Burma’s military and the rebel Kachin Independence Army vie in control for a semi-underground jade industry in the northern jungles, with the exports going to China.
The wife and infant son of a local leader of independent artisenal miners were assassinated in the community of Pamputa, Peru—with suspicion falling on mining giant Xstrata.
Campesinos occupying the Conga mine site tore down a gate they said had been illegally erected by the company across a trail used by locals as a traditional right-of-way.
Over 100 ethnic Tibetans were injured and one man committed suicide as Chinese military forces broke up protests against diamond mining in Kham region, Qinghai province.
An "Ethical Trial against Plunder" was held in Bogotá to air testimony on the environmental and human rights practices of mining and oil interests in Colombia.
Ethnic Tibetans protesting what they called illegal mining operations clashed with Chinese security forces in Qinghai province, where hundreds of troops are deployed.
The area planted with coca leaf in Colombia has fallen by 25% according to the UN—but experts fear armed narco networks are moving into illegal gold and emerald mining.
The devastating floods in India's Uttarakhand state are being called a "Himalayan tsunami"—and a grim omen for millions living downstream from the world's highest range.
Indefinite strikes brought Drummond’s coal mining operations to a halt in Colombia, putting further pressure on the country’s economy amid a growing wave of labor actions.
The Philippines high court issued a "temporary environment protection order" against 94 Chinese-owned "small-scale mines" operating on the margins of the law in Luzon region.
Carlos Vásquez Becerra, a campesino leader who opposed mining projects in Peru’s conflicted Cajamarca region, was found beaten to death in a canyon.
Chinese-owned mining companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo are contributing to a culture of human rights abuses, Amnesty International reports.
