Descending into the Mine to Rise in Awareness

It is when we descend into the mine that geology stops being merely a technical discipline and becomes a living bridge between two worlds: scientific knowledge and social reality. In the field, one quickly realizes that knowing rocks is not enough to understand a territory. It requires listening, humility, and the ability to engage meaningfully with people.

A mine is not a neutral space. It is a complex environment where technical expertise, natural resources, development expectations, and vulnerability intersect. And it is precisely there, in the operational heart of extraction, that geology reveals something deeper: the need to read the context before transforming it, to interact with humility, and to understand local dynamics before introducing external solutions.

In this sense, entering a mine becomes both a learning and a transformative experience. It means adapting with respect, acknowledging that each territory has its own voice and that every community holds knowledge not captured by scientific tools. It means observing before acting, accepting that time dedicated to listening is an integral part of the technical process. It also means learning before proposing, because only what is born out of dialogue has the power to create real, lasting, and shared change.

Vuelta Mining Attitude

Nigeria Field Mission, May 2025