Strategic Planning for Permitting at Abandoned Mine Tailings

This article presents a framework for evaluating the economic implications of different permitting decisions for mining exploration projects based on the legal framework for British Columbia. The article builds models for different types of exploration permits, together with budgets and types of geological information that each proposed exploration strategy would generate. One example is a mechanical trenching permit that allows 1,000 tonnes to be removed per year. If the trenching focuses on ultra-high-grade ore, then it may have a gross metal value greater than $1 million per year. The article describes how this gross metal value may be split between costs and revenues, depending on whether the material is sold as raw ore, concentrates, or refined metal. The second example is based on a mineral claim that covers 60 hectares and includes two abandoned mine tailings sites 1 kilometre apart with a mineralized fault running between them. The article describes two strategies to clean up these abandoned tailings based on an unlimited budget and a near-zero budget.