The Davie shipyard at Lévis, just across the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City, traces its origins back to 1825 when it was founded by an English sea captain called Allison Davie. Over its long lifetime it has built more than 700 vessels and drilling and production platforms and seen shipbuilding technology develop from wood and sail. During World War II, Davie built 35 warships (mine sweepers, corvettes and destroyers). Davie has also fabricated numerous other products for a variety of industries including power, defence and transport.

Following more than 800,000 metres of drilling and intense preparation, financing and community relations works, in addition to obtaining hundreds of permits and constructing the actual mine, it was in April 2011 that the first gold bar was poured at Osisko Mining’s Malartic mine in Canada.

With the 13th largest economy in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), Mexico has a long-standing tradition as a mining country with its history dating back to the pre-Columbian days, when mining was practised by the Maya, Aztec, Mixteco and Zapoteco peoples. Since those early days the country’s underground resources have played a significant role in the development and prosperity of its economy.

When considering the extraordinary level of social and economic growth that has occurred in Africa over the last ten years it is easy to forget that for decades it suffered from being seen as little more than a poor continent that could only be sustained by the giving of aid. Today the complexion of Africa has changed dramatically thanks to considerable local and international investment.

James Bay, a tongue of water licking out between Ontario and Quebec, is by any standards remote. The Cree nation that lives on its shores have staked their claim, not always without difficulty, to such economic development as has taken place in the region, but today the greatest impact on their way of life is undoubtedly mining.

Mining activities have been taking place in Botswana since the nineteenth century with the advent of the gold rush in the northern part of the country and have since acted as the backbone of the country’s economy. This has been particularly true in the last four decades, during which time Botswana’s hugely significant diamond sector has helped drive the economy to new heights. Today the mining industry remains the main driver of economic activity in Botswana and is forecasted to sustain the economy further into the future.

Charles Siwawa, CEO of the Botswana Chamber of Mines, discusses the positive changes he has witnessed within the mining industry, what motivates him and what the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

Collahuasi, or to give it its full name Compañía Minera Dona Inés de Collahuasi SCM, is a joint venture owned by two equal mining majors, AngloAmerican and Xstrata, with 44 percent of the shares apiece. The remaining equity is in the hands of a group of Japanese interests led by Mitsui & Co Ltd, one of Japan’s largest trading companies and including Nippon Mining & Metals and Mitsui Mining & Smelting.

The company believes that there may be up to 170 trillion cubic feet of gas in the areas it is licensed to explore in northern England alone.

IGas is one of the companies granted a licence by UK authorities to explore parts of the country believed to contain large resources of shale gas. The company's licences cover an area of 300 square miles across Cheshire.