Energy and natural resources
Ore grade
How much metal a tonne of ore contains.
Facts checked against sources onWhat does Ore grade mean?
Ore grade is the concentration of a metal in the rock that is mined, shown as a percentage for base metals such as copper or iron, and in grams per tonne for precious metals such as gold. Example: 1 million tonnes of ore at 0.6 percent copper contains 6,000 tonnes of copper. Grade drives cost: at half the grade, a mine must dig and process twice the rock to get the same metal. Grades at many older copper mines have been falling, which pushes up costs and is a reason new supply is hard to add.
Where does it come up in case interview prep?
Related terms
- Recovery rate (mining)The share of metal in the ore that processing actually captures.
- Strip ratioTonnes of waste rock removed for each tonne of ore in an open-pit mine.
- C1 cash costA mine's direct cash cost to produce one unit of metal, after by-product credits.
- Cost curve (industry supply curve)All producers ranked from lowest to highest cost, showing who is the marginal producer.
- Barrel of oil equivalent (boe)A unit that converts gas into barrels of oil by energy content, so oil and gas can be added together.
- Lifting costThe cost of producing oil or gas from wells that already exist, per barrel.
- Full-cycle breakevenThe oil price a project needs to cover all its costs, including building it, and earn its required return.
- Fiscal breakeven oil priceThe oil price a government needs to balance its budget.
Learn it in context
See Ore grade at work in a lesson from Mining and metals, with checks as you go.
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