As I see it . The world has changed and mostly for the better . The electric age is coming our way . Coal was king in the age of the steamboat and the locomotive . Oil became the new driver of industry and automobiles  . Liquid gold . Sometime around then electricity caught on. Let there be light without kerosene or whale oil . Hydro-electric damns were the perfect solution, really ushering in the electric age . Out of rivers to tap we move to the wind, the tide even the sun itself to turn photons into Kilowatt hours over huge grids. All tyed together with copper , aluminum ,  and galvanized steel .  It's going to take some big mines feed this need . Lithium , cobalt and nickle will all be at a premium in the mobile electric future . Mining must get bigger more efficient and environmentally sound . Technology will bring us there . Look at Ivanhoe as an example of what can be done  . Freeport Mac laid the ground with block and cave . Most of the underground work done remotely . Bigger is better