Responsible Raw Materials Podcast

Dr Sarah Gordon and Critical Productions
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The podcast about responsible mining, critical minerals and the raw materials behind modern life, from the energy transition to the buildings we live in. Each week, geologist and sustainability specialist Dr Sarah Gordon sits down with engineers, investors, policymakers, researchers and community leaders from across the mineral value chain to explore how decisions about raw materials are really made: what works, what doesn't, and the trade-offs in between. New episodes every Thursday. Produced by Critical Productions. Learn more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

  1. vor 5 Tagen

    Michael Barron: The Role of Raw Materials in the Middle East

    Gas, The Strait of Hormuz and the Raw Materials Geopolitical Landscape of the Middle East  Michael Barron is a Middle East political risk specialist who came to natural resources by an unusual route. He studied Arabic, worked in consultancy, then moved into the oil and gas industry - a background that lets him read a gas field and a government with equal fluency. He is also the author of The Gaza Marine Story, which traces the untapped gas field off the coast of Gaza that, more than two decades after its discovery, has still not been developed.  His central point is that political events can erupt overnight, but the trends that produce them - population growth, economic pressure, shifting alliances - build over years. Good risk management, he argues, isn't about predicting the next headline. It's about recognising those slower currents early enough not to be surprised.  The conversation moves through Gaza, Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, gas as a feedstock for fertiliser, the region's under-explored mineral wealth, and why national interest matters more than any single government.  Michaels Book, ‘The Gaza Marine Story: The Politics and Intrigue Behind Palestine’s Untapped Gas Wealth’ is available now - https://www.nomad-publishing.com/the-gaza-marine-story-2.html Listen to Michaels’ 2023 Responsible Raw Materials Conference presentation on ‘ Building Trust Using Beneficial Ownership Transparency’ here: https://responsiblerawmaterials.com/post/michael-barron-tim-law-building-trust-using-beneficial-ownership-transparency/  Produced by Critical Productions. Learn more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

  2. 30. Juli

    David Strang: Challenging Everything the Industry Takes for Granted 

    David Strang: Challenging Everything the Industry Takes for Granted  David Strang has had an unusual route into mining leadership. A Glaswegian raised in a South African mining town, he studied applied earth sciences at Stanford on an athletics scholarship, ran for Great Britain at the 1996 Olympics, then learned company-building under Ross Beaty at Lumina Copper - a portfolio eventually acquired for more than US$1.6 billion. In 2016 he co-founded Ero Copper, where he is now executive chairman of a business running copper and gold operations in Brazil.  At the heart of the conversation is David's habit of questioning what the industry takes for granted. Why don't geologists have a stronger voice? Why do we assume experience only comes with age? Why shouldn't a young engineer use AI to rethink how a mine runs? And why can't a mining company create value that outlasts the ore body itself?  We also explore social licence, the sector's push into AI, his sponsorship of Stanford's Mineral-X programme, and a goat-herding project that shows what genuine community partnership looks like.  Produced by Critical Productions. Learn more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

  3. 23. Juli

    Melody McNeil: Above Ground First - What Mining Can Learn from International Development 

    Melody McNeil is an agriculture and natural resource economist who has spent decades working with USAID and Catholic Relief Services across East and Central Africa, Afghanistan, and South Sudan - not inside mining companies, but alongside them, and who has seen first-hand what happens when above-ground conditions are treated as an afterthought.   The conversation centres on a deceptively simple question: if you were the CEO of a small exploration company, how would you do it?  What unfolds is a genuinely thought-provoking discussion about how the extractive industries value risk, and whether they are truly accounting for the full picture. Melody argues that geology should not come first; that the moment exploration begins, expectations form, politics mobilise, and communities start to position themselves around what may or may not materialise. The cost of catching those signals late is often borne most heavily by the people least equipped to absorb it.  Together, Melody and Sarah explore informal land tenure, benefit sharing, elite capture, and the idea of treating the operating environment as part of the asset itself - not a checklist to complete, but an input to every decision from day one. They also ask a more uncomfortable question: does knowledge gathered on the ground truly belong to the company that gathered it? And what happens when it never makes it back to the communities it came from?  To hear more from Melody at the 2026 Responsible Raw Materials conference, where she speaks on ‘Creating Certainty Above Ground: How Stakeholder Alignment, Political Foresight, And Community Trust De-Risk Critical Mineral Projects’ visit:   https://responsiblerawmaterials.com/post/melody-mcneil-2026-creating-certainty-above-ground-how-stakeholder-alignment-political-foresight-and-community-trust-de-risk-critical-mineral-projectsmelody-mcneil-2026/

  4. 16. Juli

    John Thompson: Describe, Don't Quantify - A Career Across Exploration and Research

    John Thompson is a geoscientist who spent five decades deliberately moving between industry and academia. After studying geology at Oxford, he went on to explore for magmatic sulphides in Norway and Maine, spend four years in Australia, found the Mineral Deposit Research Unit at UBC, and serve as Chief Geoscientist and VP of Technology at Teck. The thread running through John's career is something he diagnoses with frankness - a limited attention span. What is clear from this conversation is how that apparent flaw became a kind of competitive advantage. Where most scientists pick a lane, John kept changing lanes, accumulating a different sort of knowledge: the kind that comes from four hours in a truck with a geologist who eventually tells you everything. The conversation also moves through the politics of bridging a sceptical academic faculty at UBC, what running 200 people across metallurgy and environment at Teck taught him, and the three problems he still wants to solve: the mystery of IOCG deposits, the full-stack challenge of mine waste, and the case for in-situ recovery. Produced by Critical Productions. Learn more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

  5. 9. Juli

    Anne Thompson: A Geologist's Career at the Edge of Certainty

    Anne Thompson is a geologist, mineralogist, and self-described snake that sheds its skin. Over four decades she has worked as an exploration field geologist in Australia and the Southwest Pacific, built and sold an applied mineralogy consulting company, helped produce the Atlas of Alteration, and served on the council of the Society of Economic Geologists. She also hosts her own podcast, Discovery to Recovery.  What makes Anne compelling is her refusal to take the comfortable position - from her roots as an environmental activist in the 1970s, through a pivotal moment in Crested Butte where she realised the mine was not the problem, to working first-hand during the Bre-X scandal and witnessing the regulatory reform it eventually forced.  This episode also covers women in geoscience, the evolution of spectroscopy in the field, and what Anne sees as the sector's most urgent challenge: training the next generation of economic geologists for the world as it is today, not as it was forty years ago.  To hear more from Anne at the 2024 Responsible Raw Materials conference, where she speaks on ‘The Unrecognized Risk Of Parachute (Geo)Science’ visit: https://responsiblerawmaterials.com/post/anne-thompson-2024/    Produced by Critical Productions. Learn more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

  6. 2. Juli

    Caroline Tiddy: ‘If we don’t learn how to adopt and adapt, we’ll miss the game‑changers’ - From academic research to real‑world impact

    In this episode, we sit down with Professor Caroline Tiddy, Chief Scientific Officer at MinEx CRC and Associate Professor of Geosciences at Adelaide University.  From her beginnings in rural Australia to an unconventional pathway through chemistry and geology, Caroline shares how she found her niche in geochemistry, and why she initially resisted economic geology altogether. Reflecting on pivotal career moments, including a shift from purely academic research to industry-focused, applied science, she reveals what it takes to build a meaningful, impactful career in the geosciences today.  Caroline offers a candid look at the human side of resource development, highlighting the growing importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), community engagement, and social responsibility in the raw materials sector. She shares lessons from her own research into leadership pathways for women in geoscience, as well as practical insights on how to bring people along in challenging conversations without alienating them.  We also delve into the realities of academic life, including the uncertainty of fixed-term contracts, the evolving Australian university landscape, and what it means to lead through change, including the recent merger that created Adelaide University.  Finally, Caroline looks ahead to the future of raw materials, discussing the urgent need to embrace emerging technologies like AI, reduce environmental footprints, and rethink how the industry adapts in a rapidly changing world.  Want to find out more about Responsible Raw Materials? Visit ⁠www.responsiblerawmaterials.com⁠ for 100s more resources, videos and links.

  7. 25. Juni

    Caitlin Byrt and Samantha McGaughey: The  Green  Tech  Revolution  Growing  Beneath  Our  Feet

    What if the key to sustainable metals, minerals, and nutrient recovery has been growing in front of us all along? In this episode of Responsible Raw Materials, Professor Caitlin Byrt and Dr Samantha McGaughey from the Australian National University reveal how plant biology is inspiring breakthrough technologies that can extract critical resources from industrial and urban waste. From salt‑tolerant wheat now grown in 11 countries to plant‑inspired separation systems for metals and nutrients, this conversation shows how nature’s own engineering could reshape the future of energy, agriculture, and responsible resource supply.   They also discuss the challenges of deep‑tech commercialisation, the importance of cross‑disciplinary collaboration, and why the next wave of innovation will come from the spaces between scientific fields.  Want to find out more about Responsible Raw Materials? Visit www.responsiblerawmaterials.com for 100s more resources, videos and links.

  8. 18. Juni

    Pim van Geffen: Why Mining Needs to Use It's Data Better

    From the Arctic tundra of northern Quebec to the laboratories and boardrooms shaping the future of critical minerals, Dr Pim van Geffen’s career has been driven by curiosity, and a passion for understanding the materials that underpin modern society. In this episode of the Responsible Raw Materials  podcast, Pim shares the experiences that sparked and sustained his fascination with geology and geochemistry. Along the way, we revisit how a chance encounter with a mining company during his master’s studies led to what became a two-decade international career spanning exploration, geometallurgy, data science, and resource stewardship.  Pim explains how applied geochemistry and better use of data can improve decision-making, from exploration and processing through to environmental management and mine closure. We discuss why industries often fail to fully leverage the information they already collect, how technology and data science are transforming resource understanding, and why more integrated approaches are essential for reducing waste, improving efficiency, and minimising environmental impacts.  The conversation also explores Pim’s current work supporting efforts to understand Europe’s critical mineral potential at a time of growing concern over resource security and supply chains. Looking ahead, Pim shares his thoughts on the future of resource extraction, the challenges the sector must confront, and how innovation could help society meet rising demand while leaving a smaller footprint behind.  Find out more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

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The podcast about responsible mining, critical minerals and the raw materials behind modern life, from the energy transition to the buildings we live in. Each week, geologist and sustainability specialist Dr Sarah Gordon sits down with engineers, investors, policymakers, researchers and community leaders from across the mineral value chain to explore how decisions about raw materials are really made: what works, what doesn't, and the trade-offs in between. New episodes every Thursday. Produced by Critical Productions. Learn more at responsiblerawmaterials.com

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  • Erstellt von
    Dr Sarah Gordon and Critical Productions
  • Jahre aktiv
    2026
  • Folgen
    15
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    Unbedenklich
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    © Dr Sarah Gordon and Critical Productions
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    Responsible Raw Materials Podcast