NSW Tech night: Advanced geomodelling to reveal buried deposits

Title: Advanced geomodelling to reveal buried deposits

Presenter: Addison Tu

Date and time: Wednesday, 24th April 2024 at 1800 (NSW)

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uVDLEHa8TFOByizyPdGRAQ

Abstract:

Porphyry deposits are of important societal significance as critical sources of copper. 

Copper demands are projected to increase significantly to supply the transition to net-zero, but discoveries have dwindled in recent decades. The finite number of deposits exposed at the surface are nearing depletion, and advancements to exploration techniques must target buried deposits. Here we present a workflow which incorporates machine learning predictions for deposit formation within the crust, with a highly calibrated landscape evolution model to track the vertical motion of deposits through geological time. The results inform where deposits may be preserved and at what depth, or where deposits have been destroyed by erosion. We tested this approach on the mountains of New Guinea, which feature abundant volcanism responsible for deposit formation at depth and extreme erosion to exhume deposits toward the surface. Our approach identified high prospectivity in accordance with the spatial extents of known surface deposits, identified several highly prospective regions for near-surface deposits and where deposits have been destroyed by erosion. Our workflow provides a region-scale prospecting tool to de-risk the economic and environmental cost of field-based exploration. Importantly, the workflow is open-source, scalable to other regions and even adaptable to other mineral systems (with constraints on the depth of formation

Bio:

Addison is a PhD student and Research Assistant within the Earthbyte group, working closely with Dr. Sabin Zahirovic and Dr. Tristan Salles. His research focuses on Eastern Australia, particularly concerning the eastward accretion of microcontinents and volcanic arc-islands since the Cambrian. Geological events in this region and period involve the formation of mountains and the closing of seaways, with many implications for climate, past landscapes and environments, and the formation and preservation of economic deposits.

Addison utilises landscape evolution modelling, tectonic models, and thermochronology with a focus on linking Earth’s surface processes and evolution to other Earth Systems such as the tectonics, climate and the ocean. He also has experience developing landscape evolution models and landform design tools within industry.