Sorry i have not done any research in that area of study in recent times

Hi Lukman, the characerization of a mine depends mostrly on its mineralization style.  You have to know if the mineralization is disseminated, developed only on structures (veins), deposited in strata, etc, once you know the style (characterization) you have to define the evaluation method.  Certanly you have to drill it to obtain direct subsurface info including lithology, mineralization, rock alteration and structural data (faults, fractures, deformation, etc.).

The mineralization domain is an important issue too since the recovery of the objective metal is different when the mineralization is hosted in an oxidation zone or when is hosted ina sulphide domain.

At the end, the economic evaluation requires the spatial modelling to know the distribution of the mineralization so you are able to define if it is economic or not.

I hope this generalized description helps you in your research, if you want to conduct a more precise research on it I can reccomend you two or three ecellent colleagues specialized in mineral deposits.

Best regards,

Lukman. I'm not sure if you're looking to characterise just 'ore deposits' or the whole concept of a 'mine'. If the latter, the most common industry codes for evaluating a mine are the CRIRSCO, JORC and NI 43-101 codes, which require the consideration of not just the geological characteristics, but also the 'modifying factors' such as mining, processing, metallurgy, infrastructure, economic, marketing, legal, environment, social and government factors. This is a link to the JORC code: http://www.jorc.org/docs/JORC_code_2012.pdf

Hi again Lukman, if you are using geophysics to interpret underground data you have to try Geosoft software, they have software and extensions for geophysics and they have academic licenses (Like the Advanced Research suite), reach them at www.geosoft.com.