Finance and Valuation of Mineral Projects
The course aims to provide guidance on key technical issues that affect the sector and can help assess and rank the opportunities in the both technical appraisal and financial evaluation of mineral projects.
Course key facts
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Date
23 - 27 November 2026
Duration
2 or 4 days
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Credits
Non credit bearing
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Format
In-person
Fee
£4,725
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Location
On Campus (South Kensington)
Overview
This course aims to provide guidance on key technical issues that affect the sector and can help assess and rank the opportunities in the mining investment. Imperial College London has a long established reputation for delivering authoritative courses to the sector, through its continuing professional development activities in mining appraisal and finance. This course aims to enhance an understanding of the business of mining.
Learning journey
The course will be delivered in self-contained modules. The first module, on days 1 and 2, is designed to provide an overview of the key technical aspects of the minerals industry. The second module, days 4 and 5, is based on workshop sessions, in which fully linked financial models will be used to determine the weighted average cost of capital and the optimum level of gearing for a range of mineral project types. Debt performance indicators and ratios will be considered.
While the intrinsic value of a mineral project is still a key consideration, understanding the interrelationship between technical and financial risk to truly understand the long term value of an asset, helps companies make better investment (or divestment) decisions. Companies that are able to secure debt finance for both development and acquisition of advanced projects
have greater strategic flexibility. Understanding how debt impacts the valuation of projects allows for an objective approach to determining levels of gearing; this is relevant to both the investment banking and mining communities. The Valuation of Mineral Projects element on day 5 course is designed to address these issues.
Workshop sessions are also an integral part of the course delivery and use will be made in the workshop sessions of the IC-MinEval software which automates the generation of Excel™- based spreadsheet to produce models for a wide range of mineral projects. These models can be saved as fully-linked workbooks and continued use is quite independent of IC-MinEval. Delegates can generate their own models which can be preserved indefinitely and having normal excel functionality.
The course fee would include access to Professor Buchanan’s new edumine On-Demand/e-Learning Valuation course. Details at: Valuation of Mineral Projects Based on Share Performance Metrics
A copy of the e-book 'Metals and Energy Finance' will be provided as part of the course pack. Delegates who prefer a hard copy of the book should indicate this when registering. Details at: Metals and Energy Finance
Strategic Management, Mineral Geosciences and Project Evaluation
- 1. Value Creation in Mineral Projects
The cycle of value creation in mineral projects. Exploration Stage. The pyramid reflecting the evolution of a gold mineral exploration and evaluation programme. Drivers – Commodity Prices. Resource Base and Asset Life – Mineral Resources. Synergies and Portfolio Optimisation. Single project mining company stages of development and funding options and sources of capital. Funding Options for Mineral Projects - Pre-Initial Public Offering, Listing, Joint Venture Agreement and Project Finance. Multiple-partner modelling. -
2. The origin of mineral deposits and their classification.
Terminology. Strategic minerals. Chemical composition of the Earths crust. Geochemically abundant and scarce metals. Mineralogical barrier. Relationship between value and tonnage. Diversity – REE, Battery Metals - 3. Resource Evaluation
Sampling. Diamond drill rig, crowns, core and core storage. Process Mineralogy. Concepts around Geological Continuity. Polygons of Influence and Inverse Distance. - 4. Resource Evaluation
Geostatistical Methods Experimental semi-variogram. Variogram showing the relationship ỵ(h) which relates the semi-variance of sample differences to distance between samples. Resource block model. Grade-tonnage relationships. Reserve and Resource Definitions. Drill spacing. Evaluation versus Production. Break-even and cut-off grade. -
5. Metals & Energy Project Appraisal & Finance
Nomenclature of documentation generated in mineral project development. IPO Prospectus, SEDAR and NI 43-101.Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) - Elements and Characteristics. Cost Estimation. Relationship Cost to Capacity. Asset Optimisation. Full Technical Feasibility Study (FTFS)– Elements and Characteristics. Engineering Design Stages . Feasibility Studies and the Information Memorandum. Construction. Construction Monitoring. Production Monitoring. Project Finance Parameters.
Course details
Workshop on mining projects and IC-MinEval - Days 3 & 4 (optional)
Use will be made in the workshop sessions on Days 3 and 4 of the IC-MinEval software, an Excel™-based spreadsheet programmes automating all stages required to produce models for a wide range of mineral projects. IC-MinEval produces a Balance Sheet, and Profit and Loss account from the cash flows, with tax provisions linked to the Profit and Loss Account. The cost of debt is calculated, as is the weighted average cost of capital and the cost of equity. Output modules include the base case discount cash flows, as well as key financial ratios and performance indicators such as NPV, IRR payback and maximum cash exposure. Sensitivity analysis can be undertaken on key variables.
Delivery of IC-MinEval functionality for delegates participating in Days 3 and 4 will be from the Imperial College Software Hub. DLB can navigate IC-MinEval-based modelling by merging the workbook with the Team Meeting. Delegates can access the Software Hub independently, separately and simultaneously on their laptops or PCs.
This course aims to enhance an understanding of the business of mining.
The course is designed for mining geologists, mining engineers and mineral process engineers as well as aiming to broaden knowledge beyond their particular areas of expertise. It will also be of interest to support staff on active mining operations as well as those in International Development and Government, Financial Services and Commodity Trading and Consultants and Advisors involved in the minerals industry.
- 2 days - £1,995 (Day 1 & 2 - Core course )
- 5 days - £4,725 (Day 1-5)
A 20% administration fee will be levied for cancellations made up to two weeks prior to the start of the course. Cancellations thereafter will be liable to the loss of the full fee. Notice of cancellation must be given in writing by letter or fax and action will be taken to recover, from the delegates or their employers, that proportion of the fee owing at the time of cancellation.
Imperial College London reserves the right to cancel an advertised course at short notice. It will endeavour to provide participants with as much notice as possible, but will not accept liability for costs incurred by participants or their organisations for the cancellation of travel arrangements and/or accommodation reservations as a result of the course being cancelled or postponed. If a course is cancelled, fees will be refunded in full. Imperial College also reserves the right to postpone or make such alterations to the content of a course as may be necessary.
Your Instructors
Dennis Buchanan
Emeritus Professor of Mining Geology & Senior Research FellowProfessor Buchanan works jointly between the Department of Earth Science and Engineering and the Business School at Imperial College London and will act as the Course Director. Professor Buchanan's current research interest lies in addressing the underlying technical principles applying to mineral projects and demonstrating how these influence financial modelling. He has 38 years’ experience teaching mining geology, mineral exploration and mineral project appraisal and is responsible for the MSc in Metals and Energy Finance. This is a joint degree between the Department of Earth Science and Engineering and the Business School at Imperial College. Professor Buchanan has worked as a Mining Geologist in both gold and platinum mines in South Africa and had wide experience as a consultant to industry, as an expert witness and in designing and delivering short courses for industry
Chris Worcester
AdvisorChris Worcester began his City career in 1993 at Barclays de Zoete Wedd, where he worked in the Metals and Mining project finance team and with Dr Alan Richards, the Head of Mining Research and Extel number-1 rated Mining analyst and Rio Tinto’s corporate broker. In 2000, he joined the Royal Bank of Scotland as Director and Global Head of Financial Modelling and Analysis, leaving in 2002 to join WestLB Capital Markets, where he established and managed the global Metals and Mining team until 2007 and took them to number-2 rated mining debt bank from scratch. Since then, Chris has been actively involved in securing funding and investment for natural resource companies through private, specialist corporate finance company Green Road Capital. He has arranged and structured transactions that have twice won European mining deal of the year and twice won African Mining deal of the year. He is currently advising clients on raising new capital in the iron, copper, gold and energy sectors
Contact us
Kathryn Gresty
Senior Programme Administrator
- Phone: +44 (0)20 7594 6882
- Email: cpd@imperial.ac.uk
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