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Community News & Views
March 12, 2013
Mini-Symposium on Laterites or Laterwrongs: Making the Pieces Fit
On Tuesday March 26, 2013 the TGDG will host a selection of speakers for a mini-symposium at Hart House on ‘Laterites or Laterwrongs: Making the Pieces Fit’. Speakers include Ravi Anand (CSIRO), Peter Winterbourne (Vale), and Ron Schonewille (Xstrata)...
March 11, 2013
CET Seminar Series starts March 15 with presentation on The Past and Future of Nickel Discovery
Hailing from industry, government and academia, high profile Australian and internationally-based researchers will join the CET fortnightly to share their experience on a wide variety of geoscience topics.These seminars are FREE and all interested Geologists are welcome to attend...
February 25, 2013
Is regulation robbing exploration properties of their worth?You can’t get chickens if you don’t allow the eggs to develop. Joe Hinzer, president of geological consulting firm Watts, Griffiths and McOuat (WGM), uses this analogy to illustrate how many early-stage exploration projects are being stifled by current mineral valuation regulations before they have a shot at becoming mines...
February 04, 2013
Roundup 2013: HDI's Thiessen sees 'mining renaissance'
It has been a busy 24 hours as the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) kicked off its Mineral Exploration Roundup 2013...
January 29, 2013
Where do I meet the geologists of Africa?Africa is more than 20 per cent of the world’s land area, is home to 15 per cent of human population but still earns its label as the Dark Continent through generating only 2 per cent of the world’s electricity. Where can you find the geologists exploring this sleeping giant with its inevitable future in the resources sector?
January 28, 2013
CMIC Footprints project sets sights on large ore-forming systems
As exploration programs focus on remote and concealed targets, the ability to recognize large ore-forming systems – from the most distal margins to high-grade cores – becomes increasingly important. Efforts are therefore under way to generate sophisticated “footprint” or “signature” models of high-value deposits.
December 2, 2012
Greenfields come to Perth for Greenland Day
The December 4th Greenland Day, taking place in Perth, will feature industry and geoscience experts from across the globe, discussing Greenland’s burgeoning exploration opportunities and recent research advances...
November 1, 2012
On Nov 8, Discover the Future of Exploration
Some of the sector's leading minds will be looking into their crystal balls on November 8th, trying to summon a picture of what the future might hold for exploration and mining in Canada...
September 11, 2012
Petrobras Starts Output at Baleia Azul Presalt Field
Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, said Tuesday that it had started oil production at the Baleia Azul presalt field in the offshore Campos Basin...
September 11, 2012
Is Gold Regaining its Glitter?
Barrick Gold CEO Jamie Sokalsky speaks with Carl Quintanilla on CNBC about Barrick's strategy to drive shareholder value...
September 10, 2012
The Long Term Tie Between Energy Supply, Population, and the Economy
The tie between energy supply, population, and the economy goes back to the hunter-gatherer period...
July 12, 2012
Exploration needed to kickstart next mining boom
A massive two thirds of Western Australia remains unexplored for minerals and geologists say the territory presents huge potential...
July 12, 2012
Teams Finding New Ways to Shale Success
Shale and other unconventional resources are being called the biggest game changer in a generation - and as land and other costs escalate, the industry continues to apply lessons gleaned from the early successes...
July 11, 2012
How EM geophysics can help feasibility studies
In this exclusive interview with Professor David Thiel, Director at the Centre for Wireless Monitoring and Applications at Griffith University, he discusses how electromagnetic geophysics can help those who are conducting a feasibility study and opens up on the real cost benefits of this technology...
July 11, 2012
Mining security - opening up Latin America
Improved security has started to open up new areas for mineral exploration in Latin America....
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Airborne EM methods: be wary of relying on the tried and true
March 8, 2013 expertise
Matching an exploration target with a geophysical technique can be tricky for an explorer, partly because there are so many options available and partly because there can be significant differences in rock properties even among the same deposit types.
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AUV Magnetometers a leap forward in seabed surveying
March 8, 2013 technology
An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle-towed magnetometer proves itself in rough weather. The technique could reduce costs and time to complete seabed surveys, with improved accuracies.
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3D EM Surveys promise to reduce drilling costs
March 8, 2013 technology
The growing ease with which geophysical data are collected, inverted and visualized in three dimensions stands to change the way mining companies conduct their exploration programs.
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Academics and industry team up for marine UXO surveys
March 8, 2013 applied
Company borne out of an academic collaboration benefits both students and industry doing offshore UXO surveys in the North and Baltic Seas.
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Modelling the Karoo aids petroleum exploration in South Africa
March 8, 2013 applied
The extensive Karoo Basin of South Africa may hold vast reserves of shale gas. A tectonic modeling project underway will help determine their production viability.
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Fundamentals of Gravity Exploration
March 8, 2013 library
Fundamentals of Gravity Exploration, authored by Thomas R. LaFehr and Misac N. Nabighian, is a new publication now available from the SEG Book Mart. The book covers a full range of gravity-exploration topics, including first principles, field instrumentation and operations, rock densities and density contrasts, data reduction, methods of interpretation, and geologic examples. The subject matter includes inversion and an appendix on the Fourier transform.
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Geosoft boosts 3D modelling power
March 7, 2013 technology
Geosoft presented new workflows for geological subsurface modelling at PDAC 2013 in Toronto, adding to its integrated platform for earth exploration. The workflows include 3D wireframing and interpretation tools that make the modelling of subsurface geology faster and more effective for mineral explorers.
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The future of gold exploration
February 28, 2013 discovery
Smaller, higher-grade deposits are likely to become the focus of future gold exploration while base metal exploration will continue to tap into established mining camps with the help of new technologies.
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Introduction of UXO Marine software
February 26, 2013 technology
Marine surveyors will soon be able to use new UXO Marine software to process data collected with TVG (Transverse Gradient) and other fixed-array systems with greater accuracy, and less risk of re-acquiring data and missing UXO targets.
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Is regulation robbing exploration properties of their worth?
February 25, 2013community
You can’t get chickens if you don’t allow the eggs to develop. Joe Hinzer, president of geological consulting firm Watts, Griffiths and McOuat (WGM), uses this analogy to illustrate how many early-stage exploration projects are being stifled by current mineral valuation regulations before they have a shot at becoming mines.
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Where do I meet the geologists of Africa?
January 29, 2013 community
Africa is more than 20 per cent of the world’s land area, is home to 15 per cent of human population but still earns its label as the Dark Continent through generating only 2 per cent of the world’s electricity. Where can you find the geologists exploring this sleeping giant with its inevitable future in the resources sector?
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Minalliance ebook highlights innovations in the mining industry
January 28, 2013 library
Minalliance, a Montreal-based organization created jointly by the Québec Mineral Exploration Association and the Québec Mining Association, has published an ebook listing 100 technological improvements in exploration and mining. Inversion algorithms rated as the #1 exploration innovation. Other exploration innovations included: ICP-MS analyses, gas geochemistry and airborne gravimetry.
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CMIC Footprints project sets sights on large ore-forming systems
January 28, 2013 community
As exploration programs focus on remote and concealed targets, the ability to recognize large ore-forming systems – from the most distal margins to high-grade cores – becomes increasingly important. Efforts are therefore under way to generate sophisticated “footprint” or “signature” models of high-value deposits.
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New Approach to Basement Studies for Oil and Gas Explorers
January 24, 2013 applied
Often not given its due in oil and gas geophysics, knowledge of basement geology can be critical to exploiting reservoirs including the unconventional. When it comes to undertanding basement geology, gravity and magnetics can be just as important as seismic methods.
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Greenfields come to Perth for Greenland Day
December 2, 2012 community
The December 4th Greenland Day, taking place in Perth, will feature industry and geoscience experts from across the globe, discussing Greenland’s burgeoning exploration opportunities and recent research advances...
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Disclosure Dos and Don'ts
November 1, 2012 expertise
Given how the rules have evolved since their introduction more than decade ago (the last adjustment was in June 2011), it's not surprising that there remains some confusion around NI 43-101 compliant disclosure of exploration results. In this post, Virginia reviews some of the main infractions, and provides pointers on things to watch for.
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On Nov 8, Discover the Future of Exploration
November 1, 2012 community
Some of the sector's leading minds will be looking into their crystal balls on November 8th, trying to summon a picture of what the future might hold for exploration and mining in Canada...
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Can statistical analysis reverse the trend of declining discovery rates?
September 11, 2012 expertise
What if you could generate a map that identified not only exploration targets, but also the likelihood of those targets becoming economic deposits? The authors of the cover article for July's edition of SEG Newsletter say this kind of "radical approach" to exploration is both possible and necessary.
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First International Mining for Development course into Africa
August 3, 2012 community
As African countries seek to attract further mining exploration investment, the importance of effective, efficient cadastral systems and high-quality survey data is becoming ever clearer. The first International Mining for Development (IM4DC) course into Africa, conducted in Burkino Faso from May to July 2012, focused on the integration of cadastral, geoscience and satellite data for mining exploration and development. It’s part of a longer term capacity building process supported by industry, Australian education and government agencies.
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Metals Economics Group Pipeline Activity Index, July 2012
July 23, 2012 market
Michael Chender, CEO, Metals Economics Group reports: MEG's Pipeline Activity Index (PAI) drifted downward in May-June, with the squeeze on financings and a fall in industry equity valuations to its lowest level in two years offset by a continuing high level of new junior resource announcements; the legacy of strong exploration in the past several years.
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Nimble juniors prepare for potential surge in graphite and vanadium demand
July 20, 2012 market
Several juniors have jumped on the graphite and vanadium bandwagon, hoping that new sources of demand for these strategic minerals, mostly from battery applications, will make their exploration projects viable.
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Green Giant Graphite: Molo deposit a game changer for Energizer
July 20, 2012 discovery
At a time when most junior explorers are struggling to attract market attention, Toronto-based Energizer Resources enjoyed a 27% share price gain for the first half of June on the strength of its growing graphite-vanadium resource in Madagascar.
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Catalyst for clean energy: American Vanadium's Gibellini Project
July 19, 2012 expertise
Aiming to be the greenest mine in America, American Vanadium Corp. is evaluating the use of integrated solar and wind electric power backed by a vanadium flow battery (VFB) to run its entire operation with power to spare.
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Geotech's VTEM: detecting vanadium and graphite deposits with EM methods
July 19, 2012 technology
The recent rush to find graphite and vanadium deposits to satisfy potential demand in green energy applications is reigniting airborne electromagnetic (EM) methods as highly effective exploration tools.
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The Ring of Fire: can this young camp become a role model for mineral development?
July 17, 2012 MINING EXPLORER
The relatively young Ring of Fire exploration camp in northern Ontario has the opportunity to become a global model of responsible development where First Nations groups, mining companies and the provincial government work together to transition from exploration to production in a way that benefits all.
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Automated image analysis targets ground selection
June 5, 2012 applied
Application of aeromagnetic structural analysis techniques for greenfields gold exploration are proven in the field. Experimental results demonstrate there is a high correlation between known mineralization and the regions of structural complexity that are generated by the proposed method.
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Mapping Alaska: an explorer's journey
June 5, 2012 library
There was no path to guide field mapper Mary Albanese through the Alaskan wilderness in the 1980's. Only brush, trees, and rocks – an unchartered, seemingly endless stretch of rocks. Her memoir Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon: Mapping the Wild Heart of Alaska is the story of Albanese's life and journey as an arctic geological explorer.
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Quick, find me a target
June 4, 2012 applied
In a rush to drill based on chasing anomalies, explorers may overlook the structural geology and miss the best drill spots.
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Amityville weapon resurfaces
June 4, 2012 applied
Almost 40 years after one of America's most famous mass murders, a second weapon is detected and recovered with marine geophysics.
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Offshore oil prowess: Eni's expertise in deep offshore oil exploration
June 4, 2012 Expertise
As the planet's easy-to-find petroleum resources mature, deep offshore exploration and production lead the trend to the more difficult and challenging regions. Eni is one of a handful of leaders.
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Redefining the search space for minerals
June 4, 2012 Expertise
Greenfields-related research conducted by the Centre for Exploration Targeting is aiding industry efforts to look deeper. Innovation holds the key to bringing down the cost of making new, deeper, discoveries and securing future resource supplies.
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Risky business: Balancing the risk and rewards in greenfields exploration
June 4, 2012 Discovery
Knowing when to drill and when to walk away is essential in greenfields exploration. Explorers weigh in on market realities impeding the search for greenfields , and what it will take to meet the demand for quality finds.
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Sourcing regional data: Government survey data serving greenfields explorers
June 4, 2012 applied
For juniors constrained by limited resources, usable and inexpensive government survey data is often the key to stimulating and advancing greenfields projects.
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Seeing the shades of grey in 3D inversion
June 4, 2012 technology
Eventually, as the number of constraints in inversion models increases, geoscientists will be able to map regions of alteration in proximity to orebodies, predicts Dr. Bill Morris and his colleagues.
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exSim exploration simulator software - CET training tool for mineral exploration decision making
June 3, 2012 Technology
Researchers at the Perth-based Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET) are developing an exploration simulator for training purposes. The aim of exSim is to improve the performance of explorers through simulated training.
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3D Earth Modelling in the Cloud: The Geosoft VOXI development story
May 25, 2012 Community
Creating the cloud-based VOXI inversion service, released by Geosoft in April 2012, took over three years and required the work of 29 people on a number of development teams. Ian MacLeod, Chief Technologist tells the development story behind VOXI...