COURSE OBJECTIVES
Poor sampling, compounded by poor laboratory subsampling, leads to questionable geostatistics, and generates severe conciliation problems between the geological model, the mine, and the plant estimates. These problems also affect the price of commodities and the validity of environmental assessments. The result is a huge money loss for the company involved, evolving later in likely litigation. It is of key importance for geologists, miners, metallurgists, chemists, and environmental specialists to extract maximum information from the available data, as large investments and crucial decisions depend on it. False evaluations lead devastating scenarios such as:
Abandonment of viable properties.
Exploitation of unprofitable properties.
Mismanagement of viable properties, and Incompetence in fraud detection.
It is critical to quantify the heterogeneity of important constituents in any new property. Failure to do appropriate testing leads to invalid sampling and subsampling protocols, excess drilling, and a biased database that would later lead to false geostatistics. The following sequence is part of an inescapable practice:
How is the constituent of interest distributed in the material to be sampled?
Conduct Heterogeneity Tests to quantify the sampling characteristics of the constituent of interest.
Optimize sampling protocols and the way they are implemented, according to the results from the Heterogeneity Test.
Implement protocols using valid sampling equipment: 75% of the sampling equipment available on the market will never do the job.
Implement a comprehensive, systematic quality control program to monitor sampling precision and accuracy.
The staggering cost of irrelevant data variability is not easy to detect, quantify, or correct. A strategy for effective management of variability will enable managers to identify and minimize annoying conciliation problems between theoretical models and reality: Your decisions are only as good as your samples!
The course offers simple ways to quantify money losses for a given sampling precision, and it provides a good strategy to prevent sampling inaccuracy for which there is no statistical cure. Unless sampling precision and accuracy are clearly connected to economic issues, it is unlikely that managers would understand the need to improve sampling protocols and the way they are implemented. At the end of the course, attendees will be better equipped to present the economic advantages of good sampling. Thus, the course is a pre-requisite for bank investment: Bankers must listen and trust the Sampling Theory.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course is designed for individuals responsible for optimizing the performance of mines, metallurgical plants, chemical plants, and environmental assessments. The course also applies to many other areas where someone must collect samples to make important decisions. The course is highly recommended for managers to optimize their operations. You should attend this course if you are:
Exploration and ore grade control geologists.
Presidents, Vice Presidents, and operations managers.
Geostatisticians and laboratory supervisors.
Miners, metallurgists and chemists.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control managers.
Environmental engineers & pollution control specialists.
Concerned investors and company shareholders.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
The nine kinds of sampling errors, how they take place, and how to minimize them; most people can list only two!
Sampling correctness, so you can reject sampling systems that will never perform a satisfactory job.
Become familiar with necessary tests to be performed at mines and plants to optimize all your sampling protocols.
To select appropriate Data Quality Objectives for operating parameters, which are worth continuous monitoring, to minimize your operating cost.
To better appreciate the value of existing chronological data that allows you to better control any process. This data is valuable for management in identifying structural problems that lead to unnecessary financial losses.
Variography is the key to identify the various sources of variability affecting routine chronological data. You will discover the power of Chronostatistics.
Using existing data, variability from sampling and measurement must be clearly separated from process trends and cycles. Unless this is well done, continuous process improvement will remain elusive.
The careful use of the Moving Average and especially its auxiliary functions can greatly help you to minimize the effect of poor sampling and measurement precision.
Relative Difference Plots can clearly show the presence of conditional biases from sampling and from laboratories.
Realize the weakness of today’s standards on sampling: They are obsolete and not in line with the Sampling Theory.
Get updated on sampling developments exposed during eight World Conferences on Sampling and Blending.
COURSE TOPICS
Introduction
* Fundamental statistical concepts used in sampling theory and sampling practices.
* Nine kinds of sampling errors: You must address one at a time, otherwise sampling is almost always invalid.
* Heterogeneity of major and trace constituents.
* Examples of common financial losses due to poor sampling practices.
* Definition of Data Quality Objectives.
* Presentation of a new quality strategy based on Data Quality Objectives.
* Synergy between Data Quality Objectives and sampling protocols.
* Definition of basic terms and symbols.
Sampling Theory & Practice
* Errors generated by sample weights.
* Optimization of sampling protocols.
* Description of Heterogeneity Tests for a normal case and for a difficult case.
* Errors generated by segregation.
* Practical implementation of sampling.
* Review of sources of sampling biases.
* Exploration of the Nugget Effect.
* Selection of realistic, economical cutoff grades.
* Detailed review of existing sampling systems:
- During exploration (diamond core, RC, ….)
- At mines (blastholes, …)
- At plants (cross stream systems, in-stream probes, augers,…)
- At laboratories (splitters, crushers, pulverizers, shovels, spoons, spatulas,…)
- For sampling commodities at shipping facilities
- For sampling the environment
* Monitoring precision and accuracy of sampling and subsampling protocols.
* Quantifying the awesome cost of sampling precision.
* Suggestions for better sampling standards.
Reconciliation problems between the geological model, the mine and the plant
* The myth of reconciliation.
* Identification of major sources of reconciliation problems.
* Capitalize on existing data is a gold mine of opportunities.
* Understand the different kinds of heterogeneity and the variability they generate.
* Become proactive through effective statistical thinking.
Management must set priorities
* Find causes of problems and structural properties you must live with.
* Invest in minimizing causes of problems.
* Find effects of problems and circumstantial properties you cannot control.
* Save money by spending less on effects of problems.
* Managing visible cost:
- Historical priority places on visible cost
- The accountant’s point of view
- Discovering invisible cost:
- The staggering cost of constituents grade variability
- Reconciling statistical and accounting points of view
Introduction to Chronostatistics
* Critical review of sampling and measurement modes: random systematic, stratified random, and random.
* Introduction to variographic statistical process control.
* Advances variography.
* Introduction to variographic statistical process control.
The Moving Average, a pragmatic, simple but delicate tool
* How much averaging is appropriate.
* The random noise.
* The corrected data.
The Relative Difference Plot: The best tool for QC monitoring
* Detection of a conditional bias as a function of time.
* Detection of a conditional bias as a function of increasing constituent content.
An Improvement Strategy for Effective Sampling
INVESTMENT : US$ 500 + IVA
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. FRANCIS F. PITARD
Dr. Francis F. Pitard is a consulting expert in Sampling, Statistical Process Control and Total Quality Management. He is President of Francis Pitard Sampling Consultants (www.fpscsampling.com) and Technical Director of Mineral Stats Inc. (www.mineralstats.com) in Broomfield, Colorado USA. He provides consulting services in many countries. Dr. Pitard has six years of experience with the French Atomic Energy Commission and fifteen years with Amax Extractive R&D. He taught Sampling Theory, SPC, and TQM for the Continuing Education offices of the Colorado School of Mines, the Australian Mineral Foundation, for the Mining Department of the University of Chile, and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He has a Doctorate of Technology from Aalborg University in Denmark.
CONSULTATION FORM
Do not hesitate to communicate with us and immediately we will guide you in everything you need.
