Call for Papers: Natural resources exploitation and development in Africa and the Middle East

Applied Earth Science is curating a special issue examining African and Middle Eastern resource frontiers.

Submission Deadline: 30th September 2026

Applied Earth Science, the journal of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), published by Sage in association with Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), invites submissions for a forthcoming Special Issue dedicated to advances in the exploration, characterisation, development, and sustainable exploitation of natural georesources across Africa and the Middle East. These regions contain economically important mineral, hydrocarbon, geothermal and groundwater systems, and host substantial occurrences of organic-rich rocks (coal, source rocks, black shales, bitumen) that are critical for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources as well as for environmental and energy transition issues.

We welcome original research articles, case studies, and review papers that align with the journal’s mission to advance applied earth science in the service of exploration and exploitation of natural georesources. Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Mineralisation and Ore Systems Genetic studies, regional metallogenic frameworks, deposit models, critical minerals and case studies relevant to African and Middle Eastern terrains.
• Hydrocarbon Systems and Organic-Rich Rocks Petroleum system analysis; source-rock characterisation (TOC, kerogen type, thermal maturity); diagenesis of organic matter; shale gas/oil and tight reservoirs; coalbed methane and bitumen deposits; basin modelling and burial/thermal histories; geochemical proxies for hydrocarbon potential; unconventional resource appraisal and development.
• Exploration Technologies and Integrated Methodologies Advances in seismic, potential-field, electromagnetic, borehole logging, geochemical and remote sensing methods; integrated multi-disciplinary workflows for frontier and brownfield exploration.
• Subsurface Reservoir Characterisation and Production-Related Studies Reservoir petrophysics, fracture and pore network characterisation, reservoir quality controls in mineral, hydrogeological, and hydrocarbon systems, and techniques for upscaling from core to field.
• Resource Evaluation, Geostatistics and Mine/Field Planning Reserve and resource estimation methods, grade control, uncertainty quantification, geostatistical approaches and feasibility studies adapted to the geological complexity of these regions.
• Data Science, Big Data and AI Applications Machine learning, data assimilation, predictive modelling and other data-driven approaches applied to discovery, resource assessment and operational optimisation.
• Drilling, Sampling, QA/QC and Analytical Protocols Best practices for drilling and sampling, core handling, QA/QC in assaying and geochemical analysis, and standardisation of protocols from exploration to production.
• Rock Mechanics, Geotechnical and Subsurface Engineering Rock mass characterisation, slope stability, underground and open-pit geomechanics, wellbore stability, and engineering constraints on resource extraction.
• Environmental Impacts, Risk Assessment and Sustainable Management Environmental risk assessment for subsurface and surface operations, remediation, water-resource interactions, life-cycle impact assessment, and innovative approaches toward minimal-waste or zero-waste extraction.
• Applied/Process Mineralogy and Geometallurgy Mineralogical controls on processing, comminution, liberation studies, and geometallurgical models that link geology to metallurgical performance.
• Energy Transition and Cross-Sector Topics Interactions between hydrocarbon development and energy transition objectives (e.g., co-production of minerals and hydrocarbons, subsurface storage, remediation of legacy sites), and multidisciplinary solutions to meet regulatory and sustainability targets.

Scope and Intended Audience

This Special Issue targets an international readership that includes exploration and mining geologists, petroleum geoscientists, hydrogeologists, geochemists, geotechnical engineers and applied-geoscience researchers. We particularly encourage manuscripts that combine fundamental science with practical, industrially relevant outcomes and policy-aware perspectives.

Submission instructions are available on the journal webpage. For any queries regarding the scope or suitability of your manuscript, please contact the Editor in Chief, Ahmed E. Radwan.

Editor in Chief
Dr Ahmed E. Radwan
Jagiellonian University, Poland
Email: radwanae@yahoo.com; ahmed.radwan@uj.edu.pl