"How China warped the market for a vital clean energy ingredient", 6 August 2020.

To keep the planet from warming past the point of no return, the World Bank says, more metric tons of aluminum will need to be mined than any other metal... Aluminum production is among the most energy-intensive of all mineral industries. In total, the mining industry causes at least 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, according to the World Bank....

A market overhaul has fueled a “boom in bauxite” that has threatened chimpanzees in Guinea, water supply in Ghana, respiratory health in Malaysia, and river health in Indonesia. Last month, dozens of community organizations in Ghana advanced to the High Court in a lawsuit against their government to stop a bauxite mine.

China has been the top producer of aluminum for a long time, but most of their bauxite no longer comes from within their borders...the Chinese government was becoming increasingly aware that its domestic mining and processing was polluting its own citizens’ lungs. The government responded with stricter anti-pollution rules in 2015...Bauxite refiners, wary of domestic sanctions, “scoured the world”...

Bauxite mines and refineries often produce well-documented “red mud” that ends up clogging and contaminating waterways. In West Africa, Zhang has documented the problems that mining has caused local communities, including:

• Water pollution and the shortage of groundwater caused by the mining operation,
• Impact on water resources both on quantity and quality,
• The dust from mining roads, especially in dry seasons, affects people's health and crops, trees,
• Safety issues for children who have to cross mining roads to their schools,
• Losing lands, losing their livelihood.

She alleges that some companies have fallen through on their promises to build and repair facilities like roads and wells for locals...