The Mines and Geosciences Bureau – Central Office (MGB-CO), thru the Economic Geology Section of the Lands Geological Survey Division (EGS-LGSD), organized the “Training on Mineral Resource Estimation using GEOVIA Surpac.” The event took place at Cocoon Boutique Hotel, Timog Avenue, Quezon City from May 27 to June 7, 2019, and was attended by technical representatives from relevant divisions of the Central Office and Regional Offices (ROs).
Paramina Earth Technologies, Inc. (Paramina), a Value Solutions Partner of Dassault Systemes for the Natural Resources Industry in the Philippines and a service contractor for MGB-CO, facilitated the basic and advanced courses of the GEOVIA Surpac software. The training is part of the acquisition of GEOVIA Surpac software and licenses in the previous year under the LGSD’s Information and Communications Technology budget. This training aims to upgrade the knowledge and capability of some MGB technical staff on the operation and application of said software for geostatistical resource estimation and eventual mineral resource/reserve validation work.
The participants were initially oriented on MGB’s role in the resource/reserve validation process of private mining projects and their corresponding compliance of exploration and resource declaration in accordance with the Philippine Mineral Reporting Code (PMRC).
Mr. Marcius G. Isip, a Senior Geologist of EGS-LGSD, gave a discussion on the standard workflow during mineral resource validation, which is a pre-requisite to Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility approval. Resource validation is also applicable to mining companies updating their mineral resource declarations to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The whole duration of the training was tailored to be in parallel sessions between the basic and advanced courses. The basic course commenced with the foundation of the software, covering concepts and procedures that will allow the user to perform fundamental functions of the software. After which, introductory software skills necessary for basic resource estimation went through. Correspondingly, the advanced course focused more on the advanced geological analysis and geostatistics as conducted via Surpac.
A synthesis of the two-week long training sessions was presented on the last day by Ms. Babylin Ranario, Geologist of EGS-LGSD. Certificates were given to the participants by Ms. Grace Y. Tanchee, Paramina Business Development Manager, and Mr. Ray I. Villones, Jr., Chief of EGS-LGSD.
EGS-LGSD is planning to organize another training program to encompass detailed techniques on mineral reserve/resource estimation still using GEOVIA Surpac software.
Participating technical personnel from the MGB-CO and ROs together with the training facilitators of Paramina Earth Technologies, Inc. during the GEOVIA Surpac Training held on May 27 – June 7, 2019 at Cocoon Boutique Hotel, Timog Avenue, Quezon City.
By: Lands Geological Survey Division