GEM’s market studies translate global and regional trends into actionable insights. We develop models to anticipate short-, medium-, and long-term trajectories for both commodity and critical input prices, alongside supply-demand imbalances and cost dynamics across the mining value chain. Our analyses combine econometric forecasting, structural modeling, market sentiment, and scenario simulations — capturing the impact of electrification, disruptive technologies, and geopolitical risks. Drawing on proprietary mining databases, we also estimate long-term incentive prices, identifying the thresholds at which new projects become viable and deriving transparent, supply–demand-based price forecasts. Clients rely on these studies to optimize investment timing, strengthen risk management, and engage with stakeholders using robust, data-driven perspectives.

Benchmarking is essential for staying competitive in a volatile industry. At GEM, we assess where assets stand on global cost curves, identify performance gaps, and uncover the drivers behind both economic and operational efficiency. Leveraging our global benchmarking databases cover multiple commodities and jurisdictions and stages of development. Our benchmarks can be not only financial but also operational — covering areas such as productivity, timelines, and contracting practices. This enables companies to validate investment cases, strengthen performance, and negotiate contracts with confidence.

Mining policy defines the “rules of the game,” shaping investment, revenue distribution, and national development outcomes. GEM advises governments, multilateral institutions, and companies on the design of royalty and tax regimes, regulatory frameworks, and strategies for critical minerals. We assess the socioeconomic contributions of mining to employment, GDP, and fiscal revenues, while also highlighting risks of poorly calibrated policies. Our work bridges technical mining economics with public decision-making, enabling reforms that are both competitive and sustainable.

Mining projects face long lead times, escalating costs, and complex risk environments that often result in overruns and delays — global data shows an average 29% cost overrun over the past 30 years. GEM supports clients in evaluating capital investments by benchmarking CAPEX against industry standards and best practices. We develop escalation models with scenario analysis to help clients identify the drivers of cost overruns and assess project resilience. The outcome is more robust feasibility studies, stronger investment decisions, and greater protection against shocks.

The most important Economic projects developed by GEM are:

• Econometric analysis and productivity forecasts, operation costs and investment decisions for different commodity industries.
• Market reports about labor productivity in the mining markets of Chile, Peru and Brazil for a relevant international company.
• Market reports for various non-metallic commodities for an important company located in South America.
• Market reports for copper, developed for one of the biggest productive companies in the world.
• Market report for lithium, including economic and market considerations, along with strategic decisions for the industry.
• Short, medium and long-term prices forecasting for various mineral commodities.
• Development of a market model based on the industrial organization of the client, for determining the effective income of royalties for the State. These incomes were estimated considering two strategies of the company: (1) Being a market leader and (2) being a follower. Through this analysis it was proved that the market strategy of the company was not only the best for them, but also for the State.
• Construction of supply models (considering costs, productivity, capacities, etc.) for the copper industry in Chile along the period 2014-2025. Through this model our client was able to improve its price estimation of copper in the long-term and understand its effects.
• Determining the cyclic and structural factors influencing the markets of copper, iron, bauxite and carbon in a world scale level. This study aimed to explain the cost increase in the period 2003-2012 and discussed the future possible increase reversal in these commodities’ prices.
• Studies in benchmarking for copper, gold, iron and lithium projects in different engineering stages.
• Determining the market power of the foundry and refinery industries of copper in China.
• Study for implementing lithium contracts in the stock exchange for assessing one of the main lithium producers.