Mine closures: What’s happening in your back yard?
After an 18-month search, Mark Olalde accessed data on mine closure trust funds, financial provisions for rehabilitation and closure certificates...
15 December, 2016
#MineAlert investigations
Seabed prospecting undermines blue economy
Ambitious government plans to grow the oceans economy are threatened by prospecting licences that would open the marine economic zone to phosphate strip mining. Mark Olalde investigates...
11 November, 2016
Green light for coal mine in strategic water zone
A controversial underground coal mine in a protected water catchment in Mpumalanga has moved closer to breaking ground after it was granted environmental authorisation and a water use licence. Mark...
05 October, 2016
Gender-based violence in SA mines is an open secret
Women now have a place in a labour-intensive workplace with heavy machinery designed for muscle, but a rough industry is struggling to get to grips with their presence underground Tholakele...
21 September, 2016
Tales from the coalface
Activists face uphill battles when they push back against mining companies. Their stories include violence, secret deals, a lack of access to information and unenforced laws. Mark Olalde investigates ...
16 September, 2016
The double-edged sword of mining
Communities affected by mining in South Africa live under a double-edged sword. Geojournalism helps them to participate in governance and compliance monitoring...
26 August, 2016
The great Karoo stand-off
Mark Olalde revisits the fracking debate, and finds both sides digging in for a protracted fight as legislation and the benefits of shale gas mining become murkier...
03 June, 2016
The deadly rubies of Montepuez
Montepuez ruby mine has been turned into a 'militarised zone' where villagers are beaten and illegal miners are killed, reports Estacio Valoi...
15 March, 2016
SA’s water bubble
Added to the crippling drought in South Africa are mining’s long-term impacts on water security. Mark Olalde investigates the costly legacy of historic mine waste...
13 November, 2015
No (dis)closure on mining’s mess
It could take R30-billion to clean up thousands of abandoned mines scattered around South Africa. Who’s going to do it? And what are the implications for active and new mines?...
14 October, 2015