How much does it cost to sample minerals from a mountain?

Question

Like if you wanted to test mountain property for copper or coal or gold or umm other minerals how much would it cost?

Answer 1

Thats a complex question with a complex answer.

If you are a hobby prospector and you can walk or drive to the site and take some surface samples with a hammer, the sample collection process is almost nothing. A good prospector or geologist can evaluate a site just by looking at the rocks, and determine if its worth spending more money for maybe a few hundred dollars.

If you are a mining company and need to determine the tons and grade for a resource, the cost would be millions.  The mining company would have to hire a lawyer to apply for environmental permits, carry out Environmental Impact Assessments, build roads or hire helicopters, hire drills, hire geologists, and submit samples to assay and metallurgical labs. And if they are successful then they risk losing all their exploration investment to a legal challenge from some environmental group.

Answer 2

usually sampling is free (you do not have to pay anyone for the right to take a piece of random rock), but there are materials and labor costs.  A rock pick, sledgehammer, and plastic bags do not cost much, if you are freelancing (your labor is "free").  The costs to have the material analyzed depends on a lot of factors, including what it is you are analyzing for, but can be anywhere from tens to hundreds of dollars per sample.  Taking the data and putting it into a presentable (usable) form for evaluation has labor and equipment and software costs as well.