That said if you had to choose a location to build a mine, few spots seem any more hospitable than Arizona.

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NovaGold has tried to estimate for years how much it might cost to build a mine at Donlin, which requires barging equipment up the Kuskokwim River, navigable only six months of the year, in the face of extreme weather and environmentalists.

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In Guyana Chinese companies mine bauxite and want to build a hydroelectric plant and a hotel and to modernise the main airport.

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Private equity backed 2Co wants to build a new coal plant above the Hatfield coal mine and pump the gas to North Sea oil fields where it can be used for enhanced oil recovery.

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The actual game is a modified version of the cult sandbox game Minecraft, where players mine resources in a 3D world and use them to build various constructions.

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