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A gold mine production schedule is a year-by-year forecast, not a record of actual output or a promise of future returns. To read it well, trace the planned tonnes and grades through recovery to gold production, then check that the cost estimate and economic analysis use the same schedule, scope, units, and assumptions.
Start with the report’s context
Before interpreting a headline production, cost, or return figure, note the report title, study stage, effective date, jurisdiction, currency, ownership or project case, and whether its economics are pre-tax or after-tax. Also find the reserve or resource basis and the assumed gold price, exchange rate, metallurgical recovery, and discount rate. NI 43-101 disclosure calls for principal assumptions to be stated and justified, annual cash-flow forecasts tied to the production schedule, and reporting of NPV, IRR, and payback. (British Columbia, NI 43-101)
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A technical report is a dated model for a particular project and case. Changes to mine design or assumptions can change the schedule, cost estimates, and economics. For example, Centerra’s 2025 Mount Milligan report describes changes involving price assumptions, pit design, recovery, throughput, capital and operating costs, and the resulting schedule. (Centerra Gold, 2025)
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Do not rely on a single life-of-mine (LOM) total. Work across the annual rows and identify how the mine plan moves material from the pit or underground workings through processing to saleable output.
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- Tonnes mined: material extracted during the period. Compare this with ore tonnes processed; the difference can reflect waste, stockpiling, or other mine-plan movements.
- Grade: the gold content of the ore, usually shown for mined or processed material. Check which tonnes the grade applies to.
- Recovery: the proportion of contained gold expected to be recovered through processing. Find whether it varies by year, ore type, or other condition.
- Gold ounces: establish whether the table reports contained, recovered, payable, or sold ounces. These are different measures, not interchangeable labels.
- Strip ratio and stockpiles: where shown, use them to understand waste movement and whether ore is mined in one period but processed later.
Mark pre-production and ramp-up years, peak output, declining years, and closure. Reconcile annual rows to the LOM totals, and check whether the schedule is based on mineral reserves alone or includes resources outside the reserve case. NI 43-101 requires annual cash-flow forecasts to use the project’s annual production schedule over its life. Timing matters: equal LOM ounces can produce different cash flows when output, capital spending, and operating costs fall in different years. (British Columbia, NI 43-101)
Separate capital costs from operating costs
Capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) answer different questions. CAPEX covers investment in construction and development as well as, depending on the report’s categories, later investment to maintain or replace assets. OPEX covers the costs of operating the mine and processing its material.
- Initial or pre-production capital is generally spent before steady production begins. Check what project components and indirect costs it covers.
- Sustaining capital is incurred during operations to maintain or replace assets. Determine whether it is included in the capital estimate, deducted in cash flow, or presented separately.
- Closure and reclamation may require costs near or after the end of production. Check their timing and whether the estimate includes them.
- Other scope items to look for include owner’s costs, contingency, working capital, taxes, royalties, and off-site charges. A headline capital figure may not include every item.
Operating-cost categories vary. Mining, processing, and general and administrative (G&A) are common, but some reports separately show transportation, royalties, treatment and refining, and selling or marketing. Centerra’s 2025 Mount Milligan estimate separates those items; IAMGOLD’s 2018 Côté Gold feasibility report groups base-case LOM OPEX into mining, processing, and G&A. Map the categories to common definitions and identify omissions before comparing totals. (Mount Milligan, 2025) (Côté Gold, 2018)
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Check the unit before comparing costs
For every unit cost, read the denominator. A cost per tonne mined is not directly comparable with a cost per tonne milled or processed. A cost per ounce also needs a clear ounce definition and cost scope: an ounce produced, payable, or sold may not be the same basis.
“Cash cost” and “all-in sustaining cost” (AISC) are defined measures with different inclusions; neither automatically represents a project’s total cost. Read the report’s definitions and any reconciliation rather than treating the labels as equivalent to total OPEX or total project cost.
Project-specific figures illustrate why units and categories must stay distinct; they are not industry benchmarks.
| Report and case | Reported operating-cost figures | How to interpret them |
|---|---|---|
| IAMGOLD / SLR Consulting, Côté Gold feasibility Base Case (2018) | LOM OPEX: US$2,947 million—mining US$1,366 million (46%), processing US$1,283 million (44%), and G&A US$298 million (10%). Average total: US$14.52 per tonne processed—mining US$6.73, processing US$6.32, and G&A US$1.47. | The LOM total, category shares, and per-tonne-processed costs describe different aspects of this report’s estimate; do not substitute one for another. |
| Centerra Gold, Mount Milligan technical report (2025) | Operating-cost estimate: US$7,156 million, or US$14.82 per tonne over the report’s stated estimate basis. Categories include mining, processing, administration, transportation, royalties, treatment/refining, and selling/marketing. | The total belongs to this mine, report scope, and estimate basis; it is not a benchmark for another project. |
Côté Gold source report; Mount Milligan source report.
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A cost estimate is easier to assess when the report explains the quantities, rates, and sources behind it. Look for the estimate date and currency, escalation and exchange-rate assumptions, contingency, exclusions, and who prepared or reviewed each component. NI 43-101 calls for disclosure of major cost components and an explanation and justification of the estimate basis. (British Columbia, NI 43-101)
Useful supporting detail may include mine design and phased scheduling, labor and equipment assumptions, metallurgical testwork, fuel and reagent consumption, vendor quotations, contractor inputs, benchmarks, and historical operating data. Côté Gold’s 2018 report, for example, says mining quantities were developed from first principles and phased mine planning; process costs drew on first principles, testwork, salary and benefit guidelines, recent vendor quotations, and historical benchmarks; G&A used first principles and benchmarks; and closure costs came from a detailed closure estimate with stated adjustments. That provenance explains how its estimate was assembled, but it does not establish that forecast assumptions will be realized or imply a universal accuracy range. (IAMGOLD / SLR Consulting, 2018)
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Follow the schedule into cash flow and returns
Check that the economic analysis uses the same annual production schedule you have just read. Trace the sequence: planned output drives revenue under the report’s price assumptions; operating and capital costs are assigned to periods; those period cash flows feed NPV, IRR, and payback. Review whether the model places capital before production, includes ramp-up costs, accounts for sustaining capital, and schedules closure payments. Check how it treats taxes, royalties, and other government interests.
NPV depends on the discount rate and on when cash flows occur. IRR and payback also depend on the assumed cash-flow sequence. Compare pre-tax results only with pre-tax results, and after-tax only with after-tax, while matching the currency and price and exchange-rate assumptions to the costs being modeled. NI 43-101 disclosure links annual cash-flow forecasts to the production schedule and calls for reporting NPV, IRR, and payback. (British Columbia, NI 43-101)
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWhere provided, inspect sensitivities for gold price, grade or recovery, capital cost, operating cost, and exchange rates. They show how results change under the report’s specified alternatives; they do not make the base-case assumptions certain. The economics remain conditional on the mine design, estimates, schedule, prices, and approvals—not a guarantee of production or return. (Centerra Gold, 2025)
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Use a like-for-like checklist to compare projects
Before ranking two projects by cost per ounce, total cost, or NPV, align the assumptions and definitions that make those figures meaningful:
- Study stage and effective date.
- Reserve or resource basis and mine life.
- Annual production profile, grade, recovery, and throughput.
- Estimate currency, price date, exchange rate, and escalation.
- CAPEX scope, contingency, sustaining capital, and closure treatment.
- OPEX categories and unit denominators.
- Pre-tax or after-tax basis, discount rate, taxes, royalties, and sensitivities.
If the reports use different definitions or omit different costs, reconcile those differences before treating the headline figures as comparable.
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