Think about how much work can be handled and focus effort into it

After the owner of a property has decided to sell it or lease it he might think about accepting a bigger amount of the risk for a bigger amount of the benefit. In the eyes of a company, to buy a property that has not been explored at all means taking on maximum risk, therefore the price needs to be held to a small percentage of the possible cost of the project. To buy a developed mine that has blocked out ore charges a premium price given the fact that the owner had accepted to take on some or a great part of the risk himself. The dealings will move around the value of the ore, the possibilities of enhancing the reserves of ore, changes that could probably occur in the market for the ore, and the place the deposit is located in as far as accessibility to getting to it in transportation etc. One of the best ways to offer a mineral property for sale is to stake the claim and place down some drill holes or trenches in the areas that look like they are the most favorable. This is a good idea because it will avoid the prospector from assuming a lot of the financial risk. Therefore, the buying price will be a factor of the incentive the prospector needs to have to make the discovery and for a little bit of the follow up work. If the prospector is under the impression that the prospect is such that he is willing to take on more risk so as to set himself up for a greater profit, he could take a few more steps forward. The process will be more appropriate to discovering a high grade, easy to develop deposit where geologic signals of big reserves can be found. The first things to do would be to make additional ore be noticed (expose it) by pitting, drilling or by underground work. This job should be focused on the areas that are much mineralized and there should only be some pits and drill holes scattered around in the fringe areas. If this extra work proves to be profitable, the hoped for benefits from the sale or lease of the property will increase. The money and the work this person put into the deposit might have been exhausted in proving the ore body to be too small or not have enough potential though. If the prospector chooses to sell the prospect as a property that has been developed with blocked out ore, he will need to look out to not overdo it to the point of bringing down the returns and so that he is able to maintain the investment in line with the ultimate asking price. There are some items such as used equipment that can be considered extras that do not have value by a worry interested in buying the mine.