Comparative analysis of concentrate grading and revenue in Polish copper mines

Abstract

: The paper presents results of a comparative analysis of revenues of the Lubin, Polkowice-Sieroszowice and Rudna mines (KGHM Polska Miedź S.A). The criterion used for comparison is the Net Smelter Revenue formula (NSR) based on heuristic model of functional relationships between the concentration of metals in ore and copper concentrates, the operational efficiency, and the prices of concentrates and metals in the global markets. The calculations have been performed for the data coming from the mining practice. The NSR calculations show that the Lubin mine is nearly 2 times less profitable than the Rudna mine, yet if we compare Cu+Ag+Au grading to the best (Rudna) mine, that difference is only 1.6-fold. However, it must be noted here that the Rudna and Polkowice mines are much deeper than the Lubin mine, therefore the total profit from the mine are not as different as the NSR value.