Near real-time classification of iron ore lithology by applying fuzzy inference systems to petrophysical downhole data
Access Status
Authors
Date
2018Type
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Source Title
ISSN
School
Collection
Abstract
Fluctuating commodity prices have repeatedly put the mining industry under pressure to increase productiveness and efficiency of their operations. Current procedures often rely heavily on manual analysis and interpretation although new technologies and analytical procedures are available to automate workflows. Grade control is one such issue where the laboratory assay turn-around times cannot beat the shovel. We propose that for iron ore deposits in the Pilbara geophysical downhole logging may provide the necessary and sufficient information about rock formation properties, circumventing any need for real-time elemental analysis entirely. This study provides an example where petrophysical downhole data is automatically classified using a neuro-adaptive learning algorithm to differentiate between different rock types of iron ore deposits and for grade estimation. We exploit a rarely used ability in a spectral gamma-gamma density tool to gather both density and iron content with a single geophysical measurement. This inaccurate data is then put into a neural fuzzy inference system to classify the rock into different grades and waste lithologies, with success rates nearly equal to those from laboratory geochemistry. The steps outlined in this study may be used to produce a workflow for current logging tools and future logging-while-drilling technologies for real-time iron ore grade estimation and lithological classification.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Rasmussen, B.; Zi, J.; Sheppard, S.; Krapež, B.; Muhling, Janet (2016)© 2016 Geological Society of America.High-grade hematite ore (so-called "hard ore") was first mined in the Lake Superior region of North America in A.D. 1848. The development of ore deposit models from the region has ...
-
Muller, S.; Krapez, Bryan; Barley, M.; Fletcher, Ian (2005)Banded iron formations of the ca. 2770-2405 Ma Hamersley province of Western Australia were locally upgraded to high-grade hematite ores during the Early Paleoproterozoic by a combination of hypogene and supergene processes ...
-
Nelson, D.; Bhattacharya, H.; Thern, Eric; Altermann, W. (2014)Geochemical and SHRIMP U–Pb zircon analyses were obtained for nine samples of the Singhbhum Cratonto investigate major regional granite intrusion, volcanism, sedimentary deposition, metamorphism and deformation episodes. ...