Who should attend
Registration Deadline - August 21, 2015
Send registrations to: Deborah Frankland
Canada Research Chair and Laboratory Administrator
COSMO - Stochastic Mine Planning Laboratory
McGill University
Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 123A
3450 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 0E8
Tel.: (514) 398-5461 - Fax: (514) 398-7099
E-mail: admcrc.mining@mcgill.ca
CIM, SME, AusIMM, and SAIMM
o  Members: $2,400 USD (Excluding taxes)
o  Non-members: $2,800 USD (Excluding taxes)
Title: __________  Name: __________________________
CIM, SME, AusIMM or SAIMM Member #: _____________
Job Title: _______________________________________
Employer: ______________________________________
Postal Address: __________________________________
City: __________________________________________ 
Prov / State: ________ Postal / Zip Code: ______________
Country: _______________________________________
Phone: _________________________________________
Fax:___________________________________________
Email: _________________________________________
I will bring a laptop:   Yes o   No  o
SPECTRUM SERIES VOL. 17  CD o  or BOOK o
Payment:
Visa o MasterCard o Amex o  Logistics
Cheque o  Wire Transfer o 
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Expiry Date: _____ / _____ Amount $: ________________
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Registration includes course notes, lunch, and morning and
afternoon tea.
Participation in this course may be a valid activity towards continuing
professional development with up to 26 contact hours. Participants
receive a Certificate of Completion.
Notification of Cancellation received in writing up to August 25,
2015 (minimum of 10 working days before the course) will incur a
20% cancellation fee. No refund will be made after this time. An
alternative participant may be nominated.
This course is designed for professionals involved
in making decisions regarding mining projects
during exploration, evaluation, development,
and operations, including managers, financial
analysts, mining engineers, metallurgists, geol-
ogists, and public policy makers.
Instructors
Jean-Michel Rendu graduated as a mining engineer
from École des Mines de Saint Etienne, France, and obtained
a Master’s and a Doctorate in mining engineering from
Columbia University, New York. In 2001 he retired as
Vice President Resources and Mine Planning of Newmont
Mining Corporation, with responsibilities for estimation
and public reporting of resources and reserves, and for
mining engineering services worldwide. He is currently
working as an independent consultant. He is the author
of approximately 50 publications on mining, and authored
textbooks on geostatistics and cut-off grade estimation. He is
an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, An Introduction to Cut-off
a Fellow of AusIMM and SAIMM and a Registered Member of
SME. He was recognised by SME as a Distinguished Member and Grade Estimation:
a Krumb Lecturer, and received two SME President’s Citations, the
SME Daniel C. Jackling Award, and the AIME Mineral Economics Theory and Practice in Open Pit and
Award. He received the American Mining Hall of Fame Medal of
Merit Award in 2009. Underground Mines (with a new section on
Venue Details blending optimization strategy)
McGill University
Department of Mining and Materials Engineering
McGill University
3450 University Street
Jean-Michel Rendu, JMR Consultants, USA
Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 126
Montreal Quebec Canada H3A 0E8
admcrc.mining@mcgill.ca September 9-11, 2015
Montreal, Canada
Lectures are given from 9 AM (refreshments at 8:30 AM)
to 5 PM with two 15 minute coffee breaks and a 1 hour
lunch break.
2015
4PUPUN,UNPULLYPUN
COSMO – Stochastic Mine Planning Laboratory Professional Development Seminars
*6:463HI
Mining Engineering - http://cosmo.mcgill.ca Strategic Risk Quantification and Management
for Ore Reserves and Mine Planning
COSMO - Stochastic Mine Planning Laboratory, a global centre for leading-edge
research and graduate education in “orebody modelling and strategic mine planning with
uncertainty”, is supported by AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick Gold, BHP Billiton, De Beers,
Newmont Mining, Vale, and the Canada Research Chairs Program, NSERC, and CFI.
www.cim.org/mcgill 4PUPUN,UNPULLYPUN
*6:463HI
The 2010 AusIMM Spectrum Series Vol. 17: “Advances in
Orebody Modeling and Strategic Mine Planning I: Old and
New Dimensions in a Changing World” is included with
the course materials
Content and Objectives
Cut-off grades are essential in determining the economic
feasibility and mine life of a project. The fundamentals of
cut-off grade calculation, first established by Ken Lane for-
ty years ago, are revisited. In this course it is shown how
direct and indirect costs, opportunity costs imposed by op-
erational constraints, and other factors, such as political
risk, legal, environmental, and regulatory requirements,
must be taken into account. Mathematical equations are
developed and graphical analytical methods are displayed,
which can be used to solve most cut-off grade estima-
tion problems. It is shown how minimum cut-off grades
are estimated and how they must be modified to take into
account constraints imposed by mine or mill capacity, or
by limits on sales volumes. Multiple practical examples
are given, illustrating the role of cut-off grades in mine
planning, in allocating material to different processes, in
optimizing mill operating conditions, and in poly-metal-
lic deposits. Examples also show the relationship between
cut-off grades and the design of pushbacks in open pit
mines, the development of new stopes in underground
selective mining, and the optimization of block sizes in
caving methods. The relationship between mine selectivi-
ty, deposit modeling, ore control and cut-off grade is also
discussed. A new section has been added in which graphi-
cal and mathematical solutions are introduced to optimize
blending strategies. Included in the course of registration
is a copy of the second edition of the instructor’s book “An
Introduction to Cut-off Grade Estimation”.
Course Outline
Introduction
☛ Mathematical formulation: Utility Function
☛ Cut-off grade and grade-tonnage relationship
☛ Direct profit and loss
☛ Net Present Value
☛ Opportunity costs and benefits
☛ Other costs and benefits
☛ Cut-off grade and blending
strategy
An Introduction to Cut-off Grade Estimation:
Theory and Practice in Open Pit and Underground Mines
(with a new section on blending optimization strategy)
The New 2014 SME Book: “An Introduction to
Cut-off Grade Estimation” is included with the
course materials
Breakeven Cut-off Grade
☛ Cut-off grade between ore and waste
☛ Cut-off grades in open pit mines
☛ Cut-off grades in underground mines
☛ Cut-off grade between two processes
☛ Cut-off grade with variable recovery
☛ Constant tail model of variable recovery
☛ Breakeven cut-off grade and polymetallic deposits
☛ Opportunity cost of not using the optimum
cut-off grade
☛ Cut-off grade and low grade stockpiles
☛ Cut-off grade and optimization of processing plant
operating conditions
Capacity Constraints and Opportunity Costs
☛ When marginal analysis no longer applies:
a gold leaching operation
☛ Capacity constraint and increase in cut-off grade
☛ Decreasing cut-off grade over time:
a strategic objective
☛ Cut-off grade below marginal cut-off grade
☛ Cut-off grade optimization with opportunity costs:
practical considerations
Geologic Constraints and Opportunity Costs
☛ Cut-off grade when processing capacity is fixed
☛ Cut-off grade when mining capacity is fixed
☛ Cut-off grade when volume of sales is fixed
☛ Releasing capacity constraints: a base metal example
Cut-off Grade and Mine Planning
☛ Open pit mine: economic valuation of a pushback
☛ Underground mine: economic valuation of a stope
☛ Similarities between open pit and underground mine
planning
☛ Block and panel caving
☛ Relationship between mine selectivity, deposit
modeling, ore control, and cut-off grade
Which Costs should be Included in Cut-off Grade
Calculations?
☛ General considerations
☛ How specific costs influence cut-off grade calculations
☛ Other costs and benefits
Blending Strategy
☛ Blending two material types
☛ Blending three material types
☛ Blending to maximize tonnage
☛ Remarks concerning an increasingly complex blending
problem
Closing Remarks
PLEASE NOTE it is strongly recommended that
participants bring a laptop