Questions People Ask Before They Start

No. The course assumes you know nothing technical and teaches the business. If you already know the ground, you will move fast through the first three modules and slowly through finance and selling, which is the right way round.

Reading it is. Every lesson, every Major, the Library, the Dictionary and the calculators are open right now while the school is being perfected. Certification costs US$78 once.

Your Capstone - a costed plan on one real opportunity - is reviewed against the published rubric by somebody who works in the trade. On a pass you are a Certified NDARAMA Mining Business Professional, with a certificate number anybody can verify on this site.

Not yet, and the accreditation page says so rather than implying otherwise. It is a mark of completed, reviewed work. Recognition is being pursued with the mining department of each of the twelve countries.

No. It is not a licence and it authorises nothing. Every one of the twelve countries reserves artisanal and small-scale mining to its own nationals and licenses dealing separately. The Government page tells you which door to knock on in each.

Trading, buying and exporting are licensed separately from mining in most of these jurisdictions, and the rules differ by country. The Government page sets out what each one requires. Establish your own position before you commit money to anything.

Thirteen days at a module a day, which is how it is built. Most people take longer, because the exercise at the end of each module is done on a real deal and real deals move at their own speed.

No. NDARAMA never takes possession of a mineral and never handles payment. The board introduces a holder to a licensed buyer and stops there.

No. The board publishes a regional total. An individual declaration, a reference code and a seller's contact are never published, and a seller's identity is not for sale at any price.

The rubric is published before you submit, so you can see exactly what is being looked for. If the mark is disputed it is read by a second reviewer.

The commercial thinking travels. The law does not. Everything specific - the ministries, the instruments, the royalty rates, the permit levels - is for the twelve countries this school covers.

Yes, and it installs as an app, so the pages you have already read stay available with no connection.

No, but the Core Course teaches the method and a Major teaches the market. A plan built without one usually has a price in it that nobody who buys that mineral recognises.

Not at the moment. The whole school is open while it is being perfected. The code buys the review and the certificate, not access.