Case Study: University of Witwatersrand achieves hands-on financial risk analysis training for mining engineering students with Palisade's @RISK

University of Witwatersrand Uses @RISK to Give Mining Engineering Students Practical Financial Analysis Experience

The University of Witwatersrand needed to give mining engineering students practical financial-analysis experience and support departmental research into topical issues like the impact of South African mineral resource royalty tax on cut-off grades. To meet this challenge the School of Mining Engineering adopted Palisade’s @RISK to teach Monte Carlo simulation and real-world mine financial evaluation as part of both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Palisade’s @RISK was implemented for hands-on cash‑flow modelling (using Normal, Pert and Triangular distributions) and classroom projects that expose 700–900 students annually to simulation. The department also used @RISK to model break‑even cut-off grades across mines, finding cut‑off changes of 0.2–1.2 g/t and showing royalty rates (around 1.5–3%) can reduce mine life, minable reserves and gross sales—effects that are larger for higher‑profit operations—demonstrating measurable teaching and research impact from Palisade’s solution.

University of Witwatersrand

RCA Minnitt

Professor