Fresh Thinking by Snowden Optiro

Choosing the right technique to analyse your samples is an important decision and new technology is changing the game. Dr Simon Dominy joins Ian Glacken, Director of Geology at Optiro, to discuss new techniques including photon assay.

In this episode:

0:44 What do we mean by 'bulk' assaying? 2:05 Why use BLEG or leachwell? 4:31 Why is photon assay a breakthrough? 6:52 What other bulk assaying techniques should we be aware of? 9:58 Where can we go for more information?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Contact Simon Dominy - [email protected]
• Optiro website

Bulk sampling can help you get a more accurate idea of how much ore there is to be mined, but you need to have the scale to do it and know when it is appropriate. Dr Simon Dominy joins Director of Geology at Optiro Ian Glacken to discuss where he has seen it used well in the past.

In this episode:

1:07 Why do we need to do bulk sampling? 2:12 How do you define a bulk sample? 2:42 What are the key elements of a bulk sampling campaign? 4:28 What does bulk sampling cost? 5:08 What are some example projects that you've worked on? 6:20 What is a Nelson or Acacia reactor? 7:42 How do you know a bulk sample is appropriate? 8:48 What is the view on ore sorting? Can it be useful at a production scale? 10:08 Where can listeners go for more information?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Contact Simon Dominy - [email protected]
• Optiro website

When you travel the world visiting mines, you encounter extremes in weather, altitude and travel. In this final part of the travels of a geologist, Director of Geology at Optiro Ian Glacken recalls how he almost got frostbite in an unlikely country and about potholes so big they could swallow a car.

In this episode:

1:10 What has been the hottest and coldest places you've been as a travelling geologist? 4:05 Frostbite in Morocco (almost) 5:52 What is the highest mine above sea level you've ever been to? 7:35 Where have the longest road trips been? 10:10 Air travel surely features heavily in the life of a travelling geologist? 12:17 Are you going to keep travelling?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Optiro website

The best jobs can be on the worst trips and the worst jobs can be in the best places. In part 3 of 4 of this series on travel as a geologist, Director of Geology at Optiro Ian Glacken tells us about some of the worst places he's been and the worst food poisoning he's endured, whilst keeping an eye out for some of the world's most rugged beauty.

In this episode:

1:23 Where is the worst place you've been to as a consultant? 4:23 What are some other unfavourable places you've visited? 5:21 What about the other perils of travelling like diseases and food poisoning? 6:45 Make us want to be a geologist - surely not all travel is bad? 7:51 Bullet proof cars in Colombia 9:52 Mad Max beauty in Namibia

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Optiro website

Seeing the world as a consultant geologist can take you places, but some of them are a little too exciting to experience twice! Optiro's Director of Geology Ian Glacken recalls some stories including escaping a revolution, meeting Danie Krige on a pile of gold bars and having his clothes eaten by goats.

In this episode:

1:00 Following C tutoring from Larry Page at Stanford, where did you travel next? 2:40 What were your first trips as a consultant geologist like? 4:57 Meeting the guys from Bre-X 6:15 Escaping a revolution 8:01 Where do you go most frequently in the mining world? 9:14 What happened on your first trip to Africa? 10:10 Meeting Danie Krige 11:18 Do goats eat washing in Burkina Faso?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Optiro website

If you want to see the world you needn't join the navy: geologists get to see the world and quite frequently, too. Optiro's Director of Geology Ian Glacken tells some stories about his early travels and what he learned, including honing his C programming skills with a young Google CEO Larry Page.

In this episode:

1:05 Does working as a geologist lead to a lot of travel? 2:30 Is the travel enjoyable? 3:14 Was there much travel in the early years of your career? 11:43 Studying geostatistics at Stanford University and both meeting and working with people who went on to make names for themselves around the world.

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Optiro website

Should geochemistry be used more than structure? How can you get a 3D picture of a resource? And what are "coloured shapes around coloured numbers"? Optiro's Principal Consultant Mark Drabble joins Fresh Thinking to give an overview of geological interpretation and modelling.

In this episode:

0:57 What is geological interpretation? 2:31 Why is it so important? 3:28 How do geologists interpret the information they see? 4:29 What are "coloured shapes around coloured numbers?" 7:22 What is the best way to take all the data into account? 9:09 You say it's hard to understand the house if you're looking through the letterbox down the hallway - what do you mean by this? 10:49 So you take a step back and look at the asset as a whole? 11:40 Do you think geochemistry is used more than structure? 13:05 How do you find the balance in your approach? 14:19 How can companies get better value from the information they collect? 15:56 When have you used these approaches in the field? 18:22 What links could you share with listeners?

Like to learn more? Deposit-scale structural controls on orogenic gold deposits: an integrated, physical process–based hypothesis and practical targeting implications. Leapfrog 3D Geological Modelling course

Geologists need to use the right methods when estimating the tonnage and grade they can expect from an ore body. For recoverable resources, when uniform conditioning doesn't work, you need to turn to alterative techniques. In part two of this two-part series, Senior Geostatistician at Geovariances, David Barry, and Director of Geology at Optiro, Ian Glacken, discuss MIK and conditional simulation.

In this episode:

2:05 There are alternatives to uniform conditioning for when it isn't suitable 4:15 What are the alternatives to uniform conditioning? 7:45 There are several theoretical objections to Multiple Indicator Kriging in the French school 9:38 What is conditional simulation and how does it apply to recoverable resource estimation? 11:49 So how would we get a single optimal result from multiple conditional simulations? 12:50 How would you use Isatis to help you with your estimation techniques? 14:44 Where can people go to get more information on this subject?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Contact David Barry - Senior Geostatistician: [email protected]
• Optiro website
• 2-day Recoverable Resources course

Links:

• Wackernagel, H (2013) Basics in Geostatistics 3. Geostatistical Monte-Carlo methods: Conditional Simulation. NERSC, Accessed 17/10/2019.
• Glacken, I & Blackney, P (1998) A practitioners implementation of indicator kriging, The Geostatistical Association of Australasia "Beyond Ordinary Kriging" Seminar October 30th, 1998  Perth, Western Australia

Geologists need to make predictions about how much can be extracted from an ore body based on limited data. What can you do to confidently report on the likely tonnage and grade? In part one of this two-part series, Senior Geostatistician at Geovariances, David Barry, and Director of Geology at Optiro Ian Glacken discuss recoverable resources and how to apply uniform conditioning.

In this episode:

1:25 What are recoverable resources? 2:34 What is the difference between recoverable and ordinary resources? 3:48 Is there a difference between recoverable resources and reserves? 4:46 What needs to happen to a recoverable resource to make it into a reserve? 7:00 What are the main techniques for recoverable resource estimation? 7:32 What is uniform conditioning? 11:16 What would a typical uniform conditioning workflow look like? 13:58 What are the key assumptions we have to make when performing uniform conditioning? 17:34 Does uniform conditioning work for underground mining? 18:26 Where can people find out more about uniform conditioning?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Contact David Barry - Senior Geostatistician: [email protected]
• Optiro website
• 2-day Recoverable Resources course

Links:

• Geovariances website

Underground grade control is different from open pit grade control and to take you through the depths of their experiences, Optiro's Director of Geology Ian Glacken and geometallurgist Simon Dominy discuss the topic, covering techniques and methods.

In this episode:

1:00 How is underground grade control different to open pit? 1:47 How does the mining methods used in underground mining affect the way you'd do grade control? 2:53 Do we need to use a wider range of techniques for underground grade control than in open pit? 3:43 Is face sampling, channel sampling or chip sampling, a waste of time? 6:10 How can understanding the geology contribute to better underground grade control technique? 9:21 Where could people go next to learn more about underground mine grade control and sampling?

For more information:

• Contact Ian Glacken - Optiro Director of Geology: [email protected]
• Contact Simon Dominy - [email protected]
• Optiro website

Links:

• Dominy, S.C., Glass, H.J., O'Connor, L., Lam, C.K., Purevgerel, S. and Minnitt, R.C.A. 2018. Integrating the Theory of Sampling into underground mine grade control strategies. Minerals, 8(232)
• Dominy, S.C., Glass, H.J., O'Connor, L., Lam, C.K. and Purevgerel, S. 2019. Integrating the Theory of Sampling into underground mine grade control strategies: case studies from gold operations. Minerals, 9(238)
• Dominy, S.C., Platten, I.M., Xie, Y. and Minnitt, R.C.A. 2011. Underground grade control protocol design: case study from the Liphichi gold project, Larecaja, Bolivia. App. Earth Sci., 119, 205-219