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Turning a mine feasibility study into a construction plan means converting an investment decision and selected mine design into controlled, buildable work. The feasibility study establishes whether the project is technically and economically viable; the construction plan defines exactly how engineering, approvals, procurement, site preparation, construction, commissioning and handover will be executed.
That transition is not automatic. Permits, land access, community commitments, technical standards and approval gates depend on the country and the specific mine. Confirm the jurisdiction, project footprint and applicable conditions before creating an approvals schedule or declaring the project construction-ready.
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What comes after a mine feasibility study?
A feasibility study is the decision and definition basis. A construction plan is the execution control system. New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals states that “The objective of feasibility studies is to determine whether to proceed with a mining project into the detailed engineering and construction stage.” That is a decision purpose, not a declaration that every drawing, permit or contract is ready for site work (New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals feasibility guidance).
At the handover point, the owner should be able to show:
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- which development option was selected and why;
- what production, reserve, resource, process and infrastructure assumptions support it;
- which assumptions still require confirmation in detailed engineering;
- what approvals, agreements and conditions control the work;
- how the scope will be packaged, sequenced, procured and built;
- what capital, funding, contingency and schedule basis will be governed; and
- how commissioning, recruitment, training, operations readiness and handover will occur.
The plan should remain consistent with the feasibility study while providing a controlled way to update assumptions through approved decisions. A feasibility report can contain implementation planning, but it does not replace the detailed design, execution strategy or project controls needed to build a mine.
How do you establish and freeze the decision basis?
Begin with a concise “selected concept” statement. It should identify the mine method, production rate, ore and waste movement assumptions, processing route, plant capacities, water and power strategy, tailings and waste facilities, access, accommodation and other supporting infrastructure included in the chosen option. The New Zealand guidance describes feasibility deliverables covering alternatives, technical viability, plant and infrastructure, costs, risks, approvals, development timing and commissioning (guidance for scoping, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies).
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesDo not “freeze” an assumption merely by copying it from the report. Create a traceable register for every material conclusion and assumption. A useful register has these fields:
| Register field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Study conclusion or assumption | The exact production, design, cost, schedule, geotechnical, process or infrastructure basis being carried forward. |
| Accountable owner | The person or discipline responsible for confirming or accepting it. |
| Evidence required | Survey, testwork, design calculation, vendor data, land agreement, permit condition or other acceptance evidence. |
| Dependencies | Inputs that must be available first, such as metallurgical results, power connection terms or geotechnical information. |
| Decision gate | The date or approval point by which the assumption must be confirmed, changed or accepted with a documented risk. |
| Change consequence | The likely effect on scope, cost, schedule, safety, environment, social commitments or operability. |
This register becomes the bridge between the feasibility model and detailed engineering. It also prevents an unverified study assumption from silently becoming a contractor obligation.
How do you define the construction scope and interfaces?
Turn the selected concept into a product-oriented scope breakdown. Include only facilities and activities relevant to the actual project, but consider each of these areas:
- mine development, pits or underground works, mine services and mobile-equipment support;
- crushing, conveying, stockpiles, processing and ore-separation facilities;
- power generation or connection, substations, water supply, pipelines and communications;
- roads, airstrips, ports, rail, camps, workshops, warehouses and other logistics infrastructure;
- tailings, waste-rock, water-management and rehabilitation works;
- environmental controls, monitoring systems and social or community facilities;
- construction temporary works, laydown areas, access roads and contractor facilities; and
- commissioning systems, spare parts, operating tools, training facilities and handover records.
Canada’s Environmental Code of Practice for metal mines describes detailed planning across mining and ore separation, infrastructure, construction and commissioning schedules, and environmental aspects. The exact scope varies with the mine, processing route and location.
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Maintain an exclusions and unresolved-decisions list beside the scope. Examples include a power connection still subject to utility terms, a camp strategy awaiting a social agreement, or a process package whose final vendor data is not yet available. An exclusion that is not visible will often reappear as a late variation.
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How do you convert the scope into work packages?
For every facility or workstream, define a package that can be engineered, bought, built, tested and accepted. At minimum, record:
- the engineering deliverables and design maturity required for release;
- the procurement package, technical specification and vendor-data requirements;
- the construction package, quantities, temporary works and site constraints;
- the owner, engineer, contractor and commissioning leads;
- interfaces with adjacent packages and required handover information;
- prerequisites such as permits, access, surveys, geotechnical data or enabling works; and
- inspection, test, completion and acceptance criteria.
Identify long-lead equipment from the actual design and market information, not from a generic list. A large transformer, mill, hoist, conveyor component or water-treatment package may drive engineering release, shipping, foundations, storage and installation sequence. The procurement plan should show the required data date, purchase order milestone, fabrication inspections, transport route, customs or border requirements where applicable, delivery, preservation and installation readiness.
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McKinsey’s mining execution guidance recommends a construction execution strategy that defines work packages, logistics, sequence, modularization and off-site fabrication (McKinsey’s mining feasibility-study guidance). Treat modularization and off-site fabrication as options to evaluate, not universal answers. Compare them with transport limits, lifting capacity, site weather, local capability, design maturity, fabrication quality controls and the cost of shipping incomplete or oversized modules.
How do you build an integrated mine construction schedule?
Use one logic-driven schedule that connects front-end engineering and design, detailed engineering, approvals and agreements, procurement, site preparation, construction, testing, commissioning and operational readiness. Separate schedules for engineering, procurement and construction can conceal the very interfaces that control the completion date.
For each activity, show an owner, predecessor, successor, required information, planned duration, acceptance milestone and responsible decision-maker. The schedule should make these gates visible:
- selected concept and investment approval;
- design basis and site information accepted;
- critical permits, land access and agreements available for the relevant work;
- long-lead purchase orders released;
- construction work fronts released with safe access and approved information;
- mechanical completion and systems turnover;
- commissioning and performance testing; and
- operations acceptance and final handover.
Do not label a date “construction start” without defining what it means. Early earthworks under a limited approval, bulk civil works, first permanent equipment installation and full construction mobilization are different milestones. State the workfront, authorization and prerequisites for each.
A project-specific development timetable filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission illustrates how an implementation plan can connect milestones and front-end engineering. It is an example of one project’s governance arrangement, not a universal mining standard (SEC project development and governance agreement).
How do you turn the feasibility estimate into a construction cost baseline?
Reconcile the feasibility estimate to the execution scope line by line. Explain changes caused by design development, quantities, rates, logistics, escalation, currency, temporary works, owner costs, commissioning, working capital and changes in schedule. Preserve the original feasibility estimate as a reference; do not overwrite it with a new number that cannot be reconciled.
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The controlled cost baseline should identify, as applicable:
- engineering and project-management costs;
- procurement, freight, insurance, duties and storage;
- construction labour, equipment, temporary facilities and camp costs;
- mine development, process plant and infrastructure packages;
- environmental, social, monitoring and closure-related works;
- commissioning, spares, first fills, recruitment and training;
- owner’s costs, financing or funding assumptions relevant to governance;
- contingency and the uncertainty it is intended to cover; and
- cash-flow timing linked to the integrated schedule.
Assign cost and schedule risk owners. A risk entry should state the cause, event, consequence, response, trigger, owner and residual exposure. Examples include delayed land access, incomplete geotechnical information, a long-lead item missing its required data, extreme weather affecting a workfront, or a permit condition that changes the design. The New Zealand guidance calls for identifying risks and actions, while execution guidance stresses resolving planning issues before work begins.
How should permits, environmental commitments and community obligations enter the plan?
Create a project-specific approvals and commitments register only after confirming the mine’s country, state or province, land tenure, footprint, water regime, transport routes and processing activities. There is no universal permit checklist. The register may include environmental approvals, mining or resource consents, water authorizations, land access, heritage requirements, construction permits, utility agreements, explosives controls and conditions imposed by approval authorities, but the applicable items must be determined locally.
For every approval or commitment, link the requirement to:
- the design document or drawing that demonstrates compliance;
- the construction activity or work package affected;
- the evidence and inspection record required;
- the accountable owner and approval authority;
- the date by which the condition must be satisfied; and
- the schedule activity that cannot proceed until it is satisfied.
Environmental and social work should not sit in a separate binder disconnected from design. The Australian Government’s leading-practice sustainable-development guide for mining emphasizes integrating economic, environmental, social, legal and regulatory considerations into mine planning, with closure planning and community context addressed early. Apply that principle to haul-road water controls, tailings design, biodiversity constraints, cultural heritage, workforce accommodation, traffic, noise, consultation commitments and progressive rehabilitation where relevant.
Keep closure assumptions visible in the construction plan. A facility that is cheap to build but difficult to decommission, monitor or rehabilitate may create a later obligation that was absent from the feasibility comparison.
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If the feasibility study leaves genuine options open, compare them on the same evidence base and document the decision. The comparison should cover:
| Decision axis | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Technical viability and safety | Can the mine method, process route and infrastructure be built and operated safely with the available information? |
| Capacity and recovery | What mine, plant, water, power, waste and tailings capacities are required, and what assumptions drive them? |
| Approvals and environmental or social effects | What land, water, heritage, biodiversity, community and closure implications differ between options? |
| Construction sequence | Which option has the clearest workfronts, interfaces, logistics route and commissioning path? |
| Capital and operating cost | What cost basis, contingency, schedule exposure and operating assumptions support each option? |
| Risk and sensitivity | Which assumptions have the greatest effect on value, schedule, safety or compliance? |
| Readiness and operability | Can the future workforce access, maintain, control and commission the selected facilities? |
Canadian guidance notes that mining methods must reflect safety, economics, practicality and environmental considerations, while New Zealand guidance calls for comparing alternatives and evaluating cost and risk. Record the rejected options and the reason for rejection; otherwise they tend to reappear as informal scope changes.
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How do you run constructability and operability reviews?
Before releasing major packages, bring together design leads, construction professionals, commissioning personnel and future operations and maintenance representatives. Review whether the design can be safely accessed, lifted, installed, inspected, maintained, isolated and commissioned in the sequence shown on the schedule.
Ask practical questions:
- Can heavy or oversized equipment reach its final location?
- Are laydown areas, cranes, temporary roads and lifting points available when needed?
- Can crews work without unsafe congestion or conflicting permits?
- Are embedded items, penetrations, cable routes and interfaces defined before concrete or steel is released?
- Can systems be flushed, energized, tested and isolated in a controlled order?
- Can operators reach valves, instruments, sampling points and maintenance equipment?
- Will temporary construction works interfere with environmental controls or community commitments?
McKinsey recommends constructability and operability reviews using a three-dimensional facility model with construction professionals and senior owner operations and maintenance representatives. A 3-D model is a useful method, not a mandatory requirement for every project. Whatever method is used, record each finding as an owned action tied to a design revision, package hold point or formal acceptance.
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How do you plan commissioning and operational readiness?
Commissioning starts in the construction plan, not after construction is “finished.” Define systems and subsystems, turnover boundaries, pre-commissioning checks, energization rules, water or ore introduction, performance tests, acceptance criteria and the records required for handover.
Build an operations-readiness workstream alongside engineering and procurement. It should cover:
- recruitment and competency requirements for operators, maintainers, supervisors and technical specialists;
- training facilities, simulators or vendor training where needed;
- operating, maintenance, emergency and isolation procedures;
- spares, consumables, tooling, mobile equipment and maintenance systems;
- control-room arrangements, communications and reporting;
- performance-management measures and production ramp-up assumptions;
- roles and responsibilities during commissioning, start-up and the transition to operations; and
- the document, drawing, asset-register and warranty information required for handover.
New Zealand guidance includes commissioning, recruitment, training and handover within feasibility deliverables, and McKinsey advises addressing operations readiness during study and execution planning. A facility is not ready merely because construction quantities are complete; it is ready when the authorized operating team can safely accept, operate and maintain it against agreed criteria.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do you govern execution and change?
Set the governance model before contractors mobilize. Define decision rights, delegated authorities, reporting cadence, cost and schedule ownership, risk escalation, contractor interfaces, document control, technical queries and change approval thresholds.
Use a formal change process that distinguishes:
- correction of an error in the approved design;
- development of an unresolved feasibility assumption;
- an owner-requested scope change;
- a regulatory or approval-driven change; and
- a contractor proposal or construction means-and-methods change.
Each change should state the reason, affected documents and packages, cost, schedule, safety, environmental and social consequences, funding source, approval authority and updated risk. Keep the feasibility study’s baseline and the current approved development plan separately identifiable so that decision-makers can see what changed and why.
The SEC-filed governance agreement is an example of a project using governance review and an updated development plan; it should be read as an illustration rather than a generally binding rule. The JORC feasibility guidance dated August 1, 2024 is explicitly a draft, so it should not be treated as a final adopted standard without checking its status and the rules applicable to the project.
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What does a mine construction-readiness gate look like?
Before authorizing a major construction phase, hold a documented readiness review. The evidence should be proportionate to the phase, but a practical gate asks:
- Decision: Is the selected concept approved, and are alternatives and material sensitivities documented?
- Design: Are the design basis, surveys, geotechnical information, calculations, specifications and interface data mature enough for the workfront?
- Approvals: Are the required permits, land rights, agreements and conditions in force for that activity?
- Scope: Are inclusions, exclusions, quantities, package boundaries and acceptance criteria clear?
- Procurement: Are long-lead orders, vendor data, inspections, transport and preservation plans aligned with the schedule?
- Construction: Are access, temporary works, logistics, lifting, workforce, safety and environmental controls ready?
- Cost and schedule: Is there an approved baseline with contingency, cash flow, critical path and risk owners?
- Operations: Are commissioning boundaries, personnel, procedures, spares, training and handover requirements defined?
- Governance: Are decision rights, reporting, change control and document systems operating?
A failed gate is a controlled decision to resolve specific evidence gaps, not a reason to disguise them as “construction progress.” Record conditions, owners and due dates for any conditional release.
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- Treating the feasibility report as issued-for-construction information. Fix this by mapping every assumption to evidence and a design or decision gate.
- Starting procurement before interfaces are defined. Freeze package boundaries, vendor data requirements and tie-in responsibilities first.
- Using a generic permit list. Confirm the jurisdiction, project footprint and approval conditions, then link each requirement to schedule and evidence.
- Optimizing a package instead of the whole project. Test local savings against transport, commissioning, maintenance, environmental and social consequences.
- Leaving commissioning to the end. Define systems, turnover records, operators, training and acceptance tests while packages are being designed.
- Ignoring closure and community commitments. Carry them into design criteria, construction controls, monitoring and cost allowances.
- Allowing uncontrolled scope growth. Use a visible decision log, change register and updated cost and schedule baseline.
- Declaring readiness from paperwork alone. Verify physical access, safe workfronts, competent people, materials, approvals and acceptance evidence for the actual activity.
What should the final transition package contain?
A complete transition package normally includes the approved development basis; scope breakdown and interface register; design deliverables register; procurement and long-lead strategy; construction execution strategy; integrated master schedule; capital estimate and funding basis; risk and opportunity register; approvals and commitments register; environmental, social and closure controls; constructability and operability actions; commissioning and operations-readiness plan; governance and change-control procedures; and handover requirements.
The package should let a new project participant answer five questions without reopening the feasibility report: What are we building? Why this option? What must happen before each workfront can start? Who owns each decision and interface? What evidence proves the facility is ready for the next phase?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a feasibility study the same as an engineering design for construction?
No. A feasibility study supports the investment and development decision and defines the selected concept at an appropriate level. Construction requires progressively developed engineering, approved specifications, package boundaries, permits, procurement information, work methods and acceptance criteria.
When should detailed engineering start on a mining project?
It normally begins as the feasibility decision is made and the selected concept is carried forward, with timing governed by the project’s risk, funding, approvals and design maturity. The exact release point should be a documented decision gate rather than a universal calendar date.
Can construction begin before every permit is issued?
Only where the applicable jurisdiction and approval conditions legally allow the specific activity. Some projects may have limited enabling works under separate authorizations, but the construction schedule must identify exactly which workfront is permitted and which activities remain prohibited.
Who owns the mine construction plan?
The project owner remains accountable for the approved scope, funding, decisions, risks and acceptance, while engineering firms and contractors own the deliverables assigned to them. The governance plan should state delegated authority and prevent gaps between owner, designer, contractor and future operator.
What software is needed to manage the transition?
The category is optional: project-controls, document-control, scheduling, cost-management and engineering-coordination systems can support an integrated plan. Tools do not replace a sound scope, clear interfaces, reliable data, accountable owners or formal change control.
