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.
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