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What is the difference between reserves and resources?

Understanding Mining Terminology

Bhavya Moudgil avatar
Written by Bhavya Moudgil
Updated over 3 weeks ago
  • Resources: Represent the total volume of metal contained in mineral deposits at the mine site. This includes all identified material, regardless of whether it is currently economic to extract.

  • Reserves: Represent the economically mineable portion of the resource, considering factors such as technology, costs, prices, and legal/regulatory conditions.

In short: All reserves are part of the resource, but not all resources qualify as reserves.

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