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 talk to the LME about their plans to accept metals from small-scale miners, report on the state of mica mining, and see if a new regime can change a glacial mining industry in Argentina. 

We also speak to the UK Coal Authority to find out more about the complex legacy of former mining land, look at the most important technologies helping to keep miners safe, round up the players leaving coal behind, and hear from international law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner about securing alternative funding in mining.

Tech-heavy societies require a lot of different metals, but where do they get them from? We zoom in on Japan to find out where the country sources its metals and what the future holds for the Japanese mining industry. 

We also look at the history of seabed mining in Namibia and, while lithium demand shows few signs of slowing down, the rate at which battery technology is developing is changing at an enormous pace. We look into the longer-term prospects for miners jumping on board the lithium boom. 

Also in this issue, we speak to Platinum Group Metals' CEO to find out more about the company’s future plans at Waterberg Palladium Mine, sit down with Norilsk's vice-president and chief operating officer to find out more about the company's steps to reduce emissions, and hear from TechMet's CEO about its investment in US Vanadium Holdings and the company’s broader strategy in technology metals.

Plus, we examine the US and Australia's joint strategy for rare earth minerals production, and find out how mining companies can get involved with collaborative approaches to achieving social transitioning objectives.

Callum Tyndall, editor