1. Geography Legal status of land and mining rights Historical, political, and socialogical factors Geology Mining conditions Ore treatment requirements Economic analysis Geography: Topography, a function of location, affects cost of development and operation of a surface mine. Geographic location establishes climate. Location establishes the condition of remoteness from or proximity to civilization and its developed facilities such as transportation systems, power supply, labour pool, manufacturing and supply services, and specialty repair shops. Legal status of land and mining rights Land and other necessary rights should be checked, such as water use rights and the ability to acquire auxiliary land for plant site, roads, tailings disposal ground etc. Historical, political, and socialogical factors It is important to determine the extent and nature of national and local laws and regulations in regard to conservation, water use, water and air pollution, tailings disposal, reclaimation, handling of explosives, taxes, royalities, import duties, mining safety and health codes, wage and labour conditions, pension requirements, and unions. Evaluation of Surface Deposits 2. 7. Geology Geological evaluation may include wide-spaced drilling, drill-sample logging, testing and processing, plotting of the data on maps and cross-sections, preparation of specialized interpretive maps, calculation of reserves by grades, calculation of stripping requirements, groundwater studies, and economic analysis. Mining conditions The geometry of an ore body and the topography of the land surface beneath which the ore body exists will affect the kind and cost of a surface mine. The depth and character of overlying rock and the physical characteristics of the wall rock also affect the configuration and cost of a surface mine. Ore treatment requirements Almost every potential surface mine must consider some phase of product upgrading (benefication). This may vary from a simple crushing and sizing operation to a complex operation including multiple stages of size reduction, concentration and agglomeration. In many cases, pilot-scale testing is deemed advisable. Economic analysis In the broadest sense, economic analysis for a surface mine involves the determination of market value of the product and all the elements of cost of production. By subtraction, a margin of profit (or loss) can be calculated. Many new surface mines require very high capital investments. There are 3 commonly used yardsticks to value investment worth : i) Degree of necessity, ii) Payback period, and iii) Rate of return (IRR). Evaluation of Surface Deposits (cont.) BENCH-Ledge that forms a single level of operation above which mineral or waste materials are mined from the bench face BENCH HEIGHT-Verti cal distance between the highest point on the bench (crest) and the lowest point or the bench (toe). It is influenced by size of the equipment, mining selectivity, government regulations and safety BENCH SLOPE or BANK ANGLE: Horizontal angle of the line connecting bench toe to the bench crest.
See Also
The Dark Side of Open-Pit Mining