Editor's letter

Cover image: Autonomous haul truck at Rio Tinto’s Australia operations. Photo: Ian Waldie/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Many major mining companies have set net-zero targets for 2050, but some are unlikely to meet their interim targets for 2025 or 2030. Are the targets too ambitious, or is progress too slow? We check in on mining’s decarbonisation journey.

Keen to diversify away from diamonds and crude oil, Angola is hoping to attract new foreign investment to develop its vast untapped rare earth and critical mineral resources. With companies like DeBeers and Ivanhoe already exploring, we look at interest in the country’s mineral wealth.

Elsewhere in untapped resources, we catch up with AstroForge, a startup that has put significant money behind space minerals, to find out how it thinks asteroid mining can become profitable.

We also speak to American Rare Earths about how its significant discovery in Wyoming could impact the rare earths market in the US and globally.

In equipment, we find out how digital technologies such as AI and remote sensors are offering mine operators more advanced options for the monitoring and maintenance of ground engaging tools.

The MINE team