Sustaining capital is essential for maintaining and enhancing production levels in mining operations over the life of the project. Unlike routine operating costs (labor, consumables, maintenance, and third-party services), sustaining capital is specifically focused on the necessary investments required to extend the useful life of mining assets and ensure continuous operations. Why Sustaining Capital is Important in Mining Projects: 1. Maintaining Production: Sustaining capital is vital to maintaining operations at the planned level, ensuring that key assets (mining fleet, equipment, processing facilities) are maintained or replaced as required. 2. Long-Term Viability: It supports the extended life of the mine, ensuring continued resource extraction through investments in mine development, infrastructure, and safety systems. 3. Risk Mitigation: By allocating funds for unexpected equipment failures, infrastructure upgrades, and environmental management, sustaining capital helps mitigate operational risks. 4. Economic Stability: Accurate sustaining capital estimates contribute to financial planning, ensuring that cash flow is managed efficiently throughout the mine's life cycle. Key Technical Parameters in Sustaining Capital: Mine Development: Includes open-pit pre-stripping, underground haulage drifts, and ventilation raises to prepare and maintain access to reserves. Push-Back Waste Stripping: Extending mine life by removing waste material to access ore. Equipment Rebuilds: Costs related to overhauling mining fleets and plant equipment to extend their operational life. Equipment Replacement or Expansion: Replacement of obsolete equipment and expansion of mining fleets based on the Life-of-Mine (LOM) plan Process Facility Replacements: Ensuring the continuous functionality of processing plants through replacement or upgrades. Expansion of TSF: Ensuring adequate capacity for increasing tailings production as the mine progresses Progressive Rehabilitation & Ongoing Closure Costs: Long-term planning for environmental reclamation and mine closure, ensuring sustainable environmental practices. Infrastructure Facility Replacements: Replacing critical infrastructure (e.g., power, water, transportation) to support ongoing mining operations. Additional Land Purchases: Acquiring land for future expansion or to support reserves Dewatering and Pumping: Managing water resources effectively to avoid operational disruptions. Contingency: Allocating funds for unexpected costs or emergencies that may arise during the life of the mine Sustaining capital ensures that a mining operation remains viable and efficient over its entire life cycle, ultimately contributing to the financial success of the project. Note: The numerical values used in the table and graph are for illustrative purposes only.