Illegal mining in the world

Not only India, illegal mining hurts other big economies too.
China:
China is the world's largest producer of coal, copper and bauxite. But the Chinese mining industry has a poor safety record with thousands of deaths every year, mostly in illegal mines, reported BBC.
The Chinese ministry of mining has detected 65,313 unlicensed mines, 4,509 unauthorised excavations, 960 unauthorised prospects and 1,365 illegal transfers of mining rights. The government closed almost 11, 155 illegal coalmines between 2005 and 2008 with 8,000 in 2006.
Miners, working in these mines, are 350 times more likely to die than their Indian counterparts. There are 7.29 deaths in China per million tonnes coal produced, as compared to 0.47 deaths in India per year.
In 2007, the Chinese authorities decided to take long -term actions and allocated USD 60 million to eradicate illegal mines. But in 2008, Xinhua reported more than 4,000 accidents, mostly in the illegal mines of Shanxi Yunnan, Guangxi and Hunan states.
USA:
Mountaintop mining, especially in coal, is a major illegal practice mainly in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, south-western Virginia and Tennessee. In West Virginia, the state fined National Coal USD 170,000 in 2006 for illegal mining near an MTR site.
The illegal miners use almost 4 million pounds of explosives to blast the tops of mountains to take 600-800 feet off to get coal, causing severe damage to the Appalachians. However, in 2009, the Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Bill was introduced to make it illegal. “The Obama administration has now taken several useful steps to limit future damage. But these are stopgap measures, well short of the permanent protections needed,” reported the New York Times.

South Africa:

The South African court announced illegal mining as organised crime only last year, while billions of Rands were lost as revenue due to illegal mining in the gold, platinum and diamond sectors. According to the South African Press Association (SAPA), the government loses ZAR 5.7 billion (USD 30 million) annually in the gold sector only. Previously, illegal miners were charged only with trespassing.
According to the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), illegal miners not only deprive the government of revenue but also cause a huge loss of the concerned company’s prime products and assets such as explosives, machinery and equipment, and copper cables. Further business risks for the company include the threat of mine closure.
Select Committee on Economic Development (SCED) report stated that, between January 2007 and May 2008, an amount of ZAR 133, 123 (USD 17,199) was recovered from illegal miners, and an amount of ZAR 96 340 (USD 12,447) was recovered from the mine employees.
The DMR and SCED said that both the companies and the state had to take action against the illegal miners. “Without coordination in local and national levels, we will go nowhere,” said Jan Nelson, CEO, Pan African Resources.
Companies are requested to improve access controls to their underground workings by strengthening security measures; and warn mineworkers against involvement in illegal mining. SCED recommended that the state should undertake regular inspections and check attendance records; audit explosives and amend the Mine Health and Safety Act 2008 to increase fines from ZAR 200 000 to ZAR 1million for noncompliance with safety regulations.
“The objective is to eliminate illegal mining through close coordination between all relevant stakeholders,” said DMR spokesperson Jeremy Michaels.
Brazil:
Illegal mining is rampant in Brazil especially in the Amazon area. Gold is the major mineral excavated from the area. Across Brazil, people in search of gold are flocking to these mines. Apart from that, illegal miners operate on iron, copper, manganese, aluminium, nickel, tin, diamond and uranium mines. They consist of 30% of all mining production of the area.
Venezuela:
The Venezuelan government launched a massive operation last year to eradicate mining and deforestation in the south-eastern part of the country. According to the Central Bank (BCV) figures, illegal mining accounts for 60% of the total gold production in the country.
In addition to closing down illegal mining operations that smuggle resources out of the country, the government is considering revoking mining concessions of national and multinational companies that destroy the environment and exploit workers.