Skip to content
The Financial Modeller
Build free
Producing mines

Iron ore mine financial model, built free.

A three-statement Excel model for an iron ore producer, built from your own figures and checked to balance.

  • Free account
  • No card
  • Usually ready within the hour

We use generative AI in parts of our process, so mistakes can occur. Every model should be checked by a person before it is relied on. Read more

The business

Mines and beneficiates iron ore and rails and ships lump and fines priced off the 62% Fe index, adjusted for grade and impurities.

See the sampleHow the model works

In short

  • 01

    Three linked statements

    Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, linked in every period.

  • 02

    Valued two ways

    Discounted cash flow and trading multiples, side by side.

  • 03

    Monthly to annual

    Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual periods, for up to 30 years.

  • 04

    Checked every period

    A Checks sheet shows the balance sheet balances and the cash reconciles.

The sample

The sample, as Excel draws it.

Built by the same system and checks as yours: its structure and its inputs, ready for your own figures.

Annual · 10 years · Low detail
Iron ore mine sample model.xlsx
The How It Works sheet of the sample iron ore mine model

The sample describes no real business. Yours is calibrated to your own figures, so its results are your business’s.

How it works

How the model works for an iron ore mine.

  1. How it earns revenue1 formula
    Sales and realised prices · All mines
    Iron ore salesSaleable productfrom mining and processingRealised FOB price in A$
  2. What drives its costs3 formulas
    Site operating costs · All mines
    Site operating costsMining costsProcessing costsRail and port costsSite general and administration
    Stockpiles and metal inventories · All mines
    Costs deferred to inventories (released if negative)Stockpiles and metal inventoriesInventories at period start
    Emissions and carbon costs · All mines
    Carbon cost (net of credits sold)Cost of units surrenderedCredits sold
  3. What it invests in3 formulas
    Mine assets and depreciation · All mines
    Mine capital expenditureMine development capex (development and first production)from development and first productionSustaining capexGrowth capex
    Mine assets and depreciation · All mines
    Depreciation and amortisation (units of production)Opening net book valueMine capital expenditureShare of remaining reserves mined
    Mine assets and depreciation · All mines
    Closing net book valueOpening net book valueMine capital expenditureDepreciation and amortisation (units of production)from units of production
  4. How it is funded3 formulas
    Debt
    Closing balanceOpening balanceDrawdownsRepayments
    Debt
    Interest expenseOpening balanceAll-in interest rateshare of the year
    Equity raising
    Equity raisedEquity raised (net of costs)Equity from an offer, milestone funding, conversions and creditor shares
  5. How profit becomes cash3 formulas
    Working capital
    Trade receivablesRevenuefrom statementsDebtor daysDays in period
    Working capital
    InventoryDirect costs (positive)from statementsInventory daysDays in period
    Working capital
    Trade payablesCash operating costs (positive)from statementsCreditor daysDays in period
What it covers

24 parts, each one tested.

Every part is a tested building block with its own checks: yours is put together from the ones your business needs.

  • CPI forecastConsensus curve with long-run anchor
  • Exchange rate (US dollar)Exchange rate by financial year
  • Corporate costsFixed cost base indexed to CPI
  • Working capitalDays-based working capital
  • Income taxCorporate rate with tax losses
  • DebtSingle debt facility
  • Equity raisingScheduled equity raisings
  • Dividends and distributionsPayout of net profit
  • Discounted cash flow valuationDCF on free cash flow to the firm
  • Multiples valuationEV / EBITDA multiple
  • Group unit costs (single-product portfolios)Bulk unit costs and realisationGroup unit costs, realised prices and margins that investors use to compare miners. Only meaningful when every mine sells the same product.
  • Exploration expenditureBudget with capitalisation policyExploration and evaluation spend, how much is capitalised or expensed, and write-offs.
  • Key-metric summaryStandard growth, margin and leverage metrics
  • Discount rate (WACC)CAPM at target gearing
  • Stockpiles and metal inventoriesInventories as days of production at costOre stockpiles, metal in circuit and on leach pads, and finished product held at cost; the movement adjusts cost of sales.
  • Emissions and carbon costsDeclining baseline with units surrendered and credits earnedScope 1 emissions from diesel, fugitive methane, processing and on-site power, and the cost of carbon pricing, declining safeguard baselines or offsets.
  • Mine registerMine register (ore reserves)The facts every other part of the model builds on — mineable inventory (reserves plus any converted resources), carrying value and mine life.
  • Development and first productionMine already in productionPre-production construction capex, first production date and ramp-up to nameplate for new mines and expansions. Development capex feeds the asset base (and so PP&E and investing cash flow).
  • Mining and processingRun-of-mine tonnes × plant yield (iron ore, coal)The physical chain from ore and waste mined, through plant throughput, head grade and recovery, to payable product (in units of the mine's own product: ounces, tonnes, dry metric tonnes, pounds) and the reserves remaining.
  • Sales and realised pricesBenchmark index with quality adjustment (iron ore)Product sold × realised price, including hedging, offtake terms, quality adjustments and smelter charges. Units sold and prices are per unit of the mine's own product; the market price (spot, or FOB for bulk commodities) is the royalty value basis.
  • RoyaltiesAd valorem royalty (% of value)Government royalties, third-party royalties and community payments on each mine's production.
  • Site operating costsMine, rail and port costs (bulk commodities, FOB)Mining, processing, site administration and (for bulk commodities) rail, port and shipping costs.
  • Mine assets and depreciationUnits-of-production depreciation on ore reservesSustaining and growth capex (including capitalised stripping and underground development) and depreciation of mine properties and plant.
  • Rehabilitation and closureDiscounted provision unwound to closureThe rehabilitation and closure provision — build-up or unwinding, progressive rehabilitation spend and final closure. Build-up is an operating charge (direct costs); the unwinding of discount is a non-cash finance cost.
Key numbers

The numbers it tracks.

  1. 01shipments (Mt)
  2. 02realisation vs index
  3. 03C1 FOB cost per wet tonne
  4. 04strip ratio
  5. 05EBITDA margin
Used for

What it is used for.

Also used for
  • Scenarios and sensitivities
Related models

More in producing mines.

Every mining and resources model

Looking for an iron ore mine financial model template? Ours arrives built for your business, with your figures in it.

See a finished model, sheet by sheet

The sample is built on illustrative figures and describes no real business. Models are calculations prepared from the information you provide. They are not financial advice and must be independently verified. See our terms.