Explores the local politics of mining in Africa, explaining when communities benefit, and when conflict and repression occur.

Excerpt from Statistics of Mines and Mining: In the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains, Being the Sixth Annual Report In my fifth annual report, rendered. In 1873, the stamp-mill process, as it exists in California in its greatest perfection, was thoroughly de scribed, with workin g-drewin gs so complete as to be suitable for use by the miners of less favored districts. In the same volume the important subjects of economy in smelting and of the calorific value of the west ern lignites received further treatment. A new topic was introduced by the thorough description, never before given, I believe, with such full ness and accuracy, of the American process of hydraulic mining, to which account a discussion of the Pliocene rivers of California, the sources of hydraulic deposits, constituted an appropriate introduction. This report contained also a chapter on the dressing of ores, a subject which every year brings into greater prominence in this country, as the amount of tailings and low-grade ores, accumulated in our mining dis tricts, grows larger, and the truth impresses itself more clearly upon our mining communities that the successful treatment of these classes of material is the only permanent basis for an extensive mining industry. The report of 1873 contained, also, numerous drawings of mining ma chinery, intended to illustrate the latest patterns which experience has led the manufactories of the Pacific coast to adopt. It was, moreover, accompanied with a copy of an excellent geological map of the United States, universally acknowledged to be the most convenient and trust worthy yet published. It should be added, as a feature of no small importance to the useful ness of these volumes, that each one of them is provided with a triple alphabetical index of mines, mining districts, and subjects, so that the information they contain can be instantaneously referred to when it is needed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"Over the past five hundred years, North Americans have increasingly turned to mining to produce many of their basic social and cultural objects. From cell phones to cars and roadways, metal pots to wall tile and even talcum powder, minerals products have become central to modern North American life. As this process has unfolded, mining has also indelibly shaped the natural world and North Americans' relationship with it. Mountains have been honeycombed, rivers poisoned, and forests leveled. The effects of these environmental transformations have fallen unevenly across North American societies. Mining North America examines these developments. Drawing on the work of scholars from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, this book explores how mining has shaped North America over the last half millennium. It covers an array of minerals and geographies while seeking to draw mining into the core debates that animate North American environmental history generally. Taken together, the authors' contributions make a powerful case for the centrality of mining in forging North American environments and societies"--Provided by publisher.

"At the conclusion of the 110-day coal miners' strike in March of 1978, President Carter appointed John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV to head up the first major federal study of coal mining in America in three decades. One of the main tasks of the President's Commission on Coal (PCC) was, in the words of Ben Franklin who covers coal for the New York Times, to "search out the roots of labor management bitterness that not only prolonged the record walkout but for decades has resulted in strikes every three years." To President Carter, who expressed a desire to place greater emphasis on domestically produced coal as an energy source, and to business interests, there were questions of great importance." -- review essay by Alan Banks, Appalachian Journal , SUMMER 1982, Vol. 9, No. 4 (SUMMER 1982), pp. 295-301.