Dr Isobel Clark praised "Andre Journel and others at Fontainebleau who taught her all she knows about the theory of The theory of Regionalized variables". That's why she is a dependent thinker. For mathematical convenience she stripped the factor 2 off df=2(n-1) degrees of freedom. She didn't get into applying Fisher's F-test to assess if her set of hypothetical uranium concentrations displayed spatial dependence within its sample space. Luck would have it that her hypothetical set is randomly distributed within its sample space. Dr Andre G Journel, Matheron's most gifted disciple, lost the variance of the distance-weighted average AKA kriged estimate but found the zero kriging variance. He does not test for spatial dependence nor does he count degrees of freedom. He only teaches those who do have a PhD in geostatistics. His latest flavor is simply stringing Markov chains Dr Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill's miracle man and JMG's Editor-in-Chief, knows all about stochastic mine planning optimization with Markov chains. He has not yet shown what stochastic mine plan would have been applicable to Bre-X's phantom gold resource.

In November 1989, Merks and Merks applied Fisher's F-test in Precision Estimates for Ore Reserves and confirmed spatial dependence between gold grades of ordered rounds in a decline. Testing for spatial dependence troubled Professor Dr M David, CIM Bulletin's most dedicated enforcer of Matheronian geostatistics. Scores of similarly gifted geostatistocrats postulated spatial dependence may be inferred unless proven otherwise. Stanford's Journelwas troubled when "classical Fischerian statistics" proved a significant degree of spatial dependence between gold grades of ordered rounds. Fisher's F-test proved the intrinsic variance of Bre-X's bogus gold in Busang's barren rock to be statistically identical to zero, as it ought to be. Sound statistics did so several months before Bre-X's boss salter vanished! Bre-X's original and duplicate bogus assays for a few early boreholes could have proved early on that a salting scam was in progress at the Busang project!

Professor Dr R Dimitrakopoulos, Editor-in-Chief, Journal for Mathematical Geosciences, stand on guard against genuine variances. This journal got a new name and Markov chain is a reborn game. Dr RD teaches McGill's students all he knows about stochastic modeling with Markov chains. When he chaired in June 1993 a forum on Geostatistics for the Next Century, he did not even know that each and every kriged estimate does have its own variance. JMG's Editor-in-Chief got into playing games with Markov chains. Surely, McGill's students should be smart enough to derive the variance of the distance-weighted average. They should know that stochastic modeling with Markov chains is a scientific fraud. They should also know that stochastic modeling with voodoo variances gives junk statistics.

The world's mining industry is caught in a Catch-22. The problem is that metal grades and contents of mineral inventories in annual reports are bound to shrink during mining. David dabbled at geostatistical grade control in his 1988 handbook. He was proud that his kriged block was larger than his so-called erratic block. What he did not show is that his kriged block had a significantly lower grade. Less pay dirt in mined ores and more tailings in ponds! Flawed grade control in exploration and mining but statistical grade and quality control with ISO standards in smelting and refining! It's a Catch-22! Sound statistics in smelting and refining but surreal geostatistics in exploration and mining!

The National Securities Regulator ought to rule it a scientific fraud to assume ore between boreholes. Bre-X showed more red flags than a Bolshevist parade. The OSC watched the parade with Felderhof in front! Incompetence is rampant but not deemed a crime. I explained to the OSC in 1994 and to the SEC in 2003 why Matheronian geostatistics is a flawed variant of applied statistics. Infinite sets of kriged estimates, zero pseudo kriging variances and lack of degrees of freedom make goofy geostatistics! All of it seems to make sense to CRIRSCO's new Chair and her flock of Crirsconians!

Matheron's quixotic work is posted with the On-Line Library of the Centre de Géostatistique. Matheron was not a born genius at probability but a self-made wizard of odd statistics. One-to-one correspondence between functions and variances remained beyond his grasp until his passing in 2000. Matheron did fumble two variances whereas Agterberg fumbled the same variance twice. Scores of somehow qualified persons accept voodoo statistics as much as do born geostatistocrats and krigeologists!

Scores of statistically challenged experts talk confidently about confidence without limits. Applied statistics does give unbiased confidence limits for metal contents of mined ores and mineral concentrates. I have done so for Barrick Gold. It can be done not only for metal contents and grades of ore reserves but also for proven ore within inferred resources. Borehole Statistics with Spreadsheet Software shows how to derive 95% confidence intervals and ranges for masses of metals in volumes of in-situ ores. It's high time to set up an ISO Technical Committee on reserve and resource estimation. But Barrick Gold, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale prefer stochastic mine planning with voodoo variances.

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