<p>Classifying nickel laterite mineral resources with an appropriate confidence level is critical to sustainable and efficient mining operations. Typically, the classification of the deposit is done by a competent person (or more than one) regarding different features such as the geological model, the sampling density, and the drilling mesh. However, the uncertainty of the decision is not, usually, considered. This study comprehensively evaluates two geostatistical methods, conditional simulation and specific area, for classifying nickel laterite mineral resources in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia. The study compares different drilling meshes considering the uncertainty regarding nominal productions as support. A dataset comprising 953 drill holes with a spacing of 50&#xa0;m was utilized to investigate the performance of these methods. The results indicate that both methods can be used together to classify mineral resources into two-dimensional deposits. The specific area method can be used as a routine to obtain a good order of magnitude and define the drilling meshes that mark the limits between classifications of Mineral Resources. Meanwhile, conditional simulations can be used to validate those limits. This study contributes to developing more accurate and effective methods for mineral resource classification, with implications for improved decision-making in the mining industry.</p>