Mining is a key industry for both Australia and Brazil. Australia is the world’s leading producer of iron ore and lithium, and the second-largest exporter of coal and zinc. In Brazil, iron ore is also the mining sector’s most important product. We are the world’s second-largest producer, trailing only Australia…
Brazil also has vast reserves of niobium, rare earths, and graphite… Australia has lithium, nickel, and cobalt… And while they work to establish themselves in these new markets for minerals that are fundamental to the economy of the future, Brazil and Australia still have to strive to make traditional mining a less environmentally damaging activity.
Especially in Brazil—where the collapses of mining tailings dams in the mining towns of Mariana in 2015 and Brumadinho in 2019—left a trail of deaths, pollution, and deep public distrust of mining. Brumadinho is even considered the worst workplace accident in Brazil’s history and the second-largest industrial disaster of the century worldwide.
Even so, neither country can nor should even consider reducing its mining activities. Instead, they must invest in research and development to make operations as clean and safe as possible, balancing the generation of wealth that ensures economic and social growth with environmental preservation.
This observation—seemingly frustrating, especially for those who have witnessed accidents and live closely with the disruptions caused by mining—was a consensus reached by our team during the research for the episode “Mining: Inconvenient, but Essential,” the fourth in the “Voices from the South” series, which you can listen to now.
In this episode, we spoke with experts from both countries to understand the current state of mining development and what scientists are doing to restore land depleted by mining and reintegrate it into the environment—in some cases, through extractive activities once again, but grounded in principles of sustainability. Don’t miss this latest chapter of our scientific adventure through the two largest countries in the Southern Hemisphere, in the company of Luciana Julião and our producer in Australia, Fernando Vives.
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In five episodes, “Voices of the South” presents the results of dozens of interviews with academics and custodians of the ancestral knowledge of the indigenous peoples in both countries regarding the science behind combating forest fires, the impacts of mining, the warming of ocean waters, and the influence of agriculture and livestock on global warming. The podcast also highlights examples of innovation that Brazil and Australia—where the power of the sun, wind, rivers, and waves abound—are developing in the field of renewable energy.
This is the essence of the adventure that our team of journalists, led by Environment Editor Luciana Julião, undertook to produce “Voices from the South,”.
“Voices from the South” is a co-production of The Conversation Brasil with the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), funded by the Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR) and with strategic consulting from The Conversation Media Group.
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Voices of the South, Episode 4: “Mining: Problematic, but essential”
Episode guests:
1 - Pedro Walfir, geologist and professor at the Institute of Geosciences, Federal University of Pará
2 - Stuart Walsh, professor and deputy director of research at Monash University
3 - Sandra Moura, professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Federal University of Ouro Preto and coordinator of the Apicrim project
4 - Elza Cunha Cabral, biologist, beekeeper, and participant in Apicrim
5 - Maria Elena Crespo-López, professor at the Federal University of Pará and one of the founders of the Amazon Mercury Institute
6 - Saimon Moraes Silva, director of the Biomedical and Environmental Sensors Technology Center (BEST) at La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia)
7 - Angélica Andrade, Master of Philosophy from the Institute for Sustainable Mining at the University of Queensland
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“Voices of the South” Team:
Editorial coordination and narration: Luciana Julião
Script: Luciana Julião, with assistance from Luciana Colodete
English narration: Melissa Garcia
English version script: Gustavo Almeida
Research: Fernando Vives (Australia), Luciana Colodete, Luciana Julião, and Mariana Moreira (Brazil)
Fact-checking: Fernando Vives and Luciana Colodete
Editing, soundtrack, and mixing: Bruno Cysne
Translations: Paulo Mussoi
Voice-overs: Eleven Labs
Social media: Carolina Aleixo
Audiovisual: Paulo Mussoi and Carolina Aleixo
Visual identity: Laura Garcia
Scientific consulting: Maria Ataide Malcher, Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
UFPA Team: Arlene Cantão Costa, Ana Teresa Lima Nascimento, Bismaike da Silva Santos, Victor Hugo Pinheiro dos Santos, Marcus Anderson Batista Leal, and Natália da Silva Maia de Almeida
Executive Production: Daniel Stycer and Paulo Mussoi
