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1973 XXXXXXXXX
1973 XXXXXXXXX
1973 XXXXXXXXX
and
Ore Reserve Estimation
INTRODUCTION
• When a deposit is proved by exploration, it becomes more
or less a commercial proposition.
• The deposit is now viewed in terms of investment, returns
in capitals, daily rate or production.
• More precise the exploration, more accurate the reserve
estimation will be.
Estimation of the ore reserve comprises the following;
Ø Determination of quantity of the mineral and all its
valuable constituents.
Ø determination of grade and quality of the mineral.
Ø Determination of tonnage of ore and average grade
or value per ton.
What is an ore deposit?
An occurrence of minerals or metals in sufficiently high
concentration to be profitable to mine and process
using current technology and under current economic
conditions.
A zone that has concentration of minerals of economic
interest.
What is ore grade?
Ore grade is the concentration of economic mineral or
metal in an ore deposit.
§ Inferred
§ Indicated and
§ Measured categories.
Classification of resource
According to IBM (Indian Bureau of Mines), mineral
resources are placed under three categories;
Possible
Probable
Proved
It includes diluting materials and allowances for recovery
and the commodity price. A proven ore reserve
represents the highest confidence category of reserve
estimate.
Reserve Estimation Methods
Depending upon the nature of ore bodies. The area of a
block can be determined by various methods.
The methods are broadly paced under two categories
1. Polygonal method
2. Triangular method
Polygonal method
• This method can be applied to a continuous tabular ore body with an
irregular shape and variable grade or very regular ore body where no
correlation can be made from bore hole to bore hole.
• Polygons are constructed by drawing perpendicular to the mid points
on the lines joining each of the pits or bore hole with the surrounding
pit or borehole.
• The area of influence of each polygon or pit is half the distance to all
surrounding boreholes or pits. Polygon are so constructed that each
grid or borehole point occupies the central part of the polygon.
• The volume and tonnage of the deposit is then determined using
simple geometrical equations.
Bore hole/Pit
Polygonal Method
The area of a regular polygon is given by the formula below.
Area = (½)(apothem)(perimeter)
Triangular Method
The method used when sampling points pits are not in grid
pattern. The area is divided into numbers of triangles. In this
method lines are drawn connecting adjacent boreholes on a plan
to form mosaic of triangular blocks. The average thickness and
grad of each block is determined from the values of the bore
holes at the corners of each triangle.
Where
S = a + b + c a, b, c are sides of triangle
2 S = Perimeter of triangle
Area = S(S-a)(S-b)S(S-c)
Average Thickness =
Average Grade =
The plan area of triangle is multiplied by its average thickness and
then with specific gravity to give tonnage of the triangular sub
block. By adding the tonnage of all sub blocks the total tonnage
of the ore can be obtained
Volume = Area x Average thickness
Tonnage = Volume x Specific gravity