3D mineralization modeling and mineral resource estimation of the CMA-North prospect (Yaoure gold project, Côte d'Ivoire)
Authors/Creators
- 1. Department of Georesources and geoscience, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic Of China
Description
Objective: The aim of this study is to model the mineralization and estimate the mineral resources of the CMA-North prospect of the Yaoure gold project, in order to understand the reality of the subsurface and the mineral potential of the prospect.To achieve this objective, a drilling campaign was carried out, following which data were collected and compiled in a database.
Methodology: The first step consisted of modelling the cross-sections of the 119 drill holes, then digitizing the mineralized zones and finally triangularization was used to construct the 3D solids of the mineralization on the basis of a cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t imposed for the present study. Subsequently, the resource estimate was carried out using several statistical analyses and the block model, which allowed the deposit to be divided into several blocks. On these blocks were applied the inverse distance weighting method which was verified by comparison with the nearest neighbor method.
Results: The mineralization model of the CMA-Nord prospect has mainly a North-South orientation for both oxide and sulphide. It appears in a lenticular form, more visible with the sulphide and plunging towards the east. Resources were estimated and classified according to the constraints applied to the solid blocks. Resources were estimated using the 0.4 g/t cut-off grade imposed for this study; final block models were used for estimation and resources were calculated by material type (oxidized and sulphide).The results showed that on the CMA-North prospect, the mineralization is mainly in the sulphide zone and it is oriented North-South. The block model was used to estimate the mineral resources. The geostatistical method of inverse weighting was applied to this block model and verified by comparison with the nearest neighbor method.
Conclusion: The construction of wireframes by digitizing and triangularizing the zones of importance allowed the establishment of the mineralization model. This model shows that the mineralization has a north-south extension and a large thickness of the envelope of the sulphide mineralization compared to the oxide mineralization.