mining

The Mind-Boggling Industrial Future of the Arctic

Hamilton Nolan · 04/30/14 09:58AM

The Arctic, located at the top your globes, is a very cold place covered in snow and ice. For now. But not for long. There are plenty of business people already making plans to industrialize the hell out of this frozen wasteland.

Do You Own the Rights to the Land Under Your House? Maybe Not

Hamilton Nolan · 10/09/13 02:01PM

Generally speaking, when someone purchases a house, they assume that they have also purchased the rights to the land that sits directly beneath that house. Not so fast, suburbanites! You may have already signed away your right to not have fracking underneath your back yard.

Gingrich Had Second, $1 Million Line of Credit at Tiffany's

Max Read · 06/21/11 08:52PM

We all know that broke, friendless presidential candidate Newt Gingrich loves Tiffany & Co enough to have held a $250,000 - $500,000 credit account at the high-end jeweler. But did you know he loves the place so much he had a second, $500,000 - $1 million line of credit? And also he dyed his hair Tiffany blue?

Coal Company Broadcasts Its Safety Violations on Reality Show, Gets Fined

John Cook · 04/08/11 05:09PM

Cobalt Coal Corp., a West Virginia mining company, has its own super-cool reality TV show on Spike TV about how dangerous its mines are, just like those Deadliest Catch guys. Unfortunately, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was watching, and fined Cobalt for safety violations that it saw happening, on TV. Now if only they could do a reality show about Goldman Sachs. [AP, photo via Spike]

Nevada's 'Burning Man' Towns Face Burn Out

Jeff Neumann · 12/05/10 10:43AM

The small Nevada towns near the 'Burning Man' festival site are effectively jobless and broke after USG Corp., which owns a gypsum mine and produces wallboard, announced the closure of its local operations. What will happen to the drug festival?