9th Applied Geostatistics course in Chile

Friday, June 11th, 2010


Maptek’s Viña del Mar office hosted a group of mining students under difficult conditions earlier this year.

Despite the effects of a magnitude 8.8 earthquake in late February-March, the Citation in Applied Mining Geostatistics, which gathers professionals from all over South America, went ahead for the 9th consecutive year.

The program has been taught annually at the University of Alberta, Canada since 1999. Maptek partnered with the University in 2002 to host the course in Chile, which has been taken by more than 100 people.

This intensive training requires 1 month of classes, with 20-plus exercises, as well as a project that demonstrates independent application of the latest tools in resource estimation and geostatistics. Students exceeding the minimum 80% pass average are granted a Citation from the University of Alberta.

Professor Clayton Deutsch, Director of the School of Mining & Petroleum Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, who runs the program, says:

‘This training is unique because it fills an important gap between the conventional short course format and the Master or Doctorate degree. A short course is inadequate and a graduate degree takes a long time.’

‘The Citation program was quite informal in the early years. Students would come to the University and study geostatistics for 2 to 3 months.’ The program was formalised to provide a consistent high standard in teaching resource estimation professionals the theoretical foundation of geostatistical tools, the complexities of implementation and the place of modern techniques.’

This Citation will be delivered again in Chile in March 2011, and also in Perth, for Australian mining professionals.



  • Media Relations
  • For additional information about Maptek, including use of the Maptek logo, product images and reproduction of case studies, please direct inquiries to Global Marketing Communications Manager jane.ball@maptek.com.au