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A Comparison of Statistical Techniques for Detecting Analytical Bias in Geoanalysis
Author(s) -
Castilho Márcio Veloso
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geostandards and geoanalytical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.037
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1751-908X
pISSN - 1639-4488
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-908x.2004.tb00743.x
Subject(s) - computer science , monte carlo method , resource (disambiguation) , data mining , industrial engineering , statistics , mathematics , engineering , computer network
Detecting analytical bias is a valuable step during method validation and, in the case of the mining industry, fundamental when one validates the geological databases used for resource estimation. This will generally affect the costs of future investments in new or expanding projects. This paper details frequently used techniques for doing this, with their theoretical background, advantages and shortcomings, providing a deeper insight in how to choose a method for special applications. This is done by means of a review of the specialised literature, and by showing practical applications. The latter is done by choosing some of the most commonly used methods, comparing them using Monte Carlo simulations and testing in some real applications (analytical methods used in Brazilian prospects for copper, gold and iron). Consequently, laboratory specialists will have a better understanding of statistical tools for this purpose, being able to provide their customers with a very consistent assurance of chemical analytical results. It is shown that some commonly used statistical methods for this type of comparison are not applicable, and in some cases, one must resort to more complicated models. These are, however, easily implemented computationally, and the mathematical details are shown.