Definition:
The search for economic mineral deposits. It involves undertaking activities with the aim of locating and defining mineral occurrences which have the prospect of being mined economically
Services
MINERAL EXPLORATION
Stages in Mineral Exploration:
Exploration Methods:
Methods commonly used in mineral exploration.
| METHOD | ACTIVITY |
|---|---|
| GEOLOGICAL MAPPING | • Field mapping • Interpretation of ariel photographs and imageries • Interpretation of remote sensing data • Rock sampling |
| GEOCHEMICAL SAMPLING | • Stream sediment & concentrate sampling • Soil sampling • Rock chip sampling • In-situ chemical analyses using portable equipment • Trenching • Pitting • Drilling |
| GEOBOTANICAL ANALYSIS | • Analysis of vegetation patterns |
| GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY | • Airborne geophysical survey • Ground geophysical survey |
| ECONOMIC EVALUATION | • Ore studies • Pilot metallurgical studies • Test mining |
Geological Field Mapping
Trenching
Pitting
Pitting
Rock Chip Sampling
Continuous Channel Sampling
Banka Drilling on Land
Jetting on Silica Sand
3D-Model:
The creation of a geological model may include the following steps:
• Computer based 3D orebody modelling
• Sectional, longitudinal, 3D and multi seam modelling
• Geostatistical analysis, variographic analysis of composite spatial continuity
3D Drilling Modelling
3D Orebody ModellingResource Evaluation:
There are different estimation methods used for different scenarios dependent upon the ore boundaries, geological deposit geometry, grade variability, and the amount of time and money available.
A typical resource estimation involves the construction of a geological and resource model with data from various sources. Depending on the nature of the information and whether the data is hard copy or computerized, the principal steps of computer resource estimation are:
• Creation, standardization and validation of the database.
• Section plotting and interactive geological modelling.
• Geostatistical analysis.
• Block modelling and block estimation.
