Ep 143 Convolution Without the Maths: a practical guide for Mine Geologists

In this episode of Fresh Thinking, Senior Consultant Jamie Oppelaar is joined by Dr Gregory Zhang, Senior Consultant at Snowden Optiro, to explore what convolution really means in a geostatistical and mine planning context. Jamie and Greg walk through how it already shows up in everyday resource estimation workflows. From moving averages and detrending through to kriging residuals and convolutional neural networks, this episode focuses on practical application, not theory for theory's sake. This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion, laying the foundations for how convolution links classical geostatistics with modern machine learning approaches. Key topics and timestamps  00:01 – Introduction to convolution - geostatistics and machine learning 00:21 – Separating geological trend from local variability in grade data 02:26 – Detrending, residuals, and the link to universal kriging 03:15 – Moving averages as a defensible trend model using convolution 03:41 – What convolution actually is, explained practically 05:08 – Choosing window sizes using variograms and cross-validation 05:57 – Stationarity, variograms, and kriging residuals 07:19 – How convolution relates to convolutional neural networks (CNNs) 09:22 – A step-by-step workflow mine geologists can apply with existing data 13:19 – Summary of key ideas and what's coming in Part 2 If you enjoyed this episode, please Subscribe for more mining-focused technical discussions across the mine value chain. If you would like to contact Gregory or Jaimie: [email protected] Listen on the go: Fresh Thinking by Snowden Optiro is rapidly becoming the best mining podcast globally, and is available on all major podcast platforms. 👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more technical mining insights from our global consulting team. Snowden Optiro: Snowden Optiro is a resources consulting and advisory group that provides independent advice, consulting and training to mining and exploration companies, their advisors and investors. We help mine developers to advance their projects, mining companies to improve their operations and their professionals, and investors to de-risk their investments by the provision of quality advice, training and software in the field of Mineral Resources and Mineral/Ore Reserves. Explore more: https://snowdenoptiro.com/