3 Calculation of Volume and Tonnage of Ore Deposit

For the calculation of the volume and the tonnage of ore deposits there is a va-
riety of available methods to choose from, each suited for a particular deposit.
These methods fall into two categories: reserve calculation on the basis of
cross-sections and on the basis of longitudinal planar sections or level plans
respectively.
There are different national standards of classifying reserves, for example
measured, indicated, and inferred in the USA or Canada, of proven, probable,
and possible in Australia or Germany. The reader is referred to publications
defining these classifications; for the US, for example, the Geological Survey
Circular 831 (U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey 1980), for
Australia "Reporting of Ore Reserves", published by the Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy (1988; see also Berkman 1982). Grimley (1987) gives
a good introduction to the Canadian practice. In Germany the professional
society, Gesellschaft Deutscher Metallhuetten- und Bergleute (GDMB), pub-
lished its recommended classification scheme in 1983 (Wellmer 1983). The
regularly published, so-called Redbook (Uranium Resources, Production and
Demand) of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the OECD (1988) in Paris and
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna contains a diagram
comparing different national classification schemes. The publication of the
Resources and Reserves Symposium of the Sydney Branch of the Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1987) is also a good information source for
comparing different standards.
The classification of reserves also raises statistical and geosta tis tical questions
which will not be discussed here. The reader is referred to geostatistical textbooks,
e.g. David (1977).

3.1 Calculating the True Thickness

Drill holes seldom penetrate an ore body perpendicular to strike and dip. The
length of intersections therefore only indicates the apparent thickness which has
to be converted into true thickness.

22
F.-W. Wellmer, Economic Evaluations in Exploration
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1989
3.1.1 Drilling Perpendicular to Strike

This is the standard case. As a rule, a profile is drawn from which the true thickness
can be graphically determined. For exact calculations, ifthe drill length is Lp(Fig.
4a), the true thickness (Mw) is given by:
M2 = L/I"sin[ 180°-(0:+,8)] = L/I"sin(o:+,8).

3.1.2 Drilling Oblique to Strike (see Appendix B)

The situation is more complicated, if the drill hole runs oblique to strike. Spatial
restrictions such as drilling underground or in mountainous areas often neces-
sitate drilling oblique to strike. Sometimes, however, this method is used by
promoters to give the impression of an exaggerated apparent thickness and
disguise a low true thickness.
As is shown in Fig. 4a, 0: is the angle of inclination ofthe drill hole,,8 the angle
of dip of the ore body, y the angle between the horizontal projection of the drill
hole and the dip direction (Fig. 4b). In addition, we need 8, the apparent angle of
dip of the ore body along the drilling direction.
First we want to express the apparent dip angle 8 in terms of the dip angle,8
and the profile angle y via the depth h (Fig. 4c). The triangle AHG is oriented
perpendicular to the strike of the orebody. So the angle between AH and GH is
the dip angle,8. Therefore

h = b· tan,8. (1)
N ow we consider the triangle AJG with the apparent dip angle 8. The relationship
for his
h = c· tan8, (2)
combining Eqs. (1) and (2) we get
b • tan,8 = c· tan8. (3)
In the horizontally lying triangle AHJ the angle between band c is y, therefore

-b = cosy. (4)
c
Combining Eqs. (3) and (4) we get
tan8 = cosy· tanp. (5)
To determine now the true thickness Mw we go back to Fig. 4b.
From the profile AC (Fig. 4b) the true thickness Mw can be determined as
Mw = a· sinp, (6)
where a is the apparent horizontal thickness perpendicular to strike.

23
 J d..

Dip angle of ""

drill hole at the',
ore intersection " ~

4a

Section AC
A

Plan

A
(ollar
drill of
ho.le'It-;;.....J-'----------...;,.....:.;".::,;.:;;;.::,>4...l..-.!,!.--:::::::::o.,..,.-
I
I
I I
I Section AS' I
I I
I
AI 16

4b

24
Fig. 4. a Vertical section to calculate the true thickness
of a drill intersection. b Plan and section to calculate
the true thickness from a drill hole running oblique to
strike. c Block diagram to calculate the apparent dip
angle

From the horizontal plan in Fig. 4b, with n being the apparent horizontal
thickness in drilling direction AB, a can be determined:
a = n· cosy. (7)
Equations (6) and (7) combined give:
Mw = n· sinp· cosy, (8)
n can be derived from the triangle DEF in profile AB (Fig. 4b) by using the sinus
relation, with LD being the length of the intersection:

LD n n
sin8 sin (a + 8)'
sin (a + 8)
n = LD . (9)
sin8
Substituting n in Eq. (8) with Eq. (9) the result is:
sin (a + 8) .
Mw = LD . smp • cosy. (10)
sm8
Replacing cosy by the term in Eq. (5):
tan8 sin8 cosp
cosy = (11)
tanp cos8 sinp
results in:
sin (a + 8)
Mw = LD cospor Mw = LD RM (12)
cos8
25
 sin (0: + 8)
with Rm = cos{3. (13)
cos8
Rm is the thickness reduction factor. In Appendix B, curve sets for Rm are given
for various drill hole inclinations, at the end of Appendix B, in addition, is a
diagram showing at which angle to drill if an optimum length of the intersection
is to be obtained when drilling oblique to strike.

3.2 Reserve Calculations Based on Sections

If a deposit has been systematically drilled on sections, e.g. on lines cut in the bush
of northern Canada or in the rain forests of South America, reserve calculations
will be based on cross-sections along these lines.
To each cross-section is assigned an area of influence corresponding to half
the distance to the two adjoining sections. The limits of the blocks thus defined lie
exactly halfway between the drill holes (see Fig. 5).
The surface area of the blocks on the section are given in Table III.

/
/
/
/
/

/
I
/
/ ~'"
True thickness Thickness assigned
observed to block
/ so",
/
Ausbill 22m I /
/
DOH A3 11 m II
DOH A4 27 m III
DOH AS 7m IV
Fig. 5. Cross-section for reserve calculations with blocks

26
Table III.

Block Surface Area (m')

55·22 = 1210
II (55 + 50) ·11 = 1155
III (50 + 45) • 27 = 2565
IV (45 + 50)· 7 = 665

Total 5595

If we assume the distance between neighbouring sections to be 50 m and the

density of the ore to be 4.0 g/cm 3 , we arrive at a tonnage on this profile of
T = 50· 4 • 5595 = 1.119 Mio t.
The important question of how far one can extrapolate from the last drilling
should be answered geostatistically. Experience shows this to be half the distance
between drill holes, but seldom more than 50 m. The resources beyond this limit
should be considered as belonging to the possible category.

3.3 Reserve Calculations on the Basis of Plan Maps

lethe drilling is done in mountainous or residential areas or if it shows strong side

deflections, it will result in irregularly spaced intersections. In such cases, it is not
advisable to work with sections but rather use plan maps for inclined tabular
deposits or palinspastic maps for folded deposits. Usually the blocks (see Figs. 6
and 7) are delimited by drawing equidistance lines to the adjoining drill holes. The
surface area of the blocks is then multiplied by the thickness and density as in the
example in Chapter 3.2. The equidistance lines are constructed in the following
way (Fig. 6).
By connecting adjoining boreholes with each other a net of triangles is
created. The equidistance lines, perpendicular bisectors, halve the sides of these
triangles and bound the polygonal area of influence centred on each hole. The
western border of the deposit in Fig. 7 is defined by drill holes which encountered
uneconomic mineralisation (grades below cut-oft). How to determine cut-off
limits will be dealt with in Chap. 10.1.

A B
Perpendicular bisector
and limit of block
between drill holes
Drill holes Band (

Fig.6. Construction of equidistance lines

27
 Flat (inclined) map

w o
,-' -_....
50
''--_
100m
.......
' E

Drill holes with Extrapolation from

mineralisation last drill hole 50m
below cut- off
Fig, 7, Plan map for reserve calculation with blocks

28