Grade Control

Grade Control are a strange little department inhabited by graduate engineers chucked in so they get a 'feel' for how a mine runs and ex digger operators who want to get a feel for why they're asked to do such stupid things by graduate engineers. The digger ops are generally okay but those engineers can get a little trying.

As we're constantly striving for continual improvement I came up with a bockout format which I think they might understand......


I sent this to a few different geologists throughout the Rio Tinto net work and got this reply from Marty

Hi Rod,
I like it. Can I make a suggestion? We’ve put a vertical Rio Tinto logo down the top left hand side just like all official Rio correspondence/reports have. It gives the blockout a very official-looking stamp.
On another point, as well as ninja stars, could that metal be used to build a multi-spectral solar telescope array? I’ve got one half-built in my garage and just need a few more bits.
Finally, I would like to contest your assertion that China is the home of communism. Historians are largely in agreement that the theories of modern communism were outlined by Karl Marx with support from Friedrich Engels. Both were German émigrés living in England, making either (or both) country the ideological birthplace of communism. Furthermore, Deng Xiaoping’s market-orientated reforms beginning in 1978 have rendered China a communist country in name only. By removing one of the central tenets of Marxism (state ownership), China is now best described as the home of authoritarian bureaucracy rather than communism.
Cheers,
Marty.

Pretty funny but fairly in depth. I'm sure he's fairly spot on about China and I can't wait til he finishes his multi-spectral solar telescope but i think he may have missed the point. This is my reply

Cheers for the suggestion Marty,

A general rule of thumb we use here is if a concept contains more syllables than one has fingers on their hand then its not Grade Control friendly. No more than 3 syllables is generally considered ideal. For example – Yum Cha has 2 syllables, Ninja Star as 3, Communism has 4. Authoritarian bureaucracy requires the use of both hands and multi-spectral solar telescope array requires toes to be used as well.

We were considering dropping the use of words altogether and simply replacing them with happy and sad faces but we feel that that may be slightly insulting to their intelligence.

This one was done pending the Chinalco buying into Rio Tinto. The writing over the high grade says 'iron ore' and the writing over the waste says 'pineapple'.