I started studying geology, then went exploring, but found it more comfortable writing about the business of mining than hiking across a million square miles of the Australian outback. In a career which started in the nickel boom of 1968 I’ve seen the extreme highs and lows which go with the boom/bust nature of the raw materials sector. I’ve written for many publications and wire services, including Reuters and the world’s original mining magazine, Mining Journal, interviewing industry leaders from the late Harry Oppenheimer to Glencore boss, Ivan Glasenberg. In that time, I’ve never forgotten that mining and commodity prices are cyclical, and anyone who says “this time it will be different” has never even got close to an industry driven more than any other by that irrefutable law of economics; supply rising to meet demand – even if the demand is super-charged courtesy of the Chinese industrial revolution.