The nearby Sikalima stream is another cause of friction between the Chinese-run mine and the cattle-herding community in the area, who rely on it as a source of drinking water.

BBC: China in Zambia: Jobs or exploitation?

They are encouraging drillers to use tainted coal mine water to hydraulically fracture gas wells in the Marcellus Shale formation, with the twin goals of diverting pollution from streams and rivers that now run orange with mine drainage and reducing the drillers' reliance on fresh sources of water.

WSJ: Pa. pushes drillers to frack with coal mine water

As the mine was being run illegally, it is unclear how many were in the mine at the time of the incident.

BBC: Illegal Ghana gold mine owner arrested after collapse

But if you run the whole process, from mine onwards, then that makes your bauxite end of the process worth less.

FORBES: Rio Tinto's Aluminium Problems: And They're Only Going To Get Worse

The mine is run by a subsidiary of Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.

NPR: What's Happening At Buffett's Annual Meeting

The Babao mine in the city of Baishan in the north-east of the country is run by the state-owned Tonghua Mining Group.

BBC: Search for Tibet miners after landslide buries huts

Close friends of mine who run a child play-area encountered the same experience in their expansion-planning.

FORBES: Bureaucracy Is Stifling Small Business In The Middle East

In protest the United Mine Workers of America struck at mines run by Blankenship.

FORBES: Not King Coal

Thieves who run networks of hijacked PCs are increasingly using these machines to create or "mine" the coins.

BBC: Bitcoin miners hit back at cyber-thieves

With the latest technology, says Cho, the bank can measure the profitability of every branch employee and customer, mine its customer database and run sophisticated risk-management and credit-analysis programs.

FORBES: Korea's King Of Options