Southport Mining Corporation Is Considering a New Mining Venture in Indonesia

question 40

Essay

Southport Mining Corporation is considering a new mining venture in Indonesia. There are two uncertainties associated with this prospect; the metallurgical properties of the ore and the net price (market price minus mining and transportation costs) of the ore in the future.
The metallurgical properties of the ore would be classified as either "high grade" or "low grade". Southport's geologists have estimated that there is a 70% chance that the ore will be "high grade", and otherwise, it will be "low grade". Depending on the net price, both ore classifications could be commercially successful.
The anticipated net prices depended on market conditions, and also on the metallurgical properties of the ore. Southport's economists have simplified the continuous distribution of possible prices into a two-outcome discrete distribution ("high" or "low" net price) for the investment analysis. The probabilities of these net prices, and the associated outcomes (in millions of dollars), are summarized below.
-What should the Southport do? What is their expected profit?

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Definitions:

Social Conflict

Disagreements and tension between groups within society often arising from differing interests, values, or desires for power.

Gemeinschaft

A term describing communities or societies characterized by close, personal relationships, deeply rooted in tradition and often contrasted with Gesellschaft (more impersonal, economic-based relations).

Gesellschaft

A term used by Ferdinand Tönnies to describe a modern industrial society characterized by impersonal and indirect social relationships, focusing on individual self-interest.

Symbolic Interactionists

Scholars within the field of sociology who study how people use symbols to create meaning, establish their view of the world, and communicate with one another.