I am trying to obtain a better understanding of the modern history of gold mining (and the mining sector more broadly), and how it intersects with trends in the global political economy. In particular, I am interested in understanding the situation in developing countries in the post-WW2 period (e.g. Indonesia, DRC, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Tanzania, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, ...).
Thanks!
A good guy to ask would be Bobby Banerjee, depending on the line you wish to take. Bobby authored a classic paper on struggles between indigenous peoples and mining interests (in this case a uranium mine) http://m.oae.sagepub.com/content/13/1/3.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc . He is well on top of all aspects of what Naomi Klein popularised as "extractivism" and organised a conference with representatives of high value mineral companies (diamonds, gold etc) last year. Contact me privately and I'll put you in touch.
If you are interested in small-scale mining communities, you definitely should ask Hannelore Verbrugge and Jeroen Cuvelier.
I know colleagues Muriel Cote and Sabine Luning are interested in (gold) mining histories
I just was in Cuetzalan this weekend ( Mexico) there is a severe struggle going on there, trying to keep Canadian Mining companies out of the Sierra Norte in Puebla, some of these companies are also into the mining of gold and silver. Would you be interested in these kind of histories as well? I could ask around for documentation heron, or is this not what you are after?
In my field, Colin Filer has established some leadership (mining/forestry in the South Pacific). I believe you can reach him at Australian National University.
My research focuses on the recent history of the (small-scale) gold mining sector in Tanzania. There is a little section on this in "Just picking up stones: Gender and technology in a small-scale gold mining site."