Mining Economics: Grade, Tonnage, Cut-Off & Mine NPV
Convert tonnes and grades into ounces and pounds, build a grade-tonnage curve, find break-even and marginal cut-off grades, test strip ratios, calculate NSR per tonne, schedule a mine life, value the mine with NPV and IRR, and build AISC per ounce with a gold-price sensitivity: 8 graded labs on a fictional gold-copper deposit.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A mining economics course that values one fictional gold-copper deposit in a spreadsheet, for geology and mining engineering students, analysts and investors who read technical reports. You turn volume, density and grade into tonnes of ore, ounces of gold and pounds of copper, build a grade-tonnage curve from a binned block model, calculate break-even and marginal cut-off grades from cost, price, recovery and payability, test pit phases against the break-even strip ratio, follow metal through the plant and smelter into the net smelter return per tonne, schedule the reserve through the mill with a ramp-up to find the mine life, value the mine with NPV and IRR including royalties and sustaining capex and build the all-in sustaining cost per ounce with a gold-price sensitivity. Illustrative figures, educational only, not investment advice. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Tonnage & Contained Metal: Volume, Density, g/t, % and OuncesFree
- Grade-Tonnage Curve: Tonnes & Average Grade above Cut-off (with Chart) Pro
- Break-even Cut-off Grade: Cost ÷ (Price × Recovery × Payable) Pro
- Strip Ratio, Mining Cost per Tonne of Ore & the Break-even Strip Ratio Pro
- Recovery & Net Smelter Return (NSR) per Tonne of Ore Pro
- Annual Production Schedule & Mine Life (with Chart) Pro
- Mine Cash Flow, NPV & IRR: Capex, Sustaining Capex & Royalties Pro
- AISC per Ounce & Sensitivity to the Gold Price Pro