In Micon’s Opinion…
Ecology and Environmental Professionals in the Changing Sustainability Landscape: Mineral Resources and the Energy Transition – by Karen Nash
On 8th December 2021, the UK Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) published a blog by Karen Nash, MPhil MCIEEM FRGS,...
Fast, Detailed and Practical Estimation of External Dilution for Open Pits
Micon has successfully evaluated the effect of minimum mining dimensions on operational dilution for an open pit mine, narrow-vein deposit. This...
Journey to a Mineral Resource Estimate: Data
Intro As promised in our published article “TOP 10 TIPS FOR MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATION” This is the first of a series of articles named Journey to...
Top 10 Tips for Mineral Resource Estimation
Every mineral deposit is unique and requires a large number of items to consider when conducting a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) with some items...
Navigating the Environmental, Social and Governance Landscape
So, what exactly is ESG? We are becoming used to hearing a range of terms gathered under the banner of ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ (ESG),...
Improve the Economics of Your Orebody by Ensuring it is Developed at its Optimum Production Rate
Micon recently completed a very successful scoping-level trade-off study to determine the optimum rate of production of a mineral deposit based upon...
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Worldwide Pandemic and Site Visits
A key part of the Qualified Person’s (QP’s) review of mineral properties under National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) is the site visit. Indeed, it...
The CIM Code and Best Practices – Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction
On 29 November, 2019, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) published an updated version of its Estimation of Mineral...
Specialty Mineral Resource Estimates
Originally published on the M.Plan International Limited website on March 16, 2020. In general, mineral resource estimates for specialty...
From Metal to Money: The Importance of Reliable Metallurgical Accounting on the Entire Mining Operation
Synopsis This article condenses an earlier paper coauthored by Derick de Wit and Garth Marshall, Metal accounting: the new focus area (Part 1),...
Battery Metals and the Green Tech Revolution – How Easy is it to Mine in Europe?
The term 'Battery Metals' is now widely used within and around the mining industry. Battery metals are considered critical to the future of the...
Technical Reporting and Some Metrics Used in Studies
The last two decades have seen the use of standardized Technical Reports disclosing technical and economic results for exploration and mining...
Technical and Economic Evaluation of Mineral Deposits
It is customary, though not mandatory, for the evaluation of the technical feasibility and economic viability of production for a given mineral...
Mineral Resource Estimation
The CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves define Mineral Resources as “a concentration or occurrence of solid material of...
Demystifying Blockchain Technology
On Wednesday, 3 October, Derick R de Wit, Micon Principal Process Engineer and Senior Project Manager, presented an introduction to Blockchain...
Shortening Mineral Asset Valuations
In reviewing the Exposure Draft of the CIMVAL Code for the Valuation of Mineral Properties, a welcome addition in the form of a short-form valuation...
Lithium Pegmatites – Is This the Right One?
Over the last 10 years, lithium has become a hot commodity due to its significant role in the production of lithium-ion batteries. Market...
The Relevance/Non-Relevance of Drill Core Size in Mineral Resource Estimates
In all instances of drilling, maximum recovery of a representative sample is the objective. The general notion is that the bigger the core size, the...
The Role of Genetic Models in the Evaluation of Deposits and Estimation of Mineral Resources
Genetic models are rarely mentioned in the estimation of mineral resources and yet they are key to getting things right. The ability to...
The ‘Spotted Dog’ – Still an Issue in Mineral Resource Classification
Despite progress being made by professional organisations towards the worldwide standardization of Mineral Resource Standards and Definitions, Micon...
Geostatistics: Black Box Magic or Skilled Procedure?
Geostatistics had its origins in the 1950s with the initial works of Herbert Sichel and Danie Krige. Becoming aware of these findings, Georges...
Can I Use Historic Assay Data in My Resource Estimate?
From time to time, over the years, Micon has been asked by clients whether they can make use of old or historic assay data in a mineral resource...
Due Diligence Reports – an IE’s Perspective
All Investors - private or institutional - need to balance their exposure to risk against their expected returns. That requires an understanding of...
When is a Reserve a Reserve?
National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101), a rule adopted by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)...
NI 43-101 Technical Reports: What They Are, and What They’re Not
The purpose of an NI 43-101 Technical Report, as stated in the Form 43-101F1 Instructions, is “to provide a summary of material scientific and...
Mineral Resource Reporting – Differences between CIM, JORC, and Others
The modern mining history of every country is different but, as a result of globalization, mining and exploration companies operate in a global...
Cut-off Grades for Mineral Resource Reporting
The CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves - Definitions and Guidelines, the mineral resource reporting code required for Canadian projects...
The Role of Environmental Baseline Studies in Mining Projects
Developing a mineral deposit into a producing operation tends to be a long and difficult process. An issue that is becoming ever more important is...
Quality Control and Quality Assurance Programmes: A Priority, Not an Afterthought
The integrity of a resource database is fundamental to a company’s success in securing debt or equity finance for a new mining project. The validity...
Continuity in Mineral Resource Estimation
In the second of a series of articles discussing best practice, we focus on the importance of continuity within a mineral resource. The first...
Classification of Mineral Resource Estimates
In the first of a series of articles on best practice DOs and DON'Ts, Bill Lewis, senior geologist with Micon in Toronto, highlights the need to...
Why Mines Fail
Following his presentation to the MINEX 2015 Conference in Moscow, we asked Stanley Bartlett, P.Geo., Managing Director of Micon's UK subsidiary, to...