An article presented hereby relates to valuation of undeveloped deposits of minerals which are not sold on markets in unprocessed form and their processing into a marketable commodity calls for construction of an additional plant which usually is not operated by a mining company. In practices lignite and limestone deposits fall into the above defined category. Difficulties in their valuation are caused by their two major properties: any economically justifiable development of such deposits can be carried out only in close co-operation with a neighboring power plant or cement factory and development of such fields is usually lengthy. Therefore, out of four methods recommended by the POLVAL Code to be used for valuation of undeveloped mineral deposits only the options based approach seems to offer, however with some important limitations, useful tools for appraisal of lignite and limestone deposits.

Mineral deposits are such type of assets, the valuation of which can be carried out in a very diverse manner. Methods and procedures for such a valuation are most often applied to mineral deposits with mineral reserves (according to the CRIRSCO classification), much less frequently and usually only using a comparative approach for undeveloped, initially recognized mineral deposits (with mineral resources).

In Poland, a significant portion of mineral deposits, mainly of energy, metal and chemical minerals, are covered by the so-called mining property of the Treasury. At the moment, there is a lack of consistent and thoughtful management of these deposits. The appropriate methodology for valuing these deposits, which are at various stages of recognition (sometimes also of development), should be one of the key elements of such management. The State Treasury usually disposes of mining rights by “establishing” mining usufruct in the form of a contract, with the determination of remuneration for this establishment. The rules for determining remuneration for the establishment of mining usufruct are determined on the basis of an internal informal document of the Ministry of the Environment with very simplified rules for determining this remuneration, to a very limited extent related to the actual value of the deposit, which is also variable over time. This fee should be in close relation to the value of the mineral deposit valued at a given moment, taking the current conditions, including technological, environmental, formal and legal, and – in particular – market conditions into account. The valuation of mineral deposits covered by mining property, except for current needs in determining the basis for remuneration for mining usufruct establishing, should also be used to determine the value of these deposits annually as part of the State Treasury property and to present its results as part of the State Treasury Property Status Report.

It is an open matter whether the methodology of valuation of the discussed mineral deposits should be based on accepted and widely used solutions for the valuation of mineral deposits for the purposes of business transactions or based on methodology of valuation of deposits as part of the planned system of Integrated Environmental and Economic National Account (up to date poorly developed). The paper presents the most important elements of both methodological approaches. It seems that the use of selected elements of each of these approaches would be advisable in this case.

The article discusses possibilities and usefulness of application of the cost approach for mineral deposits valuation. Author focuses on the ones related to exploration for and documentation of hypothetical deposits, looking in their case for possible areas of application of the approach in consideration. Analyses covers the three most commonly used valuation methods: Appraised Value Method (AVM), Multiple of Exploration Expenditure Method and Killburn's Method, indicating their strengths, deficiencies and dangers of potential misuse. In conclusion author indicates areas of potential application of the cost approach where it's proper application may deliver credible and useful results.