Industry

Title: The Seven Deadly Sins Of Scale: Why Petrophysics + Structure + Mineralogy Can Solve The Scale Paradox.

Presenter: Jim Austin

Date & Time: Wednesday, 16th August 2023 at 1800

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kVfHg58_T8qjdHp1Og-3Gw

Abstract:

Prior to the last decade, Petrophysicists typically had access to contextual information on the geology, but that information was qualitative, and unreliable.  of non-contextual (cf. geochemistry, maths, statistics). The advent of quantitative methods for mapping mineralogy and rock texture on palaeomagnetic samples took petrophysics out of the dark ages. It provided quantitative geological information on mineralogy and rock texture, which in turn provide insights into a range of contextual constraints, including alteration, deformation and metamorphism. Quantitative mineralogy allows us to classify our petrophysical data accurately, this providing a framework to interrogate data meaningfully. Inversely, petrophysics provides a lens through which to convert mineralogy into physical properties, many of which (unlike mineralogy and geochemistry) are truly scalar. If we can convert mineralogy to physics, we can understand crustal architecture across scales. Whilst petrophysics is gradually becoming more widely used, physics can be complex, magnetic and conductivity in particular. In this talk, Jim will outline the Integrated Petrophysics approach, illustrate how to integrate and use the data, citing case histories on IOCG, Magnetite and Magmatic Nickel deposits across Australia. We’ll discuss seven of the most common traps which lead to misinterpretation.  

Bio:

Jim Austin occupies the core of a Venn diagram in which petrophysics, geophysics, structural geology, alteration and magmatic mineralogy, GIS and guitar overlap. He is focussed on dissecting the petrophysical and structural anatomy of ore deposits, to understand the interaction of structural controls on alteration.

Title: Precision Impulsive: A high-productivity land impulse source.

Presenter: William Davie

Date/Time: 17:15, 27th July 2023

Registration: here

Abstract:

Precision Impulse (PI), a seismic source development company, will describe an actuator that drives a versatile seismic source. The source is portable with low environmental impact.

A new high productivity mode could acquire high quality 2D or 3D surface seismic data to find and analyze CO2 storage sites and critical minerals at lower cost with better logistics. The source can also be deployed to acquire 4D seismic data to monitor CO2 storage sites to prove integrity and to optimize geothermal energy production.

Bio:

An electrical engineer with more than 35 years’ experience in the global oil and gas industry, Will Davie began his career at SLB in North Africa, including introducing early versions of wireline conveyed borehole seismic. In most areas this involved putting an airgun in a pit filled with water, a bit tricky in the desert, hence his interest in an easier to deploy seismic source.

Following operational, technical and marketing roles, Will was appointed as Chief Economist to look at how better understanding of the subsurface can be used to provide more reliable, affordable energy with lower environmental impact. This included the formation of groups to look at CCS monitoring and applications of better subsurface understanding to Water management.

Will has been working on the new seismic source with Precision Impulse since 2012.

Title: A seismic source field trial in the Bass Strait: testing the impact of several different source configurations on geophysical quality, received sound and direct impact on scallops and lobsters

Presenter: Jon Cocker

Location: Ayre’s House, 288 North Tce, Adelaide

Date: Thursday 27th July

Time: 12 pm for a 12:30 pm start

Cost: ASEG members $60, Students $25, non-members $75

Please register for this event at: https://pesa.com.au/events/pesa-sa-nt-julytechnical-luncheon-a-seismic-source-field-trial-in-the-bass-strait-testing-the-impact-of-several-different-source-configurations-on-geophysical-quality-received-sound-and-di/?mc_cid=0b440b5b69&mc_eid=20402cfdd8

Overview:

Beach Energy acquired a seismic source technology field trial in Dec 2021 in the shallow waters (50-80m) of the Bass Strait. The trial consisted of eight source tests acquired along two 2D lines, including: a full-size array (2480 cu.in.) with Sercel G-GUN II in a wide-tow triple source configuration, eSourceTM (2098 & 1049 cu. in.), reduced size (300, 700 & 1260 cu.in.), and Distributed Source tests including Shearwaters Apparition test (140 & 340 cu.in.). A test of a 70 cu.in. airgun was also recorded during a whale mitigation procedure. The aim of the field trial is to investigate whether any of these source options:

1. Provide the required geophysical data quality

2. Significantly alter the received anthropogenic sound levels (SPL and SEL)

3. Changes the impacts on benthic invertebrates via analysis of scallop and lobster specimens placed on the seafloor

This combined data will then be used to determine if any of the alternative source options are suitable replacements for conventional full-sized arrays and if any provide a meaningful reduction to potential impact on marine organisms.

The study was performed in conjunction with the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies, Fisheries Research & Development Corporation, Curtin University, and the Department of Natural Resources & Environment Tasmania.

Scallop and lobster specimens as a model species for crustaceans and molluscs were placed on the seabed below the full array (triple and single source), both eSource arrays and one control location. The specimens were assessed over 6 months for physical damage, chronic effects and survival, pH, refractive index, total and differential haemocyte cell counts, DNA damage and biochemistry. Lobsters were also assessed for righting ability. The results will not be available until Q4 2023. Noise loggers were collocated with the specimens to measure received sound.

The data processing was completed by Shearwater. The results show that all options result in lower S/N raw shot gathers; but also, that modern processing algorithms are able to compensate for most of this through noise attenuation, deblending and designature. eSource (2098 and 1049 cu.in.) and the reduced source size options provide very similar final stack and migrated gather quality to the full array. Both apparition tests (140 & 340 cu.in.) were very similar in 2D stack quality but with slightly lower S/N below 4Hz and above 64Hz. The data quality of the other distributed source tests was better in the shallow but worse in the deep due to poor randomisation achieved. There are differences in gather quality that require further investigation. These results demonstrate that alternative sources and/or smaller volumes have the potential to meet survey objectives whilst reducing impact on marine life.

Bio:

Jon Cocker has been the Manager of Geophysics at Beach Energy since 2019. Prior to that he has held numerous other positions including Chief Geophysicist at DownUnder GeoSolutions and Seismic Acquisition R&D Team Leader at Chevron USA.

The WA Branch of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicist invites members and non-members to quickly rsvp for the special talk scheduled as:

Date:      Thursday, July 27, 2023
Time:      5:30pm (AWST)
Location: The Shoe Bar and Cafe 
               376 - 420 Wellington Street Perth, WA 6050
Parking: CPP parking is close by for those of you who will be driving to the city. 

Registration: Here

Bio:

James (Jim) Dirstein studied Geology and Geophysics at the University of Toronto. For more than 40 years he has enjoyed working as a geophysicist on many resource projects in Australia and overseas. In addition to his project work, Jim has played a role in the commercialization of several transformative technologies. During his career, these efforts   have involved working as an early adopter, angel investor or collaborator, in the fields of time series analysis, digital surface analysis along with a patented airborne acquisition system and a fully trained and patented Artificial Intelligence (AI). Outside of the realm of geophysics Jim has presented papers at metallurgy conferences on the role of microbes for in-situ mining, minesite remediation, Carbon capture and using microbes for permeability enhancement and the production of Hydrogen.

Abstract: 

The art of data interpretation is about finding patterns in data. Finding patterns requires careful observations. Human beings are very much visual creatures with our perception of the world based upon what we can see. Unfortunately, traditional interpretation methods are often biased by our senses as well as pre-existing ideas. Therefore, the combination of confirmation bias, along with things we “don’t see” distorts our perception of reality. Often data we are tasked with interpreting is presented to us a surface. This surface could be a digital elevation map or more likely data from remote sensing methods such as Potential Fields, Radiometrics or Seismic attributes, etc. As geoscientists we are always looking for ways that help us to organise information into more meaningful formats, enabling both accurate and time efficient reviews of data. Moreover, since most of interpretation of the geophysical data we acquire is non-unique in nature, we need to consider workflows to help minimise this non-uniqueness.
 

Since a fundamental property of any surface is its geometric characteristics, the identification and extraction of these properties can reveal features and objects not easily identifiable by visual analysis alone. In 2013, a new method for digital surface analysis was introduced to address some of the limitations of traditional surface analysis methods. This mathematical solution applies a completely different approach without the use of existing techniques or algorithms. With this method, the analysis of a digital surface involves the calculation of a complete set of morphometric properties as it is defined by differential geometry (e.g. Dupin Indicatrix). The resulting database of geometric elements is queryable using a GIS style interface providing an attractive means to simplify and accelerate the data mining process.
 

This analysis technique was introduced to the ASEG at the 23rd International Conference and Exhibition, 11-14 August 2013 Melbourne, Australia. The presentation and extended abstract was entitled “Digital surface Analysis: -A new approach using differential geometry”.

While the 2013 publication provided background and several examples, our evening presentation will discuss several new examples and workflows from our use of this technology over the last decade.

Drinks and nibbles will be available from 5:30pm - 6:15pm. The talk will commence promptly at 6:15pm. The ASEG WA thanks our sponsors for their continued support.

Please contact wapresident@aseg.org.au with any queries.

Title: Scalable Streamlining of Ambient Noise Tomography: A Simple Automated Approach for Dispersion Curve Estimation and Quality Control in the Era of Big Data

Speaker: Babak Hejrani

Date/Time: Jul 20, 2023 16:00

Bio:

Babak Hejrani is a seismologist specializing in the field of geophysics within GA's Onshore Seismic and Magnetotelluric Section. With a decade-long background as a researcher in academia, Babak joined GA in 2018 and has since made contributions to developing new technologies for passive seismic imaging. He has established fruitful collaborations with international organizations in Europe, Asia and Australia with a primary focus around developing and implementing advanced imaging technologies that provide enhanced insights into the lithospheric structure of Australia. Babak strives to push the boundaries of seismic imaging, enabling more accurate interpretations of subsurface features.

Teams meeting:

We are delighted to announce that CAGE is back for 2023!

The Australian Society of Exploration Geophysics is hosting a one-week Camp for Applied Geophysics Excellence in Western Australia from Sunday 24th of September, returning on Sunday October 1st, 2023. This field camp will involve seven days of real-world application of major geophysical techniques.

The camp kicks off with an introduction to the approaches, goals and challenges of geophysics for mineral exploration. The necessary field training, theory and methodologies of major geophysical techniques will be provided by industry-recognized experts. Potential field, electrical, electromagnetic and seismic methods will be explained, together with their applications for mineral exploration, natural resource management and geotechnical work. The deployment of geophysical equipment, work health and safety considerations and survey design will also be covered.

Participants will learn how to process geophysical data and utilise various commercial and open-source software packages. They will complete practical sessions on basic data importation and reduction, filtering, modelling, inversion, data display and importantly, interpretation. The camp also covers how to integrate diverse geophysical datasets to map/image the sub-surface in the vicinity of a sulfide target in Forrestania, Western Australia.

Attendance cost is fully covered by our sponsors and there are limited spaces available. Applicant selection will be based on the answers provided in these forms. 

Please fill out the expression of interest form below BEFORE June 26th for a chance to be selected for this amazing opportunity! 

https://shorturl.at/cnAGT.

Successful applicants will be notified by July 8th.

If your company is interested in sponsoring or providing in-kind support for CAGE 2023, please get in touch to find out more or for a copy of our sponsorship packages.

For any queries please contact continuingeducation@aseg.org.au

Key contacts are:

Kate Brand - ASEG Professional Development Chair 

Kate Selway - CAGE coordinator

Sasha Aivazpourporgou - CAGE logistics coordinator

International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy (IMAGE)

28 August–1 September | Houston, Texas

The SEG are pleased to extend an invitation to you on behalf of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), and the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) to the 2023 International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy (IMAGE) at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. The event will take place from 28 August to 1 September, marking our third year of scientific excellence and collaboration at the premier meeting for energy professionals.

Title: Application of shallow electromagnetics surveys (Loupe EM) to support management of environmental water to floodplains on the River Murray in SA

Presenter: Mike Hatch

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

Date: Thursday 15th June

Time: 5:30 pm for a 6:15 pm start

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

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/sa-nt-aseg-technical-talk-dr-mike-hatch-tickets-638393160127

Overview:

I have been working with colleagues at Flinders University and the University of Adelaide, on a project collecting large amounts of shallow electromagnetic data using the relatively new Loupe system. Specifically, we have been working on the Pike and Katarapko floodplains in the Riverland of South Australia: the first two surveys were run in May and December 2021, and the last in June 2022. Another round of surveying will be completed by the end of June 2023. This ongoing project is intended to investigate and monitor changes to the shallow groundwater system, and the potential expansion and contraction of the low salinity groundwater lenses over Pike River and Katarapko Creek floodplains following both controlled and uncontrolled flooding events. Both floodplains have within the last two years been fitted with barrages and regulators that allow for planned, artificial flooding when there is available water flowing in the Murray. Our work is intended to measure the extent and longevity of floodplain freshening that occurs after these events. Both areas were artificially flooded in mid- to late-2021 so we were able to collect one set of “baseline” data before flooding and one post-flood data set. The dataset will be especially interesting, as, as most of you will know, the Murray has naturally flooded to its highest levels since the huge floods in 1956.

Bio:

Mike completed a PhD at the University of Adelaide in 2012 in geosciences, specialising in near-surface geophysics. Much of his research has been applied to using electromagnetic methods to image the salinity distribution in the near-river environment, mostly on and adjacent to the Murray River in South Australia. He has worked for almost 30 years collecting electrical and electromagnetic data, much of it for the mineral exploration industry. At present he splits his time between a position at the University of Adelaide as a contract researcher, Zonge Engineering (with whom he has worked for quite a while), and as the Australian rep for Vista Clara, an American company that specialises in the use of NMR to locate water in the subsurface. And he is trying to learn how to play golf too late in life.

Title: Continental-scale multilayered chronostratigraphic interpretation of airborne electromagnetics

Presenter: Sebastian Wong

Date and time:  4pm (AEST time) on 24th May

Virtual attendees: Click here to join the meeting (Microsoft Teams) (Or call in (audio only) +61 2 8318 0003,,134611687# )