Christopher Pollon—Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Cover of the book Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places by Christopher Pollon showing the title word “Pitfall” in 3”-tall bold black print, along with the subtitle, author’s name, and a blurb from Wade Davis, over a photo of a broken globe sitting amidst the chunks.

Pitfall

PITFALL:
THE RACE TO MINE
THE WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE PLACES
Christopher Pollon
Greystone Books, October 2023
Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1771649124
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0702268465
Ebook ASIN: B0BYR5MJVR
Hardcover: $29.95 (US), Paperback: $22.20, eBook: $16.62

Pollon reports:

Pitfall is a work of investigative journalism that spans the past, present, and future of mining for the metal humanity needs. It provides a sort of tour across the global south for readers who know nothing about mining or how the industry works.

As a long-time environmental journalist, I was inspired to write on this subject because I recognized that the clean energy transition would be metals-intensive. Unless business as usual changes, the future will be to create vast new mining sacrifice zones, largely on the backs of people in the global south, and in particular, Indigenous peoples living closest to the water and land.

Portrait photo of Christopher Pollon

Christopher Pollon
Photo by Fernando Lessa

I wrote a book proposal during COVID lockdown downtime and ended up shopping it to several publishers without an agent. Greystone was interested, although my book proposal went through multiple revisions before we signed a contract. Initially Pitfall was focused on Canada, but my editors suggested I expand it to a global scope, advice I am now very grateful for.

Much of my research was about distant places I did not visit. This necessitated that I cultivate contacts on the ground, tapping other journalists, NGOs, human rights lawyers, academia, and people in the industry. That was really difficult.

In my chapter about the Grasberg mine in New Guinea, which is in proximity to an ongoing civil war, for example, I made contact with the political wing of the separatist West Papuans living in exile in Europe; I interviewed the CEO of mine owner Freeport; I interviewed activists who had sneaked into the mining zone at great personal risk; I made contacts with local Indonesian NGOs, and finally, I highlighted the remote sensing research carried out by American researchers using satellites to document the extent of tailings pollution from the mine.

In retrospect, I underestimated the work it would take to research and write Pitfall. Each chapter could be a book in itself. I keep telling myself my future books will be more narrow in focus, but probably not. For aspiring authors, surrounding yourself with people who are positive about you and your work is critical to success.

Contact info:

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Banner image adapted from original photo by Christopher Pollon.

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Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines for information on submitting your report.

Publication of NASW author reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of any publication or the ideas, values, or material contained within or espoused by authors or their books. We hope this column stimulates productive discussions on important topics now and in the future as both science and societies progress. We welcome your discussion in the comments section below.

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