geoscience innovation

Geologists break the model mould and ask what if we started resource estimation from scratch

What if resource estimation wasn’t just updated, but completely reimagined? At the AusIMM 2025 Mineral Resource Estimation Conference in Perth, two respected voices in the field—Jacqui Coombes and Paul Hodkiewicz—stepped away from PowerPoint slides and into a candid, thought-provoking dialogue that challenged the mining industry to rethink its most foundational assumptions.

Kriging is cheating, the best estimate is a myth, and it's time resource modellers embraced uncertainty to do it right—and ethically

In a rousing keynote at AusIMM’s 2025 Mineral Resource Estimation Conference, Dr Clayton Deutsch—director and professor at the School of Mining Engineering, University of Alberta—challenged the audience to confront a fundamental flaw in how mineral resource estimators approach their craft.