The cost of lost knowledge
What is lost knowledge costing your mining operation?
Enter your own numbers. The estimate uses published industry averages, with every assumption shown, so you can test it against your experience.
Your organisation
Time spent waiting for or rebuilding knowledge each year
A$1.49m
9,964 hours a year, at 5.3 hours per person per week over 47 working weeks
Capex at risk at the industry-average 40% overrun
A$200m
Of which about A$133m is the share McKinsey links to poor initial assessment
Indicative only. Uses published averages, not a forecast for your project.
Why mining loses so much knowledge
Studies are delivered by temporary teams
Consultants and contractors leave when the study is done, taking the reasoning behind the numbers with them.
Projects outlast the people
With an average of 15.7 years from discovery to production, several generations of staff touch the same project.
Rosters and turnover
The person who knows is often off roster, on another site or no longer with the company.
Knowledge lives in PDFs and inboxes
Reports are filed, but the decisions and caveats behind them stay in email and memory.
Where the numbers come from
5.3 hours a week waiting for or recreating information: Panopto survey of 1,000 US knowledge workers, 2018. Cross-industry, not mining-specific.
~40% average real capex overrun and two-thirds attributed to poor initial assessment: McKinsey & Company, 2024.
47 working weeks a year: our assumption, allowing for leave and public holidays.
15.7 years average discovery to production across 127 mines: S&P Global Market Intelligence, 2023.
Measure it on your own documents
A 10-day Knowledge Health Check shows where your project knowledge is at risk and where value is being missed.