Mine Design Midterm

What is a Qualified Person (QP)?

A reputable professional who is knowledgeable of the mineral concerned, and who has sufficient experience and qualifications to make the statements which are made within the report

What is a mineral reserve?

a. A concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous material in or on the Earth's crust in such form and amount that it may be extracted

What is a mineral resource?

a. A concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous material in or on the Earth's crust in such form and amount that it may be extracted

What are the underground mining methods?

a. Block Caving b. Sublevel Caving c. Shrinkage Stoping d. Cut and Fill Stopping

3 methods to choose a mining method

a. Boshkov and Write b. Hartman c. Morrison d. Laubscher e. Nicholas

What is CIM?

a. Canadian Code

What is CRIRSCO?

a. Committee for Mineral Resources International Reporting b. Not a code c. It is a template for countries wanted to develop their own code

What is a commodity trader?

a. Companies that trade commodities on the stock market

What are the 3 factors when selecting a mining method?

a. Economic factors- capital cost, operating cost, ore tons b. Technical factors- mine recovery, flexibility, mining rate c. Productivity factor- annual productivity, equipment, efficiency, and environmental concerns

What are the 3 qualifications for a QP?

a. Engineer or geologist with at least 5 years of experience in mineral exploration, mine development, or operation or mineral project assessment b. Has experience relevant to the subject of matter of the mineral project and technical report c. In good standing with a professional organization

Mine Phase

a. In a mining project, there are several mining areas b. 1 or 2 being stripped c. Being mined d. Near exhaustion

What are the sources of liability for a feasibility study?

a. Insider trading b. Farmer's well went dry c. Vein did not mine the depth that was projected d. Grade turned out to be much lower than expected

What is the JORC?

a. Joint Ore Reporting Committee b. Australian Code c. Provides a mandatory system for all the classification of mineral exploration results, mineral resource, and ore reserve

How do you select a commodity price?

a. Long-term averages b. 3-year moving average c. Consensus price d. Contract pricing e. Margin over cost of production f. Current price g. Consultant reports

What is a commodity?

a. Marketable item produced to satisfy needs and wants b. Consists of goods and services c. Soft commodity- agricultural products (wheat, corn, etc.) d. Hard commodity- mined (gold and oil)

What is a Discount Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis?

a. May also be called NPV method

What are the systematic methods to perform a feasibility study?

a. Qualitative- uses ground descriptions of the ore thickness, ore dip, and strength of ore b. Numerical Ranking- numerically ranks deposit characteristics of the ore zone, footwall, and hanging wall c. Decision making- body of knowledge and analytical techniques of different degrees of formality designed to help a decision maker choose among a set of choices (Artificial Intelligence)

What are the stages of a feasibility study?

a. Scoping (30-35% accuracy) b. Pre-feasibility (20-25% accuracy) c. Feasibility Study (15% accuracy)

What is the time length of a feasibility study?

a. Scoping (7-9 months) b. Pre-feasibility (9-13 months) c. Feasibility (12-17 months)

What are the types of production planning?

a. Short range production planning for the function of an operating mine b. Long range- done for feasibility and budget studies

What are the surface mining methods?

a. Strip mining b. Dredging c. Open pit d. High wall

What are the 3 roles of a feasibility study?

a. To define the project, its scope, quality, cost, and schedule b. To provide the basis for the changes in ownership, financing, and other aspects related to the legal condition of the property and project c. To ensure that misleading, erroneous, or fraudulent information relating to mineral properties is not published and promoted to investors on the stock exchange

What are the 3 main principles governing International Codes?

a. Transparency- to provide enough information to not mislead the investors b. Materiality- contains all the required information c. Competence- Qualified Person or experienced person

What is UNFC?

a. United Nations Framework Classification b. Generic classification framework for solid minerals and oils and gas c. Important tool for global and governmental communication

Sensitivity Analysis

a. Will graphically let you see the sensitivity of the NPV to a potential impact on the mine

What are the 4 objects of production planning?

b. Develop a logical and easily achievable start-up schedule c. Maintain operation viability within the plan d. Properly examine the economic merits of alternative ore production, rate, and cut-off grades