This book started with a desire to understand how to answer an apparently simple but actually complex question faced by all those responsible for the development and operation of mines: How do we determine which cut-off grade should be used to separate material that should be processed from that which should be sent to the waste dump? The answer appears straightforward: If it is profitable to process one metric ton of material, this ton should be processed. But what is profitable? The cut-off grade has a direct bearing on the tonnage of material mined, the tonnage and average grade of material processed, the size of the mining operation, and consequently capital costs, operating costs, environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Should we maximize cash flow, net present value, the life of the mining operation, the return to shareholders? How do we take into account economic, environmental, social, political, ethical and moral values, objectives, and regulations? <...>

This text intends to be a technical one. This means that techniques to solve identified problems will be presented. As the theory which serves as a basis for these techniques is very new, and relatively unfamiliar to the mineral industry, several chapters or sections will be devoted to it. These two ideas of a technique and a theory have been my guideline in preparing this course on the geostatistical estimation of mineral resources. The main target was to stay, as much as possible, close to the practical problems. This is the reason for the many examples which are intermeshed with the text; however, in many cases, staying t o o close t o a problem obscures the broader frame into which a question has to be asked before finding a correct answer. This is the reason for some theoretical digressions, which may seem to some as an attempt to try and make things look complicated. Certainly, in a particular mine, many problems can be solved without a total understanding of the complete theory. On the other hand, when one considers all the problems occurring in different mines, one cannot hope to solve them without having a good grasp, a synthetic view of the theory of regionalized variables as developed by G. Matheron in France, the most advanced developments of which have just been published in the Proceedings of a N.A.T.O. Advanced Study Institute (Guarascio, Huijbregts, David, 1976) <...>

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.

Applied Mineral Inventory Estimation presents a comprehensive applied approach to the estimation of mineral resources/reserves with particular emphasis on

The geological basis of such estimations

The need for and maintenance of a high-quality assay data base

The practical use of a comprehensive exploratory data evaluation

The importance of a comprehensive geostatistical approach to the estimation methodology.

Настоящий стандарт распространяется на эксплуатационную разведку россыпных месторождений золота при подземном способе разработки и устанавливает требования к оконтуриванию, порядок учета добычи песков и золота при ведении горноподготовительных и нарезных работ, подсчета подготовленных к выемке запасов в шахтном поле и оценки достоверности эксплуатационной разведки.

Every day, somewhere in the world, decisions are made about how public lands that might contain undiscovered resources should be used or whether to invest in exploration for minerals. Less frequently, decisions are made concerning mineral resource adequacy, national policy, and regional development. Naturally, the people making the decisions would like to know the exact consequences of the decisions before the decisions are made. Unfortunately, it is not possible to inform these decision-makers, with any certainty, about amounts, discoverability, or economics of undiscovered mineral resources.

The WA School of Mines, established in 1902, has been a core part of Curtin University since 1969 when it came on board to deliver mining education programs as part of what was then the Western Australian Institute of Technology.

As one of the first mining schools in Australia, it has adapted and expanded over more than a century to better support the education and research needs of the broader resources industry. In addition to retaining its mining roots, the School now also incorporates chemical engineering, mineral and energy economics and petroleum engineering. <...>

В отечественной литературе за последние 10—15 лет опубликован ряд статей и брошюр, посвященных вопросам экономической геологии, но обобщающей работы на эту тему до сих пор не было. Труд Б.С. Левоника «Вопросы экономической геологии» восполняет этот пробел.
Книга состоит из трех частей.

1. Постановление Правительства Российской Федерации от 28.02.96 № 215 «Об утверждении порядка представления государственной отчетности предприятиям, осуществляющим разведку месторождений полезных ископаемых и их добычу, в федеральный и территориальный фонды геологической информации»