These are mined in Brazil, Canada, Finland, Russia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Phosphate rock is mined mostly by surface methods using draglines and bucket wheel excavators for large deposits and power shovels or earthmovers for smaller deposits.

Most of the antimony mined each year comes from China, which supplies over three-quarters of the world’s total. The remainder is from Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Bolivia, and a few other countries, including the United States. Some antimony is produced as a by-product of smelting ores of other metals, mainly gold, copper and silver, in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.

A 2009 study published in PLOS One concluded that the global warming potential of mining and processing nickel was the eighth highest of 63 metals over the previous year.

The pond, owned by the Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Company, or Baotou Steel, lacks a proper lining and for the past 20 years its toxic contents have been seeping into groundwater, according to villagers and state media reports.

Damage to water sources that residents attribute to mining, as well as increased demand due to population migration to mining sites, reduces communities’ access to water for drinking, washing and cooking. Women, who are primarily responsible for fetching water, are forced to walk longer distances or wait for long periods to obtain water from alternative sources. The dust produced by bauxite mining and transport smothers fields and enters homes, leaving families and health workers worried that reduced air quality threatens their health and environment.

Environmental impacts of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices.