Contemporary Issues in Mining

The economic significance of the mining sector should not be underestimated. For many countries mining has been instrumental in delivering economic prosperity to the nation. On this front, Australia is cited as a case in point and many developing mining economies have modelled their regulatory and institutional frameworks on the Australian practice. Mining continues to be a significant primary industry and contributor to the Australian economy accounting for as much as 57% of the nation's exports. Historically, it has encouraged immigration to Australia and has been the catalyst for job creation, infrastructure investment and development of world-class technologies, processes and services. Today the global landscape of mining is dominated by multinational firms, some of which are among the largest companies in the world, who operate in exotic, remote and sometime hostile locations. The challenges in constructing and operating their high-technology sites and delivering the precious materials into a global supply chain are known only to well to managers and investors in this sector. Junior miners who are often responsible for much of the exploration and development face even greater challenges due to the enormity of the financial risk relative to their balance sheet. Overarching the operational and financial risk dimensions to mining, significant pressure has been applied to the sector due to the introduction of environmental, regulatory, and taxation reforms which have further complicated the investment cycle and provided new business challenges for investors and managers in this critical industry. Contemporary Issues in Mining: Leading Practice in Australia provides case studies, commentary and analysis on the mining sector from international experts in business across four key perspectives: strategic, operational, financial and disclosure. It will be invaluable to those executives, managers, academics and advisers involved in the mining sector including public and private mining companies; government and regulatory agencies; analysts monitoring the mining sector and companies operating across mining supply chains.