CookieMining

Thepurposeofthisactivityistosimulateaminingoperation.Inordermakethesimulationeconomicallyvalid,manyofthecosts
associatedwithrealminingoperationswillbeconsidered.Severaloftheeconomicconsiderationsinthissimulationinclude:
Thepurchaseoftheareatobemined.
Thesurveyandaccuratemeasurementofthelandarea.
Thepurchaseofminingequipment.
Theoperatingcostsoftheactiveminingoperation.
Thereclamationofthelandattheconclusionofminingoperations,withfinesassessedforlandareathatisnotreclaimed.
Thesaleoforethatisobtainedduringtheminingoperation.
Theaccountingofallcostsandincomeassociatedwiththeminingoperation.
Whilethegoalofthissimulationisentirelyeconomic,thatis,tomakeasmuchmoneyaspossible,therearemanygoalsotherthan
economicgoalsthatmustbeconsideredinarealminingoperation.Althoughitisnotpossibletoincludeallofthesocialand
environmentalimplicationsofmininginthissimplesimulation,theymustnotbeforgotten,andyoushouldbepreparedtodiscussthem
inclass.
Materials
1chocolatechipcookie Miningtools graphpaper
Procedure
1. Eachminermustobtainasheetofgraphpaperandpurchaseland(acookie).
ChipsDeluxe $1500
ChocolateChip $900
2. Eachminermaypurchaseanycombinationofthefollowingminingequipment(atleasttwoitemsmustbepurchased).
Paperclip $500/ea
Roundtoothpick $300/ea
Flattoothpick $100/ea
3. Followingthepurchaseofthecookieandminingequipment,placethecookieonthegraphpaper,tracetheoutlineofthecookie,
determinetheareaofthecookiebycountingthenumberofsquaresthatfallinsidetheline(countpartialsquaresasfullsquares),and
recordtheareaofthecookie.
4. Placethecookiebackinsidethecircle,andwaitfortheinstructiontocommencemining.
5. Onceminingbegins,thecookieisonlytobetouchedbytheminingtools.Thecookiemaynotbetouchedwithfingersorhands.You
maynotblowcrumbsoffthepaperatanytime.Anypartofthecookiethatfallsoffthegraphpaperisconsideredtobelost,and
shouldnotberetrieveduntilthesimulationiscomplete.
6. Attempttodigoutasmanychocolatechipsaspossible.Thechocolatechipsrepresentore,andwillbesoldtothebanktooffsetthe
startupcostsoftheminingoperation.Whole,clean,intactchocolatechipswillbepurchasedbythebankfor$500each,dirty
chocolatechipswillbepurchasedfor$200each,andpartialchocolatechipswillbepurchasedfor$100each(partialchipsmustbe
combinedtoformtheamountoforeinonechip).
7. Thecostofanongoingminingoperationis$50perminute.
8. Afterthecookiehasbeenmined,thelandmustbereclaimed.Toreclaimtheland,placeallthatremainsofthecookiebackintothe
circledareaonthegraphpaperusingtheminingtools(remember,nofingersorhandsallowed).Drawadditionalcirclesaroundeach
crumbthatisnotplacedbackinthecircle,andcountthenumberofsquaresthatfallinsideallcircles.
9. Thefineforunsuccessfulreclamationis$50persquare(inexcessoftheoriginalnumberofsquares).
10. Whenallminingandreclamationiscompleteandyouarereadytosellyourchocolatechips,arrangetheminsuchawaythattheymay
beeasilycounted,recordtheendtimeofthesimulation,andraiseyourhand.







































MiningInformation
LandArea
Typeofcookie
CostofCookie=
InitialSizeofCookie(insquares)=
FinalSizeofCookie(insquares)=
MiningEquipmentCosts
PaperClip x$500=
RoundToothpick x$300=
FlatToothpick x$100=
MiningEquipmentCosts =
TimeCost
MinutesSpentMining x$50=
CostofMiningOperations
CostofCookie+MiningEquipmentCosts+TimeCost=
ReclamationCost
FinalSizeofCookieInitialSizeofCookiex$50=
MiningRevenue
NumberofWholeChipsRemoved x$500=
NumberofDirtyChipsRemoved x$200=
NumberofPartialChips*Removed x$100=
*Tosellpartialchips,thepartialchipsmustbeamassedsothattheirtotalsizeincludesatleasttheamountof
chocolateasanintactwholechip.
BottomLine(Profit/Loss)
MiningRevenueCostofMiningOperationsReclamationCost=
PostlabQuestions
Onaseparatesheetofpaper,writeoutandrespondtothefollowingquestions.
1. Wastheore(chocolatechips)evenlydistributedthroughouttheland(cookie)?
2. Wereyouabletorestoretheland(cookie)?
3. Explainhowtheknowledgethatanareaoflandmustbereclaimedafteritisminedmightaffectthehowminingisconducted.
4. DiscussthecontroversyovertheGeneralMiningLawof1872.
5. Explainhowlegislationrequiringlandreclamationafterminingmakesminingmoreexpensive.
6. OutlinetheSurfaceMiningControlandReclamationActof1977,anddiscusswhyitwaswritten.
7. Composealistofmetallicmineralsandalistofnonmetallicmineralsthatareusedinandaroundyourhome,anddescribehowtheyare





















used.

Purpose
The purpose of this lab was to understand the economics of mining under the same
conditions (to scale). The lab was not done with actual ore, however. It was completed using
cookies as land and toothpicks/paperclips as tools.

Results


These results show a very large increase in Chips Ahoy! chocolate mined as opposed to
the generic store brand. This could possibly be because of different mining procedures used,
however it is more likely that either tools used were less effective of the Chips Ahoy simply have
more chips. Another factor could have been the generic/store brand group using much less time
than the Chips Ahoy group due to fear of reclamation costs.




cookie type weight of ore
generic/store brand 1.22g
Chips Ahoy! 12.2g
Conclusion
This lab has primarily taught me how delicate of an economic system mining is. I did not
expect such a marginal difference in technique and tool purchase to make such a large impact on
the net gain that my partner and I received. The two of us lost money because we spent a bit
much time on mining and we also bought an extra tooth pick. We bought an extra toothpick out
of fear that the one we had would break, however it didnt. Looking back on it, if it did break, we
could have still used it. It was not a smart investment on our part, and this lab made it extremely
apparent that smart investments are absolutely necessary for earning a profit in the mining
business, whether its mining chocolate chips or valuable minerals.