Gary McMahon is a senior mining specialist at the World Bank. He has worked on issues in the mining sector for over twenty years, particularly in the areas of local benefits, social and environmental impacts, and macroeconomic opportunities and risks. His most recent publication examines the socio-economic and human development impacts of mining since the turn of the century in mineral rich low and lower-middle income countries. Previously, he examined the history of mining sector technical assistance by the World Bank, ‘World Bank Support for Mining Sector Reform: An Evolutionary Approach’. With a PhD in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, he has written extensively on development issues on a wide variety of subjects and has edited 9 volumes, ranging from the impacts of large mining operations on community development to the political economy of market reform in developing countries. He currently works on mining issues in Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Bolivia, Armenia, Romania, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.