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A mineral deposit instance is mineralisation that exists, or
existed (if it is mined out) somewhere in the world. It could be a
mineral occurance, a prospect, a mine, or a mined out mine.
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WHAT IS A
MINERAL DEPOSIT MODEL?
A mineral deposit model can be viewed as "systematically arranged
information describing the essential attributes (properties) of a class of
mineral deposits" and may be empirical (descriptive) or theoretical
(genetic) (Cox et al (1986)).
The MineMatch representation of a model is the collection of all the
attributes considered relevant to the characterisation of a mineral deposit
type, and the frequency with which they are expected in a typical instance
of the the model. While it is primarily focused on empirical
attributes, such as observable mineral assemblages, certain genetic
attributes may also be included in descriptions, such as "genetic setting".
Considerable scope exists for recording genetic interpretations within
the "Comments" field for each model attribute in MineMatch. These
comments are not used during comparisons (similarity ranking ).
You may view a tabular presentation of the USGS Cu Au Porphyry model (semantic net)
here, and a reduced
graphical view of the USGS Algoma Iron model
here. (Within the
MineMatch system, the hierarchical arrangement of descriptive attributes may
be expanded and collapsed in much the same way as nested directories on a
computer system.)
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HOW DO I SELECT AN INSTANCE OR MODEL TO COMPARE WITH
OTHER INSTANCEs OR MODELs?
To select an instance or model for comparison with a number
of other instances or models, simply make a double left mouse-click on the
model or instance of your choice. (This can be done on either side of the
centre-bar on the control panel.) The chosen model or instance will
appear in the "In Focus" window, which will pop to the surface of your
screen. If you selected the wrong one, simply click in the appropriate
tab to take you back to the models or instances list of interest, and
double-click the desired object.
To see an screenshot demonstrating where to click,
click here.
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HOW DO I INDICATE WHAT I WANT TO
COMPARE IT TO?
To select the targets of your comparison exercise, simply
click in the checkboxes next to the models or instances to be compared.
You can select for comparison all instances or models in a database by
clicking on the upper left checkbox. Note that comparisons will be
carried out on all objects selected in both the "system" and "user" lists,
even though only one of them can be tabbed to display at a time.
To see a screenshot demonstrating where to click,
click here.
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WHAT CAN I DO WITH THE RESULTS OF A COMPARISON?
You can do the following with comparison results after
reviewing them visually:
-
Print them out directly, which provides the most compact
listing of compared attributes, but long comments will not wrap nicely
inside columns.
-
Transfer them to an HTML file, which wraps long text
inside a field nicely, and which can be printed out with the same
word-wrap advantage. (See
example.)
-
Save them to an EXCEL file, which is given a quasi-
hierarchical appearance.
All of the above can eventually provide hardcopy which is
ideal for reference from within a report, and which MineMatch users often
include in report appendices, particularly in the context of due diligence
investigations.
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HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT AN
INSTANCE OR MODEL?
If the instance or model of interest is not already "In
Focus", double-click on it, and it will appear in the "In Focus" window,
which pops to the top layer on the screen. You will be presented with
the top level attributes of the model or instance of interest. You may
explore lower levels of detail in the description by clicking on any [+]
signs, which indicate that further detail is available. (See
example).
Alternatively, to see a Semantic Net diagram showing all the
recorded attributes of the object "In Focus", right-click anywhere in the
"In Focus" window, and choose the "Create GraphViz Diagram ..." option.
Note that this requires the prior installation of the free Adobe "SVG
Viewer" plug-in to your internet browser. This is easily obtained from
www.adobe.com. (See
example which does not require the SVG viewer .... and is
therefore a much lower quality image. Once installed, the SVG Viewer
plug-in allows zooming and panning of the diagram, with no loss of
resolution.
Click
here if you already have the SVG Viewer installed.)
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HOW DO I CREATE NEW DESCRIPTIONS?
To create new model or instance descriptions, you first need
to create or open an existing "User Database". (Consult the MineMatch HELP
documentation, accessible from the HELP button on the main menu bar, for
detailed instructions.)
If the "User Database" contents are not already displayed on
the screen, click on the "User" tab to display them, right-click anywhere in
the "User" window, and select the "Edit User Instances..." (or models)
option. (Further details appear in the HELP documentation)
Finally, click on the "Create Instance" (or model) button,
and start entering the instance's attributes but selecting attributes and
their values from the available drop-down menus.
Note that before attempting the above you should become
familiar with the MineMatch framework for describing mineral deposits, which
is described in Appendix 1 of the HELP documentation.
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