North Carolina's latest charter school is a computer.

One of the reasons children attend school is to meet other children their own age and ability. Now, children are going to be turned into an absent identity of 'the other.' 

This type of education promotes isolation and not responsible citizenship.

This is a failure in government.

North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA), (click here) an online public charter school authorized by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, will work in partnership with you to awaken the joy of learning in your child.

The result can be greater academic success, confidence, and independence, both in school and beyond.

North Carolina Virtual Academy gives North 

Carolina children in grades K–11 the chance to learn in the ways that are right for them with:

• The award-winning curriculum from K12, the leading online K–12 curriculum provider and a CITA-accredited company
• A high-quality, tuition-free public education
• An individualized approach to learning
• Instruction from North Carolina-certified teachers
• An active, supportive school community
• Social and extracurricular activities

VOTE

Mining the Grand Canyon is out of the question. It is a precious national park.

The Grand Canyon needs to be protected. Please sign the petition to keep the this national treasure protected from exploitation.

Thank you.

Ranging (click here) from desert grasslands to lush, coniferous forest, the proposed Grand Canyon watershed encompasses a wild, rugged array of towering cliffs, deeply incised tributary canyons, and numerous springs that flow into Grand Canyon National Park's Colorado River. 

Proposed uranium mining, logging, and other human activity threatens the Grand Canyon watershed. Naming it as a national monument would protect this unique American icon for generations to enjoy.

Do you think that President Obama should protect this watershed by naming the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument?

These are racist comments by Donald Trump. He knows that. I thought the Tea Party supported the first amendment.

Let there be no doubt, the Trump comments is an extension of his racist ranks regarding the Hispanic population and the Muslim population of the USA. Let there be no doubt.

Beyonce owns the black experience of African American women. She is the good girl that African American can count on to provide a moral image. Sh is wonderful. She is very attractive and full of energy. She exudes love of life, love of family and the African American woman's experience.

November 7, 2016
By Ben Kaye

Donald Drumpf, (click here) the Republican nominee for president known more commonly as 

a sack of rotting oranges Trump, just can’t get over the fact that Hillary Clinton nabbed Beyoncé and Jay Z for one of her rallies. After spending the weekend trying to paint the artists’ lyrics as somehow worse than his own pussy grabbing lingo, Trump turned his attacks against the entire concept of hip-hop.

“The language is so bad,” Trump reiterated to a crowd of deplorables supporters in Florida. He then said in a typically dismissive tone, “And as they were… singing? Singing, right? Singing? Talking? Was it talking or singing? I don’t know.” Go figure a man who thinks all black people live in a hellish inner city war zones doesn’t understand that rapping is in and of itself a separate art form. And that Beyoncé, ya know, sings.

Trump also criticized the “crooked media” for failing to cover the nasty language and the “fact” (aka, complete and utter falsehood) that the crowd at Clinton’s rally was so incensed over the lyrics that they left before the nominee even took the stage. He went on to continue bashing Jay and Bey’s lyrical content, once more demonstrating his refusal to see the false equivalency between artists and an individual trying to lead the free world:

“Isn’t it amazing that when Jay Z and Beyoncé use the filthy language they use in the songs – using words that if I ever said those words, it would be the reinstitution of the electric chair, right? Right? It’s true. They use these words, and then she comes on and hugs them, like everything is right. And yet with me, ‘He’s very lewd.’ It’s a new word, you know, ‘lewd.’ I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”...

Why wasn't Beyonce welcome to the Country Music Awards? She has earned an apology from Travis Tritt. Did I spell his name right? I think I did.

November 6, 2016
By Julia Brucculieri

Travis Tritt (click here) doesn’t think country music needs any help from Beyoncé, or any pop artist, for that matter.
Last week, the country star tweeted up a storm following Yoncé’s appearance at the CMA Awards. Bey performed her hit “Daddy Lessons” with The Dixie Chicks, garnering some confusion from country fans.
Many people were unsure why the “Lemonade” singer was performing at the award show. Among those people was Tritt, a longtime country music performer, who was less than impressed with the Country Music Association’s decision to have Bey at the show.
In his opinion, the performance was just an unnecessary ploy for ratings. Tritt’s Twitter rant began on Nov. 3, when he sarcastically criticized the mixing of pop music with country music. 
“As I see it, country music has appealed to millions for many years,” he wrote. “We can stand on our own and don’t need pop artists on our awards shows.”....

Being an over the top performer is her signature. She was covered from shoulders to floor and country music can't handle her style? It is her stage presence. That is Beyonce and she can even sing and dance, too.

I have to agree with Donald Trump, the world is laughing at the USA. But, it isn't the FBI it is laughing at; it is the IRS and the relationship it has with Donald Trump that is completely laughable.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

I'll be busy most of the day.

Perhaps later.

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing crescent

6.8 days old

43.7 percent lit

November 16, 2016
By Matt Campbell

We live in a time of superlatives. (click here)

Game 7 was the best. The election is the hugest.

And the coming full moon on Nov. 13-14 will be super. In fact, the superest.

Assuming no clouds, it should appear bigger and brighter.

The moon orbits the Earth on an ellipse, bringing it periodically closer. The closest point is called the perigee. At these times, our satellite is just 221,524 miles or so away.

This coming perigee will coincide with a full moon, called the Beaver Moon. That is not so unusual, but this will be the closest full moon so far in this young century.

In fact, the last time it was this full and this close, Harry S. Truman was in the White House and the calendar said 1948. The moon will not be this full and this close to Earth again until November 2034. Who will be president then?...

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article112359717.html#storylink=cp

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article112359717.html#storylink=cpy

We need to return to reason and not simply profits.

The word mining comes from the word "mineral," and open pit mining is just one type of land degradation. There are others and for the most part Kyoto missed the land use issue and focused primarily on reduction of carbon dioxide. That is not to say Kyoto Protocol was not important or a folly, but, it was some what incomplete in the vigor it takes to reverse the climate crisis.

All the buffers to a hot Earth has to be in place. Forests, oceans that are not acidifying or heating, intact coral reefs, reconstituting ice structures, greenhouse gas emissions ended and global conservation principles that value land use that returns forests from open pit mines.

This is not a dreamscape. It was not that long ago when Earth had a far more benevolent traverse around Sol. Third rock from the sun was not turning lives into disasters day after day with droughts, fires, tornadoes, record setting storms and floods.

There is a great deal that can be done. What is amazing to me is that while those that thirst for money see the mining as essential and important, they don't see the rainbow at the end of the profit in valuing the Earth.

Pope Francis stated this is our common home. Earth is our common home and we need to honor that with a reverence for the natural world.

Earth is often thought of as "The Blue Marble," but, it is more than then oceans, it is land and plenty of green color covering that land. In facing the future it is the obligation of generations today to protect the land and have reverence for it's beauty.

One concept that the Wall Street types, including Republicans, don't seem to understand through ignorance, but, more "convenient ignorance," is that this episode of warming is not normal. There has been one other warming period of Earth, but, it was not abrupt. The ice ages were not abrupt. This is not simply climate change, it is abrupt climate change. This episode of warming on Earth is happening far too quickly to allow species to adapt. This time it is also too extreme. The high temperatures are not showing a reversal, only upward on the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales. There is no oscillation into coolness as one would expect if Earth was ending a natural cycle. There is only movement to higher and warmer temperatures and greater danger and peril. We must act to end this deadly trend that has already taken a toll of human life.

It is not ideology. It is real. Land reclamation can produce new economies and a return to green space.

ERASING THE LEGACY OF INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS (click here)

at the start of industrial operations, when that is possible, during the facility lifecycle, and at the end of the operating period, the soil, ground, surface and groundwater are characterized to identify any contamination related to previous or nearby operations, or to specific operations at the plant site, whether related to operating release permits or to particular incidents.

the results are compared with the country's reference criteria, when they exist, to the site’s specific background radiation level or, in some cases, to world health organization guidelines.

this analysis of site conditions is used to:

• identify any environmental impacts from our operations;
• characterize the related risks, both for human health and for biodiversity;
• recommend corrective actions when soil or ground conditions require;
• undertake remediation or monitoring.

these efforts can translate into:

• periodic monitoring of groundwater; 
• additional investigations to gain a better understanding and footprint of impacts on soil and/or water; 
• rehabilitation and/or reclamation; 
• the establishment of constraints or use restrictions at the site.

all such activities are aimed at reducing our environmental legacy, meaning erasing as much as possible the legacy of industrial operations on the environment to avoid any health effects, whether for site personnel or for the neighboring population.

Returning these lands to a natural state does not mean it is immediately available for such activities as logging or real estate. It takes time to allow the land to settle, but, the longer it is put off the longer it will lay fallow and void of any economy at all.                          

It is time to fill in the holes.

Left is a vertical view from 2010 imagery showing the active mining of Bingham Canyon.

Below is something many people will recognize as a route by MapQuest.

To illustrate the dynamics that can be all to real, is Cushing, Oklahoma and the Bingham Canyon Cooper Mine west of Oklahoma. There is a difference in miles of 1183 and a little less "as the crow flies." The point is there is ever increasing instability in Oklahoma because of all the fracking wells and there is instability in Bingham Canyon, Utah. Yes, what I am implying is that as Oklahoma becomes less and less stable, it will contribute to other problems such as activity at the enormous hole in the ground valued for it's cooper.

I think USGS have priorities to set and the ever increasing potential of significant earthquakes across the North American craton is one of them. It is time to stabilize the craton and it can't happen soon enough. Gigantic holes in the ground like Bingham Canyon have to be looked at differently and as a catalyst to seismic activity that is harmful to the crayon. 

April 7, 2016

By Dennis Romboy

Bingham Canyon — Kennecott Utah Copper (click here) has eyes all over its vast Bingham Canyon Mine looking for any potentially dangerous movement of the earth.

Some 400 workers on any given shift are trained to spot geotechnical hazards, whether driving massive dump trucks above ground or mining ore below. But the company deploys a wide array of high-tech instruments to cover the 2 3/4-mile wide, 3/4-mile deep pit in the southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley.

Radars, GPS trackers, prisms, extensometers, reflectometers and piezometers work in concert to detect the slightest movement — down to hundredths of an inch — or trickle of groundwater. The strategically positioned devices generate round-the-clock data for engineers to analyze in an effort to protect lives.

Kennecott is also testing drones for taking a three-dimensional photo of the open-pit mine and dropping monitors in places where workers can't reach. The 113-year-old mine is the largest man-made excavation in the world.

"We're constantly doing monitoring with our plethora of systems," said David Meador, mine operations manager. "Really, the aim in most of our response plans are around ensuring there's no one in the area well in advance."...

The landslide at Bingham couldn't be better. The land if finally filling the mine. While the landslide is extremely dangerous the land has to be returned to some degree of stability with canyon walls supported by the earth and not air. One of the reason there needs to be a return to stability of open pit mines, especially in the USA is because Oklahoma's fracking industry has caused a greater instability in the North Craton.

April 11, 2016
By McKenzie Romero and Andrew Adams

Bingham Canyon (click here) — What started as movement measuring only fractions of an inch at Kennecott Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine became the biggest slide Ted Himebaugh has seen in his 36 years with the company.

Himebaugh, Kennecott's general manager of operation readiness, said the size and depth of the slide that occured Wednesday night is still unknown. After effectively preparing for the slide and preventing any injury, teams are beginning to assess its impact before they can determine when workers will return.

"Our primary goal now is to determine how we can safely resume operations and provide not only the jobs for the people but money to the state of Utah and economy," he said. "We've got to do that (safely), and that's probably the No. 1 thing that would slow anything down. … We will not take a risk."...

USGS should be a part of a team that plans more landslides with the assistance of well placed dynamite where possible.

November 6, 2016
By AP

Cushing, Okla. --

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake (click here) has shaken central Oklahoma, causing damage to some structures.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake struck at 7:44 p.m. CST, with an epicenter located one mile west of Cushing, about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

The USGS initially stated it was a magnitude 5.3 earthquake but lowered that rating to 5.0.

The quake was felt as far away as Kansas City, Missouri, and Little Rock, Arkansas....

...The Cushing Police Department reported "quite of bit of damage" from the earthquake but details were not immediately available. Photos posted to social media show piles of debris at the base of commercial buildings in the city....

Fill in the hole and allow the vegetation to return.

The abandoned diamond mine in Russia is as good an example as any to the devastation that exists with open pit mining. These gigantic mines are never adequately returned to a natural state.

In the USA, the mining companies are suppose to store the top soil and allow scientists/botanists to return the land to a benevolent natural condition. I doubt there is any international laws that would govern such a focus. It should be made a part of the Kyoto Protocol. If the global community is sincere about ending the climate crisis these problems have to be addressed. 

If Russia is worried about the cost, it needs to realize the ECONOMY OF THE NATURAL WORLD, can be just as much an investment to the future as the original diamonds were. Why is it abandoning a mine is a better idea than returning it to a natural state where ultimately trapping, hunting, fishing and tourism can flourish. 

Mir Mine (click here)  also called Mirny Mine is a former open pit diamond mine located in Mirny, Eastern Siberia, Russia. At the time of its closing in 2004, the mine was 525 meters deep and 1,200 meters across making it the second largest excavated hole in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine. The hole is so big that airspace above the mine is closed for helicopters because of incidents in which they were sucked in by the downward air flow....

While on the topic of diamonds...127 years of experience. Indeed.

Our pin mines (click here) - in Botswana, Canada and South Africa - are impressive feats of engineering. This type of mining is the most common method of recovering our diamonds. It is used when diamond ore appears near the surface or is covered by a thin layer of sand, cinder or gravel. Once the ore has been exposed, we break it up before taking it to be processed.

The layout of each mine depends on the size and shape of the diamond deposit as well as the characteristics of the rock. When an open pit mine reaches a certain depth, we may continue mining by constructing an underground mine, as we are doing in our Venetia operation in South Africa.




De Beers also mines underground as well in the marine environment of the Atlantic Ocean off Namibia. 

16 May 2016

The Government of the Republic of Namibia (click here) and The De Beers Group of Companies today signed a new 10-year sales agreement for the sorting, valuing and sales of Namdeb Holdings' diamonds. The sales agreement is the longest ever signed between the two partners.

Namibia will see a significant increase in rough diamonds made available for beneficiation as a result of the agreement, with US$430 million of rough diamonds being offered annually to Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) customers. As part of the agreement, all Namdeb Holdings’ Special Stones will be made available for sale in Namibia.

In addition, the agreement provides for 15 per cent of Namdeb Holdings’ run-of-mine production per annum to be made available to a Government-owned independent sales company called Namib Desert Diamonds Pty Ltd.

The agreement builds on the socio-economic contribution the partnership has made to Namibia since it was formally established in 1994. Namdeb Holdings is one of Namibia’s largest taxpayers and the country’s biggest foreign exchange generator, contributing more than one in every five Namibian dollars of foreign earnings.

Obeth Kandjoze, Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, said: “This new agreement cements Namibia’s position as an important international diamond player and will provide further stimulus to advance our downstream industry....

Diamonds.

November 6, 2016
By Rapaport News

De Beers (click here) launched an online trading service that enables third parties to sell polished diamonds to other businesses on the miner’s existing auction platform.

The pilot service is targeted at single stones weighing more than 5 carats or those with a fancy color, the company said. The initiative, open to midstream industry members, represents an expansion of a rough trading platform for the trade De Beers introduced in June. 

“We look forward to seeing how the trade responds to the extension of the third party selling service,” said Neil Ventura, executive vice-president of De Beers auction sales business (pictured). “Once we have some initial feedback we can decide whether there is sufficient demand to continue with it.” 

De Beers said all sellers must comply with a declaration of integrity. In addition, diamonds must come with evidence of manufacturing history and go through a three-level screening process to identify synthetic or treated stones.

I am sure there are dearly few people that have not heard of "Blood Diamonds." The global community has some together to classify natural resources as "Conflict" resources. Diamonds are the most recognized of these resources. The origins of these resources bring a far different reality than the ultimate use.

Violence (click here)

Diamonds are supposed to be symbols of love, commitment, and joyful new beginnings. But for many people in diamond-rich countries, these sparkling stones are more a curse than a blessing. Too often, the world’s diamond mines produce not only diamonds – but also civil wars, violence, worker exploitation, environmental degradation, and unspeakable human suffering...

By David Gerard

Jane S. Shaw

Series Editor

"Of all those expensive and uncertain projects which bring bankruptcy upon the greater part of the people that engage in them, there is none perhaps more perfectly ruinous than the search after new silver and gold mines." --Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (click here)

Last I checked the pickax was out and the mechanized mine was in. Coal mining is not labor intensive anymore, contrary to the political rantings of Mitch McConnell. 

...How the Law Works (The General Mining Law of 1872) (click here)

Federal land holdings in the West are the primary sources of hardrock mineral potential in the United States. The Mining Law governs hardrock mineral exploration and development on the public domain. (The public domain is land that was originally in federal stewardship. Acquired lands are those that the government obtained through gift, condemnation or purchase.) Not all public domain land is accessible. Congress and the president have restricted or prohibited access for a number of reasons, including siting of power facilities and the designation of national monuments and parks and wilderness areas.

There are other federal systems for allocating mineral rights. For example, the federal government sells the rights to extract "common variety" minerals, such as sand, stone, and gravel, although the lands remain in federal stewardship. Rights to fossil fuels and fertilizers on federal and offshore lands are leased. So are the rights to hardrock minerals on acquired federal lands, Indian lands, and on most state-owned lands. The function of all these systems is to transfer rights to minerals from federal ownership to private hands.

For hardrock minerals, the exploration and development process begins with a survey of wide areas of land and the identification of a promising site. After makingsure that the site is part of the public domain and has not been withdrawn from access, an individual or firm establishes rights under the Mining Law by staking a claim and then reporting the site of the claim to the county recorder and to the Bureau of Land Management (even if the site is on national forest land). Because the maximum claim size of roughly 20 acres is far smaller than the typical mining operation, claimants usually stake larger blocks of land. For instance, a 1,000-acre site would require at least 50 sets of markings and filings. Claimants maintain rights from year to year by paying a $100 annual holding fee per claim. These claim rights are property that can only be removed through a legal process....

New Zealand has an environmental court.

7 November 2016

KASM challenges seabed mining secrecy in Environment Court today. (click here)

Today, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM), with the support of Ngāti Ruanui and Talleys Fisheries Group, will be asking the Environment Court to rule that seabed mining company Trans Tasman Resources (TTR), make public all of the information in its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed in the South Taranaki Bight.

The hundreds of pages of redactions include the details of the content of the seabed sediment in the Bight, and the modeling - and detail - of the sediment plume that would be spread across the Bight from seabed mining, as well as economic data.

TTR applied to the EPA for these documents to be redacted, and only able to be viewed if a party signs a confidentiality agreement that severely restricts distribution and discussion of the content and puts signatories at risk of civil and criminal penalties if they breach the agreement.

“We were forced to take our case to the Environment Court because the redacted documents provide crucial information about the potential environmental impact of digging up 50 million tonnes of the seabed a year for 35 years,” said Phil McCabe, KASM chairperson....

...“We believe that it’s only fair that people get a chance to read through this information, which may inform how they view the application,” said McCabe.

This video was three years ago.

The General Mining Act of 1872 is still the law of the land.

Mining Law Administration (click here)

This includes the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended; those portions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA) that affect the General Mining Law; and the Surface Resources Act of 1955.  See the brochure Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands.

1. Mining Claim Recordation and the Annual Maintenance Fee

This program area, established by section 314 of the FLPMA (43 USC 1744 and 43 CFR 3833) and amended by annual budget acts, concerns the location and recording of mining claims and sites, recording of title transfers to mining claims and sites, payment of annual fees and filings of annual assessment work documents, and deferments of assessment work. It also includes the adjudication of these required filings, fees, and transfers, and the issuance of decisions voiding out claims and sites that fail to comply with these requirements. The Bureau has on record (1998) approximately 290,000 mining claims Nationwide, including Alaska. The BLM's annual statistics for mining claims are published in the Public Land Statistics....

The California Gold Rush occurred in 1849. The law governing mining in the USA has changed very little since then. The industry has had enormous changes since the day of old, but, the country's laws have not changed to recognize the technology. OSHA and the miner's unions define the safety of the working conditions, but, there should be a lot more definition to what a mine is in the USA.

Methane is among the greatest dangers in coal mines in the USA. There is no getting around it, methane exists where carbon decayed into coal and oil. There should be methane extraction from coal mines long before the first tunnel is dug. The petroleum industry is so very, very proud of their fracking to remove methane, why aren't they using it to extract all the methane out of coal veins before the tunnels are dug?


Oh, wait. There are corrosive chemicals that might dissolve the coal before it can be mined. I forgot, where the priority is money the petroleum industry knows how to prioritize. 

The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 (click here) sparked the Gold Rush, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figure of less than 1,000). A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852....

Excuse me? No one bothered to understand that mining Afghanistan's rare earth minerals was vital to USA security?

November 6, 2016
By Jawad Kakar

An Afghan woman, wearing a burqa, rides on a donkey alongside her husband in the Ishkashim district of Badakhshan province, north east of Kabul April 24, 2008.

Afghan Taliban militants (click here) have strengthened their grip on lucrative illegal mining operations in the north of the country, as security forces focus most of their efforts on battling the insurgency in the volatile south, officials said.

Abuses by local commanders with private militias and beyond the purview of central government have also driven people into the hands of Islamist fighters, the officials added, making it easier for them to profit from small-scale mines in the region.

"The Taliban provide protection for the villagers to mine and the people are happy to do it despite the fact that there's a presidential decree banning any uncontrolled mining," said Gul Mohammad Bedar, deputy governor of Badakhshan province.

He estimated that the militant group, fighting to overthrow the Western-backed government in Kabul, raised about a third of its funding needs in Badakhshan from deposits of minerals, including semi-precious lapis lazuli, found in its mountains.

Opium, grown mainly in the south of Afghanistan, is by far the biggest source of revenue for the Taliban nationwide, with the total value of opiates reaching as much as around $2-3 billion annually, according to the United Nations.

Mining, by comparison, is worth several tens of millions of dollars a year, although that proportion rises in the north.

Insurgents have taken authorities by surprise in the last year or so by seizing large swathes of territory in a part of the country where their presence has traditionally been weaker.

"We always thought that since much of the north, especially Badakhshan, Takhar and even parts of Kunduz, were anti-Taliban, we would be fine and the militants would never be able to gain ground, but we were wrong," said one Afghan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity....

This is the reference I am using to define the discussion of Industrial processes.

Page 2 (click here)

Kyoto Protocol
Annex A

Industrial processes
     Mineral products
     Chemical industry
     Metal production
     Other production
     Production of halocarbons and                     sulphur hexafluoride
     Consumption of halocarbons 
           and sulphur hexafluorid
      Other

These are the definitions I use to determine the subject and it's context. 

"Minecraft" is an entirely new take of masculinity. Who knew?

It's Sunday Night

Remember the "Golddiggers?" A show like that would not survive the first 15 minutes today.

The Golddiggers (click here) are an band of younger Girls in a troupe and as A Spin-off of _"Dean Martin Show, The" (1965)_ and _"Dean Martin Presents The Golddiggers" (1968)_. The 1971-1972 Variety Show presents Regulars, Guest Stars, Rock Stars & Others. All the Golddiggers can dance and sing a number of tunes as they play in sketches that ranged from "Gone With the Wind" to "Let's Make A Deal" and the show lasted for 2 seasons.

- Written by Anonymous

But a show about the lives of Iranian miners might.

Pictures from Ebrahim Noroozi (click here) depict the grim reality of the coal miner in the remote Mazandaran province of Iran

Around 1,200 miners work across ten mines in the mountainous area more than 80 miles northeast of Tehran

More than 12,000 tonnes of coal is extracted each month, almost all of which is used in Iran's steel industry...

Who knew that a game about mining would be polluting the thinking of children? Does any child grow up to be a miner? Really? Why?