Summary

This review describes feasibility studies in the context of mining and mineral exploration projects, with a focus on mine closures. Online resources and examples of feasibility studies are given. The review also lists consultants that specialize in feasibility work.

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INTRODUCTION

A feasibility study is a preliminary study undertaken before the real work of a project begins to ascertain the likelihood of the project's success. This is how Wikipedia starts its definition of a feasibility study. And this is a good definition for those feasibility studies that are routine in the mining industry.

Wikipedia continues with this expansion of the definition of a feasibility study: "It is an analysis of possible alternative solutions to a problem and a recommendation on the best alternative." This is true for those mining-property-related feasibility studies that examine cleanup and closure of polluted mine sites. But this is not true of the much more common mining-related feasibility study, namely the one that is undertaken to decide if it is feasible to make money by developing and operating the mine.

Wikipedia notes that you can undertake many different kinds of feasibility studies, including economic, technical, schedule, organizational, cultural, legal, and marketing. And at your mine you may need to do any one of these at some time or other. In this review, however, we concentrate on the most common type in mining, namely that which is undertaken before mining proper begins and which is undertaken to decide if mining should begin.

The most rational definition of a pre-mining feasibility study I came across is: "A feasibility study is an engineering study based on test work and engineering analysis, which presents enough information to determine whether or not the project should be advanced to the final engineering and construction stage."