Successful Incorporation of Geological Controls into Reserve Evaluation: Recent Examples from Giant Copper Mines in Chile

Abstract

The unprecedented mining boom in Chile during the last decade has witnessed the development of many giant copper mines. The presence of leachable ore has been fundamental in ensuring the economic and technical feasibility of several of these new projects. This presentation examines how geostatistical techniques have been incorporated into the estimation for leachable ore at two new large-size mines in Chile: El Abra and Radomiro Tomic. Success factors for implementation have been:

• (1) geostatistics makes maximum use of available geological information as well as sampling information

• (2) close collaboration exists between geologists, mining engineers, metallurgists and geostatisticians, and

• (3) geostatistical methods integrate computer-assisted design tools to model orebodies that possess a complex geometry.

The degree of success in integrating geological controls and geostatistical tools is illustrated by the reserve-mine reconciliation results at each of these mines.