Construction

Stage 7 of 8

Building the mine — earthworks, processing plant, and infrastructure — ahead of first production.

With financing and permits in hand, the company builds the mine: earthworks, the processing plant, tailings facilities, roads, and power. This stage carries real execution risk — cost overruns and schedule delays are common industry-wide — but the exploration and financing risk that dominates earlier stages has largely been resolved. Investors in this stage are underwriting a construction team's ability to deliver on budget and on time, not the existence of the deposit.