Comparative study assesses reserve estimation methods in phosphate mining, suggesting optimized extraction approaches.
Ore reserve estimation drives mining's economic viability. Reserve estimation in mining involves determining the amount of economically extractable minerals in a given deposit. This study, using 63 boreholes, conducts a comparison of triangulation, Geovia Surpac, and Maptek Vulcan for Al Khabra's phosphate reserves, Saudi Arabia. It computes grade, volume, and tonnage, revealing a 2.05% difference in Surpac and 0.68% in Vulcan. Specifically, the traditional triangulation method yielded a reserve of 278.6 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 21.75% P2O5. In comparison, Geovia Surpac estimated 284.3 Mt, and Maptek Vulcan estimated 280.5 Mt at a grade of 22.25% P2O5. The findings highlight method synergy, optimizing phosphate mine planning and ore recovery for long-term profitability.
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Saleem et al. (2026) studied this question.
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