Breaking New Ground presents an analysis of a large and heterogeneous sector through the many stages of minerals and metals exploration, production, use, re use, recycling, and final disposal.The project assumed from the start that sustainable development could provide a useful framework to guide the minerals sector. It also believed that by setting out the challenges – from all perspectives, in a balanced way – new ways forward would emerge.This Executive Summary provides a basic guide to the priority issues facing the sector, which MMSD identified in its consultations with different stakeholders, and outlines some of the most important policy recommendations that came out of the process of consultation and analysis.