Evaluation of gold deposits—Part 1: review of mineral resource estimation methodology applied to fault- and fracture-related systems

In mineral resource estimation, identification of the geological domains to be used for modeling, and the type of boundaries dividing them, is a major concern. Generally, the variables within a domain are estimated with an assumption of the hard boundaries (sharp contact). However, in many cases, the geologic structures that generate a deposit are transitional (overlapping of several geologic domains). Consequently, boundary identification of the geological domains is essential for an accurate estimate of resources. This paper considers a real application to examine whether the addition of geologic information benefits grade estimation in the presence of transitional boundaries. Results proved that the accuracy of the grade estimation can be improved by adding geological information and there is a significant sensitivity in grade estimation results in the existence of transitional boundaries.

Download Full-text

Review of the Book “Mineral Resource Estimation” by Mario Rossi and Clayton Deutsch, 332p, Published by Springer in Early 2014 (ISBN 978-1-4020-5716-8)

Mathematical Geosciences ◽

10.1007/s11004-014-9547-9 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 46 (8) ◽

pp. 1029-1034

Author(s):

Michel Dagbert

Keyword(s):

Mineral Resource ◽

Resource Estimation

Download Full-text

Innovative methods of extracting the loose gold from technogenic deposits in the Irkutsk region

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201821201016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 212 ◽

pp. 01016

Author(s):

Elena Golovina ◽

Anastasia Dykusova ◽

Maxim Zhizhelev

Keyword(s):

Mineral Resource ◽

Gold Mining ◽

Mining Industry ◽

Precious Metals ◽

Gold Deposits ◽

Resource Base ◽

Processing Technologies ◽

Irkutsk Region ◽

Equipment Modernization ◽

Production Capacities

In Russia and abroad, the scope of the use of gold has significantly expanded, which undoubtedly affected the level of production. However, despite the fairly high rates of gold mining, the economic situation that has developed in recent years makes the companies look for new innovative placer processing technologies that will allow preserving and increasing the extraction of the precious metals. The search for and exploration of new placer gold deposits requires very considerable financial resources and time, and therefore the proposed project for the extraction of alluvial gold from technogenic deposits is of great importance for the functioning of the mining industry of the Irkutsk region, since it helps to overcome at least two negative trends: firstly, the deterioration of the mineral resource base, and secondly, large losses of gold with dump products (up to 50%) associated with the use of obsolete washing equipment. Modernization of production capacities and processing technologies is not only one of the main factors for increasing competitiveness in the gold mining industry and attracting investors, but will also help increasing the mineral resource base of the Irkutsk region by reassessing technogenic deposits, setting gold technogenic deposits on the balance, development of technologies for technogenic deposits and processing, and involvement of technogenic deposits in the mass processing.

Download Full-text

Empirical Application of Generalized Rayleigh Distribution for Mineral Resource Estimation of Seabed Polymetallic Nodules

10.20944/preprints202103.0639.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gordon Yu ◽

John Michael Parianos

Keyword(s):

Mineral Resource ◽

Reasonable Agreement ◽

Field Measurements ◽

Rayleigh Distribution ◽

Core Sample ◽

Resource Estimation ◽

Mining Equipment ◽

Polymetallic Nodules ◽

Generalized Rayleigh Distribution ◽

Offshore Mining

An effective empirical statistical method is developed to improve the process of mineral resource estimation of seabed polymetallic nodules and is applied to analyse the abundance of seabed polymetallic nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The newly proposed method is based on three hypotheses as the foundation for a model of “Idealized Nodules”, which was validated by analysing nodule samples collected from the seabed within the Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML) exploration contract. Once validated, the “Idealized Nodule” model was used to deduce a set of empirical formulae for predicting the nodule resources, in terms of Percentage Coverage and Abundance. The formulae were then applied to analysing a total of 188 sets of nodule samples collected across the TOML areas, comprising box-core samples and towed camera images collected by one of the authors and detailed in [4]. The analysis also relies upon detailed box-core sample measurements from other areas reported by [7]. Numerical results for resource prediction were compared with field measurements, and reasonable agreement has been achieved. The new method has the potential to achieve more accurate mineral resource estimation with reduced sample numbers and sizes. They may also have application in improving the efficiency of design and configuration of mining equipment.

Download Full-text