The Economic Definition of Ore - book review

Talking about The Economic Definition of Ore (EDO) was a challenge that I embraced the first time that I had that book in my hands. Why? Because, besides its size, all this book is a delightful conversation with the author about the idea of what really makes ore, ore and waste, waste from an economic perspective. Each chapter introduces new ideas in a straightforward manner to ensure a clear understanding of what are the main assumptions and some cases where these assumptions apply. So, EDO could be classified as follows:

The author begins this conversation from the book’s introduction. There, he proposes questions and gives answers with clarity and reasoning that challenge how many mining engineers think about mining these days. The author’s experience also enables a broad discussion about this concept of ore and its economic definition, e.g. Comparing the mine as a retail business due to the constraints that both industries have, or, for me, is one of the most valuable takeaways of this book: ‘’[…] The economics of ore definition cannot be assessed separately from the economics of the total mining process […].’’

Then the author takes his time to establish formulae for these ideas. Chapters III, IV and V are used to discuss the equations that forged the mining industry's last century, showing the concept of the cut-off as we know it these days. Setting the math aside, this approach is so clearly explained and detailed that it really inspires to dive deeper into them. The following chapters discuss balance and optimize the cut-off policy. There another great takeaway is presented: The idea of a variable cutoff policy considering the whole mining value chain.

In the following chapters, the author gives space for explaining particular considerations in applying these concepts. This is an excellent resource for clarifying the impact of other variables that you might think he misses. It also is an excellent introduction to the 07 case studies presented where the concepts are applied and to support their ideas. This could be considered a great starting point for applying these concepts for own mining company as well as a great research path for demonstrating the application of these concepts in several scenarios using top-notch tech or for comparison with new methodologies.

To sum up, I am pretty satisfied to have read this book. Many people argue that this book is considered mandatory for any mining professional out there, and I agree with that quote. I can recommend “The Economic Definition of Ore” for its relevance to the concepts, the simplicity of the explanation and how entertaining was to read it. It also has a Spanish version for those who want the book in that language. For all of that, It obtains - for me - a solid 4.5/5.