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Bluecap: A geospatial model to assess regional economic-viability for mineral resource development

Author

Listed:
  • Walsh, Stuart D.C.
  • Northey, Stephen A.
  • Huston, David
  • Yellishetty, Mohan
  • Czarnota, Karol

Abstract

Frontier mineral exploration is often exclusively focused on assessing geological potential without consideration for the economic viability of resource development. This strategy may overlook potentially prosperous zones for more geologically-favoured but financially-disadvantageous regions, or conversely, may introduce implicit biases against potential developments without due regard to underlying economies of scale or proximity to infrastructure. Accordingly, in this paper, we introduce a numerical model aimed at identifying economic fairways, i.e. areas permissive to mineral development from an economic perspective. The model, Bluecap, combines large-scale infrastructure and geological datasets to conduct geospatial analysis of the economic-viability of mining operations across Australia.

Suggested Citation

  • Walsh, Stuart D.C. & Northey, Stephen A. & Huston, David & Yellishetty, Mohan & Czarnota, Karol, 2020. "Bluecap: A geospatial model to assess regional economic-viability for mineral resource development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:66:y:2020:i:c:s0301420719306658
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101598
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Saleem H. Ali & Damien Giurco & Nicholas Arndt & Edmund Nickless & Graham Brown & Alecos Demetriades & Ray Durrheim & Maria Amélia Enriquez & Judith Kinnaird & Anna Littleboy & Lawrence D. Meinert & R, 2017. "Mineral supply for sustainable development requires resource governance," Nature, Nature, vol. 543(7645), pages 367-372, March.
    2. Nourali, Hamidreza & Osanloo, Morteza, 2019. "Mining capital cost estimation using Support Vector Regression (SVR)," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 527-540.
    3. Ulrich, Sam & Trench, Allan & Hagemann, Steffen, 2019. "Grade-cost relationships within Australian underground gold mines – A 2014–2017 empirical study and potential value implications," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 29-48.
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    1. Biswas, Pritam & Sinha, Rabindra Kumar & Sen, Phalguni, 2023. "A review of state-of-the-art techniques for the determination of the optimum cut-off grade of a metalliferous deposit with a bibliometric mapping in a surface mine planning context," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Lèbre, Eléonore & Czarnota, Karol & Walsh, Stuart D.C. & Haynes, Marcus & Ufer, Natasha & Sonter, Laura J. & Sreekar, Rachakonda & Bolz, Pascal & Bulovic, Nevenka & Côte, Claire & Kunz, Nadja C. & Mic, 2025. "ESG mapping of the Australian mining sector – The state of play on mobilising spatial datasets for decision making," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    3. Stephen A. Northey & Stuart D. C. Walsh & Damien P. Giurco & Bernardo Mendonca Severiano & Elsa Dominish & Gavin M. Mudd & Simon M. Jowitt, 2026. "Estimating an upper limit for primary copper supply using empirically derived mineral resource-to-production rate relationships," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 39(1), pages 7-23, March.
    4. Lobo Del Canto, Jose M. & Walsh, Stuart D.C. & Haynes, Marcus & Jasieniak, Jacek J., 2026. "Mapping the levelized cost of electricity of conventional and lightweight silicon photovoltaics across Australia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).

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