #peuples_autochtones #charbon

Comment les phosphates du Maroc nourissent la planète - Libération.fr
►http://libeafrica4.blogs.liberation.fr/2016/06/29/comment-les-phosphates-du-maroc-nourissent-la-planete

Je suis aussi intéressé par le fait que l’exploitation du #phosphate a vu le jour dans les dernières décennies de la #colonisation européenne en Afrique du Nord (1900-1960). La création de cette industrie pendant la période coloniale a laissé des legs importants pour les États indépendants d’#Afrique_du_Nord. La #Tunisie, l’#Algérie et le #Maroc en particulier sont tous devenus indépendants avec à leur disposition d’importantes infrastructures minières de phosphate mais aussi des moyens de relier ce phosphate au tissu économique : des mines, des chemins de fer, des ingénieurs, des mineurs et des villes entières axées sur le phosphate. Les sociétés minières de phosphates elles-mêmes sont devenues des acteurs importants dans la formation post-indépendance des pays d’Afrique du Nord, en particulier au Maroc, où l’OCP a fourni des revenus substantiels à l’État. Du point de vue géopolitique, le phosphate a aussi servi à étendre l’influence régionale et mondiale de ces États. J’ai donc choisi d’étudier la façon dont le #phosphate_minier fait à la fois partie du système alimentaire mondial, mais symbolise aussi la transition d’un monde colonial vers un monde post-impérial national.

#sahara_occidental #agriculture #engrais #extraction_minière

Bird’s Eye View of Catastrophic Toxic Mine-Waste Spill in Brazil
▻http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/26/brazil-mine-waste-spill

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On Nov. 5, 2015, a mine-waste dam collapsed at an enormous iron mine in southeastern Brazil. The wave of toxic waste was at least twice the volume of the Johnstown Flood and wiped out buildings and bridges more than 40 miles downstream. Using post-spill satellite imagery and Google Earth, we have produced a bird’s-eye view of the devastation wrought by the deluge of arsenic-laced sludge.

...

The video above was created using Google Earth, comparing pre-spill imagery with images collected on Nov. 9 and Nov. 11. Our analyst Christian delineated the extent of the mine waste from a lake 70 miles downstream of the mine, all the way up to the town of Bento Rodrigues, the damaged Santarem Dam and the failed Fundão impoundment (skipping a section of the river with cloudy imagery). Even further downstream, more than 400 miles away, the Rio Doce ran orange for months afterwards.

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j25vF6pP-kI

#extraction_minière #pollution #image_satellite

Environmental Activists Warn Mining Is Putting Colombia’s National Tree in Danger · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2016/05/12/environmental-activists-warn-mining-is-putting-colombias-national-tree

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The wax palm of Quindío is a vulnerable species native to Quindío, Colombia, and is also the country’s national tree. The palm is protected by various measures put forth by the Colombian government since it faces many threats.

However, the most recent dangers that the tree is facing are in an area where it should be most protected: a national park.

Quel beauté ce paysage ! #extraction_minière #destruction #Colombie

Discrètement, les projets de mines se multiplient en France
▻http://www.reporterre.net/Discretement-les-projets-de-mines-se-multiplient-en-France

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Bienvenue dans le sud de la France, à une vingtaine de kilomètres de Carcassonne : Salsigne, sa mine, fermée en 2004, et son bassin minier, pollué pour quelques milliers d’années. Ici, on a extrait de l’or et de l’arsenic pendant des décennies. Aujourd’hui, 600.000 tonnes de déchets sont stockées sur place. Impossible pour les habitants de manger les légumes de leurs jardins car les teneurs en arsenic du sol sont trop élevées. Et la liste des désagréments est longue : la commercialisation des légumes est interdite depuis 1997, on déconseille aux enfants de jouer dans la terre et de se baigner dans les rivières, il vaut mieux changer de chaussures pour entrer chez soi et laver le sol régulièrement…

De quoi inquiéter les nombreux Français qui voient les industries minières pointer le bout de leur nez dans la Creuse, en Bretagne, en Ariège, en Mayenne, au Pays basque… Comme le souligne François Espuche, le président de l’association environnementale Gratte papiers, Salsigne est devenu « le boulet d’une nation minière » : « C’est le contre-exemple... mais il n’y a jamais eu d’exemple », souligne-t-il.

#extraction_minière #pollution

La #Méditerranée est proche du « burn-out »
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/biodiversite/article/2016/01/19/la-mediterranee-proche-du-burn-out_4849387_1652692.html

Grâce à une série de cartes, l’étude montre un chevauchement d’activités comme le transport maritime, la pêche, l’exploration minière, l’implantation d’éoliennes ou la protection de cétacés. Un développement économique tous azimuts. Des zones d’exploration d’#hydrocarbures empiètent par exemple sur des aires marines protégées, moult conflits d’usage sont en germe.

Seul domaine en perte de vitesse : la pêche professionnelle. Celle-ci décline depuis vingt ans, victime à la fois de la chute des ressources – à laquelle elle a contribué – et de l’engouement pour la pêche de loisir. Or, aujourd’hui, l’approvisionnement fourni par les 73 000 navires de la région – à 80 % artisanaux – reste important pour l’alimentation des rives sud de la Méditerranée.

La baisse des stocks de poissons pourrait favoriser le développement de l’aquaculture, qui progresse déjà de plus de 8 % par an depuis quarante ans. Cette production est passée de 540 000 tonnes en 1990 à 1,4 million de tonnes, et dépasse la #pêche. Elle se concentre essentiellement dans six pays – Egypte en tête – et repose majoritairement sur la #conchyliculture. Autant dire qu’elle se pratique sur les côtes où elle se retrouve en concurrence directe avec toutes sortes d’autres activités.

...

La Méditerranée attire 300 millions de personnes par an, environ 30 % des touristes internationaux en visite dans le monde. Elle est devenue en quelques années la deuxième région de croisière, derrière les Caraïbes, avec 27 millions de passagers par an.

#tourisme #pollution #extraction_minière #n'en_jetez_plus

Brazilian environmental NGOs depend heavily on corporate money
▻http://news.mongabay.com/2015/12/brazilian-environmental-ngos-depend-heavily-on-corporate-money

The tragedy that struck Minas Gerais in early November caused by the rupture of two dams controlled by the Samarco mining company brings us to an uncomfortable fact: Vale S.A., one of the owners of Samarco — along with BHP Billington — also funds various environmental NGOs in Brazil.

As the third largest mining company in the world, in 2009 it created Fundo Vale, a nonprofit association that “seeks to connect institutions and initiatives for sustainable development,” according to Fundo Vale’s website.

But this type of association also begs the question: is it a conflict-of-interest for environmental NGOs — which, in principle, fight for the preservation of nature — to receive contributions from mining companies, which by their very nature, can cause negative impacts on the environment?

According to the Fundo Vale Activity Report, between 2009 and 2014 the nonprofit invested more than $30 million in environmental projects by 25 organizations in seven Amazonian states throughout Brazil. Out of this total, 90% was donated by Vale S.A. and 10% by Companhia Portuária da Baía de Sepetiba (CPBS).

#brésil #ONG #corruption #extraction_minière #environnement

‘I drank the water and ate the fish. We all did. The acid has damaged me permanently’ | Global development | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/aug/01/zambia-vedanta-pollution-village-copper-mine

Mining giant Vedanta’s subsidiary company KCM drilled the borehole in 2010 for the village after the Mushishima stream was turned into a river of acid when mining chemicals spilled into it. But a leaked company letter says that chemists who tested borehole water there in 2011 found it tainted with copper residues, acid and minerals, and said it was unfit for consumption. Now the villagers must use the stream too.

1,800 people from Shimulala, Hippo Pool, Hellen and Kakosa villages took their complaints to the high court in London in a case that could last years and make giant mining companies working in developing countries address local pollution more seriously.

The villagers say acid spills and contaminated water in their streams, rivers and boreholes are getting worse. “The frequency and severity of spills is higher and more consistent. Before we could not smell [the pollution] but now we can. The ground is contaminated, our crop yield has dropped, the maize crop is about half what it was,” said Leo Moulenga of Shimulala. “When there is a spill, the air is very acidic. Last week they spilled a lot. It was awful. In the future we don’t think people will be able to live here. It is becoming uninhabitable. The pollution has been incremental. Now it’s getting worse.”

#extraction_minière #extraction #pollution #eau #agriculture #alimentation

Australian Mining Companies Digging A Deadly Footprint in Africa | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
▻http://www.icij.org/project/fatal-extraction/australian-mining-companies-digging-deadly-footprint-africa

Anvil Mining was a pioneer, leading the West’s re-entry into a country reeling from a coup d’état, a three-year civil war and a presidential assassination. The company had come to the DRC in 1995 with high hopes. “Cashed up with a million dollars in the bank, we set off to Africa to see what we could do,” recalled Turner during a 2011 industry luncheon.

A report prepared for the company noted that “the neutral profile of an Australian company” pleased DRC leaders. It soon had powerful political friends, including one of the president’s close advisors who sat on the board of directors.

While the Kilwa massacre is unique in its severity, it is part of a pattern of Australian mining companies whose activities have been implicated in death, disfigurement, environmental destruction and displacement across Africa, according to ICIJ’s Fatal Extraction investigation.

That mining in Africa provokes controversy, even violence, is not new. Chinese companies receive regular criticism. Canada, too, has been forced to confront allegations of violence and even slavery linked to its mining companies. The Canadian parliament has gone as far as debating a bill that would have tightened government oversight of resource companies in developing countries. It failed, narrowly.

We looked at Australia’s dramatically increasing role in exploring and developing mining projects on the African continent because it has been less examined.

FATAL EXTRACTION
▻http://projects.icij.org/fatalextraction/s/2

Australia is a giant in African mining, but its vast — and in some cases deadly — footprint has never been examined.

Australian-listed mining companies are linked to hundreds of deaths and alleged injustices which wouldn’t be tolerated in better-regulated nations.

The stories that follow are from people across Africa, rarely heard outside their own communities.

Explore the Data: Where Australian Mining Leaves Its Mark
▻http://www.icij.org/project/fatal-extraction/explore-data-where-australian-mining-leaves-its-mark

#extraction_minière #Afrique #Australie #droits_humains

Radioactive city: how Johannesburg’s townships are paying for its mining past | Cities | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jul/06/radioactive-city-how-johannesburgs-townships-are-paying-for-its-mining-

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Residents here fear the wind most. When it blows, fine particles from these man-made dumps are carried up into the air and deposited on to residents’ homes. It is no ordinary dust, either: the residue of decades of mining, it can contain traces of everything from copper and lead to cyanide and arsenic.

“During August and September, the dust is terrible. You stop cleaning the floor after a while. It’s just useless,” says Plaatjies.

In the local clinic, respiratory cases such as tuberculosis and asthma are ubiquitous across all age groups, says Musa Mbatha, chairman of the clinic’s civic committee. Rashes and skins diseases are commonplace, too.

“People can’t afford to buy food every day, so they leave the food and it gets contaminated,” Mbatha adds. “The government said that it would do a survey of the health impacts of the mining dust, but until today it hasn’t happened.”

An even more dangerous pollutant is lurking in Johannesburg’s mine dumps, however: radioactive waste. According to one university study, an estimated 600,000 metric tonnes of radioactive uranium are buried in waste rock in and around Johannesburg – around three times what was exported during the Cold War.

“[Johannesburg] is undoubtedly the most uranium-contaminated city in the world,” says Dr Antony Turton, a professor at the University of Free State’s Centre for Environmental Management.

Uranium naturally occurs in reefs alongside gold, meaning the two are often excavated at the same time. For every tonne of gold mined in the Witwatersrand gold fields – the southern sections of which border western Johannesburg – between 10 and 100 tonnes of uranium were also mined.

#extraction_minière #uranium #radioactivité #santé #pollution #afrique_du_sud @fil