The Mining Law Review is designed to be a practical, business-focused ‘year in review’ analysis of recent changes and developments, their effects and a look forward at expected trends.
The first part of the book deals with mining in a particular jurisdiction. Countries were selected because of the importance of mining to their economies and to ensure broad geographical representation. Mining is global but the business of financing mining exploration, development and – to a lesser extent – production is concentrated in a few countries, Canada and the United Kingdom being dominant. As a result, the second part of this book contains country chapters focused on financing.
The mining sector is facing uncertain times. Commodity prices are lower and continue to be soft. Demand growth from China, the world’s largest consumer of commodities, has slowed considerably, while new markets such as India are not picking up the slack. Operating costs in certain markets exploded during the good years and must now be reined in and traditional lenders to the industry are more highly regulated, having less flexibility to assist companies during this difficult time.
While times are tough, we know that mining is cyclical and that continued world population and economic growth as well as the depletion of current resources mean that growth in the mining sector will resume. The only question is when.
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