Mineral Resources — Prelims Strategy

Prelims Strategy

Test the category before the number. Resources are not automatically reserves; reserves are not the entire crustal endowment; discovery is not production. A reserve estimate can rise despite mining when additions from exploration or changed feasibility exceed extraction. A reserve-to-output ratio needs its date and assumptions and should not be read as an exact exhaustion countdown.

For numerical questions, calculate contained metal from ore tonnage and grade, then apply recovery. Keep percentages in decimal form and check the order of magnitude. A million tonnes at one per cent cannot yield hundreds of thousands of tonnes of the target metal under the stated model.

For policy questions, distinguish mining from refining and programme approval from implementation. The January 2025 mission announcement separates government expenditure and expected investment; neither is an annual physical output figure. Criticality can persist despite domestic occurrence if processing or substitution constraints remain. Eliminate options that erase a development stage or infer self-sufficiency from a single resource headline.