Preliminary evaluation of uranium deposits. A geostatistical study of drilling density in Wyoming solution fronts

Studies of a roll-front uranium deposit in Shirley Basin Wyoming indicate that preliminary evaluation of the reserve potential of an ore body is possible with less drilling than currently practiced in industry. Estimating ore reserves from sparse drilling is difficult because most reserve calculation techniques do not give the accuracy of the estimate. A study of several deposits with a variety of drilling densities shows that geostatistics consistently provides a method of assessing the accuracy of an ore reserve estimate. Geostatistics provides the geologist with an additional descriptive technique - one which is valuable in the economic assessment of a uranium deposit. Closely spaced drilling on past properties provides both geological and geometric insight into the occurrence of uranium in roll-front type deposits. Just as the geological insight assists in locating new ore bodies and siting preferential drill locations, the geometric insight can be applied mathematically to evaluate the accuracy of a new ore reserve estimate. By expressing the geometry in numerical terms, geostatistics extracts important geological characteristics and uses this information to aid in describing the unknown characteristics of a property. (author)