Dr. Michael D. Doggett  --
              Mineral Economics

Current Research Projects

By definition, the field of mineral economics is multi-disciplinary, and as a result, my research interests span a wide range of topics and areas as illustrated by the selected research projects described below.

Geological, Economic and Political Aspects of the Canadian Gold Industry - This is an area that I have been researching since the mid-1980s and in which I have published several papers.  Jianping Zhang is completing his Ph.D. in this area and we have jointly used preliminary results from his work to make presentations at The Mineral Economics and Management Society (MEMS) 2001 Annual Meeting in Montreal, the Canadian Energy and Mines Ministers Meeting in Winnipeg in September 2002, and to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Annual Meeting in Toronto in March 2003.  We have had requests from 3 different journals to publish the paper presented at MEMS and on final completion of Mr. Zhang's thesis (June 2003), we will comply.  The work presented at the Energy and Mines Ministers Meeting focussed on the sustainability of the Canadian gold industry and this work also will be submitted for publication upon completion of the thesis.  In the interim, we have given permission to the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada to use our research results in presentations on sustainability to the World Bank.

Discovery Costs for Economic Mineral Deposits - this is a topic that I have been researching for more than a decade and which forms the basis for many of my publications.  I have looked at discovery costs in many different jurisdictions and for many different commodities.  I have a Ph.D. student beginning in January 2003 looking at new models for predicting discovery costs on the basis of quantifying exploration maturity.  We are attempting to determine if there is a systematic change in the size and depth of discoveries over time and if this information can be used to define the economic limits for exploration expenditures. I have been approached to co-author a paper on this topic for the 100^th Anniversary Volume of Economic Geology.

The Relationship between Geological Quality and Economic Quality - this topic encapsulates the essence of mineral economics.  A former Ph.D. student (Annette McIlroy) did her research on this topic and we are currently discussing where and how to publish the findings now that the 2-year confidentiality agreement has expired.  A new Ph.D. student jointly supervised by myself and Gema Olivo will be continuing this work by looking at which geological factors are controlling the economic returns from deposits at the "camp" scale.

Financing Exploration and Mine Development - Canada's financial sector is a dominant world player in raising funds for exploration and mine development.  Understanding the relationship between the "market" and the economics of the Canadian mining industry is of great interest to many foreign countries.  I have been involved in research in this area for the past several years and a Master's student project to be completed in the fall of 2002 will be the first step in reaching some publishable results.  YongMing Zhang's topic - an overview of the impact of the mineral industry on the Canadian economy and on the Toronto Stock Exchange should provide the basis for continuing this area of research.  I am currently involved in a Canadian International Development Agency project examining "financing and taxation of the mineral industry".  In conjunction with Chinese researchers, we will be presenting findings of this work in China in August 2003.

Demographics Studies of Canadian Exploration Geologists - I am currently involved in two different studies examining employment trends among geological science graduates.  I completed a survey of Mineral Exploration graduate students from Queen's over a 25-year period and used these results for a presentation on industry employment patterns. I a currently conducting a survey of undergraduate students to determine the type of employment that they acquire upon receiving a degree in geological sciences or geological engineering.  As the mining industry becomes less important in the Canadian economy, it is crucial for us as educators to understand the employment opportunities for the students we graduate as Earth science departments are facing declining enrolment.   Universities, the mining industry and governments are all interested parties to this research.  A preliminary review of the issues of demographics in the geosciences has been prepared in conjunction with Bill Mercer, President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada for presentation at the Energy and Mines Ministers Meeting in Winnipeg in September 2002.  We anticipate following up this presentation with some published work over the next two years. 

Profitability in the Mining Industry: Examining Mergers and Acquisitions - The mining industry has been undergoing major change in the past decade as mergers and acquisitions have decreased the number of companies and increased the size of the largest companies.  This activity has occurred in the name of increasing size and profitability.  Surviving companies have certainly become larger but the objective of profitability has not been achieved based on broad sector indicators.  Arlene Drake (2^nd year of a Ph.D.) program is looking at the issue of profitability in the mining industry in wake of recent mergers.  In conjunction with other research on the size of companies in relation to the geologic and economic size of deposits, we hope to be able to show whether or not the merger and acquisition route has been favourable for specific companies and why or why not. 

 

 

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