Infrastructure generally refers to anything that is not the mine or the mill. In basic terms this is the stuff your brother-in-law needs but forgets to include in his cost estimates. It includes things like electrical power, fuel for heating (and they all need heating because there is an unwritten law stating that mines cannot be in warm locations), water, people who can do more than just pick their noses, offices, sedimentation ponds, parking lots, warehouses and access roads / railroads to get the construction materials in and the good bits out. The cost of constructing the infrastructure can be a major expense in the development of a mine. Consider the logistical/infrastructure needs for building a diamond mine in the middle of Nunavut when there is access to the site for only 6 to 8 weeks a year.

So infrastructure is a big issue and it often gets short shrift in the feasibility study. “Water? Don’t worry about it we’ll find it when we need it.” Hmm... maybe and maybe not. What about the storage of concentrate at the mine and port? Big buildings to store expensive sand are themselves expensive. So infrastructure involves more than the administration building, warehouse and toilet facilities for both sexes. Most companies that do feasibility studies have check lists to ensure they don’t miss the thousands of details in the infrastructure category and that is why it is good to hire such people. While the cost of feasibility studies can be high the cost of missing this stuff out of the design is a lot more expensive, is very embarrassing and usually results in immediate job loss. As an investor you have to pay attention to those who are supposed to pay attention to this detail. You don’t want to buy stock in a company that forgot to build a power line into their operation.

It is beyond the scope of this website to describe the process of designing the infrastructure. It is usually handled by people who have specific expertise in such things and is always a multi-disciplinary exercise. For now then lets talk about selling the stuff that has been produced at the mine.