Industry

ASEG Queensland Branch October Technical Talk

Presenter: Randall Taylor - Taylor Exploration Consulting, Principal Consultant.

Title: The OZ Min Explorer Challenge 2019: When petroleum explorers go searching for minerals.

In-person Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/randall-taylor-when-petroleum-explorers-go-searching-for-minerals-tickets-175168131597

Online registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vsI7VuJhRieKY6lTBu_nBw

Synopsis:

In 2019 OZ Minerals released more than 2TB of company data challenging teams from around the world to compete for $1M in prize money by predicting mineralisation locations in the Mount Woods area of the Gawler Craton. The area is best known for the Iron-Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) Prominent Hill deposit. Three former colleagues, Randall Taylor, Karen Aurisch and Bronwyn Davies with many years of combined petroleum exploration experience, but relatively little direct experience of mineral exploration, joined forces to analyse the data and submit an entry. This talk will present their methodology and results and compare it to the brief public disclosure of the winning entry.

Also on Thursday the 14th of October there is a combined Industry, Society, Early Career and Student Networking function held at the Fox Hotel. The flyer with specific details is below and registration is through the AIG website

Topic: Developing a Facies Architectural Outcrop Analog for Kuwait Formation at Jal Az-Zor Escarpment to understand Stratigraphic Controls on Heavy Oil Production Northern Kuwait

Date & Time: Sep 28, 2021 06:30 PM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Presenter:  Salah El-Ekhfifi,exploration geologist,NOC,Libya and  Aimen Amer

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pfNYT0SDTciQCTdFgAwKAQ

Description:

The Goal of this work is to develop an outcrop analog that can explain subsurface reservoir architecture.

This will be established through two methods:

1) conventional facies modeling and

2)forward stratigraphic modeling.

By applying these two methodologies, we will reinterpret an enigmatic elongated geobody in the subsurface and explain, how such feature is an excellent stratigraphic trap

AIG-ASEG-PESA YP Networking Evening

Registration: https://www.aig.org.au/events/aig-aseg-pesa-yp-networking-evening/
Date & Venue:
Wednesday 22nd September 2021
5:30 pm start - 8 pm end
The Shoe Bar
Shop GSO7 Yagan Square
376 - 420 Wellington St
Perth CBD

The ASEG WA Branch invites our Young Professional members to attend the upcoming joint YP Networking evening sponsored by Fortesque Metal Groups following the conclusion of the AEGC virtual conference at Yagan Square. There will be two careers-related talks by FMG personnel. The free tickets can be booked via the AIG website given under the registration link. 

REGISTRATION is REQUIRED for catering purposes. Please email wasecretary@aseg.org.au with any queries or for additional information. Kindly rsvp in the link above to get a spot as seats are limited. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

ASEG Honours and Awards Ceremony

It is also with great delight and excitement that myself, and Honours and Awards Chair Andrew Mutton, invite you to the ASEG Honours and Awards Ceremony that is open to everyone (not just conference attendees). This will be held during the lunch break on the first day of the conference talks (Wednesday 15th September) at 12 pm AEST. I cannot wait to share with you all the extremely deserving recipients of these awards and hope that you will join me online through Zoom to celebrate these outstanding achievements- click here to register.

UPDATE: This event is now fully virtual, with no in-person event. Register here.

When: Tuesday 16 November 2021

Time: 18.00 – 19.00

Where: Virtual (zoom)

Details: The event is free for members. Please register through Zoom.

Registration (zoom): Here

ASEG Queensland Branch August Technical Talk

Peter Fullagar - Fullagar Geophysics Pty Ltd.

Beyond plates - fast TEM inversion using conductive ellipsoids Part2: Inversion

Synopsis

Interpreting TEM data in terms of conductive rectangular plates is effective in many situations. However, not all conductors are planar. Triaxial ellipsoid conductors are an attractive alternative: geometrically simple (corner-free), mathematically tractable at early and late time limits, and able to encompass shapes ranging from plates to elongate lenses to equi-dimensional pods. Accordingly a fast magnetostatics-based algorithm has been developed to compute ellipsoidal conductor responses in both resistive and inductive limits. Inversion of measured data then entails adjustment of ellipsoid parameters. The methodology is suitable for downhole, ground, or airborne TEM, either impulse or step response.
In this second of two presentations, the inversion algorithm is described and illustrated on both synthetic and real TEM data. 

Bio:

Peter Fullagar has over 30 years experience in base metal, precious metal, and petroleum exploration, and in metalliferous and coal mining geophysics. He worked for 12 years with WMC Exploration Division in Australia, including 3 years as Chief Geophysicist. He was the inaugural Chair of Borehole Geophysics at Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, in 1993-94, and served as team leader in 1995-96 for the CMTE/AMIRA P436 research project on Application of Geophysics to Mine Planning & Operations. Since 1998 Peter has consulted privately and has written modelling and inversion programs for EM, potential fields, and borehole logging data. He led the AMIRA P1022 research project on Rapid 3D Inversion of TEM Data from 2010-2013. Peter is an Adjunct Professor at the WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre, University of Queensland.

The WA Branch of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists invites current active members to attend our upcoming ASEG WA Branch Tech night event at our new venue in CBD at Yagan Square, but still with the usual snacks and drinks provided. Note that there is plenty of public transportation, and, if need be, paid parking is available at nearby Wilson Parking - 427 Murray St - Google Maps. The venue has wheelchair accessibility. The details of the speech title and the author's bio are provided below.
 

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aseg-wa-branch-event-september-2021-tech-night-tickets-167719783387

Speech title: Downhole Assays via Elemental Spectroscopy
Speaker: Jennifer Market, Geophysics Manager, Epiroc's Kinetic Logging Services

Talk summary: 
Pulsed neutron wireline tools were introduced to the Australian iron ore industry in 2011 to deliver "downhole assays" and since then, the technology has developed into a reliable and efficient means of supplementing and even replacing traditional assay analysis. 
Not only are there safety benefits through reduced site exposure, but the technology allows for better vertical resolution and near-real-time results. The potential cost savings can be significant, with some companies stating that downhole assays are currently saving them ten million dollars a year compared to conventional methods.
Not only can the technology be used to grade iron ore at the site, but it can also measure percentages of minor elements such as silicon, aluminium, copper, nickel, titanium, manganese, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sulphur, and sodium, as well as hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine, and carbon. They can also measure proxies for LOI (loss on ignition).  The sampling resolution is generally 10-20 cm - considerably higher than the typical 2 metre sampling used in conventional assay in the Pilbara, allowing for less assumptions about minor element distribution.  The depth of investigation approximately 30-50 cm which also gives a more representative sample. 
This presentation will begin with a description of pulsed fast and thermal neutron activation technology as implemented in the downhole assay environment, paying attention to the calibration methods. Then, a case study will be presented in detail, discussing the data acquisition and calibration programme. The results of the downhole assay compared to traditional assay will be discussed, considering the pros and cons of each method.
 

Speaker Bio: 

Jennifer Market is the Geophysics Manager for Epiroc's Kinetic Logging Services, with 20+ years' experience in research and development of mineral logging (mining) and oilfield technologies and applications with particular expertise in downhole assays, acoustics and geomechanics.

REGISTRATION and RSVP are REQUIRED on or before 30th August to give our hosts at Shoe Bar enough time to properly set up their venue. ASEG WA Branch would like to give thanks to sponsors for their continuous support.

Please email wasecretary@aseg.org.au with any queries or for additional information. Kindly rsvp in the below link to get a spot as seats are limited. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Title: Preconditioned Compressive Sensing for Wavefield Reconstruction, Applications to tomography, Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition and Distributed Acoustic Sensing

Presenter: Jack Muir

Date/Time: Sep 2, 2021 1300 (AEST)

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Sr40IBw9SmiEnyMh5dOY4w

Abstract: The proliferation of large seismic arrays have opened many new avenues of geophysical research; however most techniques still fundamentally treat regional and global scale seismic networks as a collection of individual time series rather than as a single unified data product. Wavefield reconstruction allows us to turn a collection of individual records into a single structured form that treats the seismic wavefield as a coherent 3D or 4D entity. We propose a split processing scheme based on a wavelet transform in time and Laplacian preconditioned curvelet based compressive sensing in space to create a sparse representation of the continuous seismic wavefield with smooth second order derivatives. Using this representation, we will illustrate three applications that require accurate access to the full wavefield including spatial gradients - 

Bio: Jack Muir

Jack is a 6th year graduate student in geophysics at the California Institute of Technology Seismological Laboratory (Caltech Seismolab) –- he will take up a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship at the Oxford University Department of Earth Sciences in late 2021 / early 2022, and is currently a visiting researcher at the Australian National University. He is passionate about inverse problems — some of the projects he is working on now are: imaging the Earth from near surface to the core; improving data captured at seismic arrays; and answering difficult questions about historical data sets.

Branch: TAS

Title: Passive Seismic - Applications of Ambient Noise Interferometry for Mineral Exploration

Presenter: Dr Richard Lynch, Sisprobe

Date and Time: Thursday 26 August 2021 at 1800 AEST

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xAWsYxNkRkatLwbLInDRgQ

Abstract:

As mineral exploration seeks deeper targets under cover, the need for low cost and low impact subsurface imaging is increasingly important. A recent addition to the toolbox of geophysical methods is ambient noise surface wave tomography (ANSWT) which produces an S-wave velocity image of the subsurface using naturally occurring seismic signals ("noise") from waves, earthquakes, traffic, etc. - no active controlled seismic sources required. In this presentation, I will provide an introduction to the ANSWT method and show how it is applied for early-stage mineral exploration using some recent projects in Canada, South Africa and Australia.

Bio:

Richard Lynch has 20 years experience in the global mining industry focused on all aspects of mine microseismic monitoring. From 2011-2017, he served as CEO of IMS, a leading mine seismology company. Richard is currently the COO and directeur général of Sisprobe, a French company that is the world leader in ambient noise passive seismic imaging and monitoring for industrial applications, including hard rock mineral exploration and real-time TSF monitoring. Richard has a PhD in theoretical physics from Wits University in South Africa. He currently lives in Hobart.

IMAGE '21 is the integrated annual conference and exhibition of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and in conjunction with the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM).

Click on the image below to view the event. 

The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and in conjunction with the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) are excited to host, IMAGE 2021 - the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy. The three societies agreed earlier this year to hold this integrated annual meeting over the next five years, the first of which will be a hybrid event held from 26 September to 1 October 2021, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado and online.

As global leaders in disseminating high-quality applied-geoscience knowledge and data, SEG, AAPG, and SEPM have joined forces to create this powerhouse event bringing together multiple disciplines of the geosciences sector. IMAGE ’21 combines all the great elements from each society’s previous annual meetings under one roof to offer a better experience and increased value for the industry.

IMAGE ’21 will welcome speakers, exhibitors, and attendees to participate in-person or online, or both. The comprehensive technical program will feature more than 1,000 presentations, nearly 200 sessions, 14 post-convention workshops, 10 special sessions, five field trips, countless networking opportunities, and a joint exhibition showcasing the latest geoscience products and technologies. One registration will give delegates access to the core technical sessions, the exhibition, and several other events.

Don’t miss the ultimate learning and networking event for applied geoscience and energy.

Title: Application of Multi-Scale Magnetotelluric Data to Mineral Exploration: An Example from the East Tennant Region, Northern Australia

Presenter: Wenping Jiang, Geoscience Australia

When: 12th August,2021 at 11am AEST

Registation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gKKtAD8MRwaRCNUp-DNwNA

Abstract: 

The footprint of a mineral system is potentially detectable at a range of scales and lithospheric depths. Magnetotellurics is one of few techniques that can provide multi-scale datasets to image and understand mineral systems. We have used long-period data from the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP) as a first-order reconnaissance survey to resolve large-scale lithospheric architecture for mapping areas of mineral potential in northern Australia. The 3D resistivity model reveals a broad conductivity anomaly in the lower crust and upper mantle to the east of Tennant Creek, representing a potential fertile source region. Results from a higher-resolution infill magnetotelluric survey reveal a favourable crustal architecture linking the lower, fertile source regions with potential depositional sites in the upper crust. This observation strongly suggests that the deep-penetrating major faults potentially acted as pathways for transporting metalliferous fluids to the upper crust where they could form mineral deposits. This result and its integration with other geophysical and geochronological datasets suggest high prospectivity for major mineral deposits in the vicinity of these major faults. In addition to these insights, interpretation of high-frequency magnetotelluric data helps to characterise cover and assist with selecting targets for stratigraphic drilling which, in turn, can validate the models and improve our understanding of basement geology, cover sequences and mineral potential.

This study demonstrates that integration of geophysical data from multi-scale surveys is an effective approach to scale reduction during mineral exploration in covered terranes.

Biography: Dr Wenping Jiang joined Geoscience Australia in 2012 after completing a PhD degree from the University of Sydney. Since Feb 2016, she has worked as a senior geophysicist in the Mineral Systems Branch, delivering precompetitive data and information to improve the understanding of mineral resource prospectivity. Her professional focus is mainly on Magnetotelluric data processing, modelling and interpretation.