Europe: Norilsk

Norilsk’s Oktyabrskoe and Talnakh deposits are the largest Ni-Cu-PGE deposits in the world. The deposits have been operated by five underground mines for more than 30 years. In that time, a large volume of resource and grade-control data for multiple elements was collected. SRK prepared geological models for all five mines within seven months using Leapfrog software. The task involved creating litho-structural models, reviewing the approach for delineating the higher-grade and lower-grade ores and reassessing the correlation of the principal minerals. The result was a detailed model which can be used for mine planning.