Mining bench height evaluation for the Wallaby resource: a conditional simulation case study.

Conditional simulation was used to derive a number of gold estimation scenarios within a typical volume of the Western Australian deposit. These scenarios were interrogated for a selection of bench heights and ore block dimensions. The results were reported as a range of grade-tonnage relationships and compared with the kriged resource model, allowing the it to be calibrated to a specific bench height and ore block size. More realistic dilution and ore-loss values for a number of bench heights were then calculated from the resource model. These values were used to determine the economic sensitivity of particular mining methods. The spread of results also provided an indication of confidence in the kriged grade estimate for different zones of mineralisation.
Conditional simulation was used to derive a number of gold estimation scenarios within a typical volume of the Western Australian deposit. These scenarios were interrogated for a selection of bench heights and ore block dimensions. The results were reported as a range of grade-tonnage relationships and compared with the kriged resource model, allowing the it to be calibrated to a specific bench height and ore block size. More realistic dilution and ore-loss values for a number of bench heights were then calculated from the resource model. These values were used to determine the economic sensitivity of particular mining methods. The spread of results also provided an indication of confidence in the kriged grade estimate for different zones of mineralisation.