Know where your investment case stands.
Prepare it for scrutiny.
What could block investment?
Assess readiness. Prepare the case.
Project Investment Readiness Assessment
- Readiness conclusions and conditions
- Evidence gaps and risk registers
- Priority actions and dependencies
- Decision memo and evidence matrix
Investment Case Preparation
- Investment case or committee memo
- Indexed evidence and issues register
- Agreed model or scenario revisions
- Decision conditions and Q&A preparation
Grounded in industry standards.
We examine resource and reserve confidence, mine planning, processing and product quality, and the infrastructure needed to support the case, including power, water and logistics.
- Applicable mineral reporting requirements: NI 43-101 and CIM standards, JORC, or SEC S-K 1300, according to the reporting context.
- CRIRSCO International Reporting Template: Common definitions and principles for mineral resource and reserve reporting.
- Technical studies and supporting evidence: Geological models, mine plans, metallurgical testwork and infrastructure assessments.
We examine project economics and valuation, the funding plan and capital structure, and cash flow resilience. We test whether financial assumptions align with the underlying evidence and intended decision.
- FAST Standard principles: Guidance for structured, transparent and understandable financial models.
- Financial assumptions and supporting data: Cost estimates, tax assumptions, funding terms and cash flow forecasts.
- Confirmed investor or lender requirements: Relevant appraisal criteria, financing conditions and information requirements where commissioned.
We examine product demand and pricing, offtake and counterparty exposure, and the supply, infrastructure and other commercial agreements needed to support revenue and delivery assumptions.
- Market data and outlooks: Relevant commodity prices, demand analysis and product-specific market evidence.
- Product specifications and offtake terms: Qualification requirements, pricing mechanisms, volumes and counterparty commitments.
- Material commercial agreements: Supply, transport, power and other contracts that affect costs, access and delivery.
We examine tailings and mine waste; water, biodiversity, climate and environmental impacts; closure obligations; and workforce, community, human rights and Indigenous interests that could affect the investment decision.
- IFC Performance Standards: Environmental and social risk management, stakeholder engagement and relevant safeguards.
- World Bank Group EHS Guidelines for Mining: Environmental, occupational and community health and safety good practice.
- Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management: Tailings risk management across the facility lifecycle.
- Equator Principles: Environmental and social requirements where applicable to the financing process.
We examine tenure, permits and approvals; fiscal, country and political exposure; and ownership, governance and compliance arrangements. We identify unresolved requirements and dependencies that could affect investment or financing.
- Applicable laws and approval requirements: Mining rights, permits, fiscal obligations and conditions relevant to the asset.
- G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance: Board oversight, shareholder rights, disclosure and accountability.
- OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct: Guidance on business conduct, due diligence and management of adverse impacts.
We examine project scope and study maturity, execution plans and cost and schedule confidence, and the owner capability, contracting approach and operating systems needed to deliver the case.
- AACE Recommended Practice 47R-11: Mining cost-estimate classification and the maturity of supporting project definition.
- Execution and operating evidence: Schedules, contracting plans, organisational capability and operating readiness.
- Relevant delivery benchmarks: Comparable costs, schedules and operating performance, with their relevance and limitations explained.
Investment readiness FAQs
The Project Investment Readiness Assessment examines whether available evidence supports your next investment, appraisal or financing decision. It screens six dimensions: Technical & Infrastructure, Economics & Finance, Market & Commercial, Environmental & Social, Regulatory & Governance, and Delivery & Operations. We focus on material gaps, conflicting assumptions, risks and dependencies, then provide a readiness conclusion and the actions or conditions needed to advance.
Technical reports and specialist due diligence provide essential evidence within their respective scopes. Our work examines how that evidence connects across the investment case, whether assumptions are consistent, and how material risks affect the intended decision. It can precede formal due diligence or help address issues identified during review. Qualified specialists remain responsible for their technical, legal, tax and other professional opinions.
The assessment asks whether the evidence supports your next decision and what needs attention. Investment Case Preparation brings the evidence together into a defensible case, tests economics and alternatives, and explains material risks and decision conditions. Outputs include an investment case or committee memo, indexed evidence, agreed analytical revisions and preparation for decision maker questions. Either engagement can be commissioned directly, without completing the other first.
Developers, owners, acquirers, investors and lenders can commission the work, as can governments and development institutions with a defined appraisal or investment decision. The service covers mining projects, operating assets and acquisitions. Scope is tailored to the asset’s maturity, available evidence and intended decision. We agree who commissions the work, who may use the report, and the required level of assessment before starting.
We start with the decision you need to make, your deadline and the evidence available. We then agree the scope, deliverables, required inputs, specialist involvement, schedule and fees before work begins. A lighter diagnostic can focus on priority issues where a full assessment is unnecessary. Timing depends on evidence quality, access to relevant people and the depth of analysis required.
Yes. Where commissioned, we address funding needs, financing alternatives and confirmed investor or lender requirements, and prepare the case and supporting evidence for scrutiny. Financing decisions remain with capital providers, while the client and its appointed advisers lead investor communication and transaction execution. A sponsor-commissioned report is not automatically an independent lender report. Conflicts, independence requirements and permitted report use are agreed for each engagement.
