Project Advance Benchmarks

Some companies get to the pot of gold by advancing mining projects from exploration through technical studies, construction, and eventual production. Adding value may occur through extended drilling programs, rapid development milestones, or gradual progress over many years.  In some cases, companies may show very limited advancement if their focus is not on moving the project forward.

The Drilling Down Timeline Viewer helps users understand how projects advance over their lifetimes. It displays key project activities on a simple timeline (see Image 1) and also organizes them chronologically within the Lassonde Development Stages (see Image 2).

The Trend Line toggle button shows whether project advancement trend is upward or flat. A flat trend line can still reflect value creation if significant resource growth occurs during this period, however, a flat trend line can also signify a stalled project.  Dig deeper to figure out the true story.  

The slope angle of the Trend Line shows the pace of project advancement.  The Advancement Score measures that slope angle based on the rate of upward stage movement per year.   Typically a score greater than 50 indicates that a project is advancing relatively quickly.

Each project in the database—currently more than 100 projects—has been assigned an Advancement Score. The Advancement Score Histogram (example image below) compiles all of the scores so users can identify fast-moving projects as well as those hovering at the same stage. New milestone events for a company, such as the completion of a Feasibility Study, will change its Trend Line slope as it moves through the Lassonde development stages.

In the Advancement Score Histogram, users can also click on a histogram bar to see a list of all projects in that group. Selecting a specific project name will open its actual timeline.

The Advancement Scores are an arbitrary benchmark based on personal experience.  There will be outliers depending on the specific activities undertaken.  The key factors that will increase the Trend Line slope are more advanced development activities, such as the Feasibility Study (FS), permit approval (APRV), and starting construction works (CNST).