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If you are an exploration geologist, a mining engineer, a metallurgist, a mine accountant, or a practitioner of any of a number of other mining-related specialties, at some time you will be asked to do a cost estimate. Mining is an economic endeavor, and, after safety, the cost of mining and its related processes is one of the most important considerations in that endeavor. This course introduces you to the methodologies of mining cost estimating, and prepares you to complete a credible estimate. The course focuses on itemized cost estimating methods in the context of a mine plan. It covers the costs of excavating, loading, hauling, drilling and auxiliary equipment as well as the costs of supply, personnel, stripping and other requirements. This is a premium course which has been peer-reviewed by a committee appointed by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). Authors Otto Schumacher   Duration: 15 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Financial Level: Specialize Version Date: July 29, 2015 ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More   Read More

This is a course for anyone concerned with sustainable community relationships in mining: professionals, managers, regulators, NGOs, community leaders and graduate students. The course explains how a mining company can earn and maintain a social license to operate. It begins with the business case for dedicating resources to the social license and describes the returns a company could expect from each successive level of license. The course also explores what can be done to make the issuer of the license more politically stable so that the company's social political risk is reduced and the community's readiness for sustainable development is enhanced. Finally the course looks at the overlap between these activities and areas of corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, and sustainability reporting. Part 1 of the course explains what a social license to operate is, why it is important to mining companies, and how the general management theory known as the "resource dependence view of competitive advantage" explains how relationships with stakeholders affect project feasibility and success. Going deeper, Part 2 describes the four levels of social license and the three boundary criteria that must be met to go from one level to another, and examines common factors that can cause the level of social license to rise or fall. Turning to the issuer of the social license, Part 3 of the course draws on social network analysis concepts to explore the many ways a community could be unable to issue a social license that is durable and socially legitimate, and looks beneath the stakeholder politics at the social capital patterns that can improve a community's capacity to issue a solid social license, while simultaneously raising the level of social license the community grants to the company. Authors Robert G. Boutilier PhD. Ian Thomson PhD.   Duration: 9 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Leadership Level: Cross train Version Date: October 3, 2014 ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read More

The predominant economic evaluation technique for a mineral project, from pre-feasibility study stage to operating mine, is the discounted cash flow (DCF) method. A DCF evaluation will include a detailed year-by-year cash flow projection spanning the life of the mineral reserves plus the DCF metrics of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). DCF methodology is accepted by industry, the financial community and regulatory bodies. This course examines the requirements, practice, and application of DCF methodology, as well as insights into the potential pitfalls to be found in such evaluations. Principal course topics include: Discounted Cash Flow Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Determination of Discount Rate Metal Price, Inflation, Debt and Taxes Targeting, Scoping and Ranking Optimizing Production Rate and Project Size Project Expansion Analysis Trade-Off Analysis Equivalent Annual Cost Analysis The course includes practical applications of DCF methodology, with examples, to project evaluation, mineral process selection, process optimization, project expansion, selection of equipment and comparison of alternatives. This course is designed for an audience of mining professionals and managers who require a practical understanding of economic evaluation and financial analysis methods and their application to mineral projects. Authors Lawrence Devon Smith   Duration: 8 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Financial Level: Cross train Version Date: January 13, 2003 Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More   Read More

The investment necessary to start a mine is of the order of 10's to 100's of millions of dollars. In order for the investment to be profitable, the potential product in the ground must be present in adequate quantities and quality to justify a decision to invest. Mining and processing systems used to extract the products must then operate so as to produce revenue to offset the planned investment and to provide an acceptable profit. Clearly, all technological and financial decisions regarding planned production are built on an understanding of the mineral assets available. Thus, the estimation of grade and location of material in the ground (in situ resources) must be known with an acceptable degree of confidence. This is especially true of certain large, low grade deposits for which grade is only slightly above minimum profitable levels, and for some precious metal deposits where only a small percentage of mineralized ground can be mined at a profit. Mining profits are strongly leveraged to product price and to realized grade of material mined. A small difference between planned (estimated) and realized production grade, or a small change in metal price, can have a large impact on mine profitability. The three undertakings, ore estimation, mine planning and grade control, are complementary in an efficient mining operation and are natural progressions one to another. The integration of these three endeavors is important because the grade control system must balance with the ore reserve as well as with the final products of the operating plant, and both estimation and grade control are influenced by planned operational procedures. If this balance is not achieved then the original investment may be in jeopardy. Reappraisals of mineral inventories can be necessary many times both prior to and during the life of a mine. Resource/reserve estimation procedures commonly are considered in two categories, empirical and geostatistical. This course is confined to the principal empirical methods of estimation. Authors Alastair J. Sinclair   Duration: 18 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Exploration Level: Specialize Version Date: June 22, 2006 ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read More

Bulk sampling, the costly process of taking very large samples, is part of the general procedure for the exploration and evaluation of a mineral deposit. Often the bulk sample will be a composite of material from development drifts and raises. Ideally, drift rounds or other portions should be selected from geological mapping and prior sampling, handled separately, and should be stored temporarily on a pad for sampling if not directly processed. The bulk sample will consist of these components and will take into account the geological continuities. The appropriateness of the bulk sample will be related to its source, to the variability of the deposit, to the deposit morphology, and to anticipated problems. The final objective is to obtain the quantitative information required for the quantitative evaluation of the deposit in a formal feasibility study; the objective is a production decision that leads to a profitable operation. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the topic, including the application of bulk sampling in a project exploration / evaluation context, the nugget effect and other statistical issues, planning a bulk sampling program, grade verification and metallurgical testing. Authors Dr. Alastair J. Sinclair   Duration: 12 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Exploration Level: Specialize Version Date: October 3, 2011 ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More   Read More

Sound decision-making is essential for success in business, and a sound grasp of ethics is vital to sound business decision-making. This course explores ethical concerns in the mineral exploration and mining industries, and the consequences of poor ethical decisions on business, industry and reputation. This course covers the following topics. Morals, Ethics and Ethical Viewpoints Human Rights and Ethics in the Developing World Environmental and Ecological Ethics Decision-Making Codes of Ethics, Laws, and Corruption Solving Ethical Problems Authors Michael Gannon   Duration: 15 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Leadership Level: Specialize Version Date: November 21, 2013 ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read More