Ranger Uranium Mine Controversy

Indigenous Australians have faced many changes to their original life style, with numerous policies being brought in. These policies had an incredible affect on how the indigenous Australians lived. The policies inflicted on the indigenous Australians varied widely and had numerous impacts. The policies of assimilation, protection and integration had mainly negative impacts on the community, causing loss of identity, language and religion. The policies of self-determination and reconciliation, had mostly positive effects to the indigenous Australian community, creating a stronger bond between black and white Australians, encouraging the concept of closing the gap between indigenous Australians and non-indigenous Australians. These

Firstly the change in legal and constitutional rights have been a great creator of rights for the Aboriginal people. Up until 1967 the Aboriginals did not have the right to be counted in the census. This was basically a way of saying that the Aboriginals were not Australians, almost not even people. Fortunately the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginals citizenship. It did however not end any discrimination against the Aboriginal people and

A controversial topic commonly debated among society is the construction of coal mines. Although they potentially contain great economic promise and access to more resources, they also harm the surrounding environment and increase carbon dioxide emissions.

The goal of this paper is to talk about the conflicts between the First Nations and mining companies in Canada; to describe the current situation they are in and also examine the various outcomes of this situation. First Nations refers to Status and non-status Indian peoples in Canada. Historians have grouped the First Nations in Canada according to six main geographic areas. First Nations within these six areas are characterized by similar cultures and largely shaped by an environment. The six groups are Woodland First Nations, Iroquoian First Nations, Plains First Nations, Plateau First Nations, Pacific Coast First Nations and the First Nations of the Mackenzie and Yukon River Basins. Prior to contact with the Europeans,

Within todays society there are many things that are swept under the rug and are not acknowledged. The Canadian mining industries may not affect Canadian citizens, however, the affects that Canadian Mining causes is a major issue in many areas of the world. The effects of Canadian mining vary from direct effect on the work environment, serious environment harm as well as the effects on the people of the land. Lives are at risk and being taken daily by Canadian mining in south America, however the awareness that it should have has not been acknowledged.

Mining is one of Canada’s primary industries and involves the extraction, refining, and/or processing of economically valuable rocks and minerals. Mineral products – including gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel – are critical to modern industrial society. Although mining has been key to Canadian settlement and development, in recent decades the industry has also been criticized for its environmental and social impacts. Canada remains one of the world’s leading mining countries and has become a centre of global mining finance and expertise.

“Past uranium mining has contaminated homes, land, and soil at 520 cites across the Navajo Nation… drinking water from at least 22 wells are unfit for consumption… and researchers have documented numerous cancers… among Navajo people attributable to radiation” (Minard, 2). On the other hand, the health effects of coal “emissions result in asthma, bronchitis, heart attack, and premature death” (Rowe, 2). With the extreme dependence on coal for energy in Arizona the health effects of the mining are not researched because without coal many cities will not have energy. “There are no independent studies showing the impact of the mines on the health of the people in the tribal lands” (Rowe, 2). This illustrates a huge point in the exploitation of the Indigenous people. Showing how the government and big companies only care about profit and providing cities with power rather than the health of the Navajo and Hopi who provide this resource. The Indigenous People’s health is not a priority but their manual labor is crucial for the company’s profit. So until there are not enough Indigenous People to work the mines their health will not be a prime

This gold mine, Yanacocha, it's considered one of the largest mine in South America. The problem consists the way how to extract or get the gold. The process starts with taking down hills and as the result creates deep pits. Besides to destruct the hills, the chemicals of the explosives go in the streams. Later, when the farmers take their animals to drink water they get sick and sometimes even quickly die. Also, people who live in the region still in poverty. According to the article "The effect of IMF and World Bank programs on poverty", the Bank try to make adjustments to loans but this does not make any difference or have a strong impact reducing poverty in the countries where the project it's implementing. Another issue, people wonders about their health, if the animals are at risk also their families could be. All these issues make people be angry at the company that even don't belong there, like Newmont Mining Corp (an American company) who asked for the loan to do the project. One of those people is Milton Sanchez, a leader of the protest movement said: "The gold they take out of our region is stained with blood". In the other hand, the organization argues it follows regulations to don't harm the environment and people, but

Nuclear power has been highly controversial in the world, specifically uranium mining. Uranium mining is an option that was presented to the world for a source of nuclear weapons, nuclear medicine, as well as nuclear power. Uranium is a natural element, it has an average concentration of 2.8 per million in the Earth’s crust. Uranium is very abundant and is more plentiful than gold, silver, and mercury. The half-life of uranium-238 is 4.46 billion years, the half-life of uranium-234 is 245,000 years, and uranium-235 has a half-life of 704 million years (Uranium: Its Uses and Hazards, n.d.). There are four common kinds of extracting uranium from the ground; open pit and underground mining, in situ leach mining (ISL), heap leaching, and milling. While there are several forms of mining that have proven to be affective at extracting uranium from the ground, none of the mining types have been guaranteed to stop nuclear radiation in the area that the mining took place. Nuclear power has gotten a bad name ever since the atomic bomb, so many people have become skeptical on how safe the rising expansion of uranium mining is. The environmental implications that uranium mining has caused in the past has brought up the question on if the expansion of nuclear technology is worth the risk.

Mining is the process or industry of obtaining coal or other minerals from a mine. A new mining project, called the Back Forty, is was proposed and is located on the Michigan and Wisconsin border. This project is said to begin around 2020 and created concern for some people. The Aquila Resources Inc. is the company behind this proposal, and they said “it will invest more than $300 million to extract gold, zinc, copper and silver along the Menominee River” (Bergquist, 2016). The Menominee river is part of the border between Wisconsin and Michigan. The mine will have large effects on the environment and economy for Lake Michigan and Wisconsin. The next paragraphs will discuss the positive and negative effects that the Back Forty could create. One side would be for the mine and say that the economic benefits would outweigh the negative effects on the environment, while the opposing side would say the opposite.

The Aborigines are one of the oldest, unaffected cultures that remain in our world today. Their historical culture and territory, in the past, was unaffected by the constantly evolving world. Until recently, their historic society has remained sacred, yet today they are undergoing a colossal fight. The Australian government and uranium mining industries are attempting to build new mine fields, bullying Aborigine tribes and their leaders into ultimately selling their land for future nuclear waste dump sites.

Nuclear Energy has many proponents and much opposition. Many of the groups that oppose nuclear power have legitimate concerns, mainly with the dangers of nuclear material in relation with human health concerns and environmental troubles that are risked by allowing nuclear power plants to increase in number. Yet, many of these opposition groups have made outspoken and radical claims about the “hidden” motives of why nuclear power is promoted and subsidized by our federal government. For example, The Nuclear Information and Resource Service claim that the federal government has the intention of committing genocide against Native Americans because uranium mining is predominantly done on reservations. Another cry out by nuclear

These economic concerns are important in the uranium mining because it can make huge profits from that industry and solve the unemployment problem as well. However, there are some important aspects that must be considered such as, uranium as main materials for nuclear weapons, the nuclear power is not efficient and effective, and the harmful radiation from the mining of uranium.

Since the concentration of the uranium mined is very high, the radioactivity is a potential hazard, hence there are precautions taken during the mining and milling process to protect the health of the workers. The first and foremost is forced ventilation in the underground mines, to ensure that there is no radioactive particle being breathed in. Efficient dust control as the dust may contain radioactive particles and emit radon gas. Keeping workers safe by setting a limit to the radiation exposure in mines and mills as well as routine monitoring of air, dust and surface contamination is undertaken. In Canada, this means that in area of high concentration of uranium, it is mined by remote control technology. Of course, working in a mine, the workers are given the equipment and technology necessary to meet the radioactive conditions. At last, there are designated employees (those that are exposed to uranium) are monitored for radiation contamination as well as personal dosimeters are worn to measure exposure to gamma radiation. Canadian mines and mill facilities are designed to handle uranium ore grades up to 26%. Other method of mining in many places, if geological conditions allow uranium to be dissolved from the ore by pumping oxygenated groundwater through a porous ore body to dissolve

Another perspective to look at it is that social impact mining has. Though it can be difficult to separate the economic impact from the social, because many social issues are the result of poverty. Meaning that if the mining