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User’s Guide for Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI (ATA GUI)—A Graphical User Interface for the AggtEx.fn R Script

Techniques and Methods 7-C21
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/tm7C21

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Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey three-part method for mineral resource assessments estimates numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits as probability distributions in geologically defined regions termed “permissive tracts.” This report describes a graphical user interface (GUI) script developed in open-source statistical software (R) that aggregates estimated undiscovered deposits of a given type from two or more permissive tracts using the AggtEx.fn R script. The AggtEx.fn R script aggregates undiscovered deposit estimates assuming independence, total dependence, or some degree of correlation among aggregated areas, given a user-specified correlation matrix. The script outputs three sets of aggregated estimates based on those three assumptions.

The GUI script described in this report, Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI (ATA GUI), provides an easy-to-use tool that supports implementation of the AggtEx.fn R script, installation of the R packages needed to run the application, and creation of a combined input file from individual files generated by the MapMark4GUI software. Users can also use EMINERS output information by creating a file of output values following the MapMark4GUI output file format. The probabilistic estimates of aggregated undiscovered deposits produced by ATA GUI can be used as input for MapMark4GUI to estimate contained resources for the aggregated tracts. MapMark4GUI uses Monte Carlo simulation to combine undiscovered deposit estimates with tonnage and grade models to simulate undiscovered mineral resources for a region of interest. This simulation includes the amounts of commodities and rock that could be present within a permissive tract. This report includes instructions on installing and running the ATA GUI script and describes the input and output files used and created during the aggregation process.

Suggested Citation

Shapiro, J.L., and Robinson, G.R., Jr., 2019, User’s guide for Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI (ATA GUI)—A graphical user interface for the AggtEx.fn R script: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 7, chap. C21, 9 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm7c21.

ISSN: 2328-7055 (online)

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Background
  • Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI
  • Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI Package
  • Input Files
  • Installation Instructions
  • Launching Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI
  • Output Files
  • Using the Aggregation Results to Estimate Undiscovered Resources with MapMark4GUI
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title User’s guide for Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI (ATA GUI)—A graphical user interface for the AggtEx.fn R script
Series title Techniques and Methods
Series number 7-C21
DOI 10.3133/tm7C21
Year Published 2019
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center
Description Report: iv, 9 p.; Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI Package
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Larger Work Title Section C: Computer programs in Book 7: Automated data processing and computations
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details