Economic and Management
Issues in the Mining Industry
The mining business is a unique industrial activity. Its main feature is that it deals with finite, non-renewable resources that call for a particular economic analysis if the goal is to maximize value. This is in fact one of the principal spheres of action of mineral economics.

On the other hand, mineral deposits are distinctive assets whose intrinsic characteristics depend on the location and circumstances in which they took place and developed. The knowledge of the mineral deposit -its location, emplacement, shape, size, grade distribution, and the like- is critical for the success of the mining business. So it is the definition of the business strategy to exploit the deposit and the organizational design to create and execute this strategy. This is the scope of management as it relates to the mining company. From the corporate viewpoint, however, the strategy meets broader questions like in which markets to compete or to what extent to integrate businesses.

In this context, the symposium objective is to examine the disciplines of mineral economics and management and their contribution to the development of the mining industry. The one-day program considers the first half-day to analyze some important issues in the field of mineral economics. During the second half-day, the idea is to focus attention on the management aspects of mining, particularly those related to the definition of corporate strategies and organizational design.