Gilbert, Paul Robert (2019) Expropriating the future: turning ore deposits and ‘legitimate expectations’ into assets. In: Turning things into assets: new lineaments in the study of technoscientific capital. Inside Technology . MIT Press. (Accepted)

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Abstract

In this chapter, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the City of London between 2012-2014 to explore the valuation techniques that underpin investment in mineral exploration. At the time of my fieldwork, carried out with investors, analysts, consulting geologists and lawyers, the mining market was seeking out new frontiers as established resource-rich jurisdictions became less profitable, or began to show signs of what analysts termed ‘resource nationalism’ (the desire to renegotiate contracts, taxation and royalty rates in terms more favorable to host states). Against this background, the chapter explores the capitalization devices, narratives and durable legal foundations through which mineral deposits are transformed into assets, valued in terms of the future revenue they promise their investors.

Item Type:	Book Section
Keywords:	Capitalization, Extractive Industries, Legitimate Expectations, Valuation
Schools and Departments:	School of Global Studies > International Development School of Global Studies > Anthropology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Depositing User:	Paul Robert Gilbert
Date Deposited:	11 Mar 2019 10:51
Last Modified:	11 Mar 2019 10:52
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/76542

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