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New version of modelling tool due soon

01 Jul 2007

By Rebecca Le May (article published in Gold and Minerals Gazette, July 2007 Diggers and Dealers Forum Preview edition)

Literally months of geological modelling work can be achieved in a few days using Zaparo Ltd's Leapfrog™ 3D geological modelling software, the new version of which will be released by around August this year.

According to Prestologic Pty Ltd director Dr Jun Cowan, the sales agent for Leapfrog in Australia, the program can tell clients "more about the deposit than they've ever known before".

"Leapfrog can realistically, very rapidly model geology from drill hole data," Dr Cowan said. "It's a very powerful tool that can be used for quick, JORC-compliant resource estimation. "Geological models produced in Leapfrog, I would say, are far superior than what can be done by hand."

The software is based on the world's first practical, rapid 3D contouring code and Version 2.0 will differ from its predecessor in that it will feature a viewer exporting system.

"You can save a view of a mineral deposit, send that file to people who don't have a licence for the Leapfrog™ software and they can rotate the image," Dr Cowan said.

"Previously, you had to have a licence to be able to view the images in three dimensions."

Users enter a prospect's raw drill hole data, which can be processed in many ways. Information on grade, for instance, is interpolated to essentially "predict" the continuity of mineralisation

"The software uses mathematics to determine what that mineralised trend is – it's a quantitative method," Dr Cowan explained.

"Another enhancement in the new version is a drill hole viewing facility that allows you to see the lithology as well. Before, you could only see numerical data such as grade. Now, you can model the categorical lithological information as well.

"It is obviously very important for a geologist to be able to view 3D data such as grade and lithology…but trying to interpret this manually takes some time whereas Leapfrog™ processes data automatically.

"You can actually use it for resource estimation – you can formulate envelopes around grade then calculate the volume, and then the resource."

Uptake of Leapfrog has doubled every year since it was released three years ago after a two year product development phase.

Some of Prestologic's clients include AngloGold Ashanti Australia, Alloy Resources, Perilya Ltd and Toronto-based Dundee Precious Metals (a multiple licence holder)

Dr Cowan, an ex-SRK Consulting staffer, said he was increasingly offering training/consulting support services to clients as they were keen to fully maximise the software. He will be present at the SRK booth at the forthcoming Diggers and Dealers Forum.