Grade modeling - dsel et al.I believe that DeBeers, with their data bank, has reasonable ability to extrapolate grade for an orebody from a small sample (ie, microdiamond analysis). What kind of reporting (if any) has come out of the JV in past years regarding the grade they obtained from drill holes vs. the grade they anticipate getting should the deposit be mined? Are there any hard numbers for this?
I remember reading on the BB how, with diamond mining, actual grades are usually higher than drill-hole grades. If this is true, then wouldn't all these grades from the NR's be 2, maybe 3 times higher for actual mining grades? Isn't the shaft just a "large drill hole" with respect to the entire ore body? It is a pinprick, in essence, so wouldn't the grades obtained even in this shaft program be treated like drill-hole data, meaning, extrapolation of actual mining grade would be higher than the grades obtained in the shaft?