Economic Settings: Mining

To access this screen:

Display the Economic Settings screen and select the Mining tab.

Choose how mining costs are applied to your scenario, and how tonnages are adjusted to compensation for mining recovery and dilution. Mining costs can either be applied per mass unit ($/tonne) or per volume unit (for example, per cubic meter), and this must be consistent throughout the planning scenario.

Activity steps:

Decide how mining costs are applied:
- Mining cost per mass unit – A commonly-used option whereby the mining costs are proportional to the tonnage of material mined. If selected, you can also:
  - Set Formula – Define mining cost per mass unit using a formula.
  - Delete Formula – Delete an existing mining cost mass unit formula. See Formulae.
    
    Note: In most projects the mining cost value is disabled if the mining cost is defined with a formula. In a project with Ore Percent or Ore Fraction the mining cost for ore parcels can be defined with a value and formula. The waste parcels will use the mining cost defined with a value only.
- Mining cost per volume unit– An option whereby the mining costs are proportional to the volume of material mined.
Unit mining costs – The reference dollar value subject to adjustment by block (imported MCAF), by rock type, and by bench. Set the unit costs to '1' if your MCAF defines the actual costs.
Mining Dilution and Mining Recovery are used when calculating the net revenue for material reclaimed from stockpiles. Tonnages and grades are reported with their in situ values. Dilution and Mining recovery are not applied to material from external sources.
- Mining Dilution – The ratio of rock mass sent to processing plant to ore mass; for example, 5% Mining Dilution gives 1.05 dilution factor meaning that instead of a 1000 ton parcel the plant receives 1050 tons of diluted ore.
  
  Above zero, mining dilution has the following consequences:
  - Unit upstream (additional) processing costs increase by the dilution percentage; for example $10 cost per ore ton becomes $10.50 cost per ton.
  - Economic cutoff grades increase.
  - If product recoveries are defined as functions of grades, the recoveries are reduced because of grade dilution.
  - The net block values are reduced.
  - Ore tonnages may be reduced owing to higher cutoffs.
  - In situ and recovered product mass may be reduced.
- Mining Recovery – The percentage or fraction of ore parcel that reaches the processing plant; for example, 90% mining recovery means that only 900 tons of 1000 tons parcel reaches the plant.
  
  Mining recovery below 100% has the following consequences:
  - The recovered product mass is reduced.
  - The revenue and upstream processing costs are reduced.
  - The net block values are reduced.
  - The reported in situ ore tonnages and element grades are unchanged. Multiply the in situ ore tonnages by Mining Recovery factor to obtain tonnages processed.