Grade Control Drilling with RC and

QAQC of Sample

ວັນພຸດ ທີ 01 ປີ 2014
Location
Mine Site
Geological Map

▪ Ban Houayxai is hosted in a Permo - Carboniferous Age (285Ma), poly-

deformed and metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary package.

▪ Mineralisation as structurally controlled, narrow vein style, and

disseminated gold-silver deposit within the intermediate volcanics and
minor siliclastics.

▪ Mineralised veins are composed of quartz + pyrite ± carbonate ± base

metals ± electrum ± native silver.

▪ The grade of veins generally increases with increasing intensity of

deformation.
Resources and Reserves
Table 1_Ban Houay Xai Gold-Silver Mineral Resource

Table 2_Ban Houay Xai Gold-Silver Ore Reserves

Ore Type

Low Grade Ore_LGO (0.2g/t -1.0g/t)

Low Grade Ore_LGO (0.2g/t -1.0g/t) Low Grade Ore_LGO (0.2g/t -1.0g/t)
Clay Silica Altered Volcaniclastic
Undeformed Vein Undifferentiated (VNN) Undeformed Vein Undifferentiated (VNN)
Siltstone(SLV)
hosted in Cristal lithic Tuff (VTL) hosted in Cristal lithic Tuff (VTL)

High Grade Ore_HGO( >1.0g/t) High Grade Ore_LGO ( >1.0g/t) Super High Grade Ore_SGO ( >5.0g/t)
Highly deformed Vein Undifferentiated (VNN) Brecciated Silicified Volcaniclastic Quartz Vein Breccia (QBX)
hosted in Cristal lithic Tuff (VTL) Siltstone(SLV)
Ore Dipping
Reverse Circulation Drilling
In RC drilling, you are creating a hole in the ground as opposed to extracting a sample from the
ground. At the face of the bit, everything is pulverized with RC drilling. This pulverized rock is
sent up the inner tube by air pressure, exhausted to the surface in a cyclone and bagged by a
helper.

The pulverized rock dust or cuttings that are bagged can provide a limited amount of information
about the ground

It is cost efficient due to the simplicity of the percussive drilling process and because the
equipment needed is less complex. Usually, RC drilling is 25%-40 % less expensive than diamond
drilling but only if the silica content in the rock is not too high.

RC drilling is the way to go to if you need to drill a hole quickly and cost efficiently and if you
don’t need a core sample.

RC drilling is also used in a pit to do grade control for blasting purposes when selective mining is
needed. It reduces the total cost of mining operations
Grade Control Drilling Program
• The planning of Grade Control drilling program must be tied in with the 3
and 6 month mining production schedules

• The production schedules are to be used to guide which benches will be

available when and to identify potential problems ahead of time

• The Grade Control drilling and sampling sequence is to be tied in to the

blast block design and mining sequence. Simply this means that the blast
block that will be mined first has to be grade controlled first and the
samples from these holes prioritized for dispatch to the laboratory.
 Grade Control Drilling pattern
• an inclined drill hole orientation of -60° toward the south (180 – azimuth). This
orientation is perpendicular to both the moderate north dipping and sub vertical
northwest striking mineralized vein sets.

• Vertical holes are to be used under if : (1) When a drill collar falls with 10m of the
pit final wall , (2) Along the topographic break
Drill Hole Pattern
Drill Hole Pattern
Sub Drill approach
RC Drilling Rig
Video RC
RC Drilling Rig when operational
Sampling Flow
Cyclone Discharge
Sampling

• Sampling is carried out by placing two pre-numbered (sample ID and interval) plastic bags and one rice bag
(Reference Sample) on the bottom of the cyclone and fixing it tightly so that minimum amount of sample and dust
(ideally nil) escapes from the bag.
• Samples are collected at one meter intervals, with the sample bag for each interval being removed and replaced by
the bag interval on a clear signal from the driller. These sample are referred to as the Primary Sample and Duplicate
Sample.
• The sample is then moved away from the cyclone and placed in a neat row (front to back) in numerical order with
the top folded over
Chip Tray
Chip Tray
Quality Control
Quality control measures are in place on the drill rig site:
• The exhaust diverter is used, and an adequate collar is inserted into
the top of the drill hole, which will prevent material from falling
from near surface back down the hole where it can contaminate the
sample. This also prevents the top of the hole from blowing out if
excessive water is encountered in the hole

• The driller uses the blow-out sub at regular intervals (after every
sample interval/meter) to clean the inner tubes and sample hose,
particularly if sticky or swelling clays are encountered, and at the
end of each drill hole.
Quality Control

Driller’s offsiders clean the cyclone at adequate intervals to minimize contamination. At a minimum, the
cyclone should be cleaned at the end of each rod and at the end of each hole.
Sampling ( wet samples)
• Wet Samples: In the event of wet samples, buckets should be made available to support the sample
bags whilst on the cyclone. Buckets should be always available on site as it may be difficult to predict
water ingress.

• After the wet bulk sample has been collected, the top of the bag must be tied to prevent any sample,
mud or fines from spilling out. If there is so much water or mud in the sample that the bag fills before
the end of the interval, small holes may be placed in the bag near the top to allow excess water to run
out of the bag. It is important that these are near the top so that only the cleanest water is lost and
most of the sample drops to the bottom below the level of the hole
Mass Balance
• Ensuring maximum sample recovery is an important step in obtaining a representative
sample for logging, assay and resource estimation.
• Recovering 100% of the RC cuttings is impossible however there are a number of steps
that can be taken to minimize sample loss and hence maximize sample recovery:

RC Sample Recovery can be calculated by dividing

the measured mass (kg) by the theoretical mass
(kg) using the following formulas:
Theoretical Volume = π × ((drill bit diameter + 4mm)/2)2 × h
(Theoretical Mass = (Density × 1000) × Theoretical Volume
Sampling Splitter

Riffle splitter Rotary Splitter

Sampling Splitter
Riffle splitter Rotary Splitter

When using the rotary splitter, splitting of the bulk sample will result in three sub samples:
• 6 x Bulk reject (75% of the original sample)
• 1 x Primary sample for analysis (12.5% of the initial sample)
• 1 x Reference sample (12.5% of the initial sample) to be retained and stored in coreshed.
Sample Weighing
control measures are taken;
• Keeping the splitter and all utensils
clean and dry to prevent sample
contamination. Clean the rotary splitter
with compressed air after each sample.

• Ensuring that the scales are regularly

calibrated or zeroed.

• If wet samples are encountered, they

should be put aside until completely dry,
after which the normal sampling
procedure can be followed.
Sample Storage
Sample Dispatch
A total of 42 samples will form a standard batch

The sample dispatch sheet must details the analysis

suite, sample number ranges within a sample batch
and personnel’s contacts who receive assay results.

Any other important information which the lab

needs to know about samples should be posted in
Special Instruction area. Such information can be
batch prioritization, additional elements to be
analyzed etc.

Sample list including QAQC samples within every 42

samples to the lab:
1 x Coarse Blanks 1 x Ag CRM
1 x Au CRMs 38 x RC samples
1 x Rig duplicates
Sample QAQC
• The identity of the QC samples must be concealed by re-numbering the bags to appear as part of the regular
sample number sequence and should be submitted in standard sample bags without special markings.

• This is to make sure that the laboratory will treat all samples unbiased and will not take extra caution on
identified QC materials.

Certified Reference Materials

Objective: The insertion of CRM’s aims to monitor the accuracy and precision of the assay results relative to the
standard values.

Significant variations from the recommended values of certified reference materials indicate that bias is present in the
laboratory procedure and rectification is in order.

Two different CRM’s are to be utilized per 42 sample template. These include the low, medium and high CRM’s. The
choice of these materials is based on the range of Au and Ag values from the regular grade control.
Sample QAQC
Sample QAQC
Rig Duplicate
Objective: The repeatability of the assay results is the main concern of the insertion of rig duplicates. The primary
sample and duplicate are expected to have the same assay results.

Samples above the rig duplicate are the primary samples and should follow with the duplicate samples in the assay
sequence.

The preparation of the rig duplicate must be done at the same time with the preparation of the primary sample to
ensure that both samples were prepared under the same condition.

Pulp Duplicates
Objective: Pulp duplicates are checks on the analytical method given that the sample has undergone the same
preparation process.

Pulp duplicates should be analyzed at an independent laboratory as a check on the primary analytical laboratory. Pulp
duplicates should be randomly selected across a range of grades.
Sample QAQC
Coarse Blanks
Objective: Blanks are inserted to detect possible contamination and to ensure that the samples have been kept in
order throughout the various sub sampling and analytical processes.

A blank sample is placed as the leading QC material to check possible contamination from the previous batch of
sample analysis.

Blanks should be tested in advance to ensure that they contain negligible amounts of elements in question and
should report assay values at or near the detection limit
QAQC DATA EVALUATION
• All analytical data will be reviewed by the end of the month. Some standards, like the blank, can be reviewed as
results are being received .

• Analytical results for blanks, standards and duplicate samples should be closely monitored and verified along
with the primary/original samples.

• Routine data verification procedures involve checking outliers and abnormal values in duplicates. This procedure
is aided significantly by the use of graphs and scatter diagrams.

• The laboratory QAQC standards have to be plotted monthly on a scatter plot and any results that fall outside +/-3
STD have to be conveyed back to the laboratory. A re-analysis of a particular batch can then be requested

• QAQC Samples that failed the Pass/Fail Criteria (+/-3STD) are required to be re-analysed at the same laboratory.
This is required even if the area has already been mined, to give the Laboratory feedback and to correct any bias
in assay results and minimize the chance of reoccurrence
Target Pass Criteria
Thank you
Challenge
Blast Movement and Dilution
Next Discussion ??
Blast Movement and Dilution

Ore

Waste

Pre - blast Post - blast

In-accurate estimation of ore body movement can

lead to increased dilution and ore loss
Next Discussion ??
Next Discussion ??
Ore Loss and Dilution – Schematic Examples

x Ore Loss
x
Ore Loss Dilution
Bench Crest Ore mined
as ore

Dilution
Mining Dozing
Bench Toe
Waste

Ore Footwall Waste Ore Waste

Dilution and Ore Loss incurred through Dilution and Ore Loss resulting
digging in the wrong direction from dozing across the strike of
i.e. Footwall to hang wall the ore zone.
Next Discussion ??
Ore Loss and Dilution – Schematic Examples

√ Bench Crest
√
Bench Toe
Mining
Dozing

Waste Ore Waste

Hangingwall
Ore
Footwall

Ore Loss-Ore dug as waste during poor Dilution-Waste doze mixing with ore
facing-up
Next Discussion ??
Ore Loss and Dilution Control – Dozer/Grader Operations