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By F. J. Fayers, R. L. Perrine

For many years the problem of increasing ultimate recovery of oil from a reservoir has been a subject of interest to the oil industry. At present, a standard secondary recovery technique is to flood the reservoir with water once natural forces of the system are depleted. The permeability characteristics of the rock, together with interfacial forces which exist between the two fluids and the porous material. allow only part of the oil in the rock formation to be recovered by the water-flooding process. Laboratory experiments have shown that when detergents are added to the flooding water, the flow properties of oil in a porous rock arc improved. This improvement results in greater oil recovery. Even though higher recoveries are obtained using detergents, the extra cost associated with the method may make it economically unsatisfactory. To establish economic feasibility requires experimental laboratory measurement of fluid and rock properties together with a calculational procedure to predict field results. Pilot tests in the field may also be required. This paper presents a mathematical procedure for predicting detergent flood behavior. A number of reasonable simplifying assumptions are made to obtain a tractable system of equations. The resulting method may be regarded as a generalization of Buckley-Lev-crett' theory to solve simultaneously for water saturation and detergent concentration profiles. Consequently this type of calculation can be used in much the same manner as Buckley-Leverett theory is used to evaluate a water flood. The mathematical method employed is the so-called method of characteristics for solving hyperbolic partial differential equations. This application of the method is instructive because several other problems in reservoir analysis may be analyzed in a similar manner. FLUID FLOW EQUATIONS The flow behavior of oil and water without detergent through porous reservoir rock is usually expressed by Darcy's law and a continuity equation for each phase. If gravitational forces are neglected, vrg = kr (s)µr v p rg.........(1) vrg = kr (s)µr v p rg.........(1) ? pa va = F ?/?t (sd) where v is the volumetric flux, k represents permeability, S is saturation, and P the pressure. Fluid viscosity is denoted by 11, p is the density, 4 is porosity, and I the time. The subscripts w and o refer to water and oil. The capillary forces in the system lead to a difference in pressure between phases. This may be expressed by the relation: Pm -P0 =Pc(S).........(5) The capillary pressure? P,, is determined experimentally as a function of saturation. DETERGENT BALANCE EQUATION Addition of detergent to the water phase affects the flow properties of the system. Capillary pressure and relative permeability become functions of detergent concentration, c, as well as fluid saturation. That is: P--P (S,c) and k,,,.- - -- k,,,. At low oil saturation values, the presence of detergent reduces capillary pressure and reduces the relative permeability ratio. Detergents are surface-active and adsorb on rock surfaces. The quantity adsorbed, a, will depend on the concentration c of detergent solution and may also depend on the saturation; thus, a = a(S,c). In this analysis we have assumed that the detergents used are water soluble but not oil soluble, and their movement is therefore restricted to the water phase. The dispersion of detergent in water is neglected by comparison with transfer by flow within the system. Detergent movement is determined by the water flux and adsorption: ? cv m = -F ?/?t (cs + a) We will assume that the quantity of detergent in solution is too small to significantly change water density or viscosity. When the permeability and capillary pres-

By Max Friedemann, Franziska Günther, Helmut Mischo

Ensuring adequate ventilation is a critical aspect of safety in underground mining operations. In small-scale mines in particular, key ventilation parameters such as temperature, humidity, and air velocity are often measured manually and only at infrequent intervals, typically using analog instruments. As a result, real-time monitoring of environmental changes, timely detection of hazardous situations, and demand-driven ventilation control are not feasible. This presentation discusses the selection and evaluation of modern digital ventilation measurement devices, including handheld instruments with digital data logging capabilities and continuously operating sensors with potential for real-time data transmission. The investigations focus on the challenges posed by underground environments with extremely high humidity levels, which can adversely affect sensor performance and electronic components. The results are based on testing conducted at the Research and Teaching Mine of TU Bergakademie Freiberg—an underground ore mine characterized by humidity levels exceeding 95%. Findings include assessments of measurement accuracy, reliability, and practical applicability under these demanding conditions.

Feb 22, 2026

By R. B. Tippin

Great Salt Lake Minerals & Chemicals Corporation (GSL), a subsidiary of Gulf Resources & Chemical Corporation, is located on the east side of the Great Salt Lake, approximately 20 miles from Ogden, Utah. GSL processes brine from the north arm of the lake to produce potash, salt cake, salt and magnesium chloride brine. Potash fertilizer, in the form of K2SO4 is GSL's primary product. The GSL Sulfate of Potash Complex The GSL potash complex (depicted in Figure I) is divided into a solar evaporation pond system and the process plants. The solar,evaporation system consists of a 17,000-acre (68.8 Km2) ponding operation where the various salts deposit during the summer evaporation season, and a harvesting operation which recovers the deposits during the remainder of the year. The harvest is either preconcentrated in the flotation plant or processed directly in the chemical plant where sulfate of potash (SOP) is produced. The chemistry of the lake brine results in a solar deposit con¬taining primarily kainite (KCl-MgSO4.3H20), schoenite (K2SO4?MgSO4^ 6H2O), and halite (NaCI), with some carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H20) and epsomite (MgSO4.7H20). Other minor minerals may be deposited, depending upon the weather during the evaporation season. Each year, the solar deposit in the evaporation ponds will greatly depend upon the summer weather conditions, which have in the past proven to be quite unpredictable. Weather may alter both the quantity of the solar deposit and the composition of this deposit. During, a "short" evaporation season, the tonnage deposited decreases, but depending upon the short-term weather, the potash mineral content

Jan 1, 1977

By N. Ginouse, S. Reny

"In the mining industry time is critical as production depends on the speed of the mining cycle. During the mining process, the time required to re-open access for the next phase of an underground heading is a key point that strongly depends on the ability of the selected ground support technique to promptly ensure the safety of workers. Fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete has been proven to be an efficient and well adapted technique, able to produce a ground support material with the required energy absorption or flexural toughness in a single application phase. In this context, this paper demonstrates the possibility of significantly speeding up the mining process by using a new fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete. The new fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete is capable of developing flexural toughness in only 24 hours that is equivalent to what is typically achieved after 28 days using current fiber reinforced drymix shotcrete technology.INTRODUCTIONShotcrete is often used for ground support when using the drill and blast method or other tunnelling methods. But before re-opening access for the next phase of the underground heading, the applied shotcrete is required to reach a minimum compressive strength and in case of fiber reinforced shotcrete, a minimum flexural toughness (energy absorption) in order to ensure the safety of the workers going into the heading. Combined with bolts, the use of conventional fiber reinforced shotcrete becomes an interesting method for ground support as it is applied very soon after excavation and works to stabilize ground movements (Bernard E. S., 2009). In this case, the toughness development of fiber reinforced shotcrete becomes an important feature of the material when looking to speedup the mining cycle. However, early re-entry criteria in underground openings are difficult to ascertain as the load carrying capacity of fiber reinforced shotcrete is usually assessed after 7 or 28 days. For this reason, re-entry criteria varies from one mining area to another and are usually based on compressive strength requirements. For example, in northern Ontario, Canada, one of the current practices in the mining industry consists of allowing safe re-entry once fiber reinforced shotcrete has developed a compressive strength of higher than 4 MPa (Dufour, O’Donnell, & Ballou, 2003). Flexural toughness requirements on fiber reinforced shotcrete are also typically based on evaluation after 28 days."

Jan 1, 2015

By Qiuyang Hong, Bo Li, Dongyun Liang

"A weathering-crust niobium-rare earth-bearing deposit is formed by the weathering alterationof alkaline granite, which is refractory due to its low grade and complex properties. The mineralogicalcomposition of ore, the grain size of majorminerals as well as the occurrence of Nb and REE are studied in this paper using MLA combined with traditional methods. According to the results, a wide range of Nb-Ti-REE compound minerals including titanoniobite, uranpyrochlore, chlopinite, samarskite and ilmenorutile areformed for the extensive isomorphous substitution among the elements of Nb, Ta, REE, Fe, Ti, U and Th. The occurrence of REE is extremely complex. First, the REEexistingas rare earth minerals including monazite, xenotime, bastnaesite,etcaccount for 21%. Second, the REEexist in the lattice of Nb and Zr minerals as isomorphous additions, which account for 18%. Third, the REE exist as colloidal rare earthdeposit,which account for 35%. Last, the REEexistingas ion-adsorption-type rare earth,which are adsorbedon the kaolinite in the form of hydrated hydroxyl ions, account for 26%.Based on the results of mineralogy, the combined technology process "mineral processing- hydrometallurgical separation" is needed to deal with the ore. The mineral processing tests show that, for the feed ore containing Nb2O5 0.065%, REO 0.13%, an Nb-REE concentrate containing Nb2O5 1.38%, REO 1.98% can be gained by "high intensity magnetic separation-regrinding-gravity separation by shaking tables". The recovery of Nb2O5 and REO is 62.42% and 44.78% respectively. The Nb-REE concentrate is dealt by the metallurgy process "direct reduction- acid leaching & acidulating- neutralization & precipitation- chlorination & distillation" and the rare earth oxide of 92.34% REO as well as the Nb-Zr oxide of 24.62% Nb2O5 can be obtained with the recovery of REO and Nb2O5 being 76.83% and 59.37% respectively."

Jan 1, 2014

By Raymond D. Potts

"Minntac is a taconite mining, concentrating and pelletizing operation located near the town of Mountain Iron, Minnesota, U.S.A. It is totally owned and operated by USX Corporation and represents its largest source of domestic iron units. Minntac began producing fluxed pellets in 1988 and has produced both acid and fluxed pellets since then. This paper compares the acid and fluxed pellets produced at Minntac. It reviews modifications that have been made to the plant flowsheet and discusses areas recognized for improvement since the beginning of fluxed pellet production. It also comments briefly on the performance of Minntac fluxed pellets in USX blast furnaces and the future of fluxed pellets at Minntac.IntroductionMinntac was built in three steps with each step designed to produce 6 million long tons of acid pellets per year. The actual production has varied though. Figure I shows the production by year at Mirmtac. Step I began production in 1967, Step 2 in 1972 and Step 3 in 1978. Mirmtac produced 16.5 million tons in 1979 but only 3.5 million tons in 1982 when the facility was shut down for six months because of the lack of demand for pellets. Since the initial start up, Mirmtac has produced over 200 million long tons of pellets. Until 1987, all the pellets produced were ""acid"" pellets. In 1987, equipment to produce ""fluxed"" pellets was installed and tested. In 1988, full scale production of fluxed pellets began."

Jan 1, 1991

?Four-wheel, skid-steer, rover developed for CSA ?U-chassis for payload accommodation ?Passive geometric suspension ?Max speed 13km/hr ?Remote workstation ?275kg payload capacity ?On-board processor, IMU, motor encoders ?5.2kW-h battery capacity

May 1, 2013

By John C. Branner

Five of the geologic horizons that yield oil in other parts of the world are represented in Brazil; namely, the Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. Thus far, the first two have shown no evidences of being oil bearing within Brazilian territory. Not enough exploring has been done to permit trustworthy comparisons of the relative importance of the Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary as oil-bearing horizons in this country. The most important, indeed almost the only, information available relates to the locations of the areas and to the structural features of the several horizons. The theories regarding the physical conditions under which these rocks were laid down, however, I regard of the utmost importance. Permian Rocks of Permian age cover an enormous area in Brazil, extending from Rio Grande do Sul to Maranhao on the north, and to Matto Grosso on the west. These Permian rocks in many places are known to include oil-bearing shales and in some locations contain small veins of gilsonite. The geologic map of Brazil shows that the Permian area is widely distributed, but there is considerable doubt about the origin of some of the rocks. Some of the lower Permian beds in southern Brazil contain marine fossils, but in Minas no fossils have as yet been found in them, and in Bahia, at only one locality have a few Permian plants been found. Indications of oil have been found in the states of Sa0 Paulo, Parana, and elsewhere farther south, but wells drilled in the Permian of SaO Paulo near the Morro do Bofete did not find oil. One well has been started, by the Brazilian Government, in the Permian of Parana near Marechal Mallet, close to latitude 26" south, but thus far oil has not been found.

Jan 1, 1923

By John C. Branner

Five of the geologic horizons that yield oil in other parts of the world are represented in Brazil; namely, the Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. Thus far, the first two have shown no evidences of being oil bearing within Brazilian territory. Not enough exploring has been done to permit trustworthy comparisons of the relative importance of the Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary as oil-bearing horizons in this country. The most important, indeed almost the only, information available relates to the locations of the areas and to the structural features of the several horizons. The theories regarding the physical conditions under which these rocks were laid down, however, I regard of the utmost importance. Permian Rocks of Permian age cover an enormous area in Brazil, extending from Rio Grande do Sul to Maranhao on the north, and to Matto Grosso on the west. These Permian rocks in many places are known to include oil-bearing shales and in some locations contain small veins of gilsonite. The geologic map of Brazil shows that the Permian area is widely distributed, but there is considerable doubt about the origin of some of the rocks. Some of the lower Permian beds in southern Brazil contain marine fossils, but in Minas no fossils have as yet been found in them, and in Bahia, at only one locality have a few Permian plants been found. Indications of oil have been found in the states of Sa0 Paulo, Parana, and elsewhere farther south, but wells drilled in the Permian of SaO Paulo near the Morro do Bofete did not find oil. One well has been started, by the Brazilian Government, in the Permian of Parana near Marechal Mallet, close to latitude 26" south, but thus far oil has not been found.

Jan 1, 1923

By Ralph C. Kirby

The U.S. produces about 34 percent of the world's aluminum yet must import 90 percent of the raw materials needed. There are abundant resources of aluminum-bearing minerals such as clay, anorthosite, alunite, shale, and dawsonite, but none of the numerous processes proposed for recovering alumina from them has yet proved economically competitive with the Bayer process using imported bauxite. To help develop an economically viable process for utilizing these resources, the Bureau of Mines is testing on a common basis several proudsing processing techniques. New improvements and approaches developed by industry and the Government are being evaluated on a mall scale to obtain enough information on which to form a judgment regarding the best processes for commercial adoption. A continuous miniplant having a feed rate of about 70 pounds per hour is being operated now to investigate the nitric acid process for recovering alumina from clay. Parts of this plant will be used subsequently for work on other processes for recovering alumina from clay, anorthosite, alunite, and dawsonite. Initial results of the operation and plans for the overall project will be discussed.

Jan 1, 1974

The theory and practice of sampling of particulate material have been the focus of a continued attention on the part of the mining industry worldwide for almost a century now, because of its critical importance at all phases of a mining project, from exploration (bulk sampling, assaying) to production (grade control) and marketing (quality control). A powerful, complete theory was put together by P. Oy (1968 to i982), but its applications to gold ores have met with limited success to date, due to the inadequacy of its sampling variance and minimum sample mass determination formulae to the challenging case of gold ores. This paper presents a research project completed at Inco Exploration and Technical Services Inc., using a geostatistical approach, to shed light on the results of P.Gy's theory, and adapt them to the case of particulate gold ores. After a reminder of Gy's formulae and a simplified demonstration of the generic form of Gy's and more traditional formulae, an empirical approach, based on sampling experiments from four gold deposits, shows how Gy's formulae must be corrected to adjust to the case of gold ores. The generality of the results formula is then substantiated with a geostatistical analysis of the problem. A parameterized formula results, and indications are given on how to fit its parameters to experimental data. Application guidelines and charts to fit any case and budget are presented, along with a detailed practical example.

Jan 1, 1991

By Hesam Dehghani, Farid Alimohammadnia, Nima Babanouri, Mokhtar Kalhori

In open-pit mining, blasting pattern design is performed to achieve a desired degree of fragmentation for loading, hauling, and crushing operations. Inappropriate fragmentation of rock will result in numerous problems such as incurring extra costs for secondary blasting, production interruption, etc. Wetness of the blast holes is one of the most important factors, which can cause the inappropriate rock fragmentation. Lowering ambient temperature in the vicinity of the explosion, the presence of water in the hole adversely affects the quality of the explosive while dissipating part of the explosion energy, ending up with inappropriate fragmentation problems. In the present research, in order to study blast-induced fragmentation conditions in Baba-Ali Iron Ore Mine, three scenarios were considered: explosion of ammonium nitrate with fuel oil (ANFO) in dry hole, explosion of ANFO in wet hole, and explosion of the emulsion in wet hole. For this purpose LS-DYNA, a numerical simulation code was used. Results of the present research showed that, compared to the explosion of ANFO in wet hole, the explosion of the emulsion produced more uniform distribution of fragment size, while the explosion of ANFO in dry hole resulted in fewer large fragments.

By John Gross

Studies in grinding efficiencies carried out at the Midvale plant of the U. S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. and at the Tooele plant of the International Smelting Co. Were made possible by the cooperation of these two companies with the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Mr. Alan Probert of the U. S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. and Mr. E. C. Peterson of the International Smelting Co., devoted their entire time to the work during the respective tests, and their services are hereby gratefully acknowledged. It is a pleasure to acknowledge also the assistance and kindness of the staffs of both companies in making it possible, at considerable trouble and expense, to sample the entire mill circuits and in furnishing the necessary supplies and special apparatus required in the work.

Jan 1, 1929

By Hebblewhite B, Humphreys D

An experimental mining project has been carried out in the Collie Basin to demonstrate the safe operation of total extraction mining techniques in the underground mines of the basin. To achieve this, it was necessary to design and install a means of controlling or removing groundwater so that goafing of the overlying strata could be safely achieved as part of the mining operation. The site chosen for the experiment was a triangular panel adjacent to Western No 6 (WD6) underground mine, which includes the 3 to 4 m thick Wyvern Seam beneath 130 to 180 m of overburden. The test area abuts a major fault on the downdip side. The overburden and underburden sequences include several horizons of permeable sandstones which form major aquifers. Water problems have long been recognized in all underground mines in the Collie Basin, and have previously prevented the successful application of total extraction mining. Following extensive hydrological investigations, dewatering and depressurization systems were designed to dewater the immediate roof aquifers and to depressurize aquifers higher in the sequence and in the floor. This would enable stable roof conditions to develop and controlled goafing to be achieved. The roof dewatering/depressurization procedure involved a combination of in-mine vertical roof drainage holes and conventional dewatering bores constructed from the ground surface above the mining trial area. The dewatering system was installed and operated for 29 months before the commencement of mining. Mining was eventually successfully completed in two trial panels using a retreat Wongawilli extraction system using bridge conveyors and continuous miners. Water inflow into the mine workings was channelled to a constructed sump area at the lowermost corner of the panel and pumped to the surface via vertical sump bores. The dewatering and depressurization measures adopted were successful in permitting the first controlled and systematic total extraction recovery of coal from the Collie Basin. This trial mining exercise demonstrated the potential for increasing substantially the recovery of coal from the Collie Basin, where previously recovery rates of around 30 percent from underground mining were commonplace, using only bord and pillar methods.

Jan 1, 1988

To develop a business case that promotes adoption of noise controls by reducing barriers to industry acceptance and enhancing drivers that foster their implementation. Background Over 75% of the U.S. mining workforce is exposed to hazardous noise, putting them at risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Consequently, coal miners suffer high rates of hearing impairment that increase to 70%-90% by retirement age. To address the noise problem for coal miners, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) first determined that the continuous mining machine (CMM) ranked first among machines associated with reported coal noise overexposures. Further studies found that most CMM noise is generated by three component systems on the machine: dust collection, cutting, and conveying. Of these systems, the on-board chain conveyor was found to be a dominant noise source. Noise generated by the conveying system was addressed through the development of a urethane-coated flight bar chain. The coated chain, shown in Figure 1, has demonstrated an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) reduction of operator exposure by 3 dB(A). It has since been accepted by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) as a "technologically achievable" noise control for CMM operators who are exposed to noise that exceeds the MSHA permissible exposure level. Having demonstrated the noise reduction performance of the coated chain, NIOSH has assembled information into a business case that can be used by operations considering adopting the chain at their worksite.

Dec 1, 2009

By D. E. Salman, R. R. Maclachlan, R. J. Barclay

"There is a considerable resource of data for spherical charge cratering, both as single charges and in row-of-charge geometr(1). The data are. however, based on cratering performance to a single free planar surface.In practice. the more common circumstance involves an angular surf ace geometry. such as occurs at the toe of a bench or the wall of a stope. It is for the purpose of investigating this circumstance that the described test work was conducted.The test objectives were: (1) to observe the change in single-charge cratering performance between planesurface and angle geometry; (2) to identify the optimum performance of single charges cratering to a plane surface. cratering from a bench sub-grade position and cratering from a condition of zero sub-grade or stope wall geometry; and (3) to observe the performance of row-of-charges cratering to an angular surface at various row burials and spacing. The row charge burial and spacing dimensions were to be expressed in simple numerical multiples of single-charge depth-of-burial data."

Jan 1, 1981

By I. J. Kotzé, R. T. Jones

Conventional PGM matte smelting requires the presence of a certain quantity of base metal sulphides in order to collect the platinum group metals in a molten sulphidic matte phase in the furnace. Furthermore, the quantity of chromium oxide in the feed materials is controlled in order to avoid the build-up of high-melting chromite spinels in the furnace. Mintek has developed a process for smelting difficult PGM-containing feed materials that contain low amounts of sulphur and/or high amounts of chromium oxide. A DC arc furnace is used to provide the appropriate conditions to generate an iron alloy that collects PGMs very effectively, leaving extremely low residual quantities of PGMs in the slag. Various feed materials have been treated successfully in furnace campaigns running at power levels up to 1.5 MW. The longest of these campaigns was run continuously for more than four months, treating more than two thousand tons of materials such as low-grade concentrates, revert tailings, and converter slag. The campaigns demonstrated the robustness and versatility of the process, and proved that it is possible to sustainably produce a PGM-containing alloy and discardable slags containing an average of less than 1.4 g/t of PGMs over the entire campaign. Keywords: DC arc, smelting, furnace, platinum, PGM, revert tailings, converter slag, ConRoast

Jan 1, 2004

By Fernando JAS Barriga

The world-class Neves-Corvo deposits were intersected by drilling in 1977. They occur in the (Carboniferous) Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), Western Europe&apos;s largest stock of base metals (see Bamga, 1990, in Dallmeyer RD, & Martinez E, eds, Pre-Mesozoic Geology of Iberia, Springer-Verlag). Massive and stringer sulfides in the area sum up to about 200 Mt (109 kg), in five main orebodies (Neves, Corvo, Graca, Zambujal and Lombador). They include unique, extremely high grade copper and tin ores ( - 33 Mt Cu ores, -7.5% Cu, and -4 Mt Sn ores, -2.6% Sn, - 12.5% Cu). Also present are -50 Mt polimetallic ores (-6% Zn, 1.2% Pb, 64 ppm Ag). The remaining are relatively low grade pyritic massive and stringer sulfides (Cu < 2%. Sn < 1%, Zn equivalent < 4%). The geological setting is one of bymodal submarine volcanism, with predominant felsic, explosive volcanism and associated sedimentation (detrital and chemical), which took place on a shelf-facies, quartzite-phyllite basement (of Upper Devonian age). The plate tectonic setting has been the object of much debate. Current interpretations favour that the IPB volcanism took place in a tensional fore-arc region, associated with oblique subduction and collision (Silva et al., 1990, same volume as above). At Neves-Corvo there are many different ores, that may be grouped in four main types: fissural (at the base), breccia, massive (intermediate) and "ruban6 " (at the top). Fissural ores seem to correspond to stockworks in contrasting types of host rocks (gray to black shale, sericitic, chloritic and graphitic, and light gray volcanic rock). Massive ore may contain significant shaly gangue, at the base of individual orebodies, and silica-rich (cherty) varieties towards the top. The more sulfide-rich varieties predominate, and are usually well banded.

Jan 1, 1993

By Gary A. Kingston

Domestic nickel resources are costed to develop a contingency supply curve of U.S. nickel availability at various costs. It is estimated that 4.3 billion pounds of nickel is potentially recoverable from 698 million tons of ore at prices ranging up to $6.36 per pound of nickel. Over 95 percent of the total is estimated to be available at a price of less than $4.00 per pound.

Jan 1, 1970

By T. R. Ellis

Many appraisers/valuers believe that the only valuation method available within the cost approach category for real property appraisal is the depreciated replacement cost method. Some valuation and financial reporting standards setters also believe the same. This paper introduces the minerals appraiser to a number of useful methods for mineral property appraisal that are based primarily on the principle of contribution to value, the predominant economic principle in the cost approach. Most of these cost approach methods discussed are primarily for use in valuation of exploration tracts and resource properties that have no defined reserves. However, the powerful rural cost method can be used to calculate the contribution of categories of resources, reserves and other property components to the value of a mineral property. This method can be applied to mineral properties at all stages of development, including producing properties. The author reasons that standards and regulations pertaining to real property valuation should be modified, and underlying principles should be expanded, so as not to inhibit appropriate application of these cost approach methods.

Jan 1, 2011