Motivation:

This project is inspired by a historical example of the surge in coal mining investment in Mozambique in the late 2000s'. This example uses this scenario as a backdrop for creating a dynamic programming algorithm to model the optimal behaviour of mining companies who are starting mining operations in Mozambique.

The objectives of this project are to:

• Give insight into how dynamic programming can be used to optimise decision-making in sectors with depletable assets such as in mining.
• Provide an app that can be used to forecast and simulate future output and revenue based on on a set of assumptions which can be modified by the user. The app is also useful for government officials who wish to have a better understanding of economic growth in the mining sector and the factors upon which it depends.

The repository is comprised of two main folders:

• An 'app' folder which contains all files, including the data, that are needed to run the app
• A 'code' folder which contains the DP algorithm code

The R analysis relies on the following packages.

• ggplot2
• reshape2
• Shiny
• DT
• markdown

• R
• LaTex
• HTML/CSS