Application of geostatistical ore reserve evaluation techniques to optimise valuation of mining blocks at Beatrix Mine
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Date
1998
Authors
Ashong, Emmanuel Tettey
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Abstract
This project report describes a geostatistical study undertaken on the
Geozone 5 deposit at Beatrix Mine in the Free State. Geostatistical
analysis of this deposit is described in considerable detail to illustrate the
application of the method to a tabular-type deposit using Geostokos
Toolkit, a computer software package developed b. Prof Isobel Clark.
Comparison has been made between indicator kriging and lognormal
kriging to establish which of the two geostatistical techniques will optimise
the valuation of the Geozone 5 deposit. The mean absolute error (MAE)
and mean square error (MSE) criteria, and the correlation between
kriging estimates and actual values have been used as the basls for this
comparison. The results show that lognorma kriging will improve the
estimates of resources as a result of lower MAE and MSE values over
indicator kriging. This reduction is further confirmed by a higher correlation
coefficient for lognormal kriging estimates.
The location of future additional exploratory drilling, particularly in the
northern part of the deposit, should be guided by the range of influence of
approximately 350 meters as established by the experlmenial semivariogram
, since samples have no influence beyond this range value
from their locations.
This study has demonstrated that geostatistical techniques can be
applied at the mine site to improve block estimates and also reduce
block estimation variance as new data becomes available.
Description
A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg 1998.