The Bottom Line is the blog written by an experienced mining engineer and consultant with a 45 year career. Each blog post tackles topics that might matter to mining professionals and investors. The Bottom Line blog tries to deliver grounded insight from decades of personal experience. Whether you're a geologist or engineer, an analyst, or simply someone wanting commentary that gets straight to the point.
The Bottom Line blog site is located at https://kuchling.com/the-bottom-line/ and the entire library can be found at https://kuchling.com/library/.
Shorter video summaries of selected blog posts can be found below. These have been auto-generated by AI (Google NotebookLM) and new video summaries will be added regularly. The videos tend to be a bit overly dramatic in tone.
Mining's Lassonde Curve - A Wild Ride
When looking at the share price of a junior mining company, its life stage can be a factor. The Lassonde Curve describes the life of a junior miner and the pitfalls that management must try to address.
This is a longer form video (7 mins) compared to the other intro videos.
A Graveyard of Mining Studies: What Kills Mining Projects After the Numbers Check Out
Stalled mining projects after completion of a "great" feasibility study can be caused by many reasons, and most likely for multiple reasons. Will the new ore body discoveries be hampered by those same roadblocks and, if so, how will we produce the much needed critical minerals in the future?
Beyond the Headline Grade: For or Against Assay Transparency?
RAW ASSAY DATA: Few companies will provide raw assay data to the public. Should this become the norm for junior miners? This blog post examines both the pros and cons of doing this.
Mining's Obsession with Optimization – Good or Bad?
RAW ASSAY DATA: Few companies will provide raw assay data to the public. Should this become the norm for junior miners? This blog post examines both the pros and cons of doing this.
The Double Life of Inferred Resources: Now You See It – Now You Don’t
Mining's open secret: a PEA mine plan can be built on resources too uncertain to finance a real mine. When feasibility arrives, the project may shrink, and investors wonder what happened. Blame it on the Inferred resources.
4 Mining Study Types (Desktop to Feasibility)
MINING STUDIES: Is your mining project ready for a PEA, a PFS, or a FS? What level of information should you have on hand for each of these studies? Check out one of our past blogs and get a data checklist to help you move forward along your path.
Early Stage “What-if” Mine Economic Analysis – Its Valuable
EARLY STAGE MODELLING: How soon should you start modelling the economics of your mining project? I suggest you start as soon as you have some idea of what your project might look like. Also don’t start a PEA until you have completed some desktop financial models to give you a reasonable prediction for the PEA outcome.
To help with this analysis, check out the Cashflow Modler App.