Industry

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.  

Industry Mentoring Program 2021 - Workshop No. 3

Date & Venue: Tuesday 20th July 2021

Registration from 5 pm 5:30 pm - 7.00 pm workshop, 7.00 -8.30 pm Networking

RubixBar, 334 Murray Street, Perth (Opposite Belgian Beer Café)

Registration link

Industry Mentoring Program 2021 - Workshop No. 3

About this event

Networking Made Easy

Not everyone finds networking easy, but it’s a big part of being successful in your career or business. So it’s important to be good at it.

If you’ve been wondering…

Why is it so hard to carry on a CONVERSATION?

How do I EXPAND my network?

How do I network if I’M AN INTROVERT?

I’m WORKING REMOTELY, how do I keep networking?

Would I get that JOB OR PROMOTION if I was better at networking?

How do I RECONNECT with people in my network who I have fallen out of touch with?

How do I turn networking into ACTUAL BUSINESS?

What is the SECRET to networking? …

… then you won’t want to miss this important presentation.

Guest Speaker: Ron Gibson

Ron Gibson is a recognised leader in the field of networking. His 150-plus presentations each year distil nearly three decades of practical networking know-how he has gained from building his own successful business, exclusively from relationships he builds and a strong word-of-mouth reputation. In this workshop, Ron will share specific how-to advice for making networking easy, effective and rewarding

Program:

5.00 pm - 5.30 pm Registration

5.30 pm - 7.00 pm Workshop

7.00 pm - 8.30 pm Networking & nibbles

Sponsorship

For the first time, the Joint Industry Mentoring initiative is offering various sponsorship packages for the 2021 program. More information is available here.

The Joint Industry Mentoring Program is an initiative by the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Engineers Australia, Petroleum Club of WA, Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA), Society of Petroleum Engineers WA (SPE), Society for Underwater Technology, Subsea Energy Australia (SEA) and Women in Subsea Engineering (WISE).

This development has been a voluntary collaboration between individuals and organisations involved in Subsea Engineering in Australia. This year SUT is looking after the organisation of the program and this is the first of a 5-event series.

Contact: SUT (08) 9481 0999 or perthevents@sut.org

Title: Constraining regional-scale groundwater transport predictions using multiple geophysical techniques

Presenter: Dr Michael Hatch

Location: Thomas Cooper Room, Coopers Alehouse, 316 Pulteney St, Adelaide

Date: Tuesday 27^th July 2021

Time: 5:45 pm for a 6:15 pm start

Cost: Members and students free, non-members $10, includes finger food and drinks

I would like to invite you to our next technical event on Tuesday 27^th July at 5:45 pm for a 6:15 pm start at the Thomas Cooper Room, Coopers Alehouse.

We have Dr Michael Hatch from the University of Adelaide speaking on 'Constraining regional-scale groundwater transport predictions using multiple geophysical techniques'.

Due to often spatially discontinuous and sparse datasets from traditional geohydrological techniques, it is becoming more common to incorporate geophysical data in groundwater models.  Not only are the geophysical data sets more continuous, but they can often be collected non-invasively. A disadvantage is that there may be no consistent/obvious link between the geophysical data and the geohydrological properties that the groundwater model is simulating. It is therefore necessary to derive coupling relationships between the geophysical data and the underlying hydrogeology. This is usually performed in a deterministic manner in which the uncertainty inherent in the geophysical data (as well as in the coupling) is rarely incorporated. In this study we collect a number of geophysical data sets, including audio-frequency magnetotellurics (AMT), time‑domain electromagnetics (TEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). These geophysical techniques provide constraints on hydraulic conductivity, water table depth, hydrostratigraphy and porosity. By combining this information with scattered and sparse hydrological measurements, the geophysical data can be coupled with other data in a stochastic groundwater modelling framework. When using geophysical data to provide parameters in groundwater model inversion, it is critical to quantify and account for their uncertainty to avoid incorrectly biasing model outcomes. This study achieves this goal by using an ensemble-smoother modelling method incorporating PESTPP-IES. This approach is illustrated using geophysical and hydrological data from Kapunda, South Australia, to evaluate the potential impact of a simulated In-Situ Recovery (ISR) lixiviant injection test

ASEG WA - July Tech Night event
Date & Venue:
Thursday 22nd July 2021
5:30 pm start - 7.30pm end
The Shoe Bar
Shop GSO7 Yagan Square
376 - 420 Wellington St
Perth CBD

The WA Branch of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists invites you 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.

Speech title: Kamchatka (Russia) Nickel Project Geophysics
Speaker: Paul Mutton, Consulting Geophysicist, Touchstone Geophysics

Talk summary: For those that enjoy challenging projects, stunning scenery, or a place teeming with exploration potential, Kamchatka is the jackpot. Paul has been working and visiting there regularly since 2017 for a nickel exploration project and will present some of the issues and results for some of the surveys. Principle techniques have been Time Domain EM (Drill hole, Ground, Airborne), drone magnetic surveys, and petrophysics. Vodka not included.

Speaker Bio: Paul Mutton is a born and educated West Australian Geophysicist. After a career start as a WMC graduate in the nickel mines of Kambalda, he joined Southern Geoscience Consultants about 20 years ago, firstly as an employee and finally as shareholding Consultant. He left in 2014 to continue consulting independently through his consultancy, Touchstone Geophysics. He thoroughly enjoys travelling and particularly enjoys distant or challenging projects, particularly those with an opportunity for pushing the envelope.

REGISTRATION and RSVP are REQUIRED (click this link) on or before 20th July 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.

The next NSW technical meeting will be held on Wednesday 16th June (apologies for the short notice), we will also be livestreaming on zoom and it will be uploaded to ASEG's YouTube channel later. Please see details below:

Presenter:          Dr Stuart Clark (UNSW) and Patrick Makuluni (UNSW)

Topic:                  Tilting of the Australian Continent: New Evidence from the Subsidence and Deposition History of the Northern Carnarvon Basin

Time:                   5:30 for 6pm start

Address:             Level 2, Club York (99 York St, Sydney. Room 'York 2')

Zoom registration:         https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qf8x55wZT2SSUPOi3nBYuQ

Meeting registration:    https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YBRXQND by Tuesday 15th June - due to COVID restrictions we require a registration for in-person meetings, see the attached document for Club York's COVID statement. If you have trouble registering please email nswsecretary@aseg.org.au 

Summary:

Studies of the global sea-level changes, plate kinematics, marine inundation, and morphology of the continental shelves suggest that the Australian continent has been tilting north eastwards since the Late Cretaceous. Our work investigates the direct impact of this phenomenon and the preceding tectonic events on the evolution of the Northern Carnarvon Basin evolution and its hydrocarbon resources. We use backstripping and decompaction techniques to develop subsidence, sedimentation, and porosity evolution models for the basin, which sits on the axis of the tilt. The goal is to highlight the spatial and temporal variation of subsidence and sedimentation rates, then give insights into the factors that created accommodation space for sediments. Then assess their impacts on the porosity of the Early Cretaceous reservoirs within the basin. The results reveal a north-eastward shift of subsidence and sedimentation rates from the Early Jurassic to the present in the region. In the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, this variation was caused by the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic rifting events that produced higher tectonic subsidence (~3km) and higher sediment supply in the southwestern Exmouth and Barrow sub-basins, with reducing intensity in the northeastern direction towards Dampier and Beagle Sub-basin. From cretaceous to the present, subsidence and sediment distribution were impacted by the dynamic topography and the northeastwards tilting of the Australian continent. Subsidence along the NE-SW transect and the porosity evolution model results also demonstrate the tilting occurring in these sub-basins.

ASEG WA - June Tech Night and Student Award event
Date & Venue:
Thursday 24th June 2021
5:30 pm start - 7.30pm end
The Shoe Bar
Shop GSO7 Yagan Square
376 - 420 Wellington St
Perth CBD

The WA Branch of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists invites you 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.

Speech title: The Value of Geophysical Information at the Time of Drilling
Speaker: Dave Lawie, Chief Geoscientist and Chief Technologist, IMDEX

Overview:

The transition to a decarbonized future starts and ends with metals — but there can be no start without the mining industry. Billions of dollars have been allocated globally to improve battery technology and production, electric vehicle production, and storage and charging infrastructure, but where are the key metals and minerals coming from? There are limited supplies to meet increasing demand.

Miners big and small will be required to find, define and mine the crucial metals of the future, including copper for renewable energy infrastructure such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and charging stations; lithium and cobalt for lithium-ion batteries; rare earth and critical minerals; and aluminum, silver, nickel, lead, and zinc. Mining companies in a decarbonized future will have to be adept at finding and supplying these metals from increasingly remote and challenging environments. The difference between success and failure, between an economic and uneconomic deposit will be greater orebody knowledge, which will deliver improved processing intensity, less waste, fewer tailings, less water use, and greater overall efficiencies.

Mining companies able to access reliable data as early as possible at each step of the mining value chain from exploration and drilling, to planning and production, will be in the best position to deliver the metals the world will demand.

Speaker Bio: Dave holds the dual roles of Chief Geoscientist and Chief Technologist – Mining for IMDEX. Prior to joining IMDEX, Dave held global positions in exploration geochemistry and R&D with Pasminco and Anglo American before co-founding ioGlobal in 2004 as Managing Director.

Dave grew ioGlobal into a global company specializing in geochemistry and geometallurgical consulting services, cloud-based data management, and the ioGAS desktop analytics software– the company was acquired by IMDEX in 2012.

Dave has a PhD in Geosciences and Analytics from the University of New England and a trade qualification as an Instrument Technician. 

ASEG WA Branch will also felicitate ASEG WA 2020 student award to four students. REGISTRATION and RSVP are REQUIRED before 22nd June 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 at this link to get a spot as seats are limited. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

ASEG Victoria is pleased to announce the first of our winter series of in-person branch events with another superb technical meeting night.  You are cordially invited to join us for a talk by Mr. Mark Grujic (Director, Solve Geosolutions) on Wednesday June 16^th from 6pm at The Kelvin Club.  Admission to this event is free for members so please ensure you have renewed your membership for 2021 before registering.

Advances in the geoscientific application of computer vision

One of the most common datasets available to exploration geoscientists is drill core imagery. Unfortunately, the huge range in quality and general state of core photography can be an impediment to many data-driven image analysis processes. In this talk, methods of dealing with some of the shortcomings of core photo data will be introduced.  Some such methods include the application of Self-Supervised-Learning to obtain models that are agnostic to lighting conditions, blur, resolution and other unwanted artefacts, as well as digital inpainting of geological information in photos that have been masked by core-markup or other obfuscations.  The validity of these processes to gain new insights from geophysical datasets including potential field geophysics data will be discussed.

Bio: Mark graduated from Monash university with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in geophysics. He spent 8 years with Rio Tinto Exploration in Perth and Santiago, initially working on geophysical hardware and processing algorithms, then supporting global exploration programs.  Since 2018, he has worked Solve Geosolutions, Australia’s first dedicated geo-data-science consulting group. In 2019, Solve launched Datarock, a mining and exploration focused computer-vision company, where Mark provides technical insight and product development support.

Note: Light refreshments will be served during the evening.

Please register your interest in attending this event by using the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aseg-vic-technical-meeting-night-tickets-156186258303

Title: Managing Through (constant) Change And Uncertainty -  The Key Dilemmas Facing Resources Industry Personnel

Presenter: Michelle Henderson

Date: Tuesday  8th June

Time: 16:00 AEST  

Location: Joint Zoom virtual + physical presentation at Geoscience Australia

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yNHpLyXNTOOXe5Qx4FsGSA

Abstract:

The cyclical nature of the resources industry creates very specific challenges across investment through to people management.  Faced with constant ‘instability’, often supply-limited expertise and the uncertainty over discovery, how do we hold on to our people, maintain their enthusiasm and continue to lead success?

As a professional coach across government and scientific agencies, Michelle brings extensive experience to the ‘problem’ and solution.  Her empathetic and pragmatic approach empowers professionals to not only manage change, but to enthusiastically grasp the opportunities it brings. 

Bio:

Michelle Henderson is a professional consultant and coach. She has been consulting to government and scientific agencies for the last six years. Her specialties include executive leadership, change and working with governments.

As a consultant Michelle combines her passion for leadership and innovation. She works with senior leaders to help them manage their teams, and themselves, in constantly changing environments. Her empathetic and pragmatic approach empowers professionals to not only manage change, but to actively seek opportunities to make positive change happen.

Prior to consulting, Michelle worked for 23 years at executive and senior executive levels in the areas of industry, innovation and science policy. Michelle has a deep understanding of Australia’s innovation system and the important role science discovery, research and commercialisation play in knowledge and wealth creation for Australia.

Michelle has postgraduate qualifications in Management (industry strategy) and vocational qualifications in training and development.  She is a level 1 accredited coach.

The next technical meeting will be held on Wednesday 19^th May, we will also be livestreaming it on zoom only (the presentation will not be available for viewing later). Please see details below:

Presenter:          Chris Alfonso (USYD)

Topic:                  The influence of dynamic topography, climate, and tectonics on the Nile River source-to-sink system

Time:                   5:30 for 6pm start

Address:             Level 2, Club York (99 York St, Sydney. Room 'York 2')

Zoom registration:         https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x9aipncxT3Wn4TIQdr06AA

Meeting registration:    https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TYFG2GM by Monday 17^th May – due to COVID restrictions we require a registration for in-person meetings. If you have trouble registering please email nswsecretary@aseg.org.au 

Summary:

Understanding the more than 30 Myr history of the Nile River can provide great insight into the evolution of one of the world's largest river systems and the major hydrocarbon reserves of the Nile Delta. This work builds on previous studies which explored the relationship between the river's course and the dynamic topography of Northeast Africa by considering additional possible influences on the Nile's evolution such as climate change and tectonics. These factors are incorporated into a numerical landscape evolution and stratigraphic modelling framework which makes use of the Badlands software package (https://badlands.readthedocs.io) to test the effects of multiple different scenarios for each factor. The analysis of model results involves one of the first applications of the techniques of sequence stratigraphy to a realistic numerical model. These results show that while dynamic topography, along with climate change, likely played a significant role in the Nile's history, tectonic events – including the formation of the Red Sea Hills and uplift and volcanism of the Ethiopian Plateau – appear to have had the strongest influence on the river's evolution.

Light refreshments will be available as usual, hope to see you there.

Time series clustering and class-based machine learning in predicting elastic properties of rocks: why, how, what, and so what

Shuvajit Bhattacharya, Ph.D., Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Austin

Multivariate time series clustering and class-based machine learning (ML) are relatively new concepts in geosciences; they have an immense potential to improve our models and provide more geologic insights than traditional baseline ML models. Seismic and wireline logs are a form of time series or depth series that share interdependence or conditional dependence with each other, depending on the rock type. Moreover, seismic and log data are highly redundant from an ML modeling perspective. We often do not consider these fundamental features of our datasets in ML models. This results in reduced explainability and troubleshooting of ML models and our models' failure when the boundary conditions change slightly. This talk will discuss the promises and challenges of semi-supervised time series clustering and class-based ML to solve these challenges. I will show an example of accurately and consistently predicting elastic properties of mudrocks using these concepts.

Biography: Dr. Bhattacharya is a researcher at the Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Austin. He is an applied geophysicist/petrophysicist by background. Prior to joining BEG, he worked with the University of Alaska Anchorage, Battelle, and other organizations in different roles, such as an assistant professor and petroleum geoscientist. He completed multiple projects for fossil fuel and geothermal energy exploration and carbon sequestration in the US, Australia, South Africa, and India. He has published over 50 technical articles in different journals and conferences.

To register, use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yKwFn9ZGR3e1ddp-G22zTQ