Before You Put the First Shovel in the Ground—This Book Could Be the Difference Between a Successful Mining Operation and a Money Pit Opening a successful new mine is a vastly complex undertaking, entailing several years and millions to billions of dollars. In today’s world, when environmental and labor policies, regulatory compliance, and the impact of the community must be factored in, you cannot afford to make a mistake. The Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration has created this road map for you. Written by two hands-on, in-the-trenches mining project managers with decades of experience bringing some of the world’s most successful, profitable mines into operation on time, within budget, and ethically, Project Management for Mining gives you step-by-step instructions in every process you are likely to encounter. It is in use as course material in universities in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Ghana, Iran, Kazakhstan, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, as well as the United States. In addition, more than 100 different mining companies have sent employees to attend seminars conducted by authors Robin Hickson and Terry Owen, sessions all based around the material within this book. In the years following the first edition, the authors gratefully received a bevy of excellent suggestions from some 2,000 readers in over 50 countries. This helpful reader feedback, coupled with written evaluations from the more than 400 seminar attendees, has been an unparalleled source of improvement for this new book. This second edition is a significant accomplishment that includes 5 new chapters, substantial updates to the original 34 chapters, and 56 new or updated figures, flowcharts, and checklists that every project manager can use.