Throughout my time on the EI Source Book, since September 2011, one of the most consistently popular discussion topics is that of Local Content, that is obligations upon international resource companies to a) procure from suppliers ‘locally’ (a misnomer – this actually means nationally in practice), to varying degrees dependent upon what is being procured and hence how high to realistically pitch the targets,…

From 23 to 26 April 2012, 170 African and international industry representatives, tin buyers, UN representatives, and traceability experts discussed the current…

Azerbaijan's natural gas pipeline to wealth

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The Gold Curse

This post was originally written for OpenOil:

OpenOil is an energy consultancy and publishing house based in Berlin. We are a transparency business, seeking market-driven solutions which produce better outcomes from the oil and gas industry for the people of producing nations.

Times are changing in Burma. Once it was risky to even say her name, now you can buy an Aung Sun Suu Kyi …

This post was originally written for OpenOil.

OpenOil is an energy consultancy and publishing house based in Berlin. We are a transparency business, seeking market-driven solutions which produce better outcomes from the oil and gas industry for the people of producing nations.…

The full title of this talk was: "Implementing extractive industries governance reform in developing and post conflict countries". GOXIAN Luqman Ahmad gave the webinar, supported by slideshare powerpoint. The event was very well attended (in Dundee, UK), and Luqman gave an excellent presentation. View the archived webinar and slideshare at…

Spatial Dimension is pleased to announce that Kumba Iron Ore and the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy of Côte d’Ivoire have recently joined the global FlexiCadastre user community.



“It is with great pleasure that we welcome Kumba Iron Ore as our most recent corporate user. The Anglo American Group already use FlexiCadastre in a number of their business units and the implementation within Kumba will allow Anglo American to further benefit from a consistent approach to…

Old folks among a disappearing tribe tucked in the marshy lands of the upper reaches of the Niger river in what is now the Fouta Djallon highlands of Guinea,  had an adage that goes thus; if you want to show a man how ugly he is you need to put a mirror to his face. The problem is, these people had never had a mirror or what was then referred to as a…

The Extractive Industries Source Book partnership is very keen to hear back from our users with respect to both current usage and in terms of how the project develops into the future - in particular regarding a potential 'Resource Centre' role whereby queries are responded to via email, pooling together the expertise of the partnership to provide the best collective response.

I am very pleased that…

Recently Fitch Ratings published its “Latin America Sovereign Outlook for 2012”[1]. The document presents an extensive analysis on the recent economic performance of the region and highlights the growing resilience of the region to external shocks. According to Fitch, the improved credit profiles derived from macroeconomic stability have not only proved themselves as a magnet for FDI but also as an incentive to more…

ICMM has appointed René Aguilar Sáez as its new Director of Health and Safety. Mr Aguilar, who has been Corporate Safety & Occupational Health Manager at Codelco Chile for 11 years, will be taking up his new position at ICMM on 8 May 2012.



ICMM President Anthony Hodge said, “I am delighted to welcome René to the organization. His experience in leading the safety and occupational health for Codelco’s seven regions will lend itself to ICMM’s goal of assisting member companies in…

Two events have propelled Colombia into the pages of international newspapers in recent weeks. The second was last month’s hosting of the Summit of the America’s, held in the sun-drenched port of Cartagena - despite walk-outs and spats over the Falklands, the event was widely touted as celebrating Colombia’s miraculous “comeback” from a mal-functioning narco-state to take its place alongside Brazil and Argentina as a new regional powerhouse. The first however was the historic commitment made…

The controversy over the £3bn (US$4.8bn) Minas Conga gold mine planned for Cajamarca continued this month. While the high courts overruled local government efforts to block the project, an international review panel recommended substantial changes to minimise Conga's environmental impact.

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On 3rd April the Humala administration published details of how the Prior Consultation Law - a measure obliging the state to consult with indigenous groups over extractive projects - would be applied in practice. While the passing of the original law in September 2011 was welcomed by a wide variety of groups, the new regulations have faced criticism from several quarters.…