Natalia Arango works with her mine detector in a zone of landmines planted by rebels groups near Sonson in Antioquia province, November 19, 2015. Women's work takes on a nontraditional meaning for fifteen Colombian women who work to rid the Antioquia Mountains of deadly landmines as the country edges closer to a peace agreement with Marxist rebels to end over a decade of conflict which has claimed 220,000 lives. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

Shortlisted: The Life: A narrow strip, Río Tinto, Huelva, Spain. A narrow strip of road divides ochre-coloured and fresh waters. Trees wait on the fresh side of the road opposite the toxic waters of a nearby mine reservoir. (Photo by Roberto Bueno/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021)

Poisoned River. Abstract Winner. A detailed photograph of a stream filled with poison. “Poisoned Beauty” is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the Apuseni Mountains in Transylvania, which was a result of chemical waste generated by copper and gold mining, but in a beautifully abstract way. (Photo by Gheorghe Popa/Drone Photography Awards 2021)

A photographer has captured these eerie images showing the scale of some of Britain's deepest darkest wonders. Mike Deere, from Reading, heads to daunting locations such as abandoned mine shafts, miles of sewer tunnels that snake underneath London and even disused cooling towers. Photo: This incredible picture was taken at the Box Freestone Mine, in Wiltshire. Mike revealed that even experienced map readers would struggle to navigate their way around the seemingly endless tunnels that he and his friends visit. (Photo by Mike Deere/Caters News)

Ismail Mustafa, seen in 2007. “I was collecting mushrooms on the hill near here. I didn’t see the mine. There was a huge explosion. When I woke up I saw that both my legs were gone; I thought my life was over. My brother and another guy were with me. They made a stretcher from sticks and tied it together with clothing. It took two hours to get off the mountain. ‘My daughter has also been injured. She found a shell and brought it into the house and put it on the fire. She didn’t know what she was doing at the time – she was only three. She is blind and has lost an arm”. (Photo by Sean Sutton for the Mines Advisory Group/The Guardian)

Wigan Town center came alive with Hundreds of Revellers dressing up in fancy dress on December 26, 2018. Revellers in fancy dress braved the cold weather in Wigan, a town in Greater Manchester, England for the town's strangest holiday tradition – the Boxing Day dress up. (Photo by Dave Nelson/The Sun)

Student, Shoukria positions a stone for cutting at the Turquoise Mountain Gem cutting class on May 18, 2011, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The mineral resources of Afghanistan are relatively unexplored even with Afghanistan's mineral wealth of coal, copper, gold and iron ore, with precious and semiprecious stones, including high-quality emerald, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. Given the country's remote and rugged terrain, on-going instability plus an inadequate infrastructure and transportation means that mining is still difficult. While many are trying to bring positive changes, Afghanistan's mining industry uses unregulated, primitive methods and outdated equipment. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

The endangered kea is the world’s only alpine parrot, and one of the most intelligent birds. They show no fear of humans and are thieves and pranksters. The parrot is seen in the Whakaari conservation area, near Glen Orchy in the Otago region of New Zealand, a place where historic huts and mining relics are surrounded by stunning mountains covered in tussock. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)