Born in Doncaster in the 1950s, Peter Tuffrey grew up with the collieries around him: Yorkshire Main at Edlington, Denaby, Cadeby, Rossington and Askern. Although it might have seemed that things would never change, they did, and Peter has now compiled Doncaster's Collieries to commemorate this once-vital part of the town's heritage. Using photographs from his own collection and the archives of local newspapers, Peter examines the histories of thirteen of the pits that once surrounded his home town, from the elaborate ceremonies which were staged to mark the start of work through to the acrimonious disputes with British Coal and the government of Margaret Thatcher, which so often marked the closure of the Doncaster collieries. The result is a fascinating view of a now-lost but widely remembered industry sure to appeal to those with an interest in the area.

This is the story of early iron mining and manufacturing, and what remains to be seen today, in the hills that cross the northeastern border of New Jersey into New York. Centrally located in the Colonies, New Jersey was in an especially advantageous position: its waterways provided power and excellent transportation and its dense forests furnished the charcoal essential for making pig and bar iron. During the two major wars on American soil New Jersey and New York ironworks turned out badly needed supplies among them the huge chains and booms used to block the British advance up the Hudson during the Revolution and ordnance, made and shipped in record-breaking time, for Union troops.

This is also the story of the hardy men who made this industry possible where they came from, what their homes and company towns were like, how they lived, and how they left their mark on American history.

James M. Ransom spent twenty-five years inspecting remains of mines (seventy-five are described and located), furnaces and forges, dams and millraces, and other ruins closely associated with iron production in the Ramapo region. But not all was on-site research. He also searched through old account books, newspapers, and records, evaluating their historical importance. When word spread of his intense interest in the field, he was offered material unknown to historians in particular, a collection of old ledgers, some dating back two hundred years, and a group of rare photographs from 1865 to 1905. From such extensive investigation, Ransom uncovered previously unknown facts, filled in gaps, and corrected mistakes made by earlier writers on the subject."

On the basis of an examination of the colonial mercury and silver production processes and related labor systems, Mercury, Mining, and Empire explores the effects of mercury pollution in colonial Huancavelica, Peru, and Potosi, in present-day Bolivia. The book presents a multifaceted and interwoven tale of what colonial exploitation of indigenous peoples and resources left in its wake. It is a socio-ecological history that explores the toxic interrelationships between mercury and silver production, urban environments, and the people who lived and worked in them. Nicholas A. Robins tells the story of how native peoples in the region were conscripted into the noxious ranks of foot soldiers of proto-globalism, and how their fate, and that of their communities, was and still is chained to it."

" Coal miners evoke admiration and sympathy from the public, and writers -- some seeking a muse, others a cause -- traditionally champion them. David C. Duke explores more than one hundred years of this tradition in literature, poetry, drama, and film. Duke argues that as most writers spoke about rather than to the mining community, miners became stock characters in an industrial morality play, robbed of individuality or humanity. He discusses activist-writers such as John Reed, Theodore Dreiser, and Denise Giardina, who assisted striking workers, and looks at the writing of miners themselves. He examines portrayals of miners from The Trail of the Lonesome Pine to Matewan and The Kentucky Cycle. The most comprehensive study on the subject to date, Writers and Miners investigates the vexed political and creative relationship between activists and artists and those they seek to represent.

Beginning on Valentine's Day, 1981, when twelve-year-old Todd Domboski plunged through the earth in his grandmother's backyard in Centralia, Pennsylvania, The Day the Earth Caved In is an unprecedented and riveting account of the nation's worst mine fire. In astonishing detail, award-winning journalist Joan Quigley, the granddaughter of Centralia miners, ushers readers into the dramatic world of the underground blaze. Drawing on interviews with key participants and exclusive new research, Quigley paints unforgettable portraits of Centralia and its residents, from Tom Larkin, the short-order cook and ex-hippie who rallied the activists, to Helen Womer, the bank teller who galvanized the opposition, denying the fire's existence even as toxic fumes invaded her home. Like Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action, The Day the Earth Caved In is a seminal investigation" "of individual rights, corporate privilege, and governmental indifference to the powerless.

The East African country of Tanganyika in 1960 was something of a backwater of the British Empire in which the traditional character of wild Africa still held pride of place. Concurrently however, the winds of political change were, not least in the country's urban centres, promoting an ever-accelerating headlong rush towards a state of national independence or uhuru. It was against a backdrop of transition between the "old" and the new "Africa" that a nation-wide campaign of exploration aimed at discovering deposits of diamonds was carried out in Tanganyika under the auspices of the country's fabled diamond producer, Williamson Diamonds Limited. The campaign involved the mobilisation of thousands of African workers and a few hundred specially engaged white supervisors into a nation-wide network of field camps, many of them set up in remote regions of trackless bush where the only rules were subject to vagaries of climate, the incidence of tsetse flies and the rights of passage of prolific numbers of big game. The white supervisors were as raw in matters pertaining to bush craft as they were wet behind the ears. Their complement contained more than its fair share of misfits, cowboys, adventurers, opportunists and gung-ho celebrants. This book tells their story as it was seen through the eyes of one among them who wouldn't have missed a minute of the experience. The like of such a campaign will never be seen again.

As early as the eighteenth century, Spanish explorers left place-names, lost mines, and legends scattered throughout Colorado's San Juan Mountains. In 1869 and the early 1870s the legends lured hopeful prospectors to the area, ushering in its greatest mining era and transforming it into one of the country's most celebrated mining districts. Faced with a boom-bust economy, unpredictable weather, and the risk of violent death, mining camps and towns nevertheless struggled to institute local governments that would address issues such as sanitation, the maintenance of schools, and the enforcement of law and order.
As the economic boom headed toward its inevitable decline, towns like Silverton, Ouray, Telluride, Creede, Lake City, and Rico found themselves seeking visitors and tourists who wanted to experience the historical West and its accompanying folklore and legend. The pioneers and mining communities were supplanted in that rugged and unforgiving terrain. In this history of the San Juan mining region, Duane Smith's text and John Ninnemann's photographs offer a glimpse into the lives of towns that sprang up in remote canyons and mountain plateaus in southwestern Colorado and the settlers who attempted to recreate the eastern communities they had left behind.

Dramatic mine accidents early in 2006 have led to passage of the first major amendment to federal mine safety law since 1977. The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act requires each mine to have an emergency plan, increased supplies of oxygen, and improved rescue teams. Penalties for violations have also been increased. Although the bill had wide support in Congress, some Members have characterised it as only a "first step," to be followed by additional measures that would include a lower maximum limit on dust concentrations, underground refuges, communications and tracking devices, and greater emphasis on enforcement of standards. On January 2, 2006, the nation was reminded of the dangers of underground mining, as 12 miners died in an explosion and fire in the Sago mine in West Virginia. Subsequently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued new regulations; Congress has passed the first major revision of the mine safety law since 1977 and has taken further bills under consideration; and state legislatures in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Illinois have tightened their own laws. These responses have emphasised factors thought to have played a part in the Sago tragedy, including emergency oxygen supplies, tracking and communication systems, and deployment of rescue teams. There have also been proposals to increase the penalties for violations of safety standards.

The prospect of instant riches gives the mining sector an obvious glamour. And when the mining sector begins to run it can be an awesome sight and the excitement generated can be every bit as seductive and heady as that which enveloped markets during the internet boom. But due to the counter-cyclical nature of many mining stocks, they can also offer a valuable refuge when stock markets turn down. In this fully revised and updated second edition, Michael Coulson gives a masterly overview of the sector, explains both the rewards and the pitfalls of investing in mining shares, studies the history of mining booms and busts, looks at the latest, biggest importers such as China and India, and argues convincingly that mining should once again form a core sector for all investors.This book is for anyone interested in mining, and particularly mining as an investment. Whilst it contains material which will be useful to even experienced followers of the sector, its main target is those who are interested in mining but perhaps not particularly familiar with the sector, and would like to know more.All the subjects are covered that are fundamental to acquiring sufficient knowledge about the mining sector to invest in it with confidence. While the mining sector's global focus is both educational and rewarding, on a more basic level the sector has been (and indeed still is) enormous fun to follow and invest in. This book reflects that and also provides some thoughts as to how this fun can be turned to profit.

The Dreiser Committee, including writers Theodore Dreiser, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson, investigated the desperate situation of striking Kentucky miners in November 1931. When the Communist-led National Miners Union competed against the more conservative United Mine Workers of America for greater union membership, class resentment turned to warfare. Harlan Miners Speak, originally published in 1932, is an invaluable record that illustrates the living and working conditions of the miners during the 1930s. This edition of Harlan Miners Speak, with a new introduction by noted historian John C. Hennen, offers readers an in-depth look at a pivotal crisis in the complex history of this controversial form of energy production.

The Navajo Nation covers a vast stretch of northeastern Arizona and parts of New Mexico and Utah. The area is also home to more than one thousand abandoned uranium mines and four former uranium mills, a legacy of the U.S. nuclear program.

In the early 1940s the Navajo Nation was in the early stages of economic development, recovering from the devastating stock reduction period of 1930. Navajo men sought work away from the reservation on railroads and farm work in Phoenix and California. Then came the nuclear age and uranium was discovered on the reservation. Work became available and young Navajo men grabbed the jobs in the uranium mines.

The federal government and the mining companies knew of the hazards of uranium mining; however, the miners were never informed. They had to find out about the danger on their own. When they went to western doctors, they were diagnosed with lung cancer and were simply told they were dying.

A team of Navajo people and supportive whites began the Navajo Uranium Miner Oral History and Photography Project from which this book arose. That project team, based at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, recruited the speakers who told their stories, which are reproduced here. There are also narrative chapters that assess the experiences of the Navajo people from diverse perspectives (history, psychology, culture, advocacy, and policy). While the points of view taken are similar, there is a range of perspectives as to what would constitute justice.

REMEMBRANCE TO AVOID AN UNWANTED FATE

by Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr.

Sixty years ago, the United States turned to the tiny atom to unleash the most destructive force known to mankindand bring an end to World War II. Ironically, the uranium used to create the most technologically advanced weapon ever invented came from the land of the most traditional indigenous people of North America, and was dug from the earth with picks and shovels.

Nuclear weapons transformed the United States into the greatest military force the world has ever known, and the term "Super Power" was coined. Lost in the history of this era is the story of the people -- the Din -- who pulled uranium out of the ground by hand, who spoke and continue to speak an ancient tongue, and who pray with sacred corn pollen at dawn for good things for their families. By the thousands, these were, and remain, the forgotten victims of America's Cold War that uranium spawned.

"The Navajo People and Uranium Mining" is the documented history of how these Navajo people lived, how they worked and now, sadly, how they died waiting for compassionate federal compensation for laboring in the most hazardous conditions imaginable, and which were known at the time yet concealed from them. These Navajo miners and their families became, in essence, expendable people.

Today, the Navajo Nation, with the help of law firms, environmental groups, writers, photographers and historians, is doing all it can to correct this horrendous wrong done to Navajo uranium miners, their families and their descendents. This excellent book allows the people who lived this to tell their story in their own words.

Genocide. There is no other word for what happened to Navajo uranium miners. The era of uranium mining on Navajoland was genocidal because the hazards of cancer and respiratory disease were known to doctors and federalofficials, and yet they allowed Navajos to be exposed to deadly radiation to see what would happen to them. As a result, radiation exposure has cost the Navajo Nation the accumulated wisdom, knowledge, stories, songs and ceremonies -- to say nothing of the lives -- of hundreds of our people. Now, aged Navajo uranium miners and their families continue to fight the Cold War in their doctors' offices as they try to understand how the invisible killer of radiation exposure left them with many forms of cancer and other illnesses decades after leaving the uranium mines. No one ever told them that mining uranium would steal their health and cripple their lives when they became grandparents. But it did. They continue to leave us to this day only because they were the ones who answered the call.

Because of this painful history, in 2005 the Navajo Nation passed the Din Natural Resources Protection Act. This law prohibits uranium mining and processing in all its forms on Navajoland. It protects our land and our water from being contaminated as it was in the past. Despite our sovereignty and our will, there are those today who still seek to weaken our resolve in order to gain access to the uranium under our land just to enrich themselves. Only the telling of this story, as "The Navajo People and Uranium Mining" does so excellently, can protect us from this unwanted fate and a repeat of one of the more sorrowful periods of the Navajo Nation's history.

"The South Wales Coalfield Collection" (SWCC) is one of the largest archives of its kind in the UK and of international importance. This unique asset, however, has been under-used as a tool for medical history because, although the Collection has been catalogued, medical records are often 'hidden' and difficult to locate. "Medical Records for the South Wales Coalfield" is designed to make items of medical significance more accessible. Based on a screening of the Collection funded by a Welcome Trust Research Resources in Medical History Award, the volume will be a popular with academic researchers seeking to define viable projects and focus their efforts more effectively; teachers and lecturers wishing to put the SWCC to educational use and members of the general public interested in the medical and healthcare heritage of the Coalfield.

Based on a PhD thesis, with a focus on Sierra Leone, this book explores the conflicts between pursuing mining activities to foster economic development and protecting the environment in which such activities take place. This study presents sustainable development as valuable recipe, by which mining ventures could be pursued as an economic imperative (to meet the needs of present and future generations), while protecting the environment and its components in the pursuit of such developments. The study shows that despite the definitional questions, sustainable development has direct and primary relevance for environmental protection in the economic exploitation of natural resources. It identifies a legal character in the concept beyond legislative processes, and a flexibility in its principles that allows for their interpretation within legal rules to enhance environmental protection at the national level. It also illustrates the link between effective implementation and ensuring sustainable mining.

In 1930, almost 13,000 African Americans worked in the coal mines around Birmingham, Alabama. They made up 53 percent of the mining workforce and some 60 percent of their union's local membership. At the close of the twentieth century, only about 15 percent of Birmingham's miners were black, and the entire mining workforce had been sharply reduced. Robert H. Woodrum offers a challenging interpretation of why this dramatic decline occurred and why it happened during an era of strong union presence in the Alabama coalfields. Drawing on union, company, and government records as well as interviews with coal miners, Woodrum examines the complex connections between racial ideology and technological and economic change. Extending the chronological scope of previous studies of race, work, and unionization in the Birmingham coalfields, Woodrum covers the New Deal, World War II, the postwar era, the 1970s expansion of coalfield employment, and contemporary trends toward globalization. The United Mine Workers of America's efforts to bridge the color line in places like Birmingham should not be underestimated, says Woodrum. Facing pressure from the wider world of segregationist Alabama, however, union leadership ultimately backed off the UMWA's historic commitment to the rights of its black members. Woodrum discusses the role of state UMWA president William Mitch in this process and describes Birmingham's unique economic circumstances as an essentially Rust Belt city within the burgeoning Sun Belt South. This is a nuanced exploration of how, despite their central role in bringing the UMWA back to Alabama in the early 1930s, black miners remained vulnerable to the economic and technological changes that transformed the coal industry after World War II.

Do, Die, or Get Along weaves together voices of twenty-six people who have intimate connections to two neighboring towns in the southwestern Virginia coal country. Filled with evidence of a new kind of local outlook on the widespread challenge of small community survival, the book tells how a confrontational ""do-or-die"" past has given way to a ""get-along"" present built on coalition and guarded hope. St. Paul and Dante are six miles apart; measured in other ways, the distance can be greater. Dante, for decades a company town controlled at all levels by the mine owners, has only a recent history of civic initiative. In St. Paul, which arose at a railroad junction, public debate, entrepreneurship, and education found a more receptive home. The speakers are men and women, wealthy and poor, black and white, old-timers and newcomers. Their concerns and interests range widely, including the battle over strip mining, efforts to control flooding, the 1989-90 Pittston strike, the nationally acclaimed Wetlands Estonoa Project, and the grassroots revitalization of both towns led by the St. Paul Tomorrow and Dante Lives On organizations. Their talk of the past often invokes an ethos, rooted in the hand-to-mouth pioneer era, of short-term gain. Just as frequently, however, talk turns to more recent times, when community leaders, corporations, unions, the federal government, and environmental groups have begun to seek accord based on what will be best, in the long run, for the towns. The story of Dante and St. Paul, Crow writes, ""gives twenty-first-century meaning to the idea of the good fight."" This is an absorbing account of persistence, resourcefulness, and eclectic redefinition of success and community revival, with ramifications well beyond Appalachia.

Eight leading authorities from around the world have collaborated to produce this volume which provides a thorough treatment of mineral royalties. Intended as a reference for anyone interested in mineral sector taxation, it examines the many facets of royalties ranging from their justification, to the types of royalties used historically and presently. It analyzes royalty policy from the viewpoints of various stakeholders and indicates the strengths and weaknesses of different royalty types. Key practical issues such as tax administration, revenue distribution, transparency and reporting are covered. A CD-ROM, included with the book, contains an extensive appendix of actual royalty legislation from over forty nations.

Wastelanding tells the history of the uranium industry on Navajo land in the U.S. Southwest, asking why certain landscapes and the peoples who inhabit them come to be targeted for disproportionate exposure to environmental harm. Uranium mines and mills on the Navajo Nation land have long supplied U.S. nuclear weapons and energy programs. By 1942, mines on the reservation were the main source of uranium for the top-secret Manhattan Project. Today, the Navajo Nation is home to more than a thousand abandoned uranium sites. Radiation-related diseases are endemic, claiming the health and lives of former miners and nonminers alike. Traci Brynne Voyles argues that the presence of uranium mining on Dine (Navajo) land constitutes a clear case of environmental racism. Looking at discursive constructions of landscapes, she explores how environmental racism develops over time. For Voyles, the "wasteland," where toxic materials are excavated, exploited, and dumped, is both a racial and a spatial signifier that renders an environment and the bodies that inhabit it pollutable. Because environmental inequality is inherent in the way industrialism operates, the wasteland is the "other" through which modern industrialism is established. In examining the history of wastelanding in Navajo country, Voyles provides "an environmental justice history" of uranium mining, revealing how just as "civilization" has been defined on and through "savagery," environmental privilege is produced by portraying other landscapes as marginal, worthless, and pollutable.

This volume gives a vital and unique insight into the effects of mining and other forms of resource extraction upon the indigenous peoples of Australia and Papua New Guinea. Based on extensive fieldwork, it offers a comparative focus on indigenous cosmologies and their articulation or disjunction with the forces of 'development'. A central dimension of contrast is that Australia as a 'settled' continent has had wholesale dispossession of Aboriginal land, while in Papua New Guinea more than 95% of the land surface remains unalienated from customary ownership. Less obviously, there are also important similarities owing to: -a shared form of land title in which the state retains ownership of underground resources; -the manner in which Western law has been used in both countries to define and codify customary land tenure; -an emphasis on the reproductive imagery of minerals, petroleum and extraction processes employed by Aborigines and Papua New Guineans; -and some surprising parallels in the ways that social identities on either side of the Arafura Sea have traditionally been grounded in landscape These studies are essential reading for all scholars involved in assessing the effects of resource extraction in Third World and Fourth World settings. They contribute penetrating studies of the forms of indigenous socio-cultural response to multinational companies and Western forms of governance and law. ADVANCE PRAISE 'The writing is new and interesting. The essays mark out new ideas in seemingly effortless abundance. . . In sum - buy it, read it, I think you'll agree that its one of the really interesting books of the year.' Deborah Rose, Senior Fellow, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, ANU. Alan Rumsey is a Senior Fellow in the Department of Anthropology and James Weiner a Visiting Fellow in the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program, both in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.

Introduction to Gold Prospecting and Fossicking

Forget about Ned Kelly and the bushrangers: for my money if you want a really romantic and exciting saga of Australia, take a look at our mining history. It's a turbulent, dramatic story with enough material for a bookshelf full of best-sellers ... a saga of tough men, iron-nerved gamblers, violence, death and glittering riches set against the backdrop of some of the most awful country on earth. And never has the story been better told than by Geoffrey Blainey.a "Trevor Sykes Australia is one of the world's great sources of mineral treasure. Out of the ground, on land and at sea, has come wealth to create a host of lucrative industries. Our landscape is littered with mines bearing evocative names like Rum Jungle, Noble's Nob, Broad Arrow and Siberia, and stories abound of fortunes won and lost. The Rush That Never Ended tells the story of these mineral discoveries, describes the giants of Australia's mining history and records the tremendous influence that mining has had on Australia's attitudes to unionism, religion, law and politics. The first edition of The Rush That Never Ended was a publishing sensation. It stayed on the best-seller lists for several months, and won the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society. Reviewers described it as 'a compelling book', 'readable and exciting history', 'full of anecdotes and unforgettable characters'. This classic history of Australian mining now appears in its fifth edition, updated to bring the story up to the twenty-first century.

Surface coal mining has had a dramatic impact on the Appalachian economy and ecology since World War II, exacerbating the region's chronic unemployment and destroying much of its natural environment. Here, Chad Montrie examines the twentieth-century movement to outlaw surface mining in Appalachia, tracing popular opposition to the industry from its inception through the growth of a militant movement that engaged in acts of civil disobedience and industrial sabotage. Both comprehensive and comparative, "To Save the Land and People" chronicles the story of surface mining opposition in the whole region, from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

Though many accounts of environmental activism focus on middle-class suburbanites and emphasize national events, the campaign to abolish strip mining was primarily a movement of farmers and working people, originating at the local and state levels. Its history underscores the significant role of common people and grassroots efforts in the American environmental movement. This book also contributes to a long-running debate about American values by revealing how veneration for small, private properties has shaped the political consciousness of strip mining opponents.

The men who worked British Columbia's mines have passed into history. Coal Dust In My Blood is a moving account of one coal miner's life, in plain, evocative language. But this book is much more than a personal memoir. Bill Johnstone's mining career spanned several decades and he worked in a wide variety of positions. His broad insights reveal important aspects of the history of coal mining in BC.

'Many British Columbians could take a chapter from this book and call it their own story. Immigration, the depression years, or most significantly, the life in the mines were experienced by many residents of this province.' - Robert D. Turner, from the Foreword

The history of mining is replete with controversy of which much is related to environmental damage and consequent community outrage. Over recent decades, this has led to increased pressure to improve the environmental and social performance of mining operations, particularly in developing countries. The industry has responded by embracing the ideals of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Mining and the Environment identifies and discusses the wide range of social and environmental issues pertaining to mining, with particular reference to mining in developing countries, from where many of the project examples and case studies have been selected. Following an introductory overview of pressing issues, the book illustrates how environmental and social impact assessment, such as defined in "The Equator Principles", integrates with the mining lifecycle and how environmental and social management aims to eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive mining impacts. Practical approaches are provided for managing issues ranging from land acquisition and resettlement of Indigenous peoples, to the technical aspects of acid rock drainage and mine waste management. Moreover, thorough analyses of ways and means of sharing non-transitory mining benefits with host communities are presented to allow mining to provide sustainable benefits for the affected communities. This second edition of Mining and the Environment includes new chapters on Health Impact Assessment, Biodiversity and Gender Issues, all of which have become more important since the first edition appeared a decade ago. The wide coverage of issues and the many real-life case studies make this practice-oriented book a reference and key reading. It is intended for environmental consultants, engineers, regulators and operators in the field and for students to use as a course textbook. As much of the matter applies to the extractive industries as a whole, it will also serve environmental professionals in the oil and gas industries. Karlheinz Spitz and John Trudinger both have multiple years of experience in the assessment of mining projects around the world. The combination of their expertise and knowledge about social, economic, and environmental performance of mining and mine waste management has resulted in this in-depth coverage of the requirements for responsible and sustainable mining.

Beyond the Boundaries is a companion volume to Larry Lankton's Cradle to Grave: Life, Work, and Death at the Lake Superior Copper Mines, winner of the Great Lakes History Prize. That book dealt with work experience and technological change in the Lake Superior-Upper Michigan region, while Beyond the Boundaries focuses on the people of this region and how the copper mining affected their daily lives.

The boom era began with the discovery of gold in California in 1848 and extended over 150 years to include the rushes in the Pikes Peak region in Colorado, the Black Hills of South Dakota, Alder Gulch in Montana, and the Yukon. PRECIOUS DUST humanizes the mad rush to these remote places. 18 photos. 5 maps. Index.