Old friends in a new environment
Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of meeting up with an ex-colleague (and current friend), Björn Wenngren, and his partner Christina. Björn was one of the consultants who made a…
Recycling lessons from Sweden
More news from the study tour mentioned in the previous blog post. We have been visiting a number of organisations in Sweden, including the Swedish EPA, recyclers like Kuusakoski, the municipality…
Study tour in Sweden
I have just arrived in Stockholm, in preparation for a study tour of various e-scrap recycling facilities that starts tomorrow. I am accompanying a group of Ghanaian officials and businessmen…
A bit of summer at last!
We have finally got a bit of summer weather here in Eindhoven. Perhaps I should not complain about cold and wet weather when I'm supposed to working inside, but I…
Threats to stability and growth in South African mining
Today I have received a newsletter from the Oxford Business Group, a publishing and consultancy company based in the UK, titled South Africa: Ups and Downs in Mining . It's…
Ron Smit – 2.0
Well, here it is then.. a new website, designed by DoubleMatured and built by Reinhardt Smit. It is intended to be less "bloggy" and by implication, more professional-looking than my…
SDIMI 2011
I've just returned from participation in the 5th international conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry (SDIMI 2011), hosted by RWTH Aachen University, in Germany. Though some of us…
A new face
No, I'm not getting plastic surgery, even though some might think that warranted. But this website, and the consultancy that it represents, is getting a new name and a new…
The Trust Gap
In my recent meetings and chats, face-to-face and online, I've considered and discussed the gap between mining/exploration companies, government mining institutions and environmental agencies, NGO's, investors, and the public. This…
“Small scale” mining with large scale impact
14 May 2010 Today I will post an excerpt from Ghana's Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as well as a picture of operations of so-called "small-scale" miners: Operations…