ESTIMATE OF INDUSTRIAL MINERAL GRADE BY IMAGE-ANALYSIS AND GEOSTATISTICS - APPLICATION TO GLOMEL ANDALUSITE DEPOSIT (FRANCE)

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new estimate method of miner al contents which associates two techniques: image analysis and geosta tistics. Applied to the andalusite deposit of Glomel (France), this me thod is inclusive of two essential stages. First, an improvement of th e measure and sampling mode allows an estimation of the surface area o f andalusite on an image from a working face, with a small error. Then , geostatistical techniques allow an estimate on a blasted volume from the measurement of the surface area. Error of estimate is calculated.