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Departamento Gestión de Conocimiento, Monitoreo y Prospección
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Valuation and Prioritization of Early-Stage Exploration Projects: a Case Study of Cu-Ag and Au-Mineralized Systems in the Tiltil Mining District, Chile
Indexado
WoS WOS:000516804000001
Scopus SCOPUS_ID:85080916726
DOI 10.1007/S11053-020-09637-Z
Año 2020
Tipo artículo de investigación

Citas Totales

Autores Afiliación Chile

Instituciones Chile

% Participación
Internacional

Autores
Afiliación Extranjera

Instituciones
Extranjeras


Abstract



A problem for mining districts, for example those with small to medium operations, is the uncertainty with respect to the valuation of exploration targets. In cases where a mining district has been only partially developed, geological uncertainty likely represents a substantial part of resource valuation risk. To address this problem, we developed a method for valuing exploration targets in the early stage of exploration based on four variables: (1) risks associated with exploration; (2) geological uncertainty; (3) economic potential; and (4) exploration costs. The new method presented offers a simple and replicable means to value mineralized bodies and prioritize mining activities based on quantitative geoscientific information and can additionally be adapted to analyze other exploration projects, such as those located in areas without mining activity. In this work, we studied a series of Cu-Ag and Au veins located in the Tiltil Mining District in the Coastal Cordillera of the Chilean Central Andes. We performed four steps in order to characterize the level of uncertainty in the resource exploration and valuation: (1) we acquired district-level data on the geology in and around Tiltil and the activity of 39 small mining operations; (2) we designed a preliminary conceptual exploration campaign; (3) we applied and adapted a new method for the valuation of mineral resources; and (4) we estimated the economic value of the studied mineral targets. The valuation method uses the product of three mutually independent variables: potential value, exploration risk, and geological uncertainty. The estimated value of minerals, at Tiltil, without discounting cash flows is 50.2 billion CLP, while a discount rate of 15.62% returns an estimate of 26.7 billion CLP. When adjusting these values for the level of geological uncertainty discerned in our method, the resulting values are approximately 56% less. We additionally applied the valuation method to seven potential mining targets, considering both potential exploration resources and inferred resources, and found values ranging from 21.8 billion and 11.8 billion CLP (32.3 million and 17.5 million USD with an exchange rate of 675.48 CLP per USD) without discounting cash flows and with a discount rate of 15.62%. We encourage the use of this new method in the early-stage development of small mining operations in order to characterize correctly potential profitability.

Revista



Revista ISSN
Natural Resources Research 1520-7439

Métricas Externas



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Disciplinas de Investigación



WOS
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Scopus
Environmental Science (All)
SciELO
Sin Disciplinas

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Publicaciones WoS (Ediciones: ISSHP, ISTP, AHCI, SSCI, SCI), Scopus, SciELO Chile.

Colaboración Institucional



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Autores - Afiliación



Ord. Autor Género Institución - País
1 Faundez, Patricio Hombre Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Chile
2 Marquardt, Carlos Hombre Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Chile
3 JARA-DONOSO, JOSE JOAQUIN Hombre Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Chile
4 GUZMAN-BARROS, JUAN IGNACIO Hombre Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Chile

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Financiamiento



Fuente
Region Metropolitana of Santiago de Chile
Association of Tiltil Miners
editor-in-Chief Dr. John Carranza
Tiltil Mining District
Patricio Faúndez Hernández
Marco Gómez

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Agradecimientos



Agradecimiento
We thank the editor-in-Chief Dr. John Carranza and two anonymous reviewers for useful comments, which helped to improve this manuscript. We also thank the Association of Tiltil Miners (Asociacion Gremial Minera de Tiltil; ASOGMIT) and their associates for providing historical information for the Tiltil Mining District. We thank the local miners who comprised the expert committee: Jorge Jofre, Ivan Fernandez, Andres Perez, Eduardo Tobar, Rosamel Gonzalez, Julio Contreras, and Jorge Geldres. Furthermore, we thank the following members and collaborators of project FIC-R 2017 no. 10 of the Region Metropolitana of Santiago de Chile: Felix del Pozo, Claudio Molina, Rocio Rudloff, Hector Ramos, Nicolas Bustos, Felipe del Valle, Andres Pavez, Dominique Valdivia, and John Browning. Finally, we also extend our thanks to the exploration geologists who comprised the expert committee: Patricio Faundez Hernandez, Marco Gomez, David Guinez Salazar, Juan Carlos Marquardt Lechuga, Jose Cabello Lechuga, alvaro Puig, and Jorge Pizarro.
We thank the editor-in-Chief Dr. John Carranza and two anonymous reviewers for useful comments, which helped to improve this manuscript. We also thank the Association of Tiltil Miners (Asociación Gremial Minera de Tiltil; ASOGMIT) and their associates for providing historical information for the Tiltil Mining District. We thank the local miners who comprised the expert committee: Jorge Jofré, Iván Fernández, Andrés Pérez, Eduardo Tobar, Rosamel González, Julio Contreras, and Jorge Geldres. Furthermore, we thank the following members and collaborators of project FIC-R 2017 no. 10 of the Región Metropolitana of Santiago de Chile: Félix del Pozo, Claudio Molina, Rocío Rudloff, Héctor Ramos, Nicolás Bustos, Felipe del Valle, Andrés Pávez, Dominique Valdivia, and John Browning. Finally, we also extend our thanks to the exploration geologists who comprised the expert committee: Patricio Faúndez Hernández, Marco Gómez, David Guiñez Salazar, Juan Carlos Marquardt Lechuga, José Cabello Lechuga, Álvaro Puig, and Jorge Pizarro.

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