## 3 Case Study  
To implement the development model, the proposed methodology was applied to a real case study, specifically on a porphyry copper deposit with associated elements of gold and silver. The porphyry copper mineralization is situated in the Western Balkan region, within an area primarily composed of hydrothermally altered andesitic rocks, extending approximately 1.5 km in length and reaching a maximum width of about 600 m (with an average width of 400 to 500 m), oriented toward the east-northeast. The deposit has an oval shape in horizontal projection, elongated in the NNW-SE direction. In vertical projection, it possesses an irregular shape and is located beneath an elevation of \(-100\) m.  
Figure 3: The structure of the methodological approach. Based on the exploration work, a block model of the deposit was created using the Geovia Surpac software package, version 7.7 [52]. The inverse square distance and kriging methods were employed to evaluate the content in the calculation blocks. The model was verified through trend analysis. The model consists of 935,150 ore blocks, each measuring 15 \(\times\) 15 \(\times\) 15 m, as shown in Figure 4. The average standard density in the model is 2.5 tonnes/m\({}^{3}\), and the average grade is 0.276% Cu. The cut-off value used is 0.15% Cu in the ore. The low metal grade and potentially high investment costs make this case study an excellent candidate for further comprehensive analyses. The geological block model provided the foundation for applying the proposed methodology. For confidentiality reasons, other specific aspects of the block model, such as the owner's identity and precise location, among others, have not been disclosed. In the applied hybrid model for risk management, the economic parameters in the development of mining projects--such as NPV, cash flow, IRR, and payback period--will serve as the primary measures of value in the decision-making process for this specific case study. The main goal will be to estimate the risk that the mining project may be unprofitable, as well as to assess the potential losses that could occur. Alongside the deterministic geological block model, a set of essential techno-economic parameters has been established for pit optimization and mineral reserve assessment, utilizing a deterministic (conventional) approach. These parameters are detailed in Table 2.  
The ore production capacity essentially represents the maximum capacity of the ore flotation plant, while the waste capacity is equal to the minimal quantities needed to reach the ore capacity (this was determined through several iterations). The slope angles are 37 degrees in all directions. Mining recovery relies on numerous factors, including geological, technical, economic, and human elements [53; 54; 55]. For these purposes, a value of 95% was adopted in line with the applied technology. Processing recovery for various types of metals is determined based on the technical characteristics of flotation and metallurgical processing. Figure 4: Block model of the deposit with constrained ore block. Mining and processing costs are determined using historical and empirical data from open-pit mines of comparable size and technology, where copper ore is mined. Metal prices were adopted as average monthly prices for the period from January 2015 to November 2024 (the last 10 years), with the data taken from the London Metal Exchange (LME) [56]. The discount rate for mining projects typically ranges between 8% and 12% [57]. For this analysis, a value of 10% was chosen. Finally, the last item used for calculating NPV with a deterministic approach is the initial investment in the project, which amounts to 400 million USD. This figure is defined in line with the available techno-economic documentation, market prices, and historical data.