The development of many Southern African countries is inextricably linked to the mining sector. For example, South Africa’s Johannesburg-Pretoria metropolitan area, a regional economic and financial hub, developed because of the local gold supply in the late 1800s. Yet the history of mining in Southern Africa, a region marked with high levels of inequality, is beset with controversy. In a recent report, we posed the question: what is the net benefit of mining for Southern African economies?...