A harrowing journey through the past, present, & future of mining, this expertly-researched account ends on a vision for how industry can better serve the needs of humanity.A race is on to exploit the last bonanzas of gold, silver, & industrial metals left onEarth. Thesemetalsare not only essential for all material comfort & need, but for the transition toclean energy: in the coming decades, billions of tons of copper, nickel, silver, & other metals will be required to build electric vehicles, solar & wind installations, and green infrastructure. We need moremetalsthan ever before, yet the qualities & quantities are diminishing, making the extraction process more polluting to land, air & water. And most of thesemetalswill be mined from theglobal south, where social conflict will only grow, led byIndigenous peoplesdemanding a greater say in how their wealth is used. The stakes couldn't be higher: How can we mine themetalswe need without replicating the environmental & human rights abuses of the past?Pitfallis the compelling story of the quest to exploit themetalsour civilization needs--& at what cost to local people & their environments. Beginning with the first waves of big, foreign-owned mines in the1960s, investigative journalistChristopher Pollonshows how transnational companies rose to dominate copper, precious metals, & lithium inLatin America, made inroads into war-torn countries inAfrica, & exploited nickel, industrial metals, & rare earth metals acrossAsia&Oceania.If we cannot change our course,Pollonargues, we are condemned to mine deeper & darker places, including the depths of the ocean, sacrifice zones, & near-earth asteroids. This disturbing vision of the future also includes robotic mines without workers & social license--unless we act now.°°°Earth minerals are abundant but what makes them rare is the effort needed to get them out in large qu