Representation of Mine Data

Before embarking on a discussion of the various ways in which mineral deposits can be sampled and evaluated, it is necessary to review the methods available for the subdivision of these deposits and for representation of the geological and assay information gained during their exploration and exploitation. The methods employed must also allow the geological information to be related to mine development (e.g. drives, haulages, cross-cuts, etc.) in an underground mine, or to benches in an open-pit operation. This requirement in turn necessitates a brief review of the nature of this mine development and of nomenclature used in a mining operation so that terms used in later chapters will be clearly understood. It is not my intention in this book to become involved in a discussion of methods of working ore-deposits and thus the interested reader is referred to the available literature on this subject, e.g. Woodruff (1966), volumes 1 and 2 of the SME Mining Engineering Handbook (Society of Mining Engineers, 1973) or Thomas (1973).