Geostatistical mineral inventory using personal computers

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 961, 1992

G.H. Blackwell, Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, and A.J. Sinclair, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

The main components of a "PC"-based mineral inventory system are described in a sequence common to many real reserve/ resource estimation projects and in the practical context of problems and decision-making typically encountered in such studies. Some components are designed particuarly to improve the geostatistical instructional capability of the package. An important part of this approach involves the use of widely available software for data manipulation and evaluation in the design of a mineral inventory study progressing to mine design and feasibility. A variety ofmore-or-less fixed routines written in high level languages provide acceptable computational speeds on a personal computer. These critical segments are linked by simple, short, compiled Basic programs easily adjustable to various data configurations and needs.

Keywords: Computer applications, Geostatistics, Personal computers, QMIN system, Resource estimation.