Abstract
Mine development projects have come a long way, but the perceived success or failure for the capital spend or delivery schedule can have a lasting impact for the perception of the project, the contractor, the owner and their agents and the industry overall. This is true for the mega projects and the smaller development projects.
Using fictionalised examples from many years of experience, the author describes the development life cycle for an underground mine project and relates the lessons imparted; good, bad and ugly, for insights into how projects can be delivered more successfully going forwards for a more favourable tale of project success, even in the face of changes and adversity. This draws upon common themes and how they are inter-related, for historical projects and also as new priorities enter the project performance evaluation criteria in the future.