The Global Life Of Mines

Resource extraction exists in diverse settings across the world and is carried out through different practices. The Global Life of Mines provides a comprehensive framework examining the spatial and temporal relationships between mining and postmining as interrelated and coexisting features within the global minescape. The book brings together scholars from various fields, such as anthropology, geography, sociology and political science, examining ethnographic case studies throughout the Americas (Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, USA), Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Europe (Italy, Arctic Norway and Spain).

Exploring the social complexities of the Frieda River Project in Papua New Guinea, this book tells the story of local stakeholder strategies on the eve of industrial development, largely from the perspective of the Paiyamo – one of the project’s so-called ‘impact communities’. Engaging ideas of knowledge, belief and personhood, it explains how fifty years of encounters with exploration companies shaped the Paiyamo’s aspirations, made them revisit and re-examine their past, and develop new strategies to move towards a better, more prosperous future.

In this truly unique celebration of mining, breathtaking aerial photographs by award-winning photographers Jim Wark and Richard Woldendorp accompany ground-level pictures of mines, mine-side oddities, and mine communities. Informed but breezy narratives by mining experts John Trudinger and Karlheinz Spitz identify and explain the images. The World of Mining shows that mining and associated activities can be impressive, attractive, and even spectacular. The book illustrates most if not all aspects of mining and mineral processing, in all its varieties, and from different environments throughout the world. It illustrates the colourful history of mining and its importance to the development of civilisation as we know it. It depicts the wide range of activities in modern mining, from exploration to mine closure, as well as traditional mining by skilled practitioners, using methods adapted to local conditions. A visual feast for anyone interested, with and without a background in the earth sciences or photography. Recommended as well as a primary and secondary school information source on the subject. "...a highly credible and lavishly produced volume..." -- Australian Journal of Mining, November 2011 Check out the author's portal for unbiased and accurate information about mining, its effects on the environment, and the attendant social costs and benefits.

The world of international mining is changing rapidly. Mining corporations are encroaching on more and more greenfield sites in Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America, to serve ever-expanding global industries. Moody shows that large-scale mining imposes a heavy toll on local communities, on their fragile economies and ways of life, as well as the environment. He challenges the mining corporations' recent public relations offensive extolling the virtues of largescale mining and its alleged compatibility with sustainable development, and reveals the unprecedented wave of community and trade union opposition to projects in both the South and the North. This important book concludes with urgent proposals to check the role of multinationals in a sector that has always been at the core of resource exploitation.

A clarion call to rethink natural resource extraction beyond the extractive industries Planetary Mine rethinks the politics and territoriality of resource extraction, especially as the mining industry becomes reorganized in the form of logistical networks, and East Asian economies emerge as the new pivot of the capitalist world-system. Through an exploration of the ways in which mines in the Atacama Desert of Chile—the driest in the world—have become intermingled with an expanding constellation of megacities, ports, banks, and factories across East Asia, the book rethinks uneven geographical development in the era of supply chain capitalism. Arguing that extraction entails much more than the mere spatiality of mine shafts and pits, Planetary Mine points towards the expanding webs of infrastructure, of labor, of finance, and of struggle, that drive resource-based industries in the twenty-first century.

Every child has the right to a good life - one of peace, health and dignity. But have you ever thought about what this really means? You speak different languages, look different and face all manner of challenges every day but in many ways your needs and hopes are alike! You'll meet children from around the world, from Bangladesh to Colombia, each with a unique and uplifting story to tell.

When seven-year-old Dave Lowell was camped out at his father’s mine in the hills of southern Arizona in 1935, he knew he had found his calling. “Life couldn’t get any better than this,” he recalls. “I didn’t know what science was, but wisps of scientific thought were already working into my plan.” So began the legendary career of the engineer, geologist, explorer, and international businessman whose life is recounted in his own words in this captivating book. An Arizona native with family roots in territorial times, Lowell grew from modest beginnings on a ranch near Nogales to become a major world figure in the fields of minerals, mining, and economic geology. He has personally discovered more copper than anyone in history and has developed multibillion-dollar gold and copper mines that have changed the economies of nations. And although he has consulted for corporations in the field of mining, he has largely operated as an independent agent and explorer, the architect of his own path and success. His life’s story unfolds in four stages: his early education in his field, on-the-job learning at sites in the United States and Mexico, development of exploration strategies, and finally, the launch of his own enterprises and companies. Recurring themes in Lowell’s life include the strict personal, ethical, and tactical policies he requires of his colleagues; his devotion to his family; and his distaste for being away from the field in a corporate office, even to this day. The magnitude of Lowell’s overall success is evident in his list of mine discoveries, as well as in his scientific achievements and the enormous respect his friends and colleagues have had for him throughout his lengthy career, which he continues to zealously pursue.

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, U2, Peter Gabriel, and the Neville Brothers all have something in common: some of their best albums were produced by Daniel Lanois. A French-speaking kid from Canada, Lanois was driven by his innate curiosity and intense love of music to transcend his small-town origins and become one of the world's most prolific and successful record producers, as well as a brilliant musician in his own right. Lanois takes us through his childhood, from being one of four kids raised by a single mother on a hairdresser's salary, to his discovery by Brian Eno, to his work on albums such as U2's The Joshua Tree, Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind, and Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball. Revealing for the first time ever his unique recording secrets and innovations, Lanois delves into the ongoing evolution of technology, discussing his earliest sonic experiments with reel-to-reel decks, the birth of the microchip, the death of discrete circuitry, and the arrival of the download era. Part technological treatise, part philosophical manifesto on the nature of artistic excellence and the overwhelming need for music, Soul Mining brings the reader viscerally inside the recording studio, where the surrounding forces have always been just as important as the resulting albums. Beyond skill, beyond record budgets, beyond image and ego, Lanois's work and music show the value of dedication and soul. His lifelong quest to find the perfect mixture of tradition and innovation is inimitable and unforgettable.