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About the Course In this introductory course, students explore the full breadth and depth of the mining sector. An array of succinct overviews, video clips, and infographics guide students through a typical mining value chain (exploration, mining, processing, transport, closure, and post-closure). Topics such as artisanal and small-scale mining, project financing, and an overview of a variety of commodities are included. Key trends within mining are also explored including insight into new and developing technologies, and true sustainability within mining. Students will leave this course with a solid grasp of mining terminology, processes, and business practices that will help them work in or with professionals in the mining industry. About the Audience This course provides a robust foundation to the key components of the mining industry and introduces the learner to the mining value chain, industry specific terminology and key concepts. This course is for anyone who is interested in the mining sector and would like a broad overview of the mining value chain without the technical details. Examples of those who may be interested include: geologists, chemists, engineers, government officials, regulators, data scientists, policy setters, non-governmental organizations, procurement specialists, academics, finance professionals, sustainability experts, lawyers, and administrative staff.   Recommended Background This is an introductory level course. No specific pre-requisites are recommended. Authors   Course Details Duration: 4 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Mining Level: Introduce Version Date: September 1 2021 Delivery Format: On-Demand Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read more

In recent years there has been a strong international move toward knowing and improving the quality of information used in the mining industry for mineral project exploration reporting and resource/reserve estimation. In Canada this trend has been accentuated because of recent, highly publicized scams that involved contamination of samples. An important aim of quality control procedures is to minimize the likelihood of such scams so that the public is not misled as to the economic potential of a mineral deposit. Quality control procedures also serve the technical purposes of identifying sources of and quantifying both random errors and unintentional bias in sampling, subsampling and analytical routines and thus provide the basis for improved procedures of data collection that translate into improved resource/reserve estimates. One of the important reactions in Canada to recent mining scams has been the implementation of what is known as National Instrument 43-101 (NI43-101) in which a wide range of requirements, relating to mineral project reporting and resource/reserve estimation, are laid out. These requirements identify a Qualified Person (QP) who is responsible for all technical matters related to obtaining and publicizing both assay data and resource/reserve figures. This course incorporates a variety of procedures designed to fulfill the requirements of NI43-101 insofar as standard, blank and duplicate samples can be used to define and monitor quality of geochemical and assay values that are the basis of deposit evaluation. The International Standards Organization (ISO) has developed a variety of widely distributed publications dealing with quality control systems for a wide range of industrial settings. The application of the ISO standards to resource/reserve estimation procedures necessarily involves all steps of the published procedures. Too often quality control is thought of only in terms of quantitative measurements. A broader perspective is essential and must include the categorical and qualitative data that are inherent in geological studies. This is a premium course which has been peer-reviewed by a committee appointed by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). Authors Alastair J. Sinclair   Duration: 25 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Exploration Level: Cross Train Original Publish Date: June 3, 2015 Revised Date:  October 6, 2021 Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read more

Field Portable X-ray Fluorescence analyzers are quickly becoming prevalent within the mining industry. The ease of use, reliability and accuracy provided by this technology allow for quick decision making at low cost in real time. This course introduces the technology, application, operation and safety issues of field-portable XRF instrumentation. Authors Daxton Curry   Duration: 4 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Exploration Level: Specialize Version Date: December 13, 2010   Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read more

Practical Geostatistics 2000 - 1: Classical Statistics is the first of a set of two courses. The companion course is Practical Geostatistics 2000 - 2: Spatial Statistics. These courses are based on over 40 years of teaching statistics and geostatistics to mining engineers, geologists, hydrologists, soil scientists, climatologists, plus the occasional geographer, pattern recognition expert, meteorologist, statistician, and computer scientist. Even, on one occasion, an accountant. Over those years, we have endeavoured to pare away all extraneous mathematics and concentrate on intuitive derivations where possible. Readers interested in rigorous mathematical proofs are urged to stop here and turn to the more theoretically based material (a comprehensive bibliography is included). This course is not intended to turn out fully-fledged geostatisticians. It is intended for people with problems to be solved which can be assisted by a geostatistical approach. To benefit from this course you need to be fairly comfortable with basic algebra. That is, with the notion of using symbols as shorthand for longer statements. We have worked hard to bring you consistent notation throughout the course. Where notation is out of our control, we explain carefully what each symbol stands for and try not to use that symbol for anything else. Calculus—differentiation and integration—is discussed at various points in the text. The reader is not expected to do any calculus (as such) but is expected to know that the differential of x squared is 2x. The only other complication is the frequent use of simultaneous equations. We tend not to use matrix algebra in this course but will give the matrix form after explanations have been given in simple algebra. For example, linear regression is easier to understand if developed with algebra, but very simple to implement in spreadsheets if matrices are used. If we haven't scared you off yet, be reassured by the fact that all the analyses are illustrated with real data sets in full worked examples. Data sets and software can be downloaded from Ecosse Geostatistics. There are also exercises for you to try. Answers are available for you to check your results. Most of these exercises have been collected and used in classes or examinations at Final (Senior) Year and Master's levels. It is our own fundamental regret that this course cannot contain the jokes, anecdotes and sheer fun that we have giving the course in person. We do advise you, however, to keep your sense of humour and common sense at all times while taking this course.The principal topics covered by this course include... Why a Statistical Approach? The Normal (Gaussian) Distribution The Lognormal Distribution (and Variants) Discrete Statistics Testing Hypotheses Relationships The course comprises 24 viewing sessions, each of approximately 60 minutes duration, plus supporting figures, tables, worked examples, references and appendices, and interactive reviews that confirm your achievement of the learning objectives.The above picture is attributed to USACE HQ. This is a premium course which has been peer-reviewed by a committee appointed by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). Authors Isobel Clark William Harper   Duration: 25 Hours Access:  90 Days Category: Exploration Level: Exploration Version Date: January 27, 2014   ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read more

Contouring of irregular spatial data by hand has been used by geoscientists for many decades. Contouring using a computer is relatively new and has become more widely used in the earth sciences only in the last 20 years. The availability of inexpensive microcomputer hardware and software makes the use of a computer for contouring affordable for nearly everyone. Gridding and contouring software has become flexible enough to satisfy nearly all needs for contouring with speed and convenience. Computer contouring is not perfect, so it is necessary to constantly be on guard and check results for artifacts and make sure the contour results are representative of the data. This course will help build awareness of what to watch for when using each contour method, when a method is most suitable, and when it is not. Since the early 1980's, we have experienced a significant increase in access to computer programs for contouring, as well as a large variety of computer algorithms. Books have been written about the algorithms and how they are used. The purpose of this course is to pull together information on the most commonly used contouring algorithms and reveal the 'secrets' of how and why they are used. These 'secrets' are not really secrets, but to find all this information you have to dig through many books, use the algorithms (hundreds of times) and observe results. We have explored all these resources for you and present the findings in this course. Hand contouring is still done by some people, and the first section of the course covers hand contouring methods, when to use them, and the pitfalls to avoid. Understanding hand contouring is a first step to using contour software effectively. Author Betty L. Gibbs Dr. Stephen A. Krajewski   Duration 17 Hours Access 90 Days Category Exploration Level Specialize Version Date January 18, 2010   ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More   Read more

Most mining project investments are comprised of three factors: the investment is partially or completely irreversible with significant exit costs; there is uncertainty over the future returns from the investment; the investor has some latitude relating to the timing of the investment. These three factors interact to determine the optimal decisions in mining project investments. There are of a lot of unknown variables at the outset of a mining project. When the mining project is in operation, there is no crystal ball to tell exactly when the mining project will reach its maximum value. Consequently, in any mining project evaluation, there are no clear answers for the questions below. How much will the minimum initial capital cost be? How much will the maximum mine value be? How long will the optimum mine life be? This course shows you how to arrive at these essential decisions, by addressing the unknown variables with the best assumptions that can be made based on the information that is available. Authors Micah Nehring Shahriar Shafiee   Duration: 15 Hours Access: 90 Days Category: Financial Level: Specialize Version Date: March 17, 2014   ​Need to train a team? Whether you're looking for a customized training program or developing a team, we have enterprise solutions to fit your needs. Learn More Read more