Integrated Feasibility Study: From Block Model to Investment Committee
How IMC Mining’s integration program brought first-principles cost modelling, automated financial statements, and Bayesian risk analysis into a client-led feasibility study for a large-scale bulk commodity operation.
Many feasibility studies are assembled from disconnected workstreams. Geology delivers a block model. Mine planning produces a schedule. Cost engineers build spreadsheets. Finance builds a separate financial model. Each handoff introduces translation risk — assumptions get lost, version control breaks down, and the investment committee receives a document that nobody can fully reconcile.
On this project, the client managed the feasibility study and coordinated the specialist inputs. IMC delivered the integration: connecting those workstreams into a single auditable pipeline through first-principles cost modelling, enterprise financial analysis, and Bayesian risk quantification.
The Integration Pipeline
Seven workstreams connected into a single pipeline — every downstream calculation inherits directly from the layer above it.
Resource Estimation & Block Modelling
3D geological block model built using geostatistical methods in unfolded stratigraphic space. JORC-compliant resource classification with full QA/QC traceability from drillhole to block grade.
Mine Planning & Scheduling
Life-of-mine schedules with quarterly resolution, covering multiple pit areas. Progressive excavation sequencing with face positioning and equipment allocation tied directly to the block model.
Beneficiation & Process Design
Pilot-plant validated process design with material characterisation from bulk sampling programs. Recovery models linked to ore quality attributes in the block model, not flat assumptions.
Tailings & Fines Management
Innovative deposition strategies including in-pit storage from early in the mine life. 3D deposition modelling with full geotechnical characterisation — informing both design and cost.
Infrastructure & Logistics
Haul road design, plant layout, and logistics networks. Product transport and related infrastructure sized to the production schedule, not a static throughput assumption.
First-Principles Cost Modelling (MineCost)
IMC integration. WBS-driven cost tree covering mining, processing, tailings, G&A, and capital. Every cost built from equipment fleets, activity rates, and consumption factors — not industry benchmarks. Linked directly to the mine schedule so costs vary with the plan.
Enterprise Financial Model (MiningIQ)
IMC integration. Full financial statements — income statement, balance sheet, cash flow — generated directly from MineCost outputs. Fiscal regime, debt service, and Bayesian risk analysis built in. No manual data entry between cost model and financial model.
Key Technical Highlights
WBS Cost Architecture
Structured work breakdown hierarchy with equipment-level cost build-up, roster-based labour, and schedule-driven activity rates. Every cost traces to a physical source.
Automated Financial Statements
Full income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow generated directly from cost model outputs — no spreadsheet handoffs, no manual data entry.
Bayesian Risk Engine
Not Monte Carlo. Bayesian analysis incorporating correlations between key drivers — grade and recovery, price and exchange rate — producing calibrated P10–P90 NPV distributions that reflect realistic scenarios.
Automated IC Report
Board-ready investment committee report generated from model outputs with narrative, charts, sensitivities, and risk analysis. When assumptions change, the report updates automatically.
Pilot Plant Validation
Process design validated through independent pilot plant testing, confirming beneficiation recoveries and product quality specifications.
3D Tailings Modelling
Advanced deposition modelling for innovative in-pit and broad-area storage strategies, with full geotechnical characterisation.
Download the Full Article
The complete article covers the integration pipeline in detail — from block model through cost modelling to financial statements and Bayesian risk analysis.
One Model, One Truth
The value of the integration program is not in replacing any single workstream. The various teams delivered the geology, mine planning, process design, and infrastructure. IMC brought the connective tissue — a single, auditable pipeline where changing one assumption propagates through every downstream calculation automatically, from cost model to financial statements to investment committee report. When the investment committee asks what happens if the commodity price drops 10%, the answer is not a back-of-envelope calculation. It is a fully recalculated financial model with updated risk distributions, regenerated in minutes.
Need integration for your feasibility study?
We connect your technical workstreams into a single auditable pipeline — from block model to investment committee report.