The Role of the Mining Geologist — A Codelco Vision P Carrasco’ ABSTRACT ‘The main eset of 2 mining company is the mineral resource: without resources there sno mining basiness and the infastucture i sees. Ln this contest the tle of the mining geologist is 10 always keep the resource invenory 10 an optimum level forthe mining besiness and 19 animise the transformation of the resources ifo reserves i Aiscplinary work enviroament. In short. a ‘good mining geologist hast ‘always pride the este to the mil! ‘Todo hisher work properly, several echnical sil re needed ‘+ t0.know how 10 observe and describe nature inorder to opiise the data sequisition proces, prticlrly when mappings to have a good undesstanding of natural variability in order wo ‘develop prope sampling states and sample preparation protocols {to minimis all th ers generated by the sampling process; + tohive a good understanding of assaying practices: ther Himitaions aswell as their assaying ers; 10 cuefuly and propery stor the geological data and information land to preserve the geological patrimony: * 10 fully understand ore forming processes to generate the best possible geoscietfc models, which ae fundamental forthe mining busines, + to fully understand the consequences of the geoscietific models ‘long the valu chain fom rock to cathodes, and * 10 continously validate and improve geological practices ani models by comtinnows data collection and obserstion of go0- ‘mining metallurgy processes ‘Some very important behavioural competencies ar also needed: {ong.tem vision, passion for excellence and value generation, strategic inoence, systemic and innovative thinking, and ‘knowledge and experience transfer. [Last bat not east, its important to point out that a deep knowledge of the trining business essential tad vale by using geology Best practices INTRODUCTION ‘The main asset of a mining company is the mineral resource: Without resources there are no reserves and therefore say mining business along with the mining infrastructure (mining equipment, ‘mls, smelters, refineries, ete) re useless. In this context the role of the mining geologist is 10 abways provide the best ore to the rill In other words, in the short term, production must be kept going; in the medium term, tomorrow production must be assured; and in the long term, new orebodies in the mining district must be discovered in onder to keep the resource inventory to a maximum and to convert as much as possible 10 eserves in a mult-dsciplinary work environment MAIN TASKS AND TECHNICAL SKILLS To do their work property, several tasks are important. for the mining geologist; these are data acquisition, sampling and assaying, data storage, mining geological heritage, active participation inthe mine planning process and” active participation inthe materalisation of the mining business 1, Techical Director of Geology, Corporate Project Vice Presidency, Cvelo, Huertanos 1270, Samtiago, Chile Email: pears @coeoo 6h Intemational Mining Glog Conference Data acquisition Nature observation skill at several scales are very important for the mining geologist. Many work hypotheses and models arise when mapping or logging. Because ofthe strategic relevance of this task, experience is a must. In other times, we made the mistake Of appointing inexperienced geologists to acquire data ithout supervision and/or taining justo save money. Sound ‘mapping systems and training are essential to optimise data ‘cquistion and to keep consistency along time. This task is also relevant from the economic viewpoint, At Codeleo Chile around 50 per cent of the budget is spent on dling. Therefore the ‘optimisation of drilling. campaigns and acquisition of as much data as possible from drill Samples and trom drill holes is. an essential task, just as it is for the il industry, which has incorporated this task to its functioning. Nevertheless, there is considerable room yet for improvements inthis field. In addition, the use of digital mappers has been very successful increasing {the performance and transmission of the data collected. Finally, t is important to point out that geologists must collet data; he/she mosi't be preoccupied in colleting paradigmatic conceptions nor interpretations. ‘Sampling and assaying After 50 years of the magnificent scientific and practical contibution of Dr Pierre Gy's Theory of Sampling (Gy, 1967, 1971, 1982, 1999; Pitard, 1993), the copper mining industy is still not fully aware of its paramount importance. This is a surprising fact because along the value chain of the copper business: from rock to cathodes; many critical decisions. are based on’ samples and. assays. An incorrect sampling. and assaying process can lead to bad decisions that can cost billions of dollars during the life of a large mining. company such as Codeleo (Carrasco, Carraico and Jara, 2008). Some of the reasons for this inconsistency ae: ‘© Incorrect sampling generates hidden losses that do not appear jn the accountants books: therefore top management does not become aware of them. © People are focused on effecis and mot on the causes of problems (je incorect sampling practices). This attitude ‘reales unhappiness, time losses, money losses, unfairness, and does not solve anything. ‘© I the people involved do not deeply understand the sources of the variability of the mining processes, the losses ate difficult to discover and theit economical impact is dificult to estimate. The geologist must understand all the ‘components of natura variability. As well she/he must be aware of the dependence on the perception of natural variability of sampling and assaying quality, observation scale, sample support and sampling density. © An jsolsted sampling community may be unable to ‘communicate the relevance of sampling (0 top management in economical terms, ‘© University formal courses and research programs in the theory of sampling are rare; hence geologists, mining. engineers, metallurgists and chemists commonly have a poor background, ‘* The initiation in sampling theory is difficult because the fundamental books are cryptic; hence they are not easy for beginners to rea. Darin, NT, 21 -25 August 2008 3PCARRASCO, ‘© Lack of experimental evidence about the importance of constitution ‘heterogeneity and distibution heterogeneity (Carrasco etal, 2008), Bad sampling and assaying procedures lead to economical inefficiency and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, jeopardising the wealth of Tulure generations and adding "unnecessary negative extemalities to society. The protagonists of the mining industry and particularly the geologists have a ‘magnificent opportunity of increasing the economical performance of mining discovering hidden losses if they apply the principles ofthe sampling theory, statistical and geostatistical thinking, effective chronosttistical process control and encouraging the work of mult-dsciplinary high level experts aligned with the main objectives ofthe mining business. Data storage ‘The relevance of geological data storage has been sometimes underestimated. AS a consequence, the geofopical database may contain major inconsistencies "and errors of fact and interpretation, which alfect the quality of the estimation. In addition, this is afield in which geologists usually have the least control Gilfilan, 2001), In order to improve our systems of data storage we asked ourselves the following questions about some relevant concepts (Gabaleta, 2006): ‘© Backup ~ Do we have proper data backup systems? ‘© Communication ~ Do we have & proper linkage between data acquisition, data storage, data delivery, information ‘generation and knowledge generation? ‘+ Validation ~ Do we have proper validation criteria before data storage? © Consistency — Do we have verification exteria of the business rules forthe stored data? ‘© Independence ~ Is the database independent of the main software used by the geologists? ‘© Responsibility - Who is responsible for the quality of data for the database, for information generation and knowledge generation? ‘© Auciting ~ Do we audit the database ona systematic basis? ‘© Robustness — Are all the geological relevant contents included inthe database? ‘© Intelligence ~ Can we access the data in an efficient and safe way? ‘© Adaptability —Is the system flexible to changes? ‘© Organisation structure ~ Do we have a proper organisational unit to manage the data storage? ‘The reflection about the former concepts led us to the concept ‘of the geoinformatc unit. The first objective ofthe unit is to help the mining geologists to research, develop and to use high technical tools to acquire, store, access, visualise, integrate, ‘analyse and publish data. The second objective is to help the geologists to transfer data to information and knowledge. Mining geological heritage Pit samples, underground samples, drill cores and all the features ‘of the pas, particularly those belonging to mined areas, which had and will continue to have a role in the building’ of the ‘geological cule should be considered as heritage and therefore protected and propery stored for future research. Unfortunately, the concept of mining geological heritage isnot well understood and therefore dificult to protect. In Chile, we have very important porphyry copper deposits that have been mined since 4 Darwin. NT, 2-28 August 2008 the first decade of the last century. Since then, several prestigious geologists made very important contributions wo ore genesis. Nevertheless itis sill very difficult to get economical support 0 protect the geological patrimony. On top of ital, there are no regulations for mining geological heritage protection, Under this scenario, the mining geologist can belp government authorities 10 build a fegulatory framework to protect the mining geological heritage and to ereate a national repository. Additionally, he oF she can convince top managers to protect heritage in the mines beyond present economical calculations. Finally, mining geological heritage issues should be incorporated in education programs at all evel, particularly in mining geology schools. Active participation in the mine planning process ‘The mine planning process is based on several models, actually rine planning itself is a model (Casio, 1995). Icis interesting to point out that some times top management and even the involved professionals are not aware that planning is just a model. As the confusion implies that models are equal to reality the modes are never validated, A model is a representation containing. the essential structure of some object or event in the real world I is ‘an idealised copy of reality. The current, largely intuitive view is that a statement is tre, in prineiple at feast, either because itis logically derived from the fundamental las of nature or because it matches observed facts. Within the realm of science, things are said tobe true if they are: 1. correctly derived from (or at least consistent with) principles and other premises of geology, engineering, physics, chemistry. economy, ete; and 2. appriori fathfal t realty Condition one is necessary for statements of science to be true, but it isnot sufficient, unless the premises ae tre in the sense of condition two. Hoveves, many premises in the mining business ‘are paradigms that people teat 8s unquestionable, but they ought {o be understood as generalisations, which therefore cannot be proven experimentally (geological processes). Thus, strictly speaking, the only suficient condition for a truly scientific Statement is condition two, whereas condition one is only a necessary condition. ‘Then the logical conclusion is Models must always be validated. As shown further in this paper, the geotogist could be of great help to continuous improvements of the planning process by validating several relevant models. ‘The geological model provided by the mining geologists is a fundamental input tothe planning process. Indeed the geological ‘model i the base for other relevant models such as the ore resource estimation model, the geometallurgical model, the geotechnical model, the hidrogeological model. ete. In our experience, when the geological mode is wrong, it can ‘decrease in a substantial way the economical expectations ofthe mining business. On the other hand, correct geological models ‘can adda very important amount of value to the business. Table 1 shows the increment of the net present value of two Codeleo relevant projects when improving the geological model without increasing the amount of information. TABLE 1 Economical impact ofthe continuous improvement of ‘geological models. Project Increment in NPV (MUS) Radom Tonic ‘Mina Miniso Hales Total fa ltsatona ring Geology Conference‘The conclusions are evident, The talent ofthe mining geologist is an imporant asset for the mining business. As no. new information was added, the geological expertise and knowledge made the value difference. Tre mining geologist could do more than just deliver models {0 the mine planning process. He or she could participate deeply in the process, helping in the interpretation of the delivered information and models as well a8 validating some of the assumptions of the planning model. Some of the types of ‘knowledge that are applied may seem far removed from the ‘normal expertise of a geologist; and in more sophisticated details they are, bat @ general comprehension of all of them as a ‘minimum, i essential forthe practicing mining geologist. He or she i customarily the member of a team withthe best knowledge of the basic environment and physical make-up ofthe ore in the ‘ground. As such he or she is in a position to see that the talents of their colleagues are used to the best advantage and often he or she serves asa very efficient coordinator (Ohle, 1972). Active participation in the materialisation of the mining business As Dr Deming established many years ago (Walton, 2004), planning should be a cyclic process (plan, do, check, act and plan). As soon as the production quotas are achieved, we merely plan and do without checking the devitions ta the original plan. ‘As a consequence, we do not lear from the mining processes (mining, milling, flotation, smelting and refining), we do not ‘understand the causes of problems and therefore our decision- Imaking process is wrong because it is hased on effects, As a consequence it is very difficult to improve the processes in a systematic way. Under such conditions, Keeping the processes lander control is an illusion. In addition we support this way of thinking by establishing reactive, wrong and unfair practices such as reconciliation and metallurgical balance. In a positive vision, the mining processes provide two very ‘important dimensions’ to the planning eyele. The fist is the ‘opportunity to validate planning models and assumptions and to correct them. The second is the stability of the processes by understanding their relevant variability and making as fast 3s possible the necessary corrections. In both, the mining geologists ‘aust play a very important role, In addition to his or her normal asks, a more intensive involvement of the mining geologists in the mining processes as sensors ofthe planning cycle would be ‘of reat help to their colleagues in order to improve the performance ofthe mining business. BEHAVIOURAL SKILLS Technical competence is not enough to work as an efficient mining geologist, Several behavioural competences are also ‘oeeded. “Among the most relevant we find (Hay Group Consultants, 2005) Claster 1: Innovation atthe service of the business ‘© passion for excellence and value generat ‘© systemic and innovative thinking, ‘future anticipation and adaptation, and business vision. Cluster 2: Knowledge management and organisational development sills © self development, ‘© knowledge and experience transfer, and © change faciitation ‘th terrtional ring Getogy Contorence ‘THE ROLE OF THE MINING GEOLOGIST — A CODELCO VISION (Cluster 3: Integration with the company ‘© self confidence, ‘+ commitment to the company, ‘© communication and strategic influence, and service and cooperation oriented. CONCLUDING REMARKS ‘The role ofthe mining geologist is relevant forthe survival and efficiency ofthe mining industry. Indeed, a proper understanding fof the orebody, the development of relevant models, the discovery of new resources, the assistance in the conversion of those resources to reserves in a sustainable way, the protection and conservation of the mining geological heritage, the active participation in the planning process and in the mining, milling, flotation, smelting and refining processes, validating and helping his or her colleagues to improve the planning hypothesis and the processes control are all fundamental duties to add value to the ining business. Due the geologist's contact with the orebody, his or her postion at the beginning ofthe value chain, his or her background and proper attitudes toward his or her colleagues, the mining geologist can make enormous contributions as ‘coordinators ofthe mining team, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, | wish to thank Mr Julio Beniscelli, Technical Corporate Manager and Femando Vivanco, Corporate Projet Vice President, Codeleo Chile, for their trong support in the implementation’ of good mining geology praeties in the company. REFERENCES ‘Carasco, P, Carsco, PA, Campos, M, Tapia, and MenichetE, 2005. ‘Heterogeneity and ingamels's tests of some Chilean porphyry ore, in Proceedings Second Word Conference on Sampling and Blending, p 139-150 (The Australasian Insts of Mining and Metallurgy Melbourne), CCamsco, P, Carrasco, P A and Jara, E, 2008, The esonomic impact of ‘correct sampling. and analysis practices in the copper indus, in Chemometrics ‘and. 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