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3.1.1 Visualizing the Deposit
The exploration work carried out by geologists, namely, the direction and incline measurements taken from the outcrops, sample analysis results, the shafts and drifts excavated dug to follow the lodes and, lastly, the diamond drilling operations conducted to delineat the orebody and estimate the potential value of the ore-bearing part of the deposit helps them visualize the geological structures of a mineral deposit.
Visualizing a deposit preoccupied scientists for many years and an ideal representation, taken from the Encyclopedia of Diderot, illustrates this endeavour to identify the mineable areas of mineralization.
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For most major deposits, a visual representation was made of the ore zones discovered during exploration and mining activities. The Lamaque gold mine in the Abitibi region is an example in kind. Discovered in 1923, opened for production in 1935 and mined for 60 years until 1985, the Lamaque mine is both the largest and the most profitable lode gold mine in Northwest Quebec.
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A thorough knowledge of the configuration of a deposit is fundamental in planning how best to exploit it. Hence in the 1930s, Noranda Mines mined the areas of the Horne mine with the highest gold grades in order to take advantage of the high price of gold after 1935, compared with the very low price of copper. Reserves with a higher copper content were left untouched, to be mined when copper prices improved.
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