Effective information gathering for ore estimation, evaluation and perspectives on adaptive sampling

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Leung, Raymond, Melkumyan, Arman
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Leung, Raymond
Melkumyan, Arman
author_facet Leung, Raymond
Melkumyan, Arman
contents A computational/analytics framework for assessing the value of drill-hole information in ore grade estimation is described using Gaussian Process and statistics. A distinguishing feature is that it presents both a near-term and long-term vision, circumvents conditional simulations and avoids making rigid assumptions such as stationarity and uncorrelated errors. Two experiments are devised to cater for situations where geological domains are differentiated or mixed. In scenario 1, performance (learning) curves are obtained to inform in-fill drilling and spacing consideration consistent with current practice. Analysis shows it is possible to estimate the incremental cost and reward via a proxy measure without relying on the ground truth, using insights obtained from a similar deposit, adjacent bench or domain. Scenario 2 examines adaptive sampling strategies and focuses on applying these in geologically complex areas with discontinuities and heterogeneous composition. Evaluation is made based on structural similarity, the mean and uncertainty in the posterior predictive distribution for the grade. The results highlight situations where regular grid sampling is suboptimal, and demonstrate an adaptive strategy that targets spatial complexity is capable of narrowing this gap. The proposed methodology can potentially be used in the future in an exploration--exploitation setting that involves sampling, machine learning, reasoning and cooperation between robots with embodied intelligence on a mine site.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_23172
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Effective information gathering for ore estimation, evaluation and perspectives on adaptive sampling
Leung, Raymond
Melkumyan, Arman
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
68U99, 60G15, 65D15, 62L05
A computational/analytics framework for assessing the value of drill-hole information in ore grade estimation is described using Gaussian Process and statistics. A distinguishing feature is that it presents both a near-term and long-term vision, circumvents conditional simulations and avoids making rigid assumptions such as stationarity and uncorrelated errors. Two experiments are devised to cater for situations where geological domains are differentiated or mixed. In scenario 1, performance (learning) curves are obtained to inform in-fill drilling and spacing consideration consistent with current practice. Analysis shows it is possible to estimate the incremental cost and reward via a proxy measure without relying on the ground truth, using insights obtained from a similar deposit, adjacent bench or domain. Scenario 2 examines adaptive sampling strategies and focuses on applying these in geologically complex areas with discontinuities and heterogeneous composition. Evaluation is made based on structural similarity, the mean and uncertainty in the posterior predictive distribution for the grade. The results highlight situations where regular grid sampling is suboptimal, and demonstrate an adaptive strategy that targets spatial complexity is capable of narrowing this gap. The proposed methodology can potentially be used in the future in an exploration--exploitation setting that involves sampling, machine learning, reasoning and cooperation between robots with embodied intelligence on a mine site.
title Effective information gathering for ore estimation, evaluation and perspectives on adaptive sampling
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
68U99, 60G15, 65D15, 62L05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23172