The INCREMENT EXTRACTION ERROR

Examples during exploration and at the

mine

Tender material in fractures

or contacts is selectively lost.

100% rec o very

65% rec o very
97% rec o very

3-m eter s am p le

The Increment Extraction Error IEE could have been called the
sample Recovery Error.

1
 The Increment Extraction Error:
Good core sample recovery is critically
important.

Cooling
water

Cuttings
+
water

Conical
diamond
head

Undisturbed
core

2
Cutting the fragments, or respecting the
rule of Center of Gravity

3
The choice of the diamond core drilling
bit is important.

Core
lifter

Low torque on core: High torque on core:

Less core breakage: More core breakage:
More recovery Less recovery

4
 The heavy risks of Reverse Circulation
drilling

Reverse Circulation drilling is fast and cheap, but the risks are
many:
1. Caving area, introducing contamination in the sample
2. Part of the sample lost into crevices and fractures
3. Contamination from upper levels, especially after reaching
the water table.
4. Material carried into the hole by local swelling
5. Failure to lift large fragments during the sampling period
6. Failure to collect fine particles lost with the air or in the
slurry
7. Poor geology, therefore poor geostatistics

Conclusion:
During mineral exploration, Reverse Circulation drilling can
introduce devastating extraction biases. It is fair to say that
it is a form of gambling. It is a very attractive drilling
technique, but be very cautious.

5
 The Plucking Effect:
Diamond Core Drilling

In situ Id eal recovery P lu ckin g E ffect

6
 The Plucking Effect:
Reverse Circulation Drilling

In situ P lu ckin g E ffect

7
 The Plucking Effect:
Quantification

Chalcopyrite Example

aL the true Chalcopyrite content of the rock (%),

aC the Chalcopyrite content from diamond core drilling (%),
aR the Chalcopyrite content from RC drilling (%),
dL the average observed size of the Chalcopyrite grains,
or veinlets thickness (cm),
RC the radius of the diamond core (cm),
RCeff the effective radius of the diamond core (cm),
RR the radius of the RC hole (cm),
RReff the effective radius of the RC hole (cm),
H the length of the drilling intercept (cm),
D the density of the rock (g/cc).
RC RR

R C eff
dL

R R eff

8
 The Plucking Effect:
Useful Formulas

RCeff  RC  0.5d L

RRe ff  RR  0.5d L

WC  DhRC2

WCeff  Dh RC  0.5d L 

2

WC RC2
CC  
WCeff RC  0.5d L 2

WRe ff  Dh RC  0.5d L 

2

WR RR2
CR  
WRe ff RR  0.5d L 2
9
 The Plucking Effect:
Exercise

A NQ core has a diameter of 4.76 cm. The copper content from

the core analysis is 1.00%. The average size of Chalcopyrite
grains is 0.2 cm. What should the true copper content be?

A RC hole has a diameter of 12 cm. The copper content from the

analysis is 1.00%. The average size of Chalcopyrite grains is 0.2
cm. What should the true copper content be?

10
Sorting of cuttings during Reverse
Circulation drilling

11
Drilling soft material:
Clay, Laterite, Soil

Extruded core

Ø2
Ø1
12
Selective and partial sample recovery

Silt, sand and clay are

likely to be recovered.

Large fragments are

likely to be rejected.

13
 Down Hole Contamination

W aste
O re

W aste

Distortion, and True,

creating reserves unknown
that do not exist reserves

14
Extraction problems with augers

Coarse fragments are pushed away.

15
 The Increment Extraction Error:
Example of blasthole sampling

Curtain Curtain

Fugitive dust Fugitive dust

16
 The Increment Extraction Error:
Recovering all fines is a must.

Primary To
Stem cyclone Dust
collector collector

Seals

Secondary
cyclone

To sampling
system

17
 A high grade geological contact may be
accounted for twice during the sample
extraction.

Ore
Waste

Waste

The high-grade
contact may be
accounted twice.

Channel sampling may overestimate waste grade if the operator

comes too close to the contact.

18
 When sampling waste, stay away from
contacts.

Contact Sample boundary

accounted once 10 cm inside
waste

Suggested sample delimitation to prevent a devastating

extraction bias.

19
 A very difficult case:
Sampling at draw-points

Block caving

Collect one sample Collect one sample

from minus 5-cm from + 5-cm
fragments boulders (chips)

Usually, only one sample made of minus 5-cm fragments is

collected, leading to a very large extraction bias.

20
 Sampling at draw-points:
Draw a control chart with results from
both samples.

A re a w he re the o re is A re a w he re the o re is
% Cu m ixe d w ith o the r o re c o nta m ina te d w ith
fro m uppe r le ve ls w a s te fro m uppe r le ve ls

2.00
A

1.00
C uto ff grad e

B
0

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
T o ns

Example of alternate sampling at draw-points at a copper mine:

A: Samples from minus 5-cm fragments
B: Chip-samples from + 5-cm boulders

21