Lynnette Hutson is a PhD candidate at the University of Arizona but has a rich and exciting background within the mining industry. Starting as a geo she has worked various "stretch" jobs to find herself making business decisions, engineering, and continuing to ask for new training to excel within her position. Through this she has developed a well-rounded understanding of the mining industry and corporate culture. The conversation is a "crash course" in corporate culture and also highlights the opportunities for young professionals to lead from the bottom up.

Mining is theoretically a short-term activity. Mines extract resources, invest in their community's, and produce value then fade into the past. This is the goal of every mine, but the reality is significantly different. Mines change the landscape and subsurface. Learning how we manage this, plan for the inevitable alteration, and design for post-mine life represents a major knowledge gap. The reclamation of mined lands is a relatively new concept across the globe but has grown incredibly important in a short period of time and will only increase in significance. Planning for mined lands to be used after the mine has closed requires an evaluation of the dynamics between communities, governments, and companies and is difficult to complete. This episode explores this space in the Australian context and outlines the most pressing challenges we face.

Find a list of publications by clicking here

Welcome to the first Our Resources monologue! It is meant to introduce me, the host, the podcast, and give a future outlook. Through the episode I hope to convince you that this podcast is worth your time and that by listening you will be better prepared to improve our world. If there are any disagreements, comments, or questions about what I mention during the episode, reach out at caeburand@gmail.com .

Stephen Williams in a metallurgical engineer turned investor relations expert for Bluestone Resources, an up and coming epithermal gold project in Guatemala. During today's episode, Stephen shares his experiences as a professional engineer and within the financial sector. He shares his insights on how interdisciplinarism is essential for our industry, 21st century due diligence and mineral resource governance, and explains the nature of mineral resource entrepreneurship.

Adam Hawkins is a social governance expert from Global External Relations. He has experience working within mining throughout the globe and particularly within the Southwest US, During the episode he shares his experiences working with government officials and communities, espouses on the best and worst mining legislation, and makes recommendations for our nation to improve mineral resource policy. He is particularly passionate about reforming abandoned mine lands and speaks passionately about his experiences with Cactus Mine, a new copper mine in central AZ.

Dr. Jon Mellon is a social scientist from West Point Military Academy fascinated by how our society interacts and the tools/methods we use to understand our society. His interests are on pertinent topics like democratic elections and public opinion. He has also helped improve our collective ability to understand big data in the social sciences. The conversation focuses on what tools and mindsets we can use to understand big data sets and also the results of research which impacts our societies. Jon is an excellent communicator of science and articulates the crux of his recent investigation into instrumental variables titled, "Rain, Rain, Go Away: 192 Potential Exclusion-Restriction Violations for Studies Using Weather as an Instrumental Variable" which argues that many studies may be overvaluing the instrumental variable of weather to identify predictive correlations related to conflict, wealth, and much more. This episode is both revealing and informative. I hope that you enjoy and thank you for listening.

In the past century, the world has gone through a significant transition. The materials we rely upon once were sourced from tens of millions of small to medium-sized mines spread throughout the world. Nowadays, the majority of formal mining operations are massive open pits, deep underground mines, or other forms of mass extraction. But is this the most efficient way for society to extract it’s mineral resources? That is a critical question as we enter a phase where demand far outpaces supply and efficient supply of mined materials will be a high priority. Dr. Kathryn Moore, from the University of Exeter, has helped to develop a novel system for mining called switch-on and switch-off mining that may advance our ability to efficiently mine. This new model uses small, high grade, ore bodies paired with innovative mining technology to allow minerals to be extracted and concentrated without the enormity of many other mining operations. Instead of decades of lead time followed by massive disruption and centuries of land rehabilitation, this new way of extracting minerals may provide us with essential materials without the large and ugly footprint. These ideas are discussed during the episode and what they mean for mining and our society. After conducting two case studies in Eastern Europe, Dr. Moore and her team have analyzed this subject from many angles, including the ethics of the potential paradigm, to provide insight into how these technologies can be optimized. It presents a new way to think about how we will be able to meet the challenges of future resource demand without sacrificing well-being.

As always, thank you to the listeners of the podcast! I hope that it is enriching and provides valuable insight!

Here are citations for some of her papers:

Moore, Kathryn. "IMPaCT, Integrated Modular Plant and Containerised Tools for Selective, Low-impact Mining of Small High-grade Deposits, Horizon 2020." Impact 2018.8 (2018): 27-29.

Beylot, Antoine, et al. "Switch on-switch off small-scale mining: Environmental performance in a life cycle perspective." Journal of Cleaner Production 312 (2021): 127647.

Moore, K. R., et al. "Sustainability of switch on-switch off (SOSO) mining: Human resource development tailored to technological solutions." Resources Policy 73 (2021): 102167.

Paneri, Anshul, et al. "Renewable energy can make small-scale mining in Europe more feasible." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 172 (2021): 105674.

Tobi Dayo-Olupona is a guest whom words cannot describe. He is a polymath, entrepreneur, leader, and brilliant engineer, among other pursuits. Tobi is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Witwatersrand along with being the Director of Afrmine but has a unexpected path into mineral resources.

Even though most of our conversation is about mining, the lessons and meaning of what we discuss is not unique to mining and is applicable for any young professional seeking to make a positive impact on our world. For example, Tobi describes how, in high school, he was leading 5+ organizations and learned that he needed to delegate, a lesson that extends far beyond mining.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my conversation with Tobi Dayo-Olupona, I hope our conversation is inspiring and useful.

Afrimine Youtube Channel

Tobi's Master's Thesis, "Technology adoption in mining: A multi-criteria method to select emerging technology in surface mines"