Sustainable opportunities

While Guatemala’s enormous mining wealth is no longer the well-kept secret that it once was it is still an industry very much in its infancy. Through its Marlin Mine operations, Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, a subsidiary of the Canadian firm Goldcorp, is working to ensure the country will soon be able to unlock its potential.

It is estimated that India has in excess of 50 million active internet users, with around 40 percent of those having previously made purchases online, making it a market of huge potential value for the online retailer.

Initially Amazon will only sell books, films and TV shows but plans to offer mobile phones and cameras within weeks. In addition, third party retailers will sell their goods through Amazon's site using a "marketplace" model, a familiar retail concept in India.

It was in July of 1969, during the presidency of Juan Velasco Alvarado, that Petroperu was created based on La Pampilla Sate Refinery and expropriated refineries. In the more than four decades since the company has been a major contributor to the country’s economy.

It’s becoming axiomatic, if not an absolute cliché, to talk about how Africa has leapfrogged the ‘north’ in adopting and developing mobile technology. How the continent’s need for growth has thrown up new paradigms that rely on lateral rather than linear modes of thought. It is certainly true that the sudden appearance of Africa as a technology leader has made even the more agile old world corporations rethink how they do product development.

As with any country’s main airport JKI is the gateway to the country, and the people who fly in and out from all over the world, fairly or not, will judge Kenya by their first impression, gained as they struggle through the baggage reclaim and immigration checks. The first Kenyans they meet will be the airport staff. What greater PR opportunity could there be for a country and its people?

The Davie shipyard at Lévis, just across the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City, traces its origins back to 1825 when it was founded by an English sea captain called Allison Davie. Over its long lifetime it has built more than 700 vessels and drilling and production platforms and seen shipbuilding technology develop from wood and sail. During World War II, Davie built 35 warships (mine sweepers, corvettes and destroyers). Davie has also fabricated numerous other products for a variety of industries including power, defence and transport.

Following more than 800,000 metres of drilling and intense preparation, financing and community relations works, in addition to obtaining hundreds of permits and constructing the actual mine, it was in April 2011 that the first gold bar was poured at Osisko Mining’s Malartic mine in Canada.

With the 13th largest economy in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), Mexico has a long-standing tradition as a mining country with its history dating back to the pre-Columbian days, when mining was practised by the Maya, Aztec, Mixteco and Zapoteco peoples. Since those early days the country’s underground resources have played a significant role in the development and prosperity of its economy.

When considering the extraordinary level of social and economic growth that has occurred in Africa over the last ten years it is easy to forget that for decades it suffered from being seen as little more than a poor continent that could only be sustained by the giving of aid. Today the complexion of Africa has changed dramatically thanks to considerable local and international investment.

James Bay, a tongue of water licking out between Ontario and Quebec, is by any standards remote. The Cree nation that lives on its shores have staked their claim, not always without difficulty, to such economic development as has taken place in the region, but today the greatest impact on their way of life is undoubtedly mining.