Management of Mineral Resources: Creating Value in the Mining Business [Paperback]

Juan Camus (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0873352165 | ISBN-13: 978-0873352161 | Publication Date: May 2002

Mining, as one of the world's earliest industrial activities, continues to yield minerals and resources both valuable and fundamental to civilization. Yet the industry that produces such riches is not as lucrative as it may seem. It is one endeavor to discover a mineral deposit, and quite another to mine it profitably.

The industry's strategy for coping with low profitability has focused primarily on controlling production costs. Despite mechanization, automation, and other technical improvements, the aggregate profitability of mining still falls far short of that realized by most other industries. What appears to be lacking, contends author Juan Camus, is not additional technical knowledge, but rather sound management practices that utilitize the existing knowledge base more productively. Management of Mineral Resources aims to raise the level of mining profitability through better management--the process of generating plans and supervising their implementation.

This book is concerned with the analysis of some of the internal, controllable factors that influence mining production effectiveness. It combines the best thinking in mining and management so that practitioners can devise a concrete strategy for generating maximum shareholder value. Ideas in both of these areas have rapidly evolved in recent years, and this insightful text presents an authoritative review of the current state of the art.

A mass of published material exists, yet it is widely scattered--much of it in technical papers--and therefore not readily accessible. The thought-provoking material in this book has been selected, summarized, and presented by the author in a form that preserves the perspective of its relative importance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

His approach is systematic, and he challenges some outmoded paradigms and rules of thumb. -- SciTech Book News, Sept 2002

The book is ... in a very readable form and can be referenced by both the industry practitioner and non-expert alike -- by David Tutton, Consultant Mining Engineer, Germany

This book should be in the hands of anyone involved in, or aspiring to, management...of the minerals industry. -- Paul E. Lunney, P.Eng, MBA Director, Business Development Noranda Inc.

From the Publisher

The industry’s strategy for coping with low profitability has focused primarily on controlling production costs. Despite mechanization, automation, and other technical improvements, the aggregate profitability of mining still falls far short of that realized by most other industries.

What appears to be lacking, contends author Juan Camus, is not additional technical knowledge, but rather sound management practices that utilize the existing knowledge base more productively. Management of Mineral Resources: Creating Value in the Mining Business aims to raise the level of mining profitability through better management—the process of generating plans and supervising their implementation.

This book is concerned with the analysis of some of the internal, controllable factors that influence mining production effectiveness. It combines the best thinking in mining and management so that practitioners can devise a concrete strategy for generating maximum shareholder value. Ideas in both of these areas have rapidly evolved in recent years, and this insightful text presents an authoritative review of the current state of the art.

A mass of published material exists, yet it is widely scattered—much of it in technical papers—and therefore not readily accessible. The thought-provoking material in this book has been selected, summarized, and presented by the author in a form that preserves the perspective of its relative importance.

Overall, the book puts forward a systematic approach for conducting the mining business, which challenges the many paradigms and rules of thumb that have been used in mining over the years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Society for Mining Metallurgy & Exploration (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873352165
• ISBN-13: 978-0873352161
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Principles to Create Huge Value from Mineral Resources, September 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Management of Mineral Resources: Creating Value in the Mining Business (Paperback)

"...the main question for the company is whether to exploit, sell, or hold the deposit for future use. Mineral resource management can be seen as the discipline that deals with the required activities to support and make this decision."

This book explains the why, how and who of this fundamental decision faced by mining companies. The author also explains why this should be of vital interest to governments, educational institutions and the struggling shareholders of mining companies. Consequently, this book should be in the hands of anyone involved in, or aspiring to, management at either the operating or corporate level of the minerals industry.

Juan P. Camus explains in plain language the theory and use of cutoff grade optimization techniques developed by people such as Kenneth F. Lane, author of the highly regarded book, "The Economic Definition of Ore". The foreword is written by Ken Lane, who lays a challenge for the next book on this fascinating and fundamental aspect of our industry.

The real-life examples, based upon Juan's personal experience, illustrate how these optimization tools helped create huge value from mineral resources. Following the successful application of these principles of optimization within Codelco, the CEO of the world's largest copper producer is quoted as saying, "In the past, we were doing things right, but it seems that now we are doing the right things." These "right things" contributed well over a billion dollars to Codelco's value and still hundreds of millions more for another large Chilean copper producer. Interestingly, the author points out that the techniques he advocates could apply in other industries.

However, beyond the tools and of at least equal importance, the author reviews organizational theory to propose structures and systems to capture opportunities for value creation, which he contends elude too many players in the mining industry. The author distinguishes between Strategic and Tactical mine planning stages, noting their different objectives, roles, time horizons, technical requirements, the types of people suited to each and their relative value creation potential. The author argues that without the proper systems in place for planning, the value of the mineral resource will be sub-optimal. Not only will the owners' be worse off as a consequence, but so also will governments, suppliers and society at large. Proper management of resources is vital to the mineral industry.

The book can be read relatively quickly, touches upon a wide breadth of knowledge and will leave the reader realizing that value creation in the mineral industry goes well beyond the familiar routines of employing economy of scale and cutting costs. As the author amply illustrates, the value of mineral resources lies very much in the application of intellect and ingenuity.