The “Why” guides the journey, the “How” makes it possible, the “What” creates value 🌍

Edoardo Ghirelli
Dec 29, 2025
2 min read

I deeply believe that the mere sum of individual interests is not enough to build a better tomorrow. Real change requires the ability to look around us, to recognize ourselves as part of something greater, and to feel responsible not only for what we create, but also for what we leave to others. Each of us, from the place where we operate, can contribute to generating value—not only economic, but also social value. An economy that excludes is not progress; it is simply profit without a future.

I deeply believe that mining—whether artisanal or industrial—must first and foremost originate from the “why” we do it, from the meaning we choose to give to it. Only afterwards do the “how” and the “what” take shape.

At this moment, I am in 🇳🇬 Nigeria, and my fieldwork leads me through tropical forests, resilient gold districts, and along the great local rivers, which I have followed step by step upstream. It is precisely this total immersion in territories, in people, and in their rhythms that allows one to understand what no document can tell, what cannot be captured by scientific instruments or analytical frameworks.

My “why” in mining is grounded in a simple principle: walking alongside, not ahead. Creating value together, not in place of someone else. Recognizing perspectives where potential already exists—silent, present, ready to emerge. From this awareness, a way of working has taken shape that brings together presence, listening, and reciprocity. Living the natural resource gives me the opportunity to share the daily lives of miners, to observe the gestures of communities, to listen to their stories, and to understand their aspirations. Moving with respect, building trust even before proposing any technical solution.

And it is precisely from this “why” that the “how” emerges. A “how” rooted in the belief that extraction technology only makes sense when it respects the rhythm of communities; when it can be accepted, embraced, and owned by miners—the true custodians and connoisseurs of their territories. In this way, the “what” also takes form: solutions that do not replace, but accompany; tools that do not impose, but enable; projects that do not merely extract, but give back.

Geology, while being a scientific discipline, is in reality one of the most deeply human expressions. It is teaching me that nothing truly comes into being unless we meet one another. It is in encounter—beyond differences—that processes, belonging, and real transformations come to life. Living these experiences is demanding; they shake you, unsettle you, and set you back on your path. But when the intention is genuine, motivation naturally organizes itself around that vision, because inner coherence generates outward movement.