Mineral exploration is at the front end of the mining industry, and the discovery of new orebodies is vital to meeting the increasing demands of a growing world population. However, finding new orebodies, particularly ones sufficiently enriched to become working mines, is hugely challenging.
Even after a discovery has been made, “defining the size, grade, and continuity of the mineralization, and then estimating its mineral resource or reserve can be extremely costly and time-consuming,” says Justin Smith, principal consultant at SRK Consulting.
“With exploration budgets continually being squeezed, geologists need to design and execute drill programs that maximize the value of exploration and resource drilling — usually as additional profitable resources or reserves.”
Although there are various methods for ranking and prioritizing drill targets based on depth, expected grade, volume, and general continuity of a potential orebody, the quantification of the potential value of each planned drill hole “is rarely performed by companies," he says.
View the original article on The Northern Miner
Click here to listen to The Northern Miner podcast interview with Justin Smith
