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Grade Control
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In some mining operations, one of the most
important roles played by the geologist is the
supervision of grade control. In an open-pit oper-
ation, this involves the sampling of blast-hole
cuttings produced by down-the-hole hammer
drills and the classification of bench reserves into
ore, low grade or waste material, or into various
metallurgical types. In some cases, grade control
may also involve the sampling of truck or shovel
loads to ensure that rock is assigned to the correct
stockpile or waste dump. In underground oper-
ations, grade control may involve the mapping
and sampling of stope faces, sampling of tram car
loads or draw-point muck piles, broken rock at a
recently blasted face, jackhammer cuttings or
diamond drill cores. It is the geologist's job to
ensure that mining is closely following the min-
eralized zone and that overbreak during stoping is
kept to a minimum. The main purpose of grade
control is thus to ensure that material being fed to
the mill is of economic grade and that large
fluctuations in grade are minimized by blending
ores from different benches, or parts thereof, or
from different stopes. It is essential that mill feed
be kept as close as possible to that called for in the
A. E. Annels, Mineral Deposit Evaluation
© A. E. Annels 1991
original design specification of the mill and con-
centrator. Regular reconciliations will be required
between the estimated stope grades, the grades
indicated from stope/truck sampling and those
reported by the mill. It is essential that this is
undertaken so that modifications can be made to
sampling practice or to the methods or parameters
used to calculate grade, tonnage or contained
metal.
The following discussion of grade control tech-
niques will be subdivided on the basis of open-pit
and underground operations and will be largely
undertaken via a series of case histories.
7.2 OPEN-PIT OPERATIONS
7.2.1 Sampling of blast-hole cuttings
Open-pit benches are usually in the range 6-15 m
thick and are usually drilled by blast-hole rigs
along lines parallel to the free face and at spacings
of between 3 m and 10 m, depending on the
degree of weathering and rock type (Figures 7.1,
7.2). Square, rectangular or offset (parallelogram)
grids of holes thus result. Holes are usually 17 cm
(6.75 in) to 31 cm (12.25 in) in diameter and are
drilled through the bench for a short distance into
 (a)

(b)

Fig. 7.1 (a) Blast-hole rig at RTM's Cerro Colarado Cu-Au Pit in Spain. (b) Blast-hole drilling in a bench at the
Ingerbelle Pit, British Columbia.