The role of the mining geologist is critical in ensuring the expected financial outcome generated by the extraction of a mining companys key asset - the orebody is realised or exceeded. However, mining geologists awareness of the fundamental financial concepts that drive the mining industry are often limited. Mining geologists receive a scientific education that rarely includes the study of mineral economics, financial evaluation and modelling principles, and the tools used by company management to rank and prioritise investment decisions. Consequently, many geologists face a severe disadvantage when it comes to preparing a justification and financial analysis for an investment in mining geology. In contrast mining engineers and metallurgists are well versed in financial analysis and routinely use this methodology to justify investment in a competitive funding environment. This paper introduces some of the financial analysis tools widely used in the minerals industry to analyse and rank investment opportunities across the board, and explains why it is important for geologists to have a good understanding of these principles. Examples are presented to show how geologists can incorporate simple financial analysis into their justifications for new capital expenditure and annual operating budgets. CITATION: Collier, P, Sommerville, B and Berry, M, 2019. Financial analysis: closing the loop in valuing mining geology, in Proceedings Mining Geology 2019, pp 237252 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).