At the end of October, Barrick Gold Corp president and CEO Mark Bristow made a speech in Mali to celebrate the company’s partnership with the Malian Government and to pledge further commitment to the country’s mining sector. We talk to Bristow about the development of mining in Mali, as well as the company’s history and future plans in the country.

We also look at the potential impact of the LME accepting metals from artisanal miners, and report on the state of mica mining and the ethical challenges the sector faces.

Also in this issue, we examine whether a new regime in Argentina could change a mining industry in stasis, speak to the Coal Authority about rehabilitating former mining land, and learn about the most important technologies helping to keep miners safe. 

Plus, we round up the major players leaving coal behind, and hear from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner about securing alternative sources of funding in the mining industry. 

Callum Tyndall, editor