Investigation into Mining Giant Wins Journalism Award in Pennsylvania

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A Pulitzer Center-supported project on how a U.S. metals giant impacted the health and economy of an area in Western Australia that includes an endangered forest has won a top journalism award in Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh-Based Alcoa Mines an Endangered Australian Forest at the Peril of Public Health and the Climate won first place in the 2026 A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism. The award, presented by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and the A-Mark Foundation, recognizes the best investigative journalism in the Keystone State.

Pulitzer Center grantees Quinn Glabicki and Jamie Wiggan reported the winning series as part of the Longworth Fellowship. The Fellowship honors Richard C. Longworth, a former Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent and now Distinguished Fellow at the Chicago Council. It supports journalists focusing on global issues that affect Chicago and Midwestern readers and viewers.

Published in PublicSource, an independent, nonprofit media outlet serving the PIttsburgh region, Glabicki and Wiggan's reporting examines the effects of mining by Alcoa—a Pittsburgh-based mining giant and the world’s largest aluminum producer—on Western Australia’s environment and health.

Alcoa portrays itself as a leader in the switch to green energy, producing aluminum needed for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, Glabicki and Wiggan report. But to mine that aluminum, the company clears around 2,000 acres of endangered forest each year. 

The mining also threatens the water supply and public health. Through investigative reporting and photography, Glabicki and Wiggan show the potential costs if Alcoa expands its presence in Western Australia. They also demonstrate to Pennsylvania readers how despite being more than 10,000 miles away, Pittsburgh’s decisions and consumption affect ecosystems and residents in Australia.

Click here to see the full list of the winners of the 2026 A-Mark Prize.