A Study of the Influence of Measurement Volume, Blending Ratios and Sensor Precision on Real-Time Reconciliation of Grade Control Models

T. Wambeke*, J. Benndorf

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
58 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The mining industry continuously struggles to keep produced tonnages and grades aligned with targets derived from model-based expectations. Deviations often result from the inability to characterise short-term production units accurately based on sparsely distributed exploration data. During operation, the characterisation of short-term production units can be significantly improved when deviations are monitored and integrated back into the underlying grade control model. A previous contribution introduced a novel simulation-based geostatistical approach to repeatedly update the grade control model based on online data from a production monitoring system. The added value of the presented algorithm results from its ability to handle inaccurate observations made on blended material streams originating from two or more extraction points. This contribution further extends previous work studying the relation between system control parameters and algorithm performance. A total of 125 experiments are conducted to quantify the effects of variations in measurement volume, blending ratio and sensor precision. Based on the outcome of the experiments, recommendations are formulated for optimal operation of the monitoring system, guaranteeing the best possible algorithm performance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)801-826
Number of pages26
JournalMathematical Geosciences
Volume50
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Data assimilation
  • Ensemble Kalman filter
  • Geostatistics
  • Grade control model
  • Production data
  • Reconciliation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Study of the Influence of Measurement Volume, Blending Ratios and Sensor Precision on Real-Time Reconciliation of Grade Control Models'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this