"This is the story of Weda Bay – and how nature is being sacrificed for mining", 11 Mar 2026, The Guardian

Weda Bay is just one example of a global trend that could see the mining industry expand into some of Earth’s last areas of wilderness in search of minerals and materials to feed the global economy.

Analysis produced for the Guardian by a group of academic researchers found more than 3,267 mining operations within key biodiversity areas (KBAs), accounting for nearly 5% of the mining sector’s global footprint. China, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico top the rankings for total surface mining area within key biodiversity areas, the most naturally precious areas of the planet.

“We see an expansion of mines in biodiverse areas, particularly with materials like nickel in Indonesia. You have seen expansion into pristine forests over the past few years. The same in the Amazon in Brazil and Peru – gold mining is big there,” [...].

The pattern seen in Weda Bay, Indonesia, is being replicated in other parts of the world. Weda Bay’s operators did not respond to a request for comment.

Around Sepon gold and copper mine in Laos, habitat has been destroyed and polluted over the lifetime of the operation. The mine’s operators did not respond to a request for comment.

In the Kayapó Indigenous territory in Brazil, [...] illegal goldminers are ravaging areas of the Amazon rainforest. In 2010, the forest was largely intact. But just 15 years later, large areas had been cleared.

“Areas such as Raja Ampat in Indonesia are among the most beautiful and biologically rich places on Earth, where intact rainforests sit alongside extraordinary coral reef systems. Yet they are at risk of being totally decimated by mining for critical metals. [...].”