Minerals - Discovery to Recovery

Capturing structural geology data is important. Why? As Federico Arboleda (Founder and CEO, Imago) says: "There's no mine unless you can make that [geotechnical] estimation or characterization. And this is the founding data that allows you to define that." So how can we collect this data? With the amount of technologies available, it might be easier than you think. For example, if y...

Even before plate tectonic theory, economic geologists knew there was an association with ore deposits and geologic structures. Nowadays, most successful exploration companies understand the importance of understanding structural controls of an ore-forming system and incorporate structural geologists in their exploration programs. This episode of focuses on the regional tectonic and deposit-scale...

What should the relationship be between geoscience technology and the communities we’re a part of? The obvious answer is that geoscience technology should be used to enrich the lives of those in our communities. But as Paul Bauman (Technical Director, Worley) says: often the question not asked, is where should the technology come from? Should we be using bottom-up or top-down approaches to develop...

Exploration and mining are human endeavors, relying on teams who work in the field and offices globally. The human factor in our work is also critical to establishing strong and meaningful relationships with local communities. So should those teams of professionals include social scientists, and what is the role of the exploration geologist? The answers are complicated, but this episode is packed...

When it comes to gold, we’ve got a number of tools and methods available to help find ore deposits. But what techniques should we be using – and more importantly – how should we be using them? Some of them are right on our desktops – from machine learning and artificial intelligence, to codifying geological knowledge. But these tools are only as powerful as the context they’re used in. Shawn Hood...

The world class gold deposits in Superior Province in the Canadian Precambrian Shield are being studied with in a broad and comprehensive research program called ‘Metal Earth’ at Laurentian University. In this episode we delve into their multidisciplinary and system-scale approach to learn some of the insights coming from this innovative program.   To set up the framework we talked to Richard Gold...

There are many different aspects of 'critical resourcing' that mining and geology play a part in. For example, as we look to de-carbonize our economies, renewable energy will become even more important. Dr. Mark Coughlan (Post Doctoral Researcher, Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences) talks about his time at sea – working on research cruises to map the subsea floor for offsho...

Join us for system-scale thinking in geoscience and a view of a more sustainable world from magmatic -sulfide sources of PGEs and Ni to innovative mineral processing work and technology metals. Steve Barnes (CSIRO) has spent a career working on magmatic sulfide deposits, leading him to some big thinking over multiple length and time scales. He talks about how his ideas were formed by key individua...

There’s one concept everyone in the geosciences can’t stop talking about – data. Whether we’re collecting it, analyzing it, or cleaning it, the work never seems to end. As we face challenges like deposits becoming deeper and harder to find, how do we make sure we’re leveraging data in the right ways, to support us now and in the future? The first part is using the right data management practices w...

The discovery of Olympic Dam in Australia captured the imaginations of exploration geologists around the world – over 40 years later we are just beginning to appreciate the nature and extent of what a ‘game changer’ Olympic Dam was for the mining industry. In this episode we talk to one of the most knowledgeable geoscientists about the deposit, Kathy Ehrig (BHP) about its discovery, mineralogy, st...

This episode in the Seequent partnered series discusses how we’re leveraging different technologies for use in geology – and it seems the sky’s the limit. Join us as we talk about using VR, AR, and mixed reality to make better use of our data, how we can implement artificial intelligence to hit the next big deposit, and if we should be afraid of robots taking our jobs. Featured on this episode are...

The major metals in sedimentary mineral deposits include Pb, Zn, Ag, Cu, Co, and U. This episode in the Seequent partnered series dives deep into the geoscience needed to understand the formation of these important ore deposits hosted in sedimentary basins. We hear about the African Copper Belt, the Athabasca Basin and the great lead-zinc basins in Australia and Canada. You will hear discovery sto...

Welcome to the very first episode of the SEG–Seequent partnered podcast, Discovery to Recovery . We are excited to kick off with an in-depth overview of the SEG 2020 Vision Conference in September, celebrating a century of discovery. Details at www.seg2020.org. Listen in to hear why you should participate, what the comprehensive program covers and who the many people are that will be presenting. W...