Resource classification criteria for hydrothermally enriched manganese ore bodies
Date
2019
Authors
Zulu, Nokukhanya
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Abstract
Due to regulatory developments over the years, various international and local reporting
codes have been consolidated to ensure clear and unambiguous reporting of Mineral
Resources globally. The Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting
Standards (CRIRSCO) incorporates in the International Reporting Template, the
minimum standards for the Public Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources
and Mineral Reserves, and also provides recommendations and interpretive guidelines
for the countries represented on the CRIRSCO committee. This template is advisory
only and in South Africa the South African Code for the Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (SAMREC); developed along the
CRIRSCO guidelines; is relevant. SAMREC provides the definition for Mineral
Resources and subdivides Mineral Resources in order of increasing confidence into
Inferred, Measured and Indicated categories based on the confidence and quality of
geoscientific evidence.
Whilst there are numerous publications on Mineral Resource classification, few
publications exist on the application of Mineral Resource classification techniques
applied specifically to manganese deposits. This has led to manganese resource
geologists adopting classification methodologies applied to other commodities, and in
some cases merging and adapting different methodologies, which might be
inappropriate and not suited to the specific manganese ore bodies being investigated.
This study set out to develop a defendable guideline for the Mineral Resource
classification of hydrothermally enriched manganese ore bodies by considering
confidence in both the geology and geostatistical estimation. Wessels mine was
presented as a case study.
The literature review conducted, formed the foundation of this research report wherein
various Mineral Resource classification techniques were investigated. Estimation
parameters were identified to assess confidence in the estimate and to confirm the key
geological considerations affecting confidence in the estimate. Statistical and
geostatistical analyses of the geoscientific data were combined with geological
knowledge to develop a guideline for the Mineral Resource classification of
hydrothermally enriched manganese ore bodies.
The research report shows that using a purely mathematical approach to Mineral
Resource classification is an over-simplification and not suited to the manganese ore
body, particularly when applied to the skew and non-stationary data of the case study.
The absence of an assessment of geological risk in the current classification was found
to be a gross oversight. A scorecard method for Mineral Resource classification is
proposed, as an improvement over the current methodology. This proposed scorecard
is designed to balance three crucial elements: confidence in data integrity, confidence
in the geology, and confidence in the mathematical estimation technique. The
fundamental research questions have been answered, thereby achieving the objectives
of this research study. It is envisaged that this research will contribute to a published
body of work that will lead to improved classification of hydrothermally enriched
manganese ore bodies.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the
Built Environment, School of Mining Engineering, University of
the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of MSc (Eng).
August 2019
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Citation
Zulu, Nokukhanya. (2019). Resource classification criteria for hydrothermally enriched manganese ore bodies. University of the Witwatersrand, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/29917