Prestologic - Your "one-stop-shop" for Leapfrog software

Jun CowanDr Jun Cowan, the owner of Prestologic, was the conceptual founder of Leapfrog 3D geological modelling software (developed by Zaparo Ltd). As such Jun is THE world expert in Leapfrog – he sells the software and runs courses and workshops for Leapfrog users throughout the world. He also uses Leapfrog daily in the geological consulting arm of his business – Jun has examined more than 400 deposits of all types of commodities using Leapfrog, and has more than 12,000 hours of experience using the software.

 

Prestologic offers the following services to its clients in the mining and exploration industries:

  • Free Leapfrog demonstrations with your data. We can tell you quickly if Leapfrog is suitable for your needs and can organise a trial of Leapfrog software.
  • Leapfrog software sales within the Australasia region and elsewhere.
  • Provide after-sales service and support to Prestologic's Leapfrog customers.
  • Prestologic is an officially certified Leapfrog trainer. We teach you how to use Leapfrog software to quickly reach your exploration and mining objectives.
  • Provide Leapfrog software training (basic to advanced) on-site anywhere in the world.
  • Produce online Leapfrog training videos for Prestologic clients.
  • Geological consulting that specialises in Leapfrog 3D modelling and integrated geological and structural interpretation. Data can range from very sparse drillhole data to advanced mining datasets. We can interpret and model the data in DAYS, not months. 

If your company requires any help with Leapfrog, Prestologic can assist you, so please do not hesitate to get in touch.

 

 

Leapfrog Software background

Leapfrog software was conceived by Dr Jun Cowan during his employment as a Structural Consultant with SRK Consulting Australia (1999-2003). His vision was to develop software that can easily be used by geologists, just like him, who have no experience with the generalised mining packages (GMPs) that are used in the mining industry. The main modelling functionalities of GMPs are ported from the computer-aided design (CAD) industry, and sectional hand digitisation is the main method of modelling drillhole data. This modelling method is not only time-consuming, but can result in step-like discontinuities between sections and therefore does not generate models that are geologically realistic and that may be not entirely be appropriate for resource estimation applications.

Predictive qualities of the GMP modelling method as an exploration tool is also questionable as the geological interpretation is physically written into the models as sectional polylines – interpretations cannot be separated from the model to yield contrasting geological models. This makes the process of geological modelling impractical for exploration purposes as the cycle for modelling is too time-consuming and expensive.

The limitation in technology, therefore, was actually hampering business progress of exploration and mining companies. Clearly there needed to be a dramatic change in modelling approach if companies were going to rapidly visualise and use their drillhole data effectively in their daily business.

The solution to many of the modelling issues faced by the resource industry was simply to interpolate drillhole data in 3D. A search resulted in finding a research group ARANZ in Christchurch who owned a technology that could address this need and a joint venture between SRK and ARANZ followed to form Zaparo Ltd to develop Leapfrog software. Jun served as a General Manager of Zaparo Ltd from 2003 to 2007 and guided Leapfrog's development in collaboration with developers of ARANZ.

Leapfrog was built by Zaparo from the ground up to address the time-consuming modelling issues faced by GMP users. Nearly a decade of development by Zaparo has seen Leapfrog evolve into software that can be used to model geology and grade data directly from the drillhole data without the need for extensive digitisation. The reason why Leapfrog can do this is because the software's unique 3D interpolation engine developed by ARANZ is unavailable in other GMPs (for details, please see published papers). Leapfrog software is like no other in the mining industry as it can model deposits from drillhole data in hours compared to many days with GMPs.

 

Prestologic's Geological Modelling Method

Jun has now examined more than 400 deposits of all types of commodities during the development of Leapfrog software and as a consultant geologist. As a result of this extensive experience, combined with more than 20 years of structural geological experience, Jun has developed a system that interprets and models drillhole data very rapidly.

The reason why something as seemingly complex as constructing a geological model can be systematised and modelled quickly is simply a result of seeing hundreds of deposits. After observing and interpreting many deposits in 3D, Jun was able to identify that there are repeated patterns that are common in many mineralisation types. The identification of these patterns was not possible until hundreds of deposits were observed and thousands of hours were spent studying them. There is a logical geological explanation why these repeated patterns occur in nature and recognition of this fact underlies the fundamental approach to modelling geology from drillhole data.

Using Leapfrog and the 'Prestologic method' developed by Jun, modelling that used to take weeks or months using traditional methods can now be achieved in just hours. The key to this approach is an intelligent use of the features that are part of Leapfrog software, combined with experience identifying the simple geological patterns that characterise many deposits.
 
Jun teaches this 'Prestologic method' in his Leapfrog workshops and uses these techniques in his consulting work. The principles behind Jun's modelling methods are not new – they are based on fundamental geological and structural principles found in many textbooks, but are mostly ignored in the traditional, section-based GMP modelling methods. So although the methods are not new, Jun's approach to them is. In his Leapfrog workshops, Jun teaches geologists how to identify key geological details directly from drillhole data – patterns that are critical for implementing the 'Prestologic method'.