vendredi 20 mars 2020

CAPITAL AND OPERATING COST ESTIMATING SYSTEM

CAPITAL AND OPERATING COST ESTIMATING SYSTEM A MANUAL FOR MINING AND BENEFICIATION OF METALLIC AND NONMETALLIC MINERALS EXCEPT FOSSIL FUELS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA Mining relies on anomalies within the surface of the earth for a base of activity. Mining and evaluation engineering are confronted repeatedly with problems of determining how and at what rate a particular deposit can be mined, how to get the equipment, personnel, and money for mining and processing, and how to set up the related infrastructure. When these problems are resolved, the engineer becomes involved in financial considerations. For example, what is the ratio of equity capital to borrowings, and what is the rate of return that may be achieved before a recommendation for the approval or rejection of the property can be made to management? Articles on cost for site-specific operations appear frequently in the technical literature. They may be useful if an engineer is considering a similar property, but this is seldom the case. Often the engineer is required to consider specially designed extraction and treatment methods applicable to unique or nearly unique deposits. In addition, the engineer is plagued by rapid changes in capital and operating costs. Recognizing this situation, the Bureau of Mines undertook the development of a methodology or cost system, usable by a mine evaluation engineer in generating capital and operating costs applicable to a feasibility study of a particular property or operation. This handbook, the product of this undertaking, is not intended to be the final solution to the problem of cost determination; it is also not a "black box" usable by the unskilled. It will, hopefully, be a useful adjunct to the "tool kit" of mining engineers responsible for property evaluation. Periodic updating and refining of the important data on which the handbook is based will improve its usefulness in the future