This five day field trip is a general overview of the geology and tectonic history of central Colorado and of the geology of seven famous mining districts. Some of these mining districts had their most productive years in the latter decades of the 19th century, whereas others reached their peak production more recently. At present mining activity in some of them has ceased. In others it is at low levels compared to earlier years. The regional geology and the road log are compiled from numerous sources. The principal ones are field trip guides by Tweto (1978), Reed and others (1988), Lipman (in press) and unpublished field guides of the Colorado Scientific Society and the Society of Economic Geologists. Figure 1 shows the principal geographic features along the route of the trip. <...>

Historically documented mining in Finland started in the 1530s when the area formed part of Sweden. The post of commissioner of mines was founded in 1638. The Swedish government activated mineral exploration in Finland in the seventeenth century and, during the Age of Utility, in the eighteenth century. Numerous small iron, copper, and lead occurrences were found, as well as the larger Orijдrvi copper deposit. During 1809-1917 when Finland was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, exploration was reorganized and strengthened. New, generally small iron deposits were discovered to supply iron works.

Minerals are crucial for the development of modern economy. Since mineral resources are exhaustible, increase in their consumption causes its scarcity and the commodity gradually becomes exhausted, so that it is no further available for the mankind. With the increasing demand, the mineral resources would deplete much faster than envisaged earlier. There has been a rising concern about the environmental degradation due to increased exploitation of minerals. Nevertheless, minerals are important drivers of a nation’s economy. Therefore, using the natural resources is imminent, albeit sustainably. Continuous mining of minerals, discovery of new mineral deposits, and import-export-stockpiling of minerals greatly influences the economics of mineral commodities. These data must be perpetually updated in order to provide future perspective and framing of policies at the government level. Therefore, the impulse to write this book stemmed from a need for an updated, compiled and properly interpreted database of the Indian mineral sector.  <...>

This is a management book about mineral exploration. It does not cover the technical details of exploration methods or technologies. Rather, it focuses on the management process, as it relates to exploration. It is primarily aimed at the newly appointed or inexperienced Exploration Manager, who could do with some guidance on how to manage. However, I hope that others, with more experience, might also find some useful snippets of information, especially any that improve their own performance as managers.<...>