Mining operations

Take the right decision,
for the right reasons.

Finance and Operations come at procurement from opposite ends. RiskOpex gives them a single framework: the same financial terms, set before the decision and on record after. Straightforward to monitor, audit and update regularly.

Many perspectives. One platform.

For you personally

Calls are recorded with its reasoning: enough to convince Finance and your team, as well as the auditors.

The job is taking risks well: knowing which risks are justified, and being able to show why.

The right decision for your team, in budgeting, implementation and reporting.

For the business

Getting the framing right: assess what a decision means for the bottom line, not one silo.

Across locations and departments: one set of numbers, one consistent framework.

Get a clear picture of what your control options mean in terms of loss frequency and impact.

Complex decisions. Clear options.

The modelling underneath is complex. What you work with is straightforward: weigh the options, see the trade-off, and commit when the case holds up.

Three real cases from our own experience, modelled here using public industry data.

RiskOpex
To avoid $5M in wear and a risk that went unquantified, the de-rate cut output by $250M.
A fleet of Cat 798 haul trucks, run below spec after a spate of fault warnings that defied diagnosis. The fix was framed as avoiding faults — but no numbers were put on how likely they were, or what they'd cost. Set against that: the de-rate gives up $250M a year, for certain; restoring spec costs $5M of wear plus a small fault risk. Even in the worst plausible year, the fix costs a fraction of the de-rate.
Two ways to run the fleet — what each costs the business a year Bar height = dollars. Width narrows from certain (fixed) to rare (worst plausible year). $250M $200M $150M $100M $50M 0 $250M fixed cost only Keep the de-rate today · no risk, no good year either revenue forgone, every year $5M fixed $8.75M average $13M worst 1-in-100 Restore OEM spec $5M wear + fault risk on top fixed cost (certain) average (expected loss) worst plausible year (rare)
Keep the
de-rate
Restore
OEM spec
Certain each year$250M
revenue forgone
$5M
extra wear
At risk each year$3.75M
5 faults, expected
Worst plausible year$13M
11 faults, 1-in-100
Net average vs today$241M a year better
The de-rate weighed a $5M wear cost against a fear of faults — with neither the odds of those faults nor the output it gave up ever put in numbers. Measured, restoring spec pays even on the pessimistic forecast; in the event, the faults never came.
RiskOpex
The upgrade did cut the everyday outages. That is the number the whole decision was argued on.
Moving to remote support genuinely reduced minor outages and saved about $18K a year of overtime — a real, visible win. But it removed the specialists who keep a control outage from outlasting manual control, doubling the odds of a $1B freeze, from 1-in-200 to 1-in-100. The case was decided on the $20K line. The billion-dollar line was left off the table.
Three ways to run process-control support — what each costs a year Cost each year — fixed, average, and the worst plausible year. $10M $7.5M $5M $2.5M 0 worst plausible year — a $1B freeze (breaks the scale): $242K fixed $5.2M average worst $1B 1-in-200 Standard, on-site IT today $669K fixed $10.7M average worst $1B 1-in-100 HA, remote support proposed · twice as likely to freeze $969K fixed $6M average worst $1B 1-in-200 HA, specialists on site fixed cost (certain) average (expected loss) worst plausible year — wider = more likely
Standard,
on-site IT
HA, remote
support
HA, specialists
on site
Certain each year$242K$669K$969K
Everyday outages
what the case was argued on
~$20K
6 a year
~$2K
cut to 0.5 a year
~$2K
cut to 0.5 a year
The freeze
what decides it
$5M
1-in-200
$10M
1-in-100, doubled
$5M
1-in-200
All-in each year$5.2M$10.7M$6M

A 50% discount isn't the question.

The vendor that caused the largest IT outage in history offers half price to renew. But once the numbers are in, cost is close across the options — within about $60K a year. What actually differs is the shape of the year that goes wrong.

RiskOpex
Half price from the vendor that took the world down. Is that even the question?
The discount frames the decision around price. But once the numbers are in, the options cost about the same — within $60K a year. What actually differs is which tail you carry into a bad year.
Three ways to cover 2,000 users — what each costs a year Cost each year — fixed, average, and the worst plausible year. $12.5M $10M $7.5M $5M $2.5M 0 $336K fixed $566K average $2.3M worst 1-in-30 Renew, 50% off today · + a $750K outage 1-in-30 $275K fixed $505K average $2.3M worst 1-in-30 Switch to Microsoft tiered · EDR across the fleet $181K fixed $558K average $12.7M worst 1-in-60 Switch, cut corners no EDR for 1,500 fixed cost (certain) average (expected loss) worst plausible year — wider = more likely
Renew,
50% off
Microsoft,
tiered
Microsoft,
cut corners
Certain each year$336K$275K$181K
At risk each year$230K$230K$377K
Worst plausible year$2M breach
1-in-30
+ $750K outage
1-in-30
$2M breach
1-in-30
$12.5M breach
1-in-60
All-in each year$566K$505K$558K
Same expected cost across the board, within about $60K a year — reasonable either way. What differs is which tail you carry: renewing keeps a fleet-wide outage tail, cutting EDR off 1,500 laptops carries a $12.5M breach year. The middle option carries neither.

Not for compliance — for the business.

Box-ticking doesn't protect the business. Here is what risk management looks like when it isn't doing its job:

Inconsistent decisions across sites

Same risk, a different answer site to site

Risk matrices that don't help you decide

A grid of colours won't tell you what to do

Risk-control spend you can't defend

Real money committed, no proof it was the right call

Approvals that don't show the reasoning

Signed off, with nothing to show the thinking behind it

What you walk away with.

Control spend you can defend
See which controls earn their keep and which are dead spend
One picture across your sites
The same method, the same answer, wherever you operate
Decisions justified
The rationale is on record before the outcome is known

Who's behind RiskOpex.

Paul Young

Paul Young

Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer
25+ years in mining operations, risk, and digital transformation. Rio Tinto, Newcrest Mining, and 11 years at Centerra Gold — rising to Director of Digital Mines across operations in Canada, the US, Türkiye, and Kyrgyzstan.
Johannes Chudoba

Johannes Chudoba

Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer
30+ years called in to fix what others couldn't in Croatia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Nigeria — and a dozen more. From 2014, in mining: strategic planning, risk and digital transformation for Centerra Gold in Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye.
Mining trucks

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