PRACTICAL GEOSTATISTICS

by Dr. Isobel Clark

8 - 10 October 2008 Vancouver Canada

Course Presenters Schedule General information

Summary

This course takes students from no knowledge of statistics or geostatistics through to the mysteries of ordinary kriging and its variants in 3 days. This is a classroom course and includes manual exercises to reinforce understanding of the techniques.

The course is aimed at professionals dealing with the estimation from or interpolation between samples collected on a spatial basis. This is not a course for specialist geostatisticians but intended rather for those who wish to use geostatistics to enhance their practical applications or research.

No prior knowledge of statistics or geostatistics is assumed. A minimum of mathematics is necessary to explain the techniques - mainly simple algebra, up to the concepts of solving simple sets of simultaneous equations and differentiating x^².

Questions and discussions are actively encouraged and, indeed, form the basis of a successful course.

Basic computer skills and a personal notebook computer with Windows are course requirements.

Participants may take away copies of all software and data sets.

Background

Geostatistics is the name given to a particular group of techniques which model spatial processes and allow estimation of values at unsampled locations. Geostatistical estimation is a two stage process:

1. studying the gathered data to establish the predictability of values from place to place in the study area;
2. estimating values at those locations which have not been sampled. This process is known as ‘kriging’.

In mining, geostatistics is extensively used in the field of reserve valuation - the estimation of grades and other parameters from a relatively small set of borehole or other samples.

Geostatistics is now widely used in many other fields. Obviously there are geological and geographical applications. However, the techniques are also used in such diverse fields as hydrology, ground water and air pollution, soil science and agriculture, forestry, epidemiology, management of wildlife and weather prediction.

Pre-Course e-Learning

Prior to the course, registered delegates are provided with an internet url, user name and password. This enables them to access an online e-learning material from EduMine consisting of a set of two introductory courses titled "Practical Geostatistics 2000". Review of this material prior to the course, including completion of the interactive reviews, enables delegates to derive maximum benefit from the live sessions.

UBC Certificate in Mining Studies

This course qualifies for the UBC Certificate in Mining Studies, a continuing education initiative by the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining at the University of British Columbia. Delegates who (1) register for the Certificate in Mining Studies, (2) complete online certification in the required EduMine e-learning modules, (3) attend this course, and (4) complete a take-away project will receive credit towards a Mining Certificate from UBC Continuing Studies. more details »

Who Should Attend?

The course is aimed at geologists, mining engineers, surveyors, biologists, agriculturalists, statisticians, environmentalists and any other professionals dealing with the estimation from or interpolation between samples collected on a spatial basis.