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CIM Distinguished Lecturers
2020Robert Elver Mineral Economics Award
Since obtaining a Masters Degree in mineral exploration from McGill University in 1986, Reno Pressacco has gained experience in mineral exploration, mine development, mine production, and providing consulting services to the mineral industry.
He has enjoyed a productive career as a geologist in the Canadian mining industry, working on a wide variety of commodities and deposit types in many locations across the world. A notable achievement during his career was to play a key role in identifying the economic potential of the Matachewan (Young-Davidson) gold deposit (Ontario) at the exploration stage. He was also involved in the early stages of the Cerro Negro mine (Argentina) where he participated in the discovery phase and prepared some of the initial Mineral Resource estimates for the Eureka Vein.
More recently he has participated in the crafting of the CIM Mineral Exploration Best Practices Guidelines (2018), the CIM Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Best Practices Guidelines (2019) and the CIM Industrial Minerals Leading Practices Guidelines (2023). He received the CIM Robert Elver award in 2020. He is a member of the CIM Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Committee and the United Nations Minerals Working Group. In 2023 Reno established the Pressacco scholarship which will be administered by the CIM Foundation.
Distinguished Lecturer 2024-25
Lecture Abstracts
“Reasonable Prospects” for Mineral Resource Estimation: What are they?
The use of computers and software packages has blossomed over the past 30 years to where practically all mineral resource estimates (MREs) are now computer-based.
After illustrating the performance advantages of cells in series to form banks, part two proposes and examines theories of bank optimization.
Although many of the fundamental, time-tested, and proven principles relating to the estimation of mineral resources remain little changed from the pre-digital age, the evolution of computer technology has resulted in practitioners being required to develop new workflows that adapt these principles in the digital age. The current regulations require that mineral resource estimates must meet the “reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction” (RPEEE) requirement. In practice, the RPEEE requirement is met with consideration of the technical and economic aspects relating to the mineral resource estimate.
The presentation will examine how practitioners can apply RPEEE considerations when preparing mineral resource estimates. The presentation will be of interest to all practitioners involved in the preparation or review of MREs, and any other of our industry colleagues who may rely upon the results of a MRE for decision making.
Some Common Flaws Encountered in Mineral Resource Estimation and How to Avoid Them
Preparation of a mineral resource estimate (MRE) is an essential component in the mining cycle, as errors that occur in an MRE will affect all following steps that rely upon its accuracy. Over the course of more than 40 years of preparing and reviewing MREs, SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. and predecessor Roscoe Postle Associates have observed many common errors. From our experience with over 1,000 projects, the most common errors are:
- Insufficient planning and resource and time allocation for the MRE preparation and peer review;
- Little to no consideration of reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction;
- Poor mineralization wireframe interpretations;
- Lack of sufficient drill hole information (drill spacing too wide); and
- Insufficient sample coverage.
The presentation will present some views and opinions of how practitioners can avoid some of the more common flaws encountered when preparing Mineral Resource estimates. The presentation will be of interest to all practitioners involved in the preparation or review of MREs, and any other of our industry colleagues who may rely upon the results of a MRE for decision making.
