Extracting at the borders: Negotiating political and ecological geographies of movement in mineral frontiers

This paper questions the drive towards more ecologically determined porosity across national borders in the context of incongruent economic regulation and incentives. The push towards regionalization and less austere border conditions have socio‐ecological salience and deserve consideration. However, mining creates human and financial capital flows across “mineral frontiers” which deserve greater attention by policy‐makers who are advocating for more relaxed border conditions. While minerals frontiers can be areas of cooperation under certain circumstances, they are highly vulnerable to acting as threat multipliers if not effectively monitored. A typology from border studies is used to develop a framework of how mineral resource projects can lead to human movement across borders. While mining projects in resource frontiers can be a means of fostering regional cooperation, they can also create vulnerabilities involving the migrants. The ways in which development donors and companies can facilitate more constructive harmonization of regulatory mechanisms to prevent such vulnerabilities are examined.