Mineral resource and ore reserve estimation – an overview and outline / Оценка минеральных ресурсов и рудных запасов – общий обзор и схема

Risk in project evaluation involves the probability of estimates
failing. There are few more risk prone businesses than mining.
Burmeister (1989) reviewed 35 Australian gold operations which were initiated in the period 1984 to 1987 and found that two-thirds of them had not achieved targeted gold production in the first full year of operation. For those that did exceed target, the overriding reason was a higher than anticipated plant throughput. Only two out of the 35 achieved their projected recovered grade. Burmeister observed that the reasons for the shortfall in grade included excessive dilution, inappropriate estimation techniques, inadequate geological interpretation, unreliable assays and inadequate drilling.  <...>