Capital investments and resource extraction from non-identical deposits (Q1119156)

Taking account of necessary investments in physical capital, we characterize the optimal investment and extraction program for exploiting several non-identical deposits of an exhaustible resource. Under the given technology assumptions, capital investments will be concentrated up front if deposits are identical. In the case of non-identical deposits, it may be optimal to have investments spread out over time. Moreove, the smallest deposit is depleted first.