This textbook provides an introduction to the field of mineral economics and its use in understanding the behaviour of mineral commodity markets and in assessing both public and corporate policies in this important economic sector. The focus is on metal and non-metallic commodities rather than oil, coal, and other energy commodities.
The work draws on John Tilton's teaching experience over the last 30 years at the Colorado School of Mines and the Catholic University of Chile, as well as short courses for RioTinto and other mining companies. This is combined with the professional consulting and academic research of Juan Ignacio Guzmán over the past decade, in order to demonstrate the industry application of the economic principles described in the earlier chapters.
The book should be an ideal text for graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of mining engineering and natural resource economics and policy. It should also be of interest to professionals and investors in mining and commodity markets, and those undertaking continuing education in the mineral sector.
1. Introduction
Part 1: Mineral Economics: A Conceptual Framework
2. Demand
3. Supply
4. Markets and Prices
Part 2: Public Policy
5. Public Policy, Rents, and Taxation
6. Mineral Commodity Trade and Comparative Advantage in Mining
7. Market Power and Competition Policy
8. Mining and Economic Development
9. Depletion and Scarcity
10. The Environment and Sustainable Development
Biography
John E. Tilton is a Research Professor in the Division of Economics and Business and a University Professor Emeritus at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA. He is also a Professor in the Department of Mining Engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile as well as a Resources for the Future University Fellow.
Juan Ignacio Guzmán is Chief Executive Officer of GEM Ltda., an industrial engineering company that advises the mining industry in management and economics, and of BOAMINE SpA, provider of software solutions for the mining industry. He is also Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
"This is a well-written concise examination of the basic economics of the mineral industry and of the various policy issues facing all its stakeholders. It is not only an ideal text for students of mineral economics but also a clear exposition of the industry's driving forces for students of mining-related disciplines, and for professionals within the industry, the financial community and governments." - Phillip Crowson, Honorary Professor and Professorial Research Fellow, Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, UK
"... this is a comprehensive work of encyclopedic ambitions. It is well researched by two scholars with impressive knowledge of minerals. In my judgment, the prospects are considerable for the book to become a long-lasting classic. Reading it will benefit all kinds of audiences with an interest in mining, from students and their faculty to the captains and employees in the industry, as well as the public policy makers responsible for creating a favorable climate for mineral production, not to forget the financial types that invest in the sector." - Marian Radetzki, Professor of Economics, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, in Asian Pacific Economic Literature
"Tilton and Guzman set the standard for clear writing on a topic that is prone to confused and incomplete assessments. Balancing economic theory with facts and institutional details, this volume more than achieves its goal of demonstrating how simple economic principles provide powerful insights into mineral markets and public policy. Read this book." - Roderick G. Eggert, Professor of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines, USA
"...overall an important book which lays out, as has not been done before in this way, the core principles of mineral economics and how they can be used to inform and improve policy-making. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the subject area and fully bears out the book’s claim to be ‘an ideal text for graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of mining engineering and natural resource economics and policy…and of interest to professionals and investors in mining and commodity markets…’. The writing is elegant and the exposition an illustration of economic thinking at its best and most lucid—as perhaps one might expect from the two authors with a long (in one case, very long) experience of teaching." - David Humphreys in Mineral Economics journal (2016)
"Con temario completo, lenguaje delicado, ideas simples y no tan simples, entendible para una audiencia amplia, y por supuesto también para los entendidos, este libro coloca a esta disciplina, la economía de minerales, en otro nivel del que estaba anteriormente. Ahora es posible incluso para alguien que sabe muy poco sobre el tema auto instruirse. Para los profesores este libro es un regalo, porque aquí está la teoría con ejemplos, listo para ser texto guía de un curso." - Professor Gustavo Lagos in Minería Chilena.
