Mining Management: Mining Life Cycle and Project Information

There are different stages in the mining life cycle and project information focuses on explaining what stage a mine is at in the life cycle.

The major stages of the mining life cycle are:

• Exporation and feasibility stage
• Planing and construction stage
• Operations stage
• Closure stage

Each of the above life cycle stages can be broken down into smaller life cycle stages. For example, Ontario's Ministry of Northern Development and Mines considers the Mining Life Cycle to have 6 unique stages. 

S&P Metals and Mining (Capital IQ Pro) (First time users create unique login using @yorku.ca or @schulich.yorku.ca email)

• An excellent resource for finding information on the various mining life cycle phases of specific projects.
• SNL  breaks down the life cycle phases into 3 top-level development stages:
  • Early-stage (includes grassroots, exploration, target outline)
  • Late-stage (includes reserves development, feasibility)
  • Mine-stage (preproduction, production, operating, satelite, expansion, limited production, residual production, closed)
• SNL also assigns mining projects activity statuses:
  • active; temporarily on hold; on hold awaiting financing; on hold awaiting higher commodity prices; under litigation; inactive; care & maintenance

• There are two major ways to access this information:
  • Company specific: Sign in to S&P Metals and Mining. Search for a company using the search bar at the top, or by using the Advanced Search feature to find companies based on criteria like geography, commodity, or stock ticker. With a company's profile loaded, select the "Assets and Operations" section on the left hand side and then select "Metals & Mining Properties." Use the filters window (located just under the company's name, in the main window) to select projects by development stage, activity status, property type, and more. Select specific properties to detailed information such as location, claims, ownership, reserves, production chart, etc. (not all information will be available depending on project's development stage)
  • Commodity specific: Sign in to S&P Metals and Mining. Select the "Commodities" tab, and then select "metals & Mining Properties" on the left. Use the commodity dropdown to choose a commodity of interest, and then use the filters window to select projects by development stage, activity status, property type, and more

Environment Canada. (2013, September 23). Mine Life Cycle Activities - Figure 2. Retrieved from https://www.ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/default.asp?lang=En&n=CBE3CD59-1&offset=4