In this issue

Welcome to the latest issue of MINE Magazine.

In this edition, we ask what the future could hold for coal. Or, more pressingly, what the recent past has done to affect coal production around the world; with energy and mining leaders increasingly aware of the significant environmental impacts of continued coal mining and burning, few concrete steps have been taken to minimise these impacts. 

With two COP events in the last two years proving ultimately underwhelming for the world’s environmental needs, the question remains as to whether the world can ever shake its addiction to coal, even in these dire environmental times. 

Elsewhere, we consider the recent plight of some of the most important metals to the world’s industries: nickel and aluminium. While supply chains have been strained by uncertain economic conditions, and the ongoing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world’s appetite for metals and minerals will not subside, raising the worrying prospect of spiralling costs and unobtainable reserves associated with some of the literal building blocks of the world. 

We also look at how miners are looking to decarbonise their operations, through innovations in collaboration and data. The world is caught in a near-impossible situation, simultaneously reliant on mineral production to sustain itself, but seeing its landscapes wrecked by that same production, so there is hope that working together, and embracing more sophisticated data analysis techniques, can provide insights into tackling this existential question. 

For all this and more, read on.

JP Casey, editor