If you are looking at a deposit being mined the strip ratio is the important number. If you are trying to assess drill results it's guesswork... imo.
By itself near surface doesn't mean much unless you have the dimensions of the strike.... near surface but narrow will translate into a high strip ratio to get it out. A broad and wide deposit can be a bit deeper and lower grade yet be worth more than a higher grade but narrow due to the amount of waste material needed to be removed for safe mining.
