Publications

October 2015
Teaching Note

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

13 Dec 2021
News

The Unlikely Upside of Mergers: More Diverse Management Teams

February 2012
Case

First Quantum Minerals vs. Eurasian Natural Resources

By: George Serafeim

The case describes the battle between First Quantum Mineral (FQM) and Eurasian Resources over mines in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After FQM's license to operate was revoked by the government of the DRC, Eurasian bought the rights over the mines that were... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Governance; Natural Environment; Risk and Uncertainty; Government and Politics; Mining Industry; Congo, Democratic Republic of the

26 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

How Humans Outshine AI in Adapting to Change

You’ve probably never thought about all the split-second adjustments you make in a single day to perform different tasks. Wake up in a hotel room, walk into a library, sit behind the wheel of a car, or swipe up to access your phone apps. Each time, you automatically... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

January 2019
Supplement

The De Beers Group: Launching GemFair for Artisanal Diamonds

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

In April 2018, the De Beers Group launched a pilot project called GemFair to create a new supply of ethically and environmentally sourced diamonds from artisanal and small-scale mines (ASM) in Sierra Leone. Whether this project would yield a meaningful supply of rough... View Details

Keywords: Diamonds; New Business; Strategy Development; Strategy Execution; Scope; ESG; Supply; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; Sierra Leone; United Kingdom

2022
Other Unpublished Work

Got 'Critical Minerals'? Hooray! But Be Careful

By: Louis T. Wells

When a country has “critical minerals,” certain issues require special attention in the country’s mining legislation or while negotiating contracts with potential mining investors. As well, to obtain maximum benefit the government should prepare for negotiations with... View Details

Keywords: Critical Minerals; Foreign Direct Investment; International Relations; Mining Industry

Read Now

February 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Freeport Mine, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, The: "Tailings & Failings" - Stakeholder Analysis

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Arthur McCaffrey

Chronicles the development of Freeport's nearly 30 years of mining operations in Indonesia. Building on a mining concession awarded by the country's government, headed by General Suharto, in 1973, Freeport steadily built its mining output to nearly 200,000 cubic... View Details

Keywords: History; Situation or Environment; Private Sector; Economic Growth; Power and Influence; Business and Government Relations; Growth and Development Strategy; Mining Industry; Indonesia

Article

Detecting Adversarial Attacks via Subset Scanning of Autoencoder Activations and Reconstruction Error

By: Celia Cintas, Skyler Speakman, Victor Akinwande, William Ogallo, Komminist Weldemariam, Srihari Sridharan and Edward McFowland III

Reliably detecting attacks in a given set of inputs is of high practical relevance because of the vulnerability of neural networks to adversarial examples. These altered inputs create a security risk in applications with real-world consequences, such as self-driving... View Details

Keywords: Autoencoder Networks; Pattern Detection; Subset Scanning; Computer Vision; Statistical Methods And Machine Learning; Machine Learning; Deep Learning; Data Mining; Big Data; Large-scale Systems; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science

Read Now

March 1996 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Freeport Indonesia

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

In 1996, PT Freeport Indonesia, the mining subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan, had just completed an expansion of its copper and gold mine in the western half of New Guinea. The mine, which had dealt with numerous environmental and sociocultural problems over the past... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Mining; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Expansion; Social Issues; Mining Industry; Indonesia

January 2002
Case

Noranda Inc.: Mining, Smelting, and Sustainability?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Noranda is a $7 billion international mining and smelting company headquartered in Canada. It has been cited for its fine environmental record. This case explores the issue of sustainability--in this case, for a mining company. Over time, and under nongovernmental... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Mining; Cost Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Environmental Sustainability; Mining Industry

July 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Restructuring Bulong's Project Debt

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

Preston Resources, a small Australian gold mining company, bought the Bulong nickel mine for A$319 million in November 1998 and financed the acquisition by issuing a US$185 million (A$294 million) project bond. At the time, mining had been underway for several months,... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Projects; Restructuring; Bonds; Borrowing and Debt; Business Startups; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Valuation; Mining Industry; Australia

10 Apr 2020
Video

Crisis Management for Leaders - Program 5, Session 2

Profile

Annora Wang

mine is an immigrant story of working my way up—I want to mentor and inspire others. I count myself extremely lucky to be here, and I want to help others too. View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media

April 2017
Case

Planetary Resources Inc., Property Rights, and the Regulation of the Space Economy

By: Matthew Weinzierl and Angela Acocella

Planetary Resources, Inc. (PRI) had a bold, some said crazy, vision: to mine asteroids. One might have assumed that developing the right technology would be the greatest challenge facing PRI. But even if the fledgling company could develop and deploy the sophisticated... View Details

Keywords: Property; Rights; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Mining Industry; Mining Industry

09 Apr 2020
Video

Crisis Management for Leaders - Program 5, Session 1

2016
Chapter

Fiscal Issues for Cross-Border Natural Resource Projects

By: Joseph Bell and Jasmina Chauvin

Projects that cross national boundaries give rise to the complex question of how the project's taxable income should be allocated among the national entities. This chapter utilizes a hypothetical mining project with the mine and infrastructure in two different... View Details

Keywords: Extractive Industries; Business ＆ Government Relations; Transfer Pricing; Taxation; Infrastructure; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Business and Government Relations; Mining Industry

April 2015
Supplement

Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American Video Supplement

By: Gautam Mukunda

This is a video supplement for the Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American case series. The video features Cynthia Carroll reflecting on her implementation of organizational transformation at Anglo American in regards to the mining company's safety culture. View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Change Management; Leadership, Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Change Management; Change; Safety; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Leadership Style; Mining Industry; South Africa

17 Dec 2020
Video

Eva Arias

Eva Arias, President of Compañía Minera Poderosa, describes her experience with the Peruvian government around the highly regulated mining industry, securing permits, union involvement, and trade associations. View Details

October 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Busang (A): River of Gold

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1995, Bre-X Minerals, a tiny Canadian mining firm, struck gold. Deep in the heart of the Borneo jungle, it discovered what appeared to be one of the world's largest and most cost-effective gold deposits. Almost immediately, the firm's stock price shot upwards and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Mining; Mining Industry; Canada; Indonesia