ABSTRACT
Rock cores from drilling works in mineral research activities are the main ore modeling information and consume most of the budget. Data spacing should be optimized to reduce uncertainties in the geologic model and mineral resource inventory. This paper investigates how the uncertainty of the mineral resources is influenced by distinct data spacings through a case study on a bauxite mineralization in Brazilian Amazon plateau. The results showed that the uncertainty of the mineral resource decreases as the data spacing decreases. Depending on an acceptable uncertainty level, wider data spacings may be selected. This optimal drilling data spacing may be defined using the uncertainty in the mineral resource estimation, which is demonstrated in this case study.
