7. THE MINING SECTOR IS GETTING HARDER TO PREDICT, NOT EASIER

Due to global demand for mineralMineral: A naturally-occurring, homogeneous substance that has a definite chemical composition and (usually) a crystalline structure. commodities, to climate change, and to the rising cost of fossil fuels, nearly everything about mining will “take off” in the coming ten years. Mining opportunities, returns, risks, and costs can all be expected to rise. The interests of Aboriginal communities and of the natural environment will enjoy much more leverageLeverage: strategic advantage or the power to act effectively. In negotiation, leverage is a measure of which side, at any given moment, has a greater ability to influence the other side. when mining decisions are made. But the sector itself will be even more unpredictable than it has been in the past. You are fully justified in taking great pains to weigh what mining will do for your community and what it might do to your community.