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Mining companies worldwide have been prime movers in the creation of mining towns. Though these towns are of many kinds, all over the world they are going through a similar process of “normalisation” – freeing themselves from their mother companies. This paper compares the way mining towns in three countries, Australia, Canada and South Africa, have been shap ed by changes in production processes and changes in company and government policies. We look at how the local communities are involved and how they respond to the requirements of “open” towns. We note the difficulties that mining towns experience in dealing with both boom and bust cycles. Non-permanent settlement in mining towns has become the dominant trend in Australia and Canada, but South African policy, embedded in a history of migrant labour, promotes permanent settlement. Our analysis brings to light the complexity of the …