Economic Evaluations in Exploration

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIII

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2. Conversions

   • Friedrich-Wilhelm Wellmer

   Pages 1-15

3. Metal Prices

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   Pages 16-21

4. Calculation of Volume and Tonnage of Ore Deposit

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   Pages 22-28

5. Weighting and Grade Determination

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   Pages 29-33

6. Dealing with Data for Multi-Element Deposits

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   Pages 34-41

7. Conversion of Geological Data into Mining Data for Ore Deposits

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   Pages 42-44

8. Calculation of the Net Smelter Return (NSR) of a Mine

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   Pages 45-50

9. Production Lifetime

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   Pages 51-52

10. Calculation of Cost Data

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    Pages 53-69

11. Additional Economic Planning Methods

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    Pages 70-78

12. Economic Evaluations

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    Pages 79-104

13. Comparison of Deposits

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    Pages 105-114

14. Calculating Growth Rates

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    Pages 115-118

15. Equity Calculations

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    Pages 119-123

16. Back Matter

    Pages 124-163

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This textbook is a translation of the German textbook "Rechnen fUr Lagerstattenkundler und Rohstoffwirtschaftler, Teil 1" published by the Ellen Pilger Publishing Company. Those passages in the German edition which were especially written for the German readership were transform­ ed for English speaking readers. Compared with the German edition many chapters have been slightly amended. The main new additions in this English version are the chapter on linear optimization in Chapter 10.2 and Chapter 12 on the comparison of ore deposits. The textbook is intended for the economic geologist who deals with the evaluation of deposits at an early stage of development. Once an ex­ ploration project has reached the feasibility stage, the exact calculations of the deposit, the technical and economic assessment will be performed by a team of geologists, mining engineers, metallurgists, and economists. In the early stages of exploration, however, any evaluator of deposits has to be able to cover the whole spectrum himself. Since only order of magnitude parameters are available at this stage, the calculations can only yield order of magnitude results. Precise calculations would even be misleading, since the evaluation does not yet aim at accurate economic assessment but at making the right decision: should the investigation be abandoned or should it be continued at higher costs and with more detailed methods.

• Exploration Geology
• Mineral Deposits
• Resource Estimation
• Statistics
• economic geology
• mineral resources

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This textbook is designed for economic geologists who deal with the evaluation of deposits at an early stage of development. … the book contains a useful list of references and a number of appendices, including tables, graphs, mathematical formulae, and internet addresses. … is a handy reference for practitioners and a useful textbook for students." (Jean-Michel Rendu, Economic Geology, Vol. 103, 2008)

"The textbook is intended for the economic geologist who deals with the evaluation of deposits at an early stage of development. … It provides both the student and the geologist in the field with a complete set of rules and methods enabling them to perform a quick initial evaluation of the deposit without the support of specialists or computers … . The case histories, exercises, metal prices and terminology, especially concerning ‘reserves and resources’, have been fully updated in this second edition." (Glückauf, Vol. 145 (6), July, 2009)

• Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Alfred-Bentz-Haus, Hannover 51, Federal Republic of Germany

  Friedrich-Wilhelm Wellmer

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