Jim Platt followed a career of 41 years as a professional mining geologist working on an international stage. Your Reserves or Mine? features a number of his experiences of travel and work in remote and unusual places. The locations featured in the book include the Andean cordillera of Chile, the endless woods of northern Quebec, the hills of El Salvador, the cockpit country of Jamaica, the dusty heart of Burkina Faso, the blue-hazed Eastern Ghats of India, the totalitarian wasteland of Albania, and upcountry Vietnam among others. The people and cultures encountered are regarded as the central pillars supporting shared experiences, adventures and insights. The book is part travel narrative, part social commentary, part an informed view of the inner workings of the mineral exploration and mining industry, and, not least, part look at how big multinational companies operate and organise themselves in working environments that they don’t understand with people whom they don’t appreciate enough. The author takes a somewhat cynical view of international business travel standards and the stereotypes that inhabit it and motivate its sybaritic demands. The style is informative, and humour plays an ever-present role.