The area of influence of an exploratory hole

A method is presented for calculating the area of influence of exploratory drill holes by using the size and shape of resource targets. The solution presented is for elliptical and circular targets, but the method is applicable to any shaped target. The degree to which points have been explored depends upon their distance away from a drill hole and the possible orientations of the target. Several hypothetical examples demonstrate how: (1) maps can be generated that show the degree to which areas within the region of interest have been explored; (2) graphs can be constructed to evaluate the possibility of undiscovered targets of specific sizes and shapes in a region; (3) the sequence of physical exhaustion in a region can be used to make estimates of undiscovered resources.