Handbook of Applied Advanced Geostatistical Ore Reserve Estimation: (Development in Geomathematics S.)

Some 20 years have elapsed since the publication of the first textbook on theoretical geostatistics and, after hundreds of practical studies, it is worth looking at how geostatistics has evolved to become the practical tool it was intended to be. Although there have been many new developments and dozens of new theoretical tools, the basis of everyday geostatistics - as used in orebody modelling and mine planning - has essentially remained the same. This book describes the advances made in the last 15 years, which have practical applications in ore reserve estimation. In particular, it addresses the problems commonly encountered in the practice of orebody modelling when the data do not conform to the early theoretical models. It offers solutions to problems like irregularly distributed samples of irregular sizes, shows how to get the best possible variogram and how to model it in practice. It addresses the problem of the grade tonnage curve, which varies with block size and proposes ways to compute estimation variances for an entire deposit or in the presence of a cut-off. Real case studies are presented in every chapter using, as far as possible, well-known deposits. The book is written for those who have a basic understanding of geostatistics. Every student of geostatistics should read it; every professional geostatistician will find it indispensable. The extensive table of contents can be used as a reference when looking for the solution to practical problems and the numerous figures will provide a clear description of all the solutions proposed. The bibliography has been updated to 1987 and contains everything significant in the field. The book will be welcomed by all those interested in geostatistics - mining engineers, ore geologists, and others.

Table of Contents:
1. Distribution Related Problems. The estimation of an histogram. Distribution models for samples and blocks. Distribution of blocks, change of support models. Distribution of equivalents. Bivariate distributions. 2. Variogram Related Problems. The samples to include in a variogram calculation. Robust estimation methods. The proportional effect and relative variograms. The regressive effect and regressive variograms. Cross validation of a variogram model. Model fitting. The importance of the "geo" in geostatistics. 3. Block Variances. Exercise on the size effect and the information effect. Uncertainties in selective mining. Exercise: The importance of the proportional (or regressive) effect on ore recovery. The importance of the nugget effect on selective mining. The importance of the drilling diameter. Determining the size of a stockpile. The numerical calculation of integrals of an isotropic variogram functions on hypercubes. An algorithm for finding the position of a point relative to a fixed polygonal. 4. Estimation Variance. Variance of total reserves. Estimation variance of mineable reserves. Likely change of the average grade of a deposit after new drilling. 5. Kriging. Improving ore-waste definition with kriging or random kriging. Lognormal kriging. Conditional bias in kriging and a suggested correction. Checking an estimation model. Universal kriging and IRFK (Davis and David, 1977). 6. Recoverable Reserves. Disjunctive kriging. Indicator kriging. Probability kriging. Multigaussian kriging. Bigaussian kriging. 7. Applied Simulation. POLYSIM2 package and examples of applications. Complete simulation of the tonnage, shape and grade of a Saskatchewan uranium deposit, methodology and problems. 8. Classification of Ore Reserves. Principles of classification of ore reserves. The geostatistical approach in ore classification. A quick and easy solution to classify reserves. A quick geostatistical solution. 9. Check Samples and Duplicates. Comparisons of two series of assays to trace a possible bias. Case of gold ore (and highly skewed distributions). References.

Review :
...it is of considerable value to have under one cover a collection of some of the important works of a geostatistician such as David, who has made many valuable theoretical contributions to his field and who also has accumulated a broad practical knowledge. There is a lot of good material in the additional text that has been added to flesh out the papers and case studies. For example, much of the important, but as yet unpublished, wisdom regarding the use of relative variograms is in this book. ...the (Handbook of Applied Advanced Geostatistical Ore Reserve Estimation) does provide a useful collection of previously published articles; its case studies and additional text contain some important material that has not been published elsewhere. Computers & Geosciences R. Mohan Srivastava, FSS International, Vancouver, Canada ... the book is a useful contribution written especially for geologists or mining engineers, who are interested in an overview of special advanced applied geostatistics methods. But... other earth scientists will also profit from reading David's book, because they will become familiar with the principles of geostatistics... Earth-Science Reviews H. Breikreuz