TA5212 Applied Geostatistics

Material 1:
Introduction and Univariate
Description

TA5212 Applied Geostatistics
(2 credits)
Short Syllabus:
Introduction and application of linear
geostatistical method for estimating
of mineral and coal resources.
Complete Syllabus:
Application of linear geostatistical
method to model the spatial
distribution of 2D and 3D data by
variogram analysis and to estimate
the mineral and coal resources
using Ordinary Kriging method.
Some case studies related to the
application of geostatistical method
in mining is discussed.
Topics of Discussion:
1. Introduction and Univariate Description
2. Bivariate Description and Spatial
Description
3. Concept on Regionalized Variable
4. Construction on Experimental Variogram
5. Spatial Structure of Variogram
6. Fitting Model of Variogram
7. Support of Sampling and Variance of
Dispersion
8. Mid Test (Close Book)
9. Concept on Variance of Estimation
10. Global Estimation Variance
11. Theory of Ordinary Kriging Method
12. Estimation Parameters
13. Principle of Resources Estimation
14. Case Study I (Coal)
15. Case Study II (Mineral)
16. Final Test (Close Book)
Course Outcome
Ability to understand and apply the
linear geostatistical method for
modeling and estimating mineral and
coal resources in 2D and 3D cases

Evaluation
➢ Mid Test = 30%
➢ Final Test = 40%
➢ Presentation = 10%
➢ Homework = 5%
➢ Practical Test = 15%
References:
1. Armstrong, M., Basic Linear
Geostatistics, 1st edition, Springer-
Verlag, Berlin, 1998 (Main Reference).
2. Isaaks, E.H., An Introduction to Applied
Geostatistics, 1st edition, Oxford
University Press, 1989 (Main
Reference).
3. Journel, A.G., C. Huijbregts, Mining
Geostatistics, 7th edition, Academic
Press, 1997 (Main Reference).
4. David, M., Geostatistical Ore Reserve
Estimation: Developments in
Geomathematics 2, 4th edition, Elsevier
Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam,
Oxford-New York, 1982 (Support
Reference).
5. Remy, N., Boucher, A., Wu, J., Applied
Geostatistics with SGeMS: A User’s
Guide, 1st edition, Cambridge University
Press, 2009 (Support Reference).
1. Introduction

❑ Many statistical tools are useful in developing

qualitative insights into a wide variety of natural
phenomena; many others can be used to develop
quantitative answers to specific questions.
❑ Unfortunately, most classical statistical methods
make no use of the spatial information in earth
science data sets.
❑ Geostatistics offers a way of describing the spatial
continuity that is an essential feature of many
natural phenomena and provides adaptations of
classical regression techniques to take advantage
of this continuity.
 ▪ The Walker Lake data set
consists of V , U and T
measurements at each of
78,000 points on a 1 x 1
m2 grid.
▪ From this extremely dense
data set a subset of 470
sample points has been
chosen to represent a
typical sample data set.
▪ To distinguish between
these two data sets, the
complete set of all
information for the 78,000
points is called the
exhaustive data set, while
A location map of the Walker Lake area in
Nevada (blue dotted rectangle). The small
the smaller subset of 470
rectangle on the outline of Nevada shows points is called the sample
the relative location of the area within the data set.
state. The larger rectangle shows the major
topographic features within the area.
Using the 470 samples in the sample data set, we will address
the following problems:
1. The description of the important features of the data.
2. The estimation of an average value over a large area.
3. The estimation of an unknown value at a particular location.
4. The estimation of an average value over small areas.
5. The use of the available sampling to check the performance
of an estimation methodology.
6. The estimation of a distribution of values over a large area.
7. The estimation of a distribution of values over small areas.
8. The estimation of a distribution of block averages.
9. The assessment of the uncertainty of our various estimates.
 Fontainebleau Centre de Geostatistique, Ecole
des Mines de Paris, Fontainebleau

Château de Fontainebleau

(George Matheron 1930 – 2000)

Prof. Matheron (1960): CFSG 2002-2003

Geostatistics has been defined as What is

"the application of probabilistic Geostatistics?
methods to regionalized
variables", which designate any
function displayed in a real space. 8
Fundamentals of Geostatistics
【Random Data The Same Average 【Anisotropic Distribution】
Distribution】
● ● ● ● and Variance ● ● ●
●
BUT!
● ● ● ● The same histogram ● ● ●
●

● ● ● ● ● ● ●
●

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

【Biased Distribution】 【Distribution with Trend】

● ● ●
● ●
● ● Orange
Red
●
Blue
Green

● ●
●
● ●
● ● ●
● ●
● ● ●
● Largely Different
● ● ●
● ● ● ●
Spatial
● ● ●
Distribution
Importance of considering data location 18
2. Univariate Description

Histogram of the 100 selected

V data

Relative location map of 100 selected V data

Frequency table of the 100 selected V Cumulative frequency table of the 100
values with a class width of 10 ppm selected V values using a class width
of 10 ppm
The patterns in a
histogram
 Cumulative
histogram of the
100 selected V
data

A lognormal probability plot of the 100 selected

A normal probability plot of the 100 selected V V data. The y-axis is scaled so that the
data. The y-axis has been scaled in such a way cumulative frequencies will plot as a straight
that the cumulative frequencies will plot as a line if the distribution of the logarithm of V is
straight line if the distribution of V is Gaussian Gaussian
 Reading the
median from a
probability plot
Mean
Median
Mode → The mode is the value that occurs
most frequently. The class with the tallest bar
on the histogram gives a quick idea where the
mode is. Within 110-120 ppm class has the
value 111 ppm occurs more times than any
other.
Measures of
Location
Important notes:
▪ Both the mean and median are
measures of the location of the
center of the distribution.
▪ The mean is quite sensitive to
erratic high. The mean of 100 V
values is 97.55 ppm. If the 145
ppm value had been 1450 ppm,
the mean would change to
110.60 ppm.
▪ The median would be
unaffected by this change
because it depends only on how
many values are above or
below it; how much above or
below is not considered. For the
100 V values, the median is
100.50 ppm.
 The quartiles
of a normal
probability plot

Lower and Upper Quartile

• In the same way that the median splits the data into halves, the quartiles split
the data into quarters.
• If the data values are arranged in increasing order, then a quarter of the data
falls below the lower or first quartile, Q1, and a quarter of the data falls above
the upper or third quartile, Q3.
• As with the median, quartiles can easily be read from a probability plot. The
value on the x-axis, which corresponds to 25% on the y axis is the lower
quartile and the value that corresponds to 75% is the upper quartile.
• The lower quartile of our 100 V values is 81.25 ppm and the upper quartile is
116.25 ppm.
 Distribution of metal grades in each rock type for Cu-Au porphyritic deposit
6 5000 35
Acidic-Andesitic Volcanics Acidic-Andesitic Volcanics Acidic-Andesitic Volcanics
Breccia Breccia Breccia
5 Porphyritic Diorite Porphyritic Diorite 30
4000 Porphyritic Diorite
Tuff Tuff Tuff
25
4
3000
Au (ppm)

Cu (ppm)
20

Ag (ppm)
3

15
2000
2
10

1000
1
5

0 0 0
.01 .1 1 5 10 20 30 50 70 80 90 95 99 99.9 99.99 .01 .1 1 5 10 20 30 50 70 80 90 95 99 99.9 99.99 .01 .1 1 5 10 20 30 50 70 80 90 95 99 99.9 99.99
Percent Percent Percent

3500 1400
Acidic-Andesitic Volcanics
8000 Acidic-Andesitic Volcanics Acidic-Andesitic Volcanics
Breccia
3000 Breccia 1200 Breccia
Porphyritic Diorite
Porphyritic Diorite Porphyritic Diorite
Tuff
Tuff Tuff
2500 1000
6000
Pb (ppm)

2000 800

Mo (ppm)
Zn (ppm)

4000
1500 600

1000 400
2000

500 200

0 0 0
.01 .1 1 5 10 20 30 50 70 80 90 95 99 99.9 99.99 .01 .1 1 5 10 20 30 50 70 80 90 95 99 99.9 99.99 .01 .1 1 5 10 20 30 50 70 80 90 95 99 99.9 99.99
Percent
Percent Percent 18
Deciles, Percentiles, and Quantiles
• The idea of splitting the data into halves with the median
or into quarters with the quartiles can be extended to any
other fraction.
• Deciles split the data into tenths. One tenth of the data fall
below the first or lowest decile; two tenths fall below the
second decile. The fifth decile corresponds to the median.
• In a similar way, percentiles split the data into hundredths.
The twenty fifth percentile is the same as the first quartile,
the fiftieth percentile is the same as the median and the
seventy-fifth percentile is the same as the third quartile.
• Quantiles are a generalization of this idea to any fraction.
For example q0.25 is the lower quartile, q0.50 is the median,
and q0.75 is the upper quartile.
Measures of Spread

Variance

It is the average squared difference of the observed values from their

mean. Since it involves squared differences, the variance is sensitive
to erratic high values. The variance of the 100 V values is 688 ppm2.

Standard Deviation
The standard deviation, , is simply the square root of the variance. It
is often used instead of the variance since its units are the same as
the units of the variable being described. For the 100 V values the
standard deviation is + 26.23 ppm.

Interquartile
Range
Another useful measure of the spread of the observed values is the
interquartile range. The interquartile range or IQR, is the difference
between the upper and lower quartiles.
Measures of Shape

Coefficient of Skewness
One feature of the histogram that the previous statistics do not capture
is its symmetry. The most commonly used statistic for summarizing the
symmetry is a quantity called the coefficient of skewness:

Coefficient of Variation
The coefficient of variation, CV, is a statistic that is often used as an
alternative to skewness to describe the shape of the distribution. It is
used primarily for distributions whose values are all positive and whose
skewness is also positive; though it can be calculated for other types of
distributions. It is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the
mean:
Coefficient of variation of some grade values of mineral deposit in the
world

Type of mineral deposits CV

Gold: California, USA; placer Tertiary 5.10
Tin: Pemali, Bangka, Indonesia; Primary 2.89
Gold: Loraine, South Africa; Black Bar 2.81
Gold: Norseman, Australia; Princess Royal Reef 2.22
Gold: Grasberg, Papua, Indonesia 2.01
Lead: Grasberg, Papua, Indonesia 1.57
Tungsten: Alaska 1.56
Gold: Shamva, Rhodesia 1.55
Uranium: Yeelirrie, Australia 1.19
Gold: Vaal Reefs, South Africa 1.02
Zinc: Grasberg, Papua, Indonesia 0.87
Zinc: Frisco, Mexico 0.80
Nickel: Kambalda Australia 0.70
Manganese 0.58
Lead: Frisko, Mexico 0.57
Sulphur in Coal: Lati Mine, Berau, Indonesia 0.48
Lateritic Nickel: Gee Island, East Halmahera, Indonesia 0.44
Iron ore 0.27
Bauxite 0.22
22
(Source: Wellmer, 1998)
Relationship between the arithmetic mean x and the coefficient
of variation C (Wellmer, 1998)