Introduction to Mining for Bankers

9 - 10 July 2012

Workshop on Mining Projects

11 July 2012

Background

The current uncertainty in the markets is affecting not only investment banks but also commodity prices with recent increase in metal prices resulting in mining shares being associated with high volatility in shares. The view in the mining investment community is that this increased the need for training in technical and financial appraisal of mining projects to help identify risk and opportunities. Potential takeovers and mergers, between major minerals companies, are just the symptomatic headlines of underlying widespread financial activity in the sector.

Course Aims

Currently there is little in the way of 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. 

Course Structure

The course will be delivered as two self-contained modules. The first module, days 1 and 2 is designed to provide an overview of the key technical aspects of the minerals industry. The second module, day 3, 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.  Attendance on either module separately is possible.

Authoritative reviews of key disciplines will be of interest to industrially based geologists and engineers.

Who Should Attend?

This course will be of particular interest to all financial professionals, who are involved in the funding of minerals projects. They might be working for financial institutions as mining analysts, fund and asset managers, or securities and corporate finance investment bankers. They might also be working for junior mining companies preparing business cases, and other specialists involved in the appraisal, financing and development of mining projects. Previous courses have received wide international participation, providing an opportunity to bring together professionals both from this country and overseas.

IC-MinEval

Use will be made in the workshop sessions 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.

The functionality of IC-MinEval will be delivered over the internet through the Software as a Service (SAAS) system with InfoMine (http://software.infomine.com/)

Delegates will be expected to have their own laptop computers available and will be provided with wireless access to the College's internet. They will need to have administrative rights for their laptops, as there will be the need to install ActiveX to access the system.  Delegates will be given access to SaaS a few days before the start of the course. (Delegates with AppleMac and Firefox internet browsers may need some support.) Delegates all have access to the functionality of IC-MinEval through SaaS for a further four weeks after the course. Access beyond that will be available on subscriptions.

Previous Comments from Past Participants

"Good introduction and overview on the key features of mining."

"Excellent course.  Will be recommending it."

"A fantastic course, run by people with a wealth of knowledge who are able to transfer it over."

"Great course, very helpful introduction to mining."