By Kathryn Gall
Resource estimation is a multi-million-dollar process that underpins the success of mining projects.
It’s ultimate output, the block model, is the primary vehicle for translating geoscience knowledge into decisions that span from early phase project evaluation to daily mine operations. Its value lies in distilling complex geology into a format that can guide critical, high-value choices, but achieving this is far from simple. Challenges in our ability to truly understand the subsurface, coupled with mounting pressures on the mining industry, make resource estimation a challenging and high-stakes endeavor.
With mining costs at an all-time high, resource estimates must not only be reliable and defensible but block models must also be version-controlled, easily accessible and auditable, and most importantly seamlessly integrated into downstream mine planning.
Heat map from BlockSync highlighting per block differences from a newly added drillhole
Evolving block model management
Geological block models are essential for mineral resource estimation and guide critical decisions at every stage of the mining process, from classification and evaluation to mine planning and production.
Despite their importance, block models are often stored in disparate and proprietary formats creating silos that hinder collaboration, slow down workflows, and have a lack of clear derivative lineage. Resource estimation teams often rely on manual processes to locate, access, and transfer block models between different software programs. This fragmented approach carries risks and can lead to geologists spending significant time finding and managing files rather than focusing on analysis. This can result in misinformed decisions and duplication of work.
The Leapfrog release 2025.1 addresses these challenges by integrating directly with BlockSync, a Seequent Evo application designed for collaborative, secure, and efficient block model management. BlockSync centralises block models in the cloud within a shared and controlled environment allowing for more efficient workflows when accessing and working with block models. BlockSync also allows for improved data integrity and version control to help teams work faster and smarter throughout the entire resource estimation lifecycle.
Seequent’s approach: collaborative and intuitive
Seequent transforms how geologists understand the underground through Evo, an open ecosystem with a secure data-driven approach to geological modeling and resource estimation.
With BlockSync, a cloud-native application of Evo, all stakeholders —from geologists to VPs —can collaborate seamlessly and rapidly update, display, and share block models as new drilling data becomes available; thus ensuring everyone is working from the most current and accurate information. The centralised platform eliminates the risk of version confusion and breaks down data silos by providing a single source of truth accessible to all stakeholders.
- Leapfrog Geo redefines how geologists model the subsurface with its intuitive, dynamic approach to geological modelling. As new data becomes available, models are iteratively updated in real time.
- Leapfrog Edge dynamically links evolving geological models with the resource estimations, resulting in defensible industry-standard block models.
- And now, with BlockSync (a Seequent Evo application), teams can effectively manage and collaborate on their block model data in a centralised, secure, and auditable cloud-based system.
For a deeper dive into features and capabilities – click here
Auditability that drives value
BlockSync securely tracks all changes in the data within a fully auditable system of record, allowing stakeholders to track a decision-making process. This provides transparency and accountability throughout the resource estimation process. While drilling data management has been a focus in mining for decades, block model management is becoming equally critical. While the drilling data represents raw inputs, the block model represents the decisions made by experienced geologists that guide downstream processes. BlockSync ensures this critical information is version-controlled, easily accessible, and auditable. This holistic approach not only streamlines operational and strategic decision-making but builds confidence in resource estimates by ensuring data integrity through strict governance at every step.
The road ahead: a new standard for resource estimation
As the mining industry continues to evolve, there is a growing need for traditional resource estimation practices to advance as well, with block model management becoming increasingly central to this progress.
Seequent is proud to be leading this transformation, providing an integrated, future-proof approach to geological modelling and mineral resource estimation. By enabling teams to better manage their block models, mining professionals can unlock deeper insights from clean and reliable data, make more informed decisions, reduce operational risk, and plan with greater confidence.
The future of subsurface intelligence is here