ORElogy undertake all mining engineering related aspects of pre-feasibility and feasibility assessments.This is usually defined as providing cost estimates to an accuracy of +/- 20% and +/- 10% respectively. The projects can comprise proposed “green-field” projects, expansions to existing operations, resumption of abandoned developments or combinations of all three.

 The process would generally involve as a minimum:

• Conversion of a strictly geological resource model to a practical “mining” model.
• Open pit optimisation and analysis including sensitivity analysis.
• Ultimate pit design for the purposes of producing pit reserves compliant with appropriate reporting standards.
• Life of Mine (LoM) mine scheduling including development of interim phased pit designs where appropriate.
• Generation of LoM cash-flows and analysis of key project parameters.
• Risk and opportunity assessment.

 ORElogy can provide results as a stand-alone report or in a pre-defined format for inclusion into a larger study document. ORElogy also undertake management of feasibility studies on behalf of clients, ensuring all relevant elements of the study are incorporated, assessed to an acceptable level and completed in a timely fashion. The management of this type of study requires a fundamental understanding of all facets of a proposed development.

It can be reasonably argued that one of the most important elements of the entire feasibility process is the open pit optimisation component. It is important to appreciate that open pit optimisation is the point where all relevant aspects of the entire project are accumulated, including geotechnical, hydrological, mining, processing, environmental, marketing, closure and more. From these parameters the optimisation process determines the eventual economic viability and overall scale of the project.

ORElogy consider that their considerable experience in open pit optimisation means they are ideally placed to undertake overall management of feasibility type studies. The optimisation process inherently gives them a unique and comprehensive appreciation of all the key parameters of a project and their interaction with each other.