Strategic project evaluation for open pit mining ventures using real options and allied econometric techniques

Open pit mine operations are complex businesses that demand a constant assessment of risk. This is because the value of a mine project is typically influenced by many underlying economic and physical uncertainties, such as metal prices, metal grades, costs, schedules, quantities, and environmental issues, among others, which are not known with much certainty at the beginning of the project. Hence, mining projects present a considerable challenge to those involved in associated investment decisions, such as the owners of the mine and other stakeholders. In general terms, when an option exists to acquire a new or operating mining project, , the owners and stock holders of the mine project need to know the value of the mining project, which is the fundamental criterion for making final decisions about going ahead with the venture capital. However, obtaining the mine project’s value is not an easy task. The reason for this is that sophisticated valuation and mine optimisation techniques, which combine advanced theories in geostatistics, statistics, engineering, economics and finance, among others, need to be used by the mine analyst or mine planner in order to assess and quantify the existing uncertainty and, consequently, the risk involved in the project investment. Furthermore, current valuation and mine optimisation techniques do not complement each other. That is valuation techniques based on real options (RO) analysis assume an expected (constant) metal grade and ore tonnage during a specified period, while mine optimisation (MO) techniques assume expected (constant) metal prices and mining costs. These assumptions are not totally correct since both sources of uncertainty—that of the orebody (metal grade and reserves of mineral), and that about the future behaviour of metal prices and mining costs—are the ones that have great impact on the value of any mining project. Consequently, the key objective of this thesis is twofold. The first objective consists of analysing and understanding the main sources of uncertainty in an open pit mining project, such as the orebody (in situ metal grade), mining costs and metal price uncertainties, and their effect on the final project value. The second objective consists of breaking down the wall of isolation between economic valuation and mine optimisation techniques in order to generate a novel open pit mine evaluation framework called the ―Integrated Valuation / Optimisation Framework (IVOF)‖. One important characteristic of this new framework is that it incorporates the RO and MO valuation techniques into a single integrated process that quantifies and describes uncertainty and risk in a mine project evaluation process, giving a more realistic estimate of the project’s value. To achieve this, novel and advanced engineering and econometric methods are used to integrate financial and geological uncertainty into dynamic risk forecasting measures. The proposed mine valuation/optimisation technique is then applied to a real gold disseminated open pit mine deposit to estimate its value in the face of orebody, mining costs and metal price uncertainties.

Globalismo financiero, territorialidad, "progresismo" y proyectos en pugna

El presente artículo constituye un intento de sistematización de avances de investigación expuestos en diferentes trabajos (Formento y Merino, 2011; Merino 2011a; 2011b; 2011c; 2011d), en los cuales fue tomando cada vez mayor relevancia la cuestión del territorio. En este sentido, nos focalizaremos en cuatro ejes que consideramos claves desde nuestra perspectiva. En primer lugar, el capital financiero transnacional, su territorialidad y la construcción de lo que llamaremos, como tendencia, un Estado Global. En segundo lugar, las formas en las que dicha territorialidad se expresa en lo local, entendiendo lo local como parte del territorio en disputa por parte de distintos proyectos, fuerzas e intereses. En tercer lugar, desarrollaremos un eje integrador que hace al objetivo del trabajo: analizar las contradicciones que atraviesan al Estado y en particular al Estado-nación y cómo las mismas se manifiestan en el territorio como territorialidades contrapuestas, impulsadas por proyectos políticos-estratégicos enfrentados. En cuarto lugar, a partir de estas consideraciones y sólo a modo de graficar algunas de las afirmaciones expresadas, plantearemos una discusión en torno a la manera en que algunos autores entienden el "progresismo" asociado a la nueva lógica del capital financiero transnacional y su configuración territorial

Globalismo financiero, territorialidad, "progresismo" y proyectos en pugna

El presente artículo constituye un intento de sistematización de avances de investigación expuestos en diferentes trabajos (Formento y Merino, 2011; Merino 2011a; 2011b; 2011c; 2011d), en los cuales fue tomando cada vez mayor relevancia la cuestión del territorio. En este sentido, nos focalizaremos en cuatro ejes que consideramos claves desde nuestra perspectiva. En primer lugar, el capital financiero transnacional, su territorialidad y la construcción de lo que llamaremos, como tendencia, un Estado Global. En segundo lugar, las formas en las que dicha territorialidad se expresa en lo local, entendiendo lo local como parte del territorio en disputa por parte de distintos proyectos, fuerzas e intereses. En tercer lugar, desarrollaremos un eje integrador que hace al objetivo del trabajo: analizar las contradicciones que atraviesan al Estado y en particular al Estado-nación y cómo las mismas se manifiestan en el territorio como territorialidades contrapuestas, impulsadas por proyectos políticos-estratégicos enfrentados. En cuarto lugar, a partir de estas consideraciones y sólo a modo de graficar algunas de las afirmaciones expresadas, plantearemos una discusión en torno a la manera en que algunos autores entienden el "progresismo" asociado a la nueva lógica del capital financiero transnacional y su configuración territorial

Globalismo financiero, territorialidad, "progresismo" y proyectos en pugna

El presente artículo constituye un intento de sistematización de avances de investigación expuestos en diferentes trabajos (Formento y Merino, 2011; Merino 2011a; 2011b; 2011c; 2011d), en los cuales fue tomando cada vez mayor relevancia la cuestión del territorio. En este sentido, nos focalizaremos en cuatro ejes que consideramos claves desde nuestra perspectiva. En primer lugar, el capital financiero transnacional, su territorialidad y la construcción de lo que llamaremos, como tendencia, un Estado Global. En segundo lugar, las formas en las que dicha territorialidad se expresa en lo local, entendiendo lo local como parte del territorio en disputa por parte de distintos proyectos, fuerzas e intereses. En tercer lugar, desarrollaremos un eje integrador que hace al objetivo del trabajo: analizar las contradicciones que atraviesan al Estado y en particular al Estado-nación y cómo las mismas se manifiestan en el territorio como territorialidades contrapuestas, impulsadas por proyectos políticos-estratégicos enfrentados. En cuarto lugar, a partir de estas consideraciones y sólo a modo de graficar algunas de las afirmaciones expresadas, plantearemos una discusión en torno a la manera en que algunos autores entienden el "progresismo" asociado a la nueva lógica del capital financiero transnacional y su configuración territorial

Investigating the effect of construction management strategies on project greenhouse gas emissions using interactive simulation

The challenges posed by global climate change are motivating the investigation of strategies that can reduce the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of products and processes. While new construction materials and technologies have received significant attention, there has been limited emphasis on understanding how construction processes can be best managed to reduce GHG emissions. Unexpected disruptive events tend to adversely impact construction costs and delay project completion. They also tend to increase project GHG emissions. The objective of this paper is to investigate ways in which project GHG emissions can be reduced by appropriate management of disruptive events. First, an empirical analysis of construction data from a specific highway construction project is used to illustrate the impact of unexpected schedule delays in increasing project GHG emissions. Next, a simulation based methodology is described to assess the effectiveness of alternative project management strategies in reducing GHG emissions. The contribution of this paper is that it explicitly considers projects emissions, in addition to cost and project duration, in developing project management strategies. Practical application of the method discussed in this paper will help construction firms reduce their project emissions through strategic project management, and without significant investment in new technology. In effect, this paper lays the foundation for best practices in construction management that will optimize project cost and duration, while minimizing GHG emissions.

El Gran La Plata en el contexto de las transformaciones del sector industrial argentino en el período 1990-2010

Este artículo es producto de los avances de una investigación enmarcada en el proyecto "Territorio, Actividad Industrial y Mercado de Trabajo. Estudio de casos en el Gran La Plata", que tiene como principales objetivos analizar las relaciones entre territorio, políticas públicas, sector industrial y empleo del Gran La Plata en el ciclo de la posconvertibilidad. Dicha investigación atiende específicamente a las relaciones entre Estado, actores y territorio y parte de considerar a este último en toda su complejidad. En el presente trabajo pretendemos mostrar cómo las continuidades y rupturas que se dan en el sector industrial argentino a partir de la posconvertibilidad pueden observarse en el Gran La Plata y en la dinámica de las grandes industrias de la microrregión. En este territorio se expresa la puja de proyectos políticos estratégicos que identificamos a escala nacional, los cuales imponen diferentes lógicas y territorialidades, dando lugar a diversas situaciones en el sector industrial. Es decir, podemos observar una dualidad y un conjunto de contradicciones (que atraviesan al propio Estado) que producen en el territorio distintas configuraciones que se definen en cada situación de acuerdo con las correlaciones de fuerzas existentes

El Gran La Plata en el contexto de las transformaciones del sector industrial argentino en el período 1990-2010

Este artículo es producto de los avances de una investigación enmarcada en el proyecto "Territorio, Actividad Industrial y Mercado de Trabajo. Estudio de casos en el Gran La Plata", que tiene como principales objetivos analizar las relaciones entre territorio, políticas públicas, sector industrial y empleo del Gran La Plata en el ciclo de la posconvertibilidad. Dicha investigación atiende específicamente a las relaciones entre Estado, actores y territorio y parte de considerar a este último en toda su complejidad. En el presente trabajo pretendemos mostrar cómo las continuidades y rupturas que se dan en el sector industrial argentino a partir de la posconvertibilidad pueden observarse en el Gran La Plata y en la dinámica de las grandes industrias de la microrregión. En este territorio se expresa la puja de proyectos políticos estratégicos que identificamos a escala nacional, los cuales imponen diferentes lógicas y territorialidades, dando lugar a diversas situaciones en el sector industrial. Es decir, podemos observar una dualidad y un conjunto de contradicciones (que atraviesan al propio Estado) que producen en el territorio distintas configuraciones que se definen en cada situación de acuerdo con las correlaciones de fuerzas existentes

El Gran La Plata en el contexto de las transformaciones del sector industrial argentino en el período 1990-2010

Este artículo es producto de los avances de una investigación enmarcada en el proyecto "Territorio, Actividad Industrial y Mercado de Trabajo. Estudio de casos en el Gran La Plata", que tiene como principales objetivos analizar las relaciones entre territorio, políticas públicas, sector industrial y empleo del Gran La Plata en el ciclo de la posconvertibilidad. Dicha investigación atiende específicamente a las relaciones entre Estado, actores y territorio y parte de considerar a este último en toda su complejidad. En el presente trabajo pretendemos mostrar cómo las continuidades y rupturas que se dan en el sector industrial argentino a partir de la posconvertibilidad pueden observarse en el Gran La Plata y en la dinámica de las grandes industrias de la microrregión. En este territorio se expresa la puja de proyectos políticos estratégicos que identificamos a escala nacional, los cuales imponen diferentes lógicas y territorialidades, dando lugar a diversas situaciones en el sector industrial. Es decir, podemos observar una dualidad y un conjunto de contradicciones (que atraviesan al propio Estado) que producen en el territorio distintas configuraciones que se definen en cada situación de acuerdo con las correlaciones de fuerzas existentes

The Strategic Planning of EU Military Operations - The Case of EUFOR TCHAD / RCA. IES WORKING PAPER 5/2008

On 28 January 2008 the European Union launched the military operation EUFOR in Chad and the Central African Republic. Its mandate was to contribute to the security of the civilian population, the numerous refugees from neighboring Darfur and the local presence of the United Nations. This paper describes and analyses the planning process of this operation at the political-strategic and military-strategic levels with the aim of understanding how the military instrument was intended to generate the desired political effects. The paper argues that, from a military perspective, the EUFOR operation is based on the concept of humanitarian deterrence: the threat of military force is used to discourage potential spoilers from targeting the civilian population. As with any military operation, the planning of EUFOR was plagued by various elements of friction. At least some of this friction seems to flow from the mismatch in expectations between the political-strategic and military-strategic levels. The various political and military-technical constraints within which the operation was planned resulted in an operational posture that is less decisive than what the political ambitions would have suggested.

Healthcare and the Common Good: Restructuring the Economy of Medical Knowledge through Communitarian Political Theory

The pharmaceutical industry wields disproportionate power and control within the medical economy of knowledge where the desire for profit considerably outweighs health for its own sake. Utilizing the theoretical tools of political philosophy, this project restructures the economy of medical knowledge in order to lessen the oligarchical control possessed by the pharmaceutical industry. Ultimately, this project argues that an economy of medical knowledge structured around communitarian political theory lessens the current power dynamic without taking an anti-capitalist stance. Arising from the core commitments of communitarian-liberalism, the production, distribution, and consumption of medical knowledge all become guided processes seeking to realize the common good of quality healthcare. This project also considers two other theoretical approaches: liberalism and egalitarianism. A Medical knowledge economy structured around liberal political theory is ultimately rejected as it empowers the oligarchical status quo. Egalitarian political theory is able to significantly reduce the power imbalance problem but simultaneously renders inconsequential medical knowledge; therefore, it is also rejected.

From the editor

In this issue of the Journal, the articles presented to the readers cover the breadth and depth of project management research and practice by addressing the relationship between project strategy and managing projects (Patanakul and Shenhar, “What Project Strategy Really Is: The Fundamental Building Block in Strategic Project Management”), on the need to align corporate strategy with program management (Ritson, Johansen, and Osborne, “Successful Programs Wanted: Exploring the Impact of Alignment”), identifying metrics to measure program success across project contexts (Shao, Müller, and Turner, “Measuring Program Success”), managing individual projects by identifying major risks in customer relationship management (CRM) implementation projects (Papadopoulos, Ojiako, Chipulu, and Lee, “The Criticality of Risk Factors in Customer Relationship Management Projects”), application of earned value management (EVM) to aerospace projects (Kwak and Anbari, “History, Practices, and Future of Earned Value Management in Government: Perspectives From NASA”), and capturing tacit knowledge of construction project professionals to determine the optimal construction site layout (Abdul-Rahman, Wang, and Siong, “Knowledge Acquisition Using Psychotherapy Technique for Critical Factors Influencing Construction Project Layout Planning”)...

Kaleidoscope : Reframing learning and teaching evaluation through a shared stakeholder lens

Sector wide interest in Reframe: QUT’s Evaluation Framework continues with a number of institutions requesting finer details as QUT embeds the new approach to evaluation across the university in 2013. This interest, both nationally and internationally has warranted QUT’s collegial response to draw upon its experiences from developing Reframe into distilling and offering Kaleidoscope back to the sector. The word Reframe is a relevant reference for QUT’s specific re-evaluation, reframing and adoption of a new approach to evaluation; whereas Kaleidoscope reflects the unique lens through which any other institution will need to view their own cultural specificity and local context through an extensive user-led stakeholder engagement approach when introducing new approaches to learning and teaching evaluation. Kaleidoscope’s objectives are for QUT to develop its research-based stakeholder approach to distil the successful experience exhibited in the Reframe Project into a transferable set of guidelines for use by other tertiary institutions across the sector. These guidelines will assist others to design, develop, and deploy, their own culturally specific widespread organisational change informed by stakeholder engagement and organisational buy-in. It is intended that these guidelines will promote, support and enable other tertiary institutions to embark on their own evaluation projects and maximise impact. Kaleidoscope offers an institutional case study of widespread organisational change underpinned by Reframe’s (i) evidence-based methodology; (ii) research including published environmental scan, literature review (Alderman, et al., 2012), development of a conceptual model (Alderman, et al., in press 2013), project management principles (Alderman & Melanie, 2012) and national conference peer reviews; and (iii) year-long strategic project with national outreach to collaboratively engage the development of a draft set of National Guidelines. Kaleidoscope’s aims are to inform Higher Education evaluation policy development through national stakeholder engagement, the finalisation of proposed National Guidelines. In correlation with the conference paper, the authors will present a Draft Guidelines and Framework ready for external peer review by evaluation practitioners from the Higher Education sector, as part of Kaleidoscope’s dissemination strategy (Hinton & Gannaway, 2011) applying illuminative evaluation theory (Parlett & Hamilton, 1976), through conference workshops and ongoing discussions (Shapiro, et al., 1983; Jacobs, 2000). The initial National Guidelines will be distilled from the Reframe: QUT’s Evaluation Framework’s Policy, Protocols, and incorporated Business Rules. It is intended that the outcomes of Kaleidoscope are owned by and reflect sectoral engagement, including iterative evaluation through multiple avenues of dissemination and collaboration including the Higher Education sector. The dissemination strategy with the inclusion of Illuminative Evaluation methodology provides an inclusive opportunity for other institutions and stakeholders across the Higher Education sector to give voice through the information-gathering component of evaluating the draft Guidelines, providing a comprehensive understanding of the complex realities experienced across the Higher Education sector, and thereby ‘illuminating’ both the shared and unique lenses and contexts. This process will enable any final guidelines developed to have broader applicability, greater acceptance, enhanced sustainability and additional relevance benefiting the Higher Education sector, and the adoption and adaption by any single institution for their local contexts.

Korkeakoulupolitiikan dynamiikat Suomessa

The study scrutinizes the dynamics of the Finnish higher education political system. Dynamics is understood as the regularity of interaction between actors. By actors is meant the central institutions in the system. The theoretical framework of the study draws on earlier research in political science and higher education political studies. The theoretical model for analysis is built on agenda-setting theories. The theoretical model separates two dimensions of dynamics, namely the political situation and political possibilities. A political situation can be either favourable or contradictory to change. If the institutional framework within the higher education system is not compatible with the external factors of the system, the political situation is contradictory to change. To change the situation into a favourable one, one needs either to change the institutional structure or wait for external factors to change. Then again, the political possibilities can be either settled or politicized. Politicization means that new possibilities for action are found. Settled possibilities refer to routine actions performed according to old practices. The research tasks based on the theoretical model are: 1. To empirically analyse the political situation and the possibilities from the actors point of view. 2. To theoretically construct and empirically test a model for analysis of dynamics in the Finnish higher education politics. The research material consists of 25 thematic interviews with key persons in the higher education political system in 2008. In addition, there are also documents from different actors since the 1980s and statistical data. The material is analysed in four phases. In the first phase the emphasis is on trying to understand the interviewees and actors points of view. In the second phase the different types of research material are related to each other. In the third phase the findings are related to the theoretical model, which is constructed over the course of the analysis. In the fourth phase the interpretation is tested. The research distinguishes three historical periods in the Finnish higher education system and focuses on the last one. This is the era of the complex system beginning in the 1980s 1990s. Based on the interviews, four policy threads are identified and analysed in their historical context. Each of the policy threads represents one of the four possible dynamics identified in the theoretical model. The research policy thread functions according to reform dynamics. A coalition of innovation politics is able to use the politicized possibilities due to the political situation created by the conception of the national innovation system. The regional policy thread is in a gridlock dynamics. The combination of a political system based on provincial representation, a regional higher education institutional framework and outside pressure to streamline the higher education structure created a contradictory political situation. Because of this situation, the politicized possibilities in the so-called "regional development plan" do not have much effect. In the international policy thread, a consensual change dynamics is found. Through changes in the institutional framework, the higher education political system is moulded into a favourable situation. However, the possibilities are settled: a pragmatic national gaze prevailed. A dynamics of friction is found in the governance policy thread. A political situation where political-strategic and budgetary decision-making are separated is not favourable for change. In addition, as governance policy functions according to settled possibilities, the situation seems unchangeable. There are five central findings. First, the dynamics are different depending on the policy thread under scrutiny. Second, the settled possibilities in a policy thread seemed to influence other threads the most. Third, dynamics are much related to changes external to the higher education political system, the changing positions of the actors in different policy threads and the unexpected nature of the dynamics. Fourth, it is fruitful to analyse the dynamics with the theoretical model. Fifth, but only hypothetically and thus left for further research, it seems that the Finnish higher education politics is reactive and weak at politicization.

Discurso e ensino: o curso de Letras e a formação docente

Esta tese tem por objetivo discutir a política científico-educacional do curso de Letras, por meio da análise do projeto político-pedagógico (PPP) que norteia a formação do acadêmico e do futuro professor de Língua Portuguesa. A compreensão de que toda esfera da atividade humana elabora os seus gêneros mais ou menos estáveis, segundo os quais os sujeitos se relacionam e interagem socialmente (BAKHTIN, 1997) é significativa, pois permite afirmar que o PPP é um documento norteador de uma política científico-educacional, podendo se manifestar nas práticas discursivas próprias da vida universitária de um curso. No PPP se delineiam, entre outros princípios, concepções filosófico-educacionais e abordagens teóricas e metodológicas que fundamentam o discurso científico-educacional e os saberes instituídos do curso de Letras. Em virtude disso, procurou-se traçar um percurso histórico das referências locais e globais, a partir de concepções sobre ser, tempo, acontecimento e alteridade, advindas do saber literário (BARTHES, 1992 e BAKHTIN, 2010) e da trajetória universitária em foco, articuladas à conjuntura que vem marcando o movimento por mudanças nas ciências e na educação. Investigou-se, em seguida, o PPP do curso de Letras, analisando esse gênero do discurso acadêmico-universitário, consoante a forma e tipo de interação em relação com a situação concreta de enunciação e com o horizonte histórico e social mais amplo (BAKHTIN/VOLOCHINOV, 1992), em que se configuram novos sentidos que convergem e/ou confrontam com discursos e saberes historicamente instituídos do curso. Refletiu-se, pois, se a introdução de novas disciplinas em estudos da linguagem resulta de uma transição consensual de uma Linguística do enunciado para uma Linguística da enunciação ou marca uma crise de paradigma(s) no âmbito da Linguística. Procedeu-se, por fim, a uma análise dos discursos dos acadêmicos de Letras da UFPA-Marabá, a fim de compreender os sentidos que constroem sobre o curso, sobre o projeto político-pedagógico, a imagem que constroem da instituição, de si mesmos, como acadêmicos e futuros professores de Língua Portuguesa. Objetivou-se, com isso, confrontar a política científico-educacional proposta pelo PPP com o discurso desses sujeitos, a fim de compreender seus posicionamentos diante da formação que permeia o projeto, bem como sua avaliação a respeito do discurso de integração curricular. Procurou-se, por fim, focalizar outras referências de cursos de Letras, com o objetivo de cotejar os posicionamentos de diferentes PPP em relação ao perfil que pretendem construir de professor de Língua Portuguesa, consoante o quadro curricular proposto em estudos da linguagem. Toma-se como córpus os PPPs dos Cursos de Letras do Câmpus Universitário de Marabá e de Belém, da Universidade Federal do Pará e, da Universidade Federal de Goiás (Câmpus de Catalão e Câmpus de Goiânia), para então compará-los com depoimentos escritos dos acadêmicos de Letras da UFPA-Marabá