#MineAlert investigations

  • Cobalt is a critical energy transition mineral, but its use in batteries and electric vehicles comes at a high price for the Democratic Republic Congo. Oscar Nkala investigates...

    14 February, 2024

  • Mining companies cashing in on global demand for cobalt are destroying protected nature reserves in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jonas Kiriko investigates...

    05 February, 2024

  • South Africa expects more pledges as COP28 gathers steam, but how far have Western countries come in delivering on previous commitments they made? Thabo Molelekwa investigates...

    22 September, 2023

  • Much has been made about the US$8.5-billion pledged to support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition. Thabo Molelekwa investigates where it is...

    23 May, 2023

  • A business coalition in SA’s energy heartland proposes a private take-over of Eskom’s assets – but not everyone agrees with privatising energy production. Andiswa Matikinca reports...

    15 May, 2023

  • SA’s transition to renewable energy is challenged by a shortage of skills development and training. Thabo Molelekwa investigates, with support from the Pulitzer Center...

    04 April, 2023

  • 'Get-rich-quick’ coal prospecting rights threaten ecologically & economically vulnerable areas bordering Hluhluwe-iMfolozi reserve. Tony Carnie investigates for Our Burning Planet...

    10 March, 2023

  • South Africa’s power capital is being left behind in the race for renewable energy generation, reports Andiswa Matikinca...

    02 March, 2023

  • Environmentalists and coal-dependent communities say people at the frontline of SA’s energy transition are in the dark about how it will unfold. Thabo Molelekwa speaks to them...

    25 January, 2023

  • Mpumalanga, the province ‘where the sun rises’, takes centre stage in SA’s Just Energy Transition Plan. Yolandi Groenewald unpicks the details...

    18 November, 2022

  • SA has some of the world’s largest chrome resources, but regulatory problems are aiding illegal activities in the industry. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...

    25 October, 2021

  • A High Court case is expected to set a precedent on conflicts between private community ownership rights and commercial mining in the former homelands. Andiswa Matikinca reports...

    23 August, 2021

  • An ambitious new government strategy to deal with abandoned mines is welcome but needs more teeth, say those in the know. Andiswa Matikinca reports...

    30 July, 2021

  • While the world is shifting away from fossil fuels, data on planned new mines indicates the coal mining industry might not be winding down any time soon. Andiswa Matikinca reports...

    25 June, 2021

  • Go-ahead for controversial open-pit copper mine in Lower Zambezi National Park has become a political hot potato in the run-up to Zambian elections. Oscar Nkala investigates...

    23 June, 2021

  • A landmark court case sees the SA government being sued for the first time for the alleged violation of a Constitutional right to clean air. Andiswa Matikinca reports...

    27 May, 2021

  • Experts say recent earth tremors highlight the need to shut down the Koeberg nuclear station at the end of its lifespan in three years’ time. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...

    01 April, 2021

  • Andiswa Matikinca investigates whether the sun is setting on the coal industry as major producers are pulling out and leaving their coal assets to be picked up by smaller companies...

    15 February, 2021

  • Reconnaissance of ReconAfrica's proposed fracking site in Kavanga raised concerns about ecosystems, water and communal lands, writes John Grobler...

    01 February, 2021

  • Manzolwandle Investments expresses confidence in proceeding with its proposed coal mine on the southern border of Kruger National Park. Andiswa Matikinca reports for Earth Focus...

    21 October, 2020

  • Data-driven investigation shows 10 UK-based companies paid out at least US$1.076-billion to SA government and communities in 2018. Andiswa Matikinca follows the money...

    14 July, 2020

  • The government is in the process of fast-tracking water use authorisations. What are the implications for water security? Andiswa Matikinca investigates the data...

    15 May, 2020

  • A rush of coal prospecting applications raises new fears about mining around Mapungubwe National Park, a world heritage site of cultural and environmental importance...

    27 February, 2020

  • Deliberations at the 11th Alternative Mining Indaba focused on environmental damage and climate change caused by the extractives industry. Andiswa Matikinca was there...

    14 February, 2020

  • ‘Right now, they’re not permitted to put a shovel in the ground – and we’re aiming to keep it that way,’ say victorious opponents of Atha-Africa’s mining plans...

    22 November, 2019

  • Limpopo’s flagship Musina-Makhado project is being developed in an arid region that includes national priority freshwater ecosystems. Andiswa Matikinca investigates  ...

    25 October, 2019

  • An Appeal Court ruling has stalled plans to frack the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, but two exploration applications are still on track. Yuexuan Chen investigates...

    21 August, 2019

  • Mining your Water project empowers users to track and share water use licences approved for mining, reports Andiswa Matikinca ...

    14 August, 2019

  • New report exposes ‘gross violations’ of water permit regulations by eight coal mines in Mpumalanga. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...

    03 July, 2019

  • New data reveals a radical increase in the number of mines flouting water regulations. Mark Olalde & Andiswa Matikinca investigate...

    17 May, 2019

  • 'We know our lives are in danger': Attacks on anti-mining activists and environmental defenders documented in a new report. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...

    16 April, 2019

  • Tensions mount in the diamond-rich Richtersveld after the sale of mines by Trans Hex left a multi-million-rand rehabilitation debt. Yolandi Groenewald investigates...

    18 March, 2019

  • President Cyril Ramaphosa says SA mining wants to be more transparent and embracing. Andiswa Matikinca talks to organisations with advice...

    08 February, 2019

  • The Western majoritarian view does not work when consulting mining-affected communities such as Xolobeni, reports Andiswa Matikinca...

    24 January, 2019

  • Executives at Mintails and DRDGOLD scramble to avoid liability and the possibility of criminal charges for R460-million environmental mess on the West Rand...

    12 December, 2018

  • Local residents reported blasting and the removal of coal close to the wetlands of the Greater Lakenvlei Protected Environment. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...

    21 November, 2018

  • An anonymous tip-off sparked a sustained investigative journalism trail and a precedent-setting High Court judgment, writes Julia Thomas...

    16 November, 2018

  • Judicial review of Cabinet decision to open Mabola strategic water zone raises questions about the status of mining in protected environments. Tholakele Nene reports...

    18 October, 2018

  • Public participation in the mining sector has improved but there is still a long way to go to gain stakeholder trust, writes Tholakele Nene...

    28 September, 2018

  • Parliamentary committee asks for explanations following Oxpeckers report on mining company’s liquidation plans. Lisa Steyn reports...

    19 September, 2018

  • Liquidation leaves a R330-million environmental mess for Gauteng residents, government and other mining companies to clean up. Mark Olalde investigates...

    08 August, 2018

  • Threats against critics of mining in protected water resource are part of a bigger trend of corporations trying to bully their critics into silence, reports John Yeld...

    24 July, 2018

  • With about 6,000 abandoned mines across South Africa, regulators are searching for answers to irresponsible mine closure. Mark Olalde reports...

    11 July, 2018

  • Indian company Atha-Africa Ventures is going ahead with an application to change land use at the Mabola protected area to open it to mining. Julia Thomas investigates...

    18 May, 2018

  • Pioneering data journalism project on financial provisions for mine closures and rehabilitation is rewarded with top environmental media award...

    25 October, 2017

  • Mining at the Mabola protected water zone is on hold – for now. The status of the mining right is unclear after court action by civil society groups this week, reports Mark Olalde...

    30 June, 2017

  • Mabola is a strategic water source that feeds four of South Africa's major rivers, but the government has approved a licence to mine coal there. Oxpeckers broke the story in 2015, ...

    16 June, 2017

  • The future of electricity generation is no longer guaranteed to the coal industry. Which forms of power will keep the lights on? Mark Olalde investigates...

    25 May, 2017

  • Never-before-seen data shows a fortune has been set aside for mine rehabilitation in South Africa. But large mines are not being properly closed, and the money cannot be touched. M...

    17 May, 2017

  • Oxpeckers publishes never-before-seen data exposing the lack of mine closures, despite R45-billion being held in financial provisions for rehabilitation in 2015. Investigation by M...

    07 April, 2017

  • Without any public notification, South Africa’s ministers of environment and mining signed off on a coal mining project in the critical Mabola water catchment in Mpumalanga. Mark O...

    15 February, 2017

  • Social and labour plans are supposed to improve life for communities affected by mining. Unfortunately, because of the fog surrounding how they operate and are enforced, these comm...

    06 February, 2017

  • Tricia Govindasamy looks into the impacts of environmental authorisation for expanding Sedibelo mine in the North West Heritage Park Corridor The expansion of a mining project that...

    23 January, 2017

  • After an 18-month search, Mark Olalde accessed data on mine closure trust funds, financial provisions for rehabilitation and closure certificates...

    15 December, 2016

  • 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 Ol...

    11 November, 2016

  • 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 ...

    05 October, 2016

  • 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 unde...

    21 September, 2016

  • 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 law...

    16 September, 2016

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 min...

    14 October, 2015

  • Controversial plans to strip-mine phosphate next to the West Coast National Park are forging ahead, despite confusion over the new One Environmental System. Marie-Louis...

    27 March, 2015

  • The battle for Mabola is a test case for laws around prospecting and mining in a protected environment. The area is vital to South Africa's water security...

    15 February, 2015

  • Is it worth digging up a biodiversity and heritage hotspot for fertilizer? Marie-Louise Antoni investigates plans to mine phosphate on the doorstep of t...

    30 May, 2014

  • It's no coincidence that Mpumalanga, the province with the biggest concentration of coal mines, has the worst water quality water in South Africa. Sydney Masinga i...

    14 March, 2014

  • Opencast coal mining operations in the Mpumalanga Highveld are destroying the livelihood, grazing and water of rural farmers. Franz Fuls visited an affected commun...

    20 January, 2014

  • Opencast coal mining at Weltevreden pan in Mpumalanga will destroy important wetlands supporting agriculture and water birds. How did Exxaro get a licence – and is it legal? F...

    20 December, 2013

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