Abstract

APPLIED EARTH SCIENCE (TRANS. INST. MIN. METALL. B) 2020, VOL. 129, NO. 2, 55 https://doi.org/10.1080/25726838.2020.1761693 ‘The most astonishing thing about the pandemic was our science are impacted as minimally as possible by the complete mystery which surrounded it. Nobody this crisis. Online lectures, seminars and seemed to know what the disease was, where it came conferences such as those being produced by OreDe- from or how to stop it. Anxious minds are inquiring positsHub (https://oredepositshub.com/) and both to-day whether another wave of it will come again’– EGU and Goldschmidt are providing new opportu- George A. Soper, 1919 on the 1918–1919 pandemic: nities for learning, networking, and social interaction. Science, Vol. 49, Issue 1274, pp. 501–506. And large parts of the extractive industries that we as I welcome you to the second issue of Volume 129 a geoscience community are heavily involved in have of Applied Earth Science in unusual and unsettling been classified as essential and continue to provide times, and first and foremost I hope you and your the raw materials that form the basis of modern families, colleagues, and friends are all managing to society. All of this and many other positive actions, keep safe and healthy