"Not in my backyard" - Jack Ødegård on mining

Wednesday January 18 we got a visit from Jack Ødegård, research director in Sintef. Jack gave us an introduction to the major tendencies in mining, a "boost and boom industry with growth as long term trend". Jack described a world with a growing a distance between everyday life and production. Mining in particular has become subject to a "not in my backyard" attitude. Jack also talked about the societal acceptance of mining with working conditions and environmental impact as the two main challenges. Future models of mining, he said, would need to have an environmental impact close to nothing. At the end of the talk Jack ended up discussing the lack of mining industry in Northern Norway illustrated with the map: "almost nothing here". We thank Jack for sharing his knowledge and for discussing with the students in an open minded way.