Mining valuation guides

Where to start

New to the sector? Read how the valuation model works for the full calculation chain and a worked example, then the methodology and resources versus reserves guides.

Already comfortable with the basics? The AISC and risked NAV guides cover the two places where analysts most often make errors: double counting costs and presenting an unrisked project value as if it were certain.

All guides

• Methodology

  This guide explains the order of work in the calculator and the limits of each step, so you know which outputs are quick screens and which depend on assumptions you must defend.

• How the model works

  This guide shows exactly how OreScore turns your inputs into each output, in the order the calculator runs. It includes the formulas, the default values, the rules that hide an output, and a worked example. Nothing here is investment advice. The model is a transparent calculator for your own assumptions. The worked example uses a four-asset model of Aris Mining.

• Valuing junior miners

  Juniors usually have no revenue, so earnings multiples do not work. Value comes from the ground, the people and the money in the bank, and each of those can be examined in turn.

• What is AISC

  AISC is a non-standardised cost measure that tries to show what it takes to keep a mine running at its current scale. Understanding what it contains stops you from counting the same spending twice.

• Resources vs reserves

  The two words sound alike and are treated very differently. A reserve has been shown to be economic. A resource has only been shown to exist in a form with reasonable prospects of eventual extraction.

• What is risked NAV

  Net asset value discounts a mine plan's future cash flows to today. Risked NAV goes a step further and reduces that figure for the chance things do not go to plan.

• Glossary

  Every input and output used in the OreScore calculator, in the order you meet them. Each entry gives the meaning, the unit, how OreScore uses it, and the formula where one applies. For the full calculation chain with a worked example, read [how the valuation model works](/guides/how-the-valuation-model-works).

• Gold mining guide

  Gold equities trade on ounces, margins and trust in management. This calculator turns the numbers you collect from filings into enterprise value, in-ground value per ounce and scenario results, so you can compare producers and developers on a consistent footing.

• Silver mining guide

  Silver companies are awkward to compare because silver is often mined alongside lead, zinc, copper or gold. This calculator keeps the metal, the by-product credits and the cost basis visible so the screening result is easier to question.

• Copper mining guide

  Copper projects are large, slow and expensive, so the answer depends heavily on capital, timing and the discount rate. This calculator helps you frame those drivers using the numbers you enter, whether you are looking at a producer or a distant developer.