TopCutting Roscoe TGDG Feb 2012

Cutting or Capping of High Assay
Values
William E. Roscoe, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.
Presentation to TGDG Seminar

February 7, 2012
Toronto Denver London

Vancouver Quebec City
experienced | collaborative | knowledgeable | responsive www.rpacan.com

Overview
• Why cut or cap high assay values?

• Emphasis on gold
• Cutting curve for producing mines
• Methods for non-producing projects
• What not to do
• Conclusions
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| collaborative | responsive
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Grade Cutting
Why cut or cap high assay values?

• Assay grade distributions tend to be strongly skewed
• Dominated by low values with lesser high values
• Range can be several orders of magnitude
• For gold, distribution can have an erratic tail
• For coarse gold, erratic high values can be caused by
presence of a gold particle
• High assay values can have a disproportionately large
influence on the average grade
• High values must be treated to reduce their influence
• Most common treatment is cutting or capping
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting
Producing Mines
• Cutting curve – a graphical approach
• Plot average cut grade vs cutting level
• Use samples that represent material mined and
processed from a specific volume or volumes
• Use calculated head grade for the same volume or
volumes of material mined and processed
• Determine cutting level from head grade plotted on
cutting curve
• Use a minimum of 500 or 1,000 samples
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting – Cutting Curve
12
Uncut
10
Average Cut Grade g/t Au
8
Head Grade
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Cutting Level g/t Au
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Grade Cutting
Non-Producing Projects
• Zoom in to high end of simple histogram to identify erratic
tail
• Cumulative probability plot to identify erratic tail
• Decile plot to assess effect of capping on highest
percentile of data set
• Cutting curve to assess effect of capping on average
grade
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Grade Cutting
Univariate Statistics of Gold Assay Data Set

• All sample lengths 1 m
• N = 404
• Mean 1.57 g/t
• Median 0.30 g/t
• Maximum 99 g/t
• Variance 44.74
• Standard Deviation 6.69
• Coefficient of Variation 4.26
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Grade Cutting
Gold Assay Data Set – Highest 15 Values in g/t

99.00
65.29
40.73
26.92
23.10
19.34
15.50
12.90
12.00
10.30
9.79
9.79
9.13
8.13
7.80
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Grade Cutting
Au Histogram
450
400
350
300
Frequency
250
200
150
100
50
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
Upper Limit of Bin in g/t Au
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Grade Cutting
Au Log Histogram
140
120
100
Frequency
80
60
40
20
0
0.01 0.03 0.1 0.3 1 3 10 30 100
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting – Zoom on Histogram Tail
Au Histogram
30
25
20
Frequency
15
10
Cut?
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting – Log Probability Plot
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Grade Cutting – Decile Analysis
Au Percentile Analysis
45%
Cut to 10
Cut to 20
40%
Cut to 30
Cut to 40
35% Cut to 50
Uncut
30%
Percent of Metal Contained
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2.42 2.82 3.22 3.79 4.48 5.29 6.68 9.04 11.90 22.99
Top 10 Percentile Au (g/t))
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Grade Cutting
Total Contained Metal Removed at Various Cutting Levels

36%
34%
32%
30%
28%
26%
24%
22%
20%
Gold Metal Removed
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Cut to 10 Cut to 20 Cut to 30 Cut to 40 Cut to 50 Uncut
Cutting Level
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting – Cutting Curve
1.80
Au Mean Cut Grade at Various Cutting Levels
1.60
1.40
1.20 Mean Cut

Grade (g/t)
Mean Cut Grade (g/t)
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
Cut to 10 Cut to 20 Cut to 30 Cut to 40 Cut to 50 Uncut
Cutting Level
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting
• Histogram suggests 25 g/t cutting level

• Log probability plot suggests 10 g/t Au cutting level
• Decile analysis suggests 15 g/t cutting level
• Recommend 20 g/t cutting level
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting
DO NOT:
• Use a certain percentile of the data set such as 95%
• Use the log histogram – no detail on erratic tail
• Use too many bins in the histogram – too much detail
• Cut or cap composites instead of assays
• High assay values can get smeared out in the composites
www.scottwilson.com
Grade Cutting
Conclusions
• Choose a cutting or capping level with care
• Use more than one method if possible
• For producing mines, make sure the sample data
represent the mined volume
• Review the effect of cutting on the average grade and
contained metal
• Consider alternate methods of reducing the influence of
erratic high assays on the mean resource grade
• Be aware that these may not have the same effect as capping
www.scottwilson.com
Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.
William E. Roscoe, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Tel: (416) 947-0907
Email: william.roscoe@rpacan.com
Toronto Denver London

Vancouver Quebec City
www.scottwilson.com

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Cutting or Capping of High Assay

Presentation to TGDG Seminar

Toronto Denver London

experienced | collaborative | knowledgeable | responsive www.rpacan.com

• Why cut or cap high assay values?

Why cut or cap high assay values?

Univariate Statistics of Gold Assay Data Set

Gold Assay Data Set – Highest 15 Values in g/t

Top 10 Percentile Au (g/t))

Total Contained Metal Removed at Various Cutting Levels

1.20 Mean Cut

• Histogram suggests 25 g/t cutting level

William E. Roscoe, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Toronto Denver London

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