A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University, of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Johannesburg, 1991 / As mining proceeds deeper on Elandsrand Gold Mine scattered mining will no longer be viable due to the excessive stress levels which would occur during mining of the final remnants between raises. Longwall mining with strike stabilizing pillars would eliminate this need for remnant mining. However, since the Ventersdorp contact Reef on Elandsrand has a relatively large number of faults and dykes and highly variable grade, longwall mining would result in a excessive amount of off-reef mining and mining of unpayable reef. / GR 2017

The thesis takes the form of a collection of publications and patents concerning gold extraction which were presented over a period of 18 years while employed at the Anglo American Research Laboratories.

This thesis proposes some new valuation models and procedures for global and local ore reserve estimation. To obtain efficient grade and tonnage estimates for global borehole valuations of new gold mining properties, the appropriate spatial and distributional models for the mineralisation are absolutely essential. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / GR 2016