MetaFilter posts tagged with Mining

Cosmin Bumbuc

fire&wings — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:41:36 -0800

Cosmin Bumbuţ, Romanian photographer. [nsfw] His fantastic photographs of the mines at Rosia Montana are a good place to start. Another site with some additional work (and poorer navigation.) here. Short bio here.

Harvesting Guano

Tube — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:45:39 -0800

Long revered for its value as a fertilizer, and as a raw material for explosives, guano is the dried droppings of various birds and bats. The New York Times has published an excellent account of the Peruvian harvest of this valuable resource including a multimedia slideshow. Guano was superseded by synthetics in the early part of the 20th century, due to the development of the Haber Bosch process, which fixed atmospheric nitrogen. An attempt to harvest bat guano from a Grand Canyon cave in the late 1950’s was beset by technical problems and was ultimately unsuccessful. The remaining structures at the canyon rim are now a tourist attraction.

The Door to Hell

homunculus — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:00:12 -0800

The Burning Crater of Darvaza. [Via.]

Buy Platinum (if you can afford $1800 per ounce)

JD Rucker — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:58:14 -0800

Jewelers, engine parts manufacturers, and most of all, investors are watching as platinum hits an all time high, topping $1800 per ounce. An electic supply crisis in South Africa is to blame/thank for this unprecedented rise as mines are facing limits to the amount of electricity they can use. A mining analyst said it could eventually top $2000/oz.

The Leaning Pub of Himley

jonson — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:16:04 -0800

The Crooked House is a pub in the UK's West Midlands built on coal mining land. Severe subsidence over time caused a 15 degree shift from the left wall to the right. Faced with the choice of repairing the damage or abandoning the structure, the owners took a different tack - buttresses now hold the building in place, and it remains at a permanent slant. Higher resolution photos here. Via.

Mountaintop Removal Mining

homunculus — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:45:14 -0800

Appalachian Apocalypse. Mountaintop removal mining (previously) has a devastating effect on the environment and local populations. The Bush administration wants to loosen regulations and expand the practice. [Via Wired Science.]

Down The Mine

homunculus — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:50:29 -0800

Down The Mine. An essay on coal mining as seen by George Orwell in 1937. [Via The Huffington Post.]

Big Brutus' Glory days

sleepy pete — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:36:31 -0800

"A bad way to make a living." A series on the history and ecological impact of strip mining in southeast Kansas during the early 20th century that includes articles, photo galleries with sound files, and video slideshows about the region. The area, known as the "Little Balkans," because of the large Eastern European population that worked the mines, was a large mining community that has given the US the second largest electric shovel in the country, a home to one of the largest socialist newspapers in the country (called Appeal to Reason and founded by Julius Wayland) as well as the Little Blue Books series started by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius in 1919. Oh yeah, it was also --second paragraph-- the place that most of the bootleg alcohol that fueled the Ka ns as City Jazz Scene of that time was from as well. Of course, if you should ever find yourself in SEKS, and you eat meat, go to either Chicken Annie's or Chicken Mary's [transcript] since they're only a few miles apart in their modern incarnation. The legends you hear growing up there aren't always true, but it doesn't matter because the onion rings are fantastic. And yes, in some ways all Kansas has left is history.

On the Edge of Town

Falconetti — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:29:35 -0800

Kiruna: The Town that Moved

DIY Diamond Mining

Burhanistan — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 08:12:14 -0800

Crater of Diamonds State Park Interested in obtaining diamonds but feeling troubled by the diamond business? Head over to Arkansas and dig your own damned diamonds.