Skillings Mining Review October 2023: our cover, The Great Wall of Subsidies, examines how state support—particularly from China—distorts costs, shifts trade flows, and reshapes project finance across metals.
We set that against ground truths in Africa: Mali’s new mining code, calls for compulsory human-rights due diligence, and the reality of illegal mining and tropical deforestation tied to gold. Risk and resilience thread the month—financing uncertainty, insurance gaps for coal, water scarcity, and a skills shortage slowing digital transformation.
We also probe ethics and value: DRC cobalt’s economic benefits versus extraction concerns, the socio-economic evolution of mining (sustainability, tech, community), and equity issues for women and minorities. On the opportunity side, we test lithium as “white gold” and scrap-to-energy innovation. The takeaway: price policy risk honestly, invest in people and water, and prove social performance if you want durable capital.
