When solving questions about the order of development of deposits, about the allocation of costs for geological exploration, design, construction and operation of enterprises, when comparing the performance of existing enterprises there is a question of objective comparison of the comparative value of alluvial and primary deposits as sources of a scarce raw material – tin. This question is part of a wider question of objective comparison of the value of deposits, at which mining enterprises can be created with different terms of operation, the structure of the index of reduced costs (by the ratio of operating costs and capital intensity) and the structure of the fixed assets themselves (by the ratio of active and inactive assets).