BCDC Approves Sand Mining Permit in San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) unanimously approved a 10-year mining permit for sand removal from San Francisco Bay, and from two other areas near Suisun. The amount of sand the permit requests is 15 times greater than the annual amount of sand that comes into the bay from the delta.

Great Wall Of Sand: Chinese Mischief at Mischief Reef

In recent years, China has laid claim to the South China Sea with increasing fierceness, challenging the counterclaims of neighboring states and confronting their fishing boats on the open water. But new satellite photos have provided the most dramatic evidence yet of just how aggressively China is acting to establish a sphere of influence in the South China Sea

Over 240 mining and energy projects waiting for investors in Cuba

Industrial minerals and manufactured industrial mineral products produced in Cuba include ammonia and ammonia by-products, bentonite, cement, feldspar, high-purity zeolite minerals, gypsum, kaolin (a type of clay), lime, high-grade limestone, marble and sand…

The Deadly Global War for Sand

Apart from water and air, humble sand is the natural resource most consumed by human beings. People use more than 40 billion tons of sand and gravel every year. There’s so much demand that riverbeds and beaches around the world are being stripped bare.

Fears for Future of Ngapali Beach as Authorities Permit Sand Excavation; Myanmar

Hoteliers at Ngapali in southern Rakhine State have warned that beaches in the area could be irrevocably damaged unless the authorities stop allowing sand to be taken for construction projects. Local authorities have formally allowed construction firms to take sand from three beaches in apparent violation of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism’s Directives for Coastal Beach Areas.

Despite Protections, Miami Port Project Smothers Coral Reef in Silt

The government divers who plunged into the bay near the Port of Miami surfaced with bad news again and again: Large numbers of corals were either dead or dying, suffocated by sediment. The source of the sediment, environmentalists say, is a $205 million dredging project…

India’s ‘New Cities’ Plan: Environment Not Included

Sand – inexpensive and abundant – is a treasure to India’s builders and the construction industry, which employs some 40 million people. But the spike in construction means sand mining, both legal and illegal, will increase in coastal areas, riverbeds, creeks, and rivulets.