Professional courses in Resource Estimation and Geostatistics: How to make it effective

When I sign up for any professional development program, I check the background of the faculty or trainer. I look for the following three items: 1) Irrespective of the company they work for, does he/she have academic training AND work experience on the subject, 2) Did he ever teach a class - small or big, at a conference or in a University, etc.; And finally 3) Is the faculty members or trainer showing his passion to teach the subject?

I expect all who sign up for the short courses and training programs I offer to do the same too. When professionals sign-up for courses for few hours to few days, we have to know each other well so that we communicate effectively.

Resource estimation requires a set of skills that are essential in understanding the geology, process & techniques which can be mathematically intense, and the ability to visualize in space. For a good economic geologist to do a defensible and valid resource estimation needs certain mathematical skills that allow him to evaluate multiple options, and making sure that he makes the right decision. A professional without geological background should spend a substantial amount of time studying the geology of the deposit before he attempts to produce mineral resource estimates.

The trainer/faculty member needs to help the attendees in explaining the geological relevance of statistics of the assay and other geological features. In the figure on left, the low-grade Fe% is seen to be spatially well distributed, however, the high-grade mineralization seems to be concentrated in the central area of the deposit.

It is important to know that attendees are here to learn something new through listening to the presentations and participating in activities. So keeping the class interesting and attendees engaged is also part of the job description. In our short course participants have the opportunity to work with other attendees on few hands-on exercises, which allows them to relate their work experience with what they are learning in the class.

Learning Geostatistics requires a clear understanding of some basic statistical concepts. The practitioner needs to understand i) how to calculate and explain the mean and standard deviation of the sample, ii) should be able to visualize the mean and variance in space, and iii) the familiarization with matrix calculations.

Generally in our short courses statistical concepts are reviewed, in an attempt to refresh the memory, so that further discussions can be effective. It is not true that computers take care of all calculations and hence all estimations are correct, rather it is a fact that the user parameters determine how reliable the estimates are.

Therefore, in our short course, real-life examples are used (anonymously), which helps in explaining the concepts and demonstrating how to do a reliable resource estimation with or without the application of geostatistics.

To learn more about training programs please write to us or visit https://geoglobal.co/ for your training needs.

Our new in-person program in the Salt Lake City area: https://geoglobal.co/mreag-fivedays-slc

An online refresher course for participants in India and Asia: https://geoglobal.co/mreag-india-edition