found this interesting, page-13

"only the first to production will survive" -

it may not be exactly the case - but if you are the first of the new miners in to production it does give you a lot more leverage in negotiating your contracts, obtaining the skilled workers that you need. People won't change from working at one mine to another without a substantial increase in terms (the better the devil you know mentality). The skills shortage is likely to be an issue as well for the development of the region.

It's also a bit like farming crops, you aim to be either the first to get your goods to market or the last, in order to get best price - since being last to market in this case is a likely 100 year wait, being first should be the target.