The February International Mining Leader (page 3) exhorting better sharing of technical information within the industry has raised a lot of reader approval. Dr Knud Sinding, Honorary Lecturer at Dundee University’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy writes: “Great editorial on information sharing. I agree completely, but you might add a few more reasons:

1. In mining firms, unwillingness to share information makes little sense because it does not affect competitive position as it would in other industries. Mineral prices and thus revenues to mines are not influenced by improving practices, whether technological or managerial. Only advances so fundamental that they can be protected as intellectual property can really be worth protecting with secrecy

2. By sharing information, mines and mining professionals create good will – which in theory ought to lead others to share

3. Unwillingness to share information may be partly understood in terms of the gospel preached in business schools, that good ideas are valuable resources, especially those that can’t be protected as intellectuial property

4. Given current commodity prices, mining firms will not in a foreseeable future get the major part of their income from the kind of ideas involved in this discussion, protectable or otherwise. And if mining firms can’t recognise good ideas when they see them, maybe they don’t deserve to keep them.