Well the development of a
mine site is very complex
and it's complex for
a number of reasons.
First and foremost is that
mining is a global business.
If you're developing a mine site
in Borneo or Papua New Guinea,
it's a completely different physical
environment than one might find if they
were developing a mine site in
Northern Saskatchewan for example.
So in order to understand what is needed to
finance these operations, they have to be
in a position first of all to evaluate
the potential for a mine.
Looking at the ore deposit itself,
relying on geotechnical
and mining engineering
and geological information and data
to provide some idea as to what the
value of that deposit might be.
And once they've established that value,
then they bring their reports and
their evaluations to a financing
body whether it is the head office of the
mining company where the decisions to
finance the mine site are made,
or whether it is to an investment bank or to
venture capitalists if it happens to be
a smaller organization that's looking at
developing the mine site.
The evaluation that the engineers
and geologists provide represents the
foundation of the proposal to raise capital.
If the people who are providing
the capital believe what they
see in terms of the evaluation of the mine site,
then the money is raised to develop it.
