mininghistory.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

"despite History's immense popularity at large... the health and vitality of our subject in schools and universities cannot be taken for granted" This is what I find strangest. People are more interested in history than ever, and at the same time history is disappearing in higher education.

submitted 14 hours ago • 1 comment

Happy 10th birthday to the Ea-Nasir complaint tablet meme! A glorious decade of memes, mashups, merchandise, erotic fanfic, real-life copper fraud, and pilgrimages to the British Museum. Thread 🧵:

submitted 1 day ago • 28 comments

Hard to distinguish predatory journals when the top journals in many fields rely on ever-increasing numbers of 'pay-to-publish' articles to generate revenue for their parent company.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

On a lighter note, there's also a lot in the archive about everyday life. Here's office manager of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions complaining in 1971 that staff keep coming to the office drunk.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

One thing I hope the archives will be useful for is writing histories of structural adjustment in Zambia. Zambia's labour movement fought to remove the one-party state in 1991 and then were incredulous when they new government they had supported turned on them.

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

Thrilled to see this out in @isisjournal.bsky.social! It tells the (timely) story of the #knowledge hierarchies embedded in #mineral exploration by examining the interplay between #books, #experts, and untrained #officials in #Renaissance #Tuscany. More here 👇 shorturl.at/8p7rG

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Ibn al-Wardi (d.1349): “One of the wonders of the land of Sofala is that there are found under the soil, nuggets of gold in great numbers.” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-history-...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Spotted this very useful source in a second-hand shop. It can be surprisingly difficult to find out how long it took to travel between places in the recent past.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

A history of the medieval coastal towns of Mozambique ca. 500-1890 CE. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-history-...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

I'm old enough to remember when China doing deals with African countries exchanging minerals for infrastructure was a dangerous kind of exploitation and imperialism.

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

A huge loss. One thing I appreciated about Ferguson was his ability to change his mind. In the opening to Global Shadows (maybe my favorite text about globalization) he subtly guts the "anti-development" positioning of his own early work:

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

The author of one of the great books on Zambia and the painful economic decline the country endured. A sad loss.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

I get emails at least once a year asking if I would like to buy random old mines or invest in remote, implausibly rich mineral deposits.

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

If you write about Egypt you become a magnet for this stuff

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

Your weekly dose of excellent African journalism! ✨ The latest issue of The Continent dives into Sudan’s escalating conflict, South Africa’s state visit offer to Ukraine, a stolen artifact’s return to Nigeria, and more. Essential reading from across the continent. 👇

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Today is publication day! I explain how agricultural inputs - which weren't even widely traded market goods 200 years ago - have become giant industries dominated by just a handful of transnational firms today. mitpress.mit.edu/978026255170... Many thanks to those who helped me along the way!

submitted 8 days ago • 19 comments

Endless discussion about "competition" between the US and China for minerals ignores basic economic reality. Congo exported 1.48 million tonnes of copper to China in 2024, and 31,600 tonnes to the US. This is not a competition! www.mining.com/web/column-c...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

Collapsing mines in southern Britain can be lethal. In 1967, Jean Thompson was tragically swallowed by a collapsing Denehole in Frindsbiry, Kent, while walking to work along a built-up street. Her body could not be recovered. www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/...

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

A succinct illustration of why it is important to know where old mines are located: www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Endless discussion about "competition" between the US and China for minerals ignores basic economic reality. Congo exported 1.48 million tonnes of copper to China in 2024, and 31,600 tonnes to the US. This is not a competition! www.mining.com/web/column-c...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

#OtD 20 Feb 1990 US miners won a 10-month strike and occupation of Pittston Coal plant in Virginia. Sit-ins, sabotage and the actions of thousands of strike supporters and women played a key role in its success stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9...

submitted 6 days ago • 2 comments

I did my first consultancy for someone producing historical fiction this week. More people should write fiction about mining!

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

'Without the efforts of ‘freelance’ underground operatives like Glory and Virginia, it is possible that it might have taken South Africa longer to gain its independence.' Tshepo Moloi explores the history of South Africa's forgotten liberators. www.historyworkshop....

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Absolutely floored by the image choice for this article on Madagascar's success in the caviar market. I can only assume the editors were thinking 'Africa' and the 2006 thriller Blood Diamond was...the only thing that came to mind?

submitted 6 days ago • 3 comments

Oxford Bibliographies in Urban Studies: “Company Towns in Latin America and the Caribbean” www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/docu...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments