Up & Coming Geoscientists - a sample of our AIG Honours Bursary Recipients

AIG News • No 123 • February 2016 

Up & Coming Geoscientists 

- a sample of our AIG Honours 

Bursary Recipients 

Inside this AIG News... 

From Your President: Our land abounds in nature’s gifts • Institute News •Membership Updates • Registered Professional 

Geoscientists Applications • Geoscientist Employment in Australia Continues its Slide • Geologists in the age of commodity 

turmoil • Upcoming Events • Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis of the Epsilon Formation, Merrimelia Ridge, Cooper Basin – 

South Australia • Origin of ladder dykes and associated rocks, Ravenswood: Implication of Magmatic Evolution • 

Fluid inclusion and trace element study of stockwork quartz at the Red Mountain porphyry copper deposit • 4: Seven 

Wonders of the Hydrogeological World - Iconic Blue Lake • Industry – Academic Research Projects: The Good, The Bad 

and The Ugly • VALMIN CODE 2015: What has changed and why? • Geologists Are Highly Biased—How to take Business 

Advantage of this Bias • Events Calendar • And much more... 

ISSN 0812-6089 · ISBN 1 876118 47 4

AMC Specialist Technical 

Workshops 

January – December 2016 

AMC Consultants (AMC) is a leading independent mining consultancy, providing services exclusively to the minerals sector. We are 

pleased to announce dates for our specialist technical career development workshops. Participants on all workshops will receive a 

bound, full-colour workshop manual. AMC can also run these workshops in-house and tailor them for your specific needs. 

Discounts are available for participants who attend several workshops in the same week (March, June, August, November). 

JORC 2012—Complying with the Code in the 

Reporting Environment 

Brisbane: 2 March, 22 June, 24 August, 16 November 

Presenters: Peter Stoker and Mark Berry 

This half-day workshop will present the fundamental 

requirements of the JORC Code, including new and changed 

provisions adopted in 2012. Examples of compliant and 

non-compliant reports will be reviewed, including case studies. 

This workshop is designed for existing and intending 

Competent Persons and management staff at all levels. 

Lessons Learnt from Auditing Mineral 

Resource Estimates 


Hong Kong: 4 April (in conjunction with Mines and Money) 

Presenters: Peter Stoker and Mark Berry 

This one-day workshop will present key learnings from AMC’s 

extensive international audits of mineral resource estimates. It 

is designed to provide new and senior geological staff with 

insights into best practice and common problems. Topics 

covered will include drill programme design and drilling, 

surveying, sample preparation and analytical techniques, 

logging and related processes, geological interpretation and 

domaining, geostatistics, estimation, classification, reporting, 

QA/QC processes, and data management. 

Preparing Appropriate Inputs for Robust 

Grade Estimation 

Brisbane: 29 February, 20 June, 22 August, 14 November 

Presenter: Alex Virisheff 

This one-day workshop will present fundamental considerations 

and understandings in preparing information as inputs for 

completing a mineral resource estimate. It is designed to provide 

guidance on addressing issues associated with data inputs to 

grade estimates and grade estimation tasks. 

Delivering High-quality Grade Estimates 


Presenter: Alex Virisheff 

This one-day workshop will present fundamental 

considerations and understandings in carrying out grade 

estimation in completing a mineral resource estimate. It is 

designed to provide guidance on setting grade estimation 

parameters, selecting grade estimation methods, and 

completing validation of grade estimates. 

Assessment of Geological Uncertainty in 

Mining and Management of Risk 


Presenter: Mark Berry 

This one-day workshop will identify and assess the sources 

of geological uncertainty that feed into mineral resource 

and ore reserve estimates, with implications from pit to 

port. Case studies and a range of risk management 

strategies will be presented. This workshop is designed for 

geologists, engineers, metallurgists, and management staff 

at all levels. 

Excellence in Mineral Resources Estimation 

Brisbane: 23–27 May, 17–21 October 

Presenters: Peter Stoker, Mark Berry, Alex Virisheff, 

Brian Hall, and other industry specialists 

This five-day workshop provides geologists with a 

comprehensive review of all inputs into resource estimation, 

from data collection to reporting. Case studies are used 

extensively to illustrate and reinforce concepts. The workshop 

is presented by AMC principal consultants, supplemented by 

guest presentations covering topics such as sample 

preparation and analysis issues. 

Register online at www.amcconsultants.com/training 

For more information, contact: Alana Philips: (T) +61 7 3230 9000 (E) bristraining@amcconsultants.com 

www.amcconsultants.com 

AMC — the business of mining 

2 AIG NEWS Issue 123 · February 2016

Inside this AIG news... 

4 From Your President: Our land abounds in nature’s gifts 

7 Institute News 

15 

Snippets 

NSW Branch Report 

Tasmania Branch Report 

Education News 

14 Membership Updates 

30 

14 Registered Professional Geoscientists Applications 

15 Geoscientist Employment in Australia Continues its Slide 

20 Geologists in the age of commodity turmoil 

Contents 

22 Upcoming Events 

24 Student articles 

32 

Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis of the Epsilon Formation, 

Merrimelia Ridge, Cooper Basin – South Australia 

Origin of ladder dykes and associated rocks, Ravenswood: 

Implication of Magmatic Evolution 

Fluid inclusion and trace element study of stockwork quartz at the 

Red Mountain porphyry copper deposit 

30 4: Seven Wonders of the Hydrogeological World - Iconic Blue Lake 

32 Industry – Academic Research Projects: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 

42 

Cover photo: 

Jordan Mill in Uluru, NT - a field trip with the 

Australian School of Petroleum (University of 

Adelaide). 

38 VALMIN CODE 2015: What has changed and why? 

42 Geologists Are Highly Biased—How to take Business Advantage of this Bias 

49 Events Calendar 

50 AIG Council & AIG News 

AIG Secretariat 

Contact: Doug Wiles 

Ph: (02) 9431 8662 

Fax: (02) 9431 8677 

Email: aig@aig.org.au 

The Association Specialists (TAS) 

PO Box 576 

Crows Nest NSW 1585 

Australia 

AIG NEWS Issue 123 · February 2016 3

From Your President 

Wayne Spilsbury 

President’s Report 

Our land abounds in nature’s gifts 

Just when you thought it couldn’t 

get worse – it has. AIG’s latest 

Employment Survey has shown a 

further increase in unemployment (18.7%) 

and further deterioration in underemployment 

Federal Government 

Exploration Development Incentive (EDI): 

a creative use of tax deductions where 

investors deduct a proportion of a company’s 

eligible exploration expenditure against 

of 800Mt at 0.8% copper and 0.3g/t gold). 

Pace 2020 follows on from the successful 

$30.9 million PACE initiative launched in 2004 

with a further $10.2 million funding. 

(23.4%) amongst geoscientists. It seems 

almost flippant to say but “Hang in there”; 

it will and must get better. The world’s 

population keeps increasing by 3% per year 

and each new generation wants more and 

better stuff than the last and all stuff has to be 

made from natural resources. 

For un(der)employed members this is an 

opportune time to upgrade skills and expand 

your professional network for the inevitable 

turnaround. All state Branches are offering 

unemployed members discounted rates for 

Professional Development events or you can 

take advantage of our group discount for 

Edumine courses. 

In the depth of this unprecedented 

downturn in the minerals industry it’s easy to 

get despondent and blame our governments, 

blame NGOs, blame China etc. But let’s focus 

on the good; as our anthem notes nature has 

blessed Australia with the gift of tremendous 

mineral wealth that contributes more than 

10 percent to our gross domestic product 

and employs more than 300,000 Australians. 

While we will continue to press the States and 

Federal government to expedite the long and 

non-productive process of securing access 

to land, we should also acknowledge the 

assistance they are providing: 

their personal taxable income. 84 mineral 

exploration companies qualified in the 

first year of operation of the programme. 

Their shareholders will be able to claim 

accumulated tax offsets of $21 million when 

lodging their next returns. A further $35 

million and S40 million will be available in 

2015/16 and 2016/17 respectively. 

The Research and Development Incentive: 

The Research and Development Incentive: 

the current R&D Tax Incentive (capped at 

$100 million/yr) gives some innovative junior 

miners access to the 45 percent refundable 

R&D tax offset. The line between eligible core 

R&D activities and exploration exclusions is a 

fine one and companies are advised to seek 

advice from one of the big four accounting 

firms or a specialists tax advisor in preparing 

their application. 

South Australia 

Plan for Accelerating Exploration (PACE 

2020): SA was the first state to create a 

co-funded drilling programme where successful 

applicants received up to 50 % of the direct 

drilling costs, to a maximum of $100,000. 

Their biggest success was the Carrapateena 

discovery (Indicated and Inferred Resources 

The Geoscientist Assistance Program (GAP): 

is a collaboration between the Department 

of State Development, PACE and the South 

Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy. The 

GAP places skilled and graduate geoscientists 

into work placements through a salary 

subsidy scheme and contributes up to $1000 

towards site readiness training e.g. First Aid, 

4WD training etc. 

Western Australia 

Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS): 

has co-funded mineral exploration drilling to 

the tune of $39.4 million for more than 590 

greenfields projects since it began in 2009. 

WA has committed a further $10 million per 

year to the scheme to June 2017. The Nova 

discovery (Mineral Resource 14.3Mt grading 

2.3% nickel, 0.9% copper and 0.08% cobalt) 

was in part facilitated by EIS funding. 

Mining Legislation Amendment Bill 2015: 

many low-impact exploration activities which 

present minimal environmental risk or impact, 

would soon become eligible for immediate 

approval in non-environmentally sensitive areas. 

4 

AIG NEWS Issue 123 · February 2016

Queensland 

Minister for Natural Resources and Mines 

has announced a 50% reduction over the 

next two years in the expenditure that an 

explorer is required to commit under their 

Northern Territory 

Creating Opportunities for Resource 

Exploration (CORE): a $3.95 million 

initiative which focusses on acquiring new 

precompetitive geoscience information as 

AIG has 6 members on the VALMIN 

Committee. They have worked hard to 

complete the VALMIN Code (2015 Edition) 

which became effective on 30 January 2016 

and becomes mandatory from 1 July 2016. 

President’s Report 

mineral exploration permit (excluding coal). 

well as industry collaborative grants for 50% 

To access the new Valmin Code go to 

Also a dedicated Resources Investment 

of costs (up to $100,000) for exploration in 

http://www.valmin.org/docs/VALMIN_ 

Commissioner has been appointed to 

unexplored/greenfields areas. 

Code_2015_final.pdf 

assist mineral explorers compete for 

My final note, according to Wikipedia, 3 April 

investment capital. 

Tasmania 

is Geologists Day “… a professional holiday 

Western Tasmanian Geoscience Initiative: 

of geologists, hydrogeologists, engineering 

New South Wales 

Mineral Resources Tasmania doesn’t have 

geologists, geophysicists and geochemists. It 

New Frontiers Cooperative Drilling: 

the funds to co-fund drilling but is continuing 

is traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday 

encourages exploration drilling in greenfields 

to collect precompetitive geoscientific 

of April. … established by decree of the 

areas that will test new geological ideas and 

information, in order to enhance the 

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on March 31, 

models in regions covered by significant 

prospectivity of under-explored areas primarily 

1966 to commemorate the achievements of 

cover. The program will fund 50% - 100% of 

in Western Tasmania. 

Soviet geologists after discovery of the West 

drilling metre-rate costs, with a maximum 

“I’m from government and I’m here to help 

Siberian petroleum province.” Na zdorovie! 

of $200,000 awarded per project. The 

you” actually rings true for mineral explorers! 

total government allocation for Round 2 of 

I recently queried the WA Department 

Cooperative Drilling will be $2 million in 

of Mines and Petroleum about Annual 

2016-2017. 

Operations Reports – expenditure on mining 

tenements (aka “Form 5”). I don’t know 

Wayne Spilsbury 

Victoria 

the reporting requirements in other States 

President 

TARGET Minerals Exploration Initiative: 

but here in WA anyone can author a Form 

provides $11.7 million (over four years), to 

5 report. It seems to me that a report to 

companies for co-funded minerals exploration 

government detailing exploration activity 

programs. The TARGET Area for Round 1 

should be authored by a professional 

(2016) is the Stavely Province for base metals 

geoscientist bound by an enforceable 

and/or gold. 

Code of Ethics (i.e. an AIG member). Such 

a requirement could provide consulting 

geoscientists with new clients amongst the 

junior explorers who lack professional staff. 


Resources advisory, consulting 

and training services group 

OPTIRO 2016 Professional Development Courses: 

using real-life data-sets 

The Optiro courses give you the knowledge, skills and tools to 

confidently and efficiently work on your own. 

We believe that the best way for you to learn, is to take you step-by-step through the 

processes - using real-life data sets - to ensure you gain the practical experience you 

need to immediately put what you have learned into practice when back at work. 

Each training-day has an 8PD HOURS AusIMM rating. 

Essential Excel Skills for Geologists 

key tips, tricks, tools and templates to save you time and effort – and make your work look great! 

Sampling Theory and Best Practice 

understanding the key issues - how to optimise the frequency, size and the nature of the sample, and quantifying the 

errors associated with the sample. Practice of how the sample is taken, delimited, reduced, transported and prepared; 

and the theory of how to measure the errors associated with our sampling protocols, and to optimise those protocols. 

Getting The Most Out of QAQC Data 

covers the QAQC life cycle: planning types and frequencies of QAQC data to be collected; mechanics of collecting, 

transporting and submitting samples; analyses for systematic and trending errors; what is and 

what isn’t a failure; making changes in the resource database. 

Reconciliation - getting it right the first time 

all aspects of reconciliation process, including key data to be collected, importance of unbiased 

measurement of volumes, tonnages and grades (among other metrics). How to map out the production data flow 

and discuss the important measures of performance – using real-life data. 

16 May 

15 August 

7 November 

12 December 

17 May 

16 August 

8 November 

13 December 

18-19 May 

17-18 August 

9-10 November 

14-15 December 

20 May 

19 August 

11 November 

16 December 

PERTH 

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uses a real-life data set to cover the entire resource estimation and evaluation cycle and its requirements - from data 

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learned by taking you step-by-step through a check-list of the resource estimation and evaluation processes, and 

gives you the opportunity to bring your own data along to discuss and get advice on. 

Recoverable Resources: getting to the High Grade 

demystifies and solves one of the great paradoxes of project evaluation – how to do more with less information. How 

to assess the recoverable resources for project valuation when the relative drill spacing does not provide sufficient 

coverage for the direct estimation into small blocks or selective mining units (SMU) required at the production stage. 

Report Writing for Geologists and Engineers 

how to plan your document; write your summaries and conclusions; the essential grammar rules; styles and 

formatting; key features and time-saving tips in Word; how to review your document and review others’ documents; 

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objective of writing an accurate report that grabs your readers’ attention! 

Mining & Geology Fundamentals for Non-Miners 

this course has been designed for non-miners working, investing, financing or associated with the mining industry – 

who need to understand the key fundamentals about the mine cycle, from exploration through to mine closure. 

Understanding Mineral Processing – metallurgy fundamentals for non-metallurgists 

this course has been designed for engineers, geologists, mineralogists, environmental scientists, plant operators, 

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of the principles of extractive metallurgy. It gives an overview of mineral processing – from how metal is geologically 

detected, extracted from rocks and minerals to the final metal product. 

Surpac Geology Fundamentals 

this course uses a real-life data-set to cover the basics of using Surpac as a geologist. You learn about the 

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Resource Estimation and Evaluation with Surpac 

this course uses a real-life data-set to cover the resource evaluation cycle and its requirements - from data collection 

and quality assurance through to classification, using Surpac. All attendees receive a free copy of Optiro’s OREpack 

Declus Optimiser, and FREE 30 day trial of one of these OREpack modules: Kriging Neighbourhood Analysis; 

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14-18 March 

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5-9 September 

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3 

Institute News Snippets 

NORTHERN TERRITORY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

AGES2016 

ANNUAL GEOSCIENCE EXPLORATION SEMINAR 

15–16 March 2016, Alice Springs Convention Centre, Northern Territory 

The Territory’s premier 

exploration event 

Northern Territory 

Held over two days (15-16 March) in Alice 

The Territory continues to offer outstanding opportunities for 

both minerals and petroleum explorers. Major investment in new 

geoscience data from the Northern Territory Geological Survey Springs, AGES has a mix of Government 

Geological Survey 

and its partners under the Creating Opportunities for Resource 

Exploration (CORE) initiative, is providing exciting insights and into industry presentations, and range of 

the untapped potential of under-explored areas in the Territory. 

(NTGS)’s Annual networking events that are attended by most 

Join us in Alice Springs on 15–16th March 2016 for the 17th Annual 

Exploration Seminar (AGES), where a mix of NTGS and 

companies active in exploration in the NT. In 

industry presentations will showcase the rich minerals and petroleum 

Geoscience 

potential of the Northern Territory. AGES is a technical conference 

2016, there will be technical presentations 

that presents a unique opportunity for you to access the latest in fresh 

exploration ideas and geoscientific data from the Territory and to 

network with colleagues who share an interest in the discovery and on recent exploration highlights from 

Exploration 

development of the Territory’s minerals and oil and gas resources. 

Around 220 people attended the event in 2015. 

companies including Teck Australia, Santos, 

Newmont, Pangaea Resources, Independence 

Seminar AGES 2016 

Seminar highlights 

The Northern ALICE Territory SPRINGS Geological SEMINAR Survey 

(NTGS)’s Annual Geoscience Exploration 

Seminar (AGES) is a technical event targeted 

at geoscientists with an interest in the 

exploration industry in the Northern Territory. 

Group, Newmarket Gold, Origin Energy, KGL 

Resources and Emmerson Resources, as 

well as the release of new pre-competitive 

geoscience from NTGS under the CORE 

initiative, and presentations from GA, CSIRO 

and CODES. Whether you are already 

exploring in the Northern Territory, seeking 

new exploration opportunities, or looking 

to network and make contacts in the NT 

exploration sector, AGES is the only event 

where the NT’s minerals and petroleum 

explorers are all in one place. Cost of 

registration for the two days is only $390. For 

more information visit www.ages.nt.gov.au. 

• first release of interpreted seismic data across the 

Tennant Creek mineral field 

• the latest information new geoscience and 

exploration success for shale gas in the Beetaloo 

AIG’s National Graduate 

Sub-basin 

• technical updates on successful exploration programs 

and 

Committee 

new discoveries from across 

Needs 

the Territory 

Your 

for 

Help VALMIN 

copper, zinc, gold, oil and gas and more 

• new AIG’s concepts National Graduate stratigraphy, Committee basin architecture is asking and members and 

For more 

mineral fertility of the Amadeus Basin 

friends to share their experiences gained when establishing 

• dedicated session on the McArthur Basin including information 

Code 

the their release careers of new and geoscience working as and an shale early geochemistry 

career geoscientist. Visit www.ages.nt.gov.au; 

datasets, discussion of geophysical techniques for 

phone (08) 8999 released 

5313 

exploration, A short and survey release has of been an expanded developed 3D which model aims that to collect or email ages@nt.gov.au 

includes the McArthur Group and equivalents 

information on: 

Hosted by the 

• results of recent mapping and copper mineral systems NT Geological (2015 Survey Edition) 

studies in the Arunta Region 

• what advice do you wish you were given during your Department of Mines and Energy 

• practical information to assist you with issues such as Supported by 

land access, early titles career? and accessing geoscience data 

Department of Business After an extensive review process, 

• the AGES dinner – the premier networking and social 

event • for what the NT was exploration the best piece industry of advice you received? 

the VALMIN Committee announces the new VALMIN Code 

AGES also • what incorporates issues/traits the Mining do Services you believe Expo – are a showcase evident in recent 

(2015 Edition) has now been approved by AusIMM and AIG. 

of Northern Territory businesses and their capabilities to support your 

exploration students and mining and ventures. graduates that should be addressed? 

The 2015 Edition of the VALMIN Code is available at 

Preface 

VALMIN Code, 2015 Edition 

The Australasian Code for the Public Reporting of Technical Assessments and Valuations of Mineral Assets (VALMIN Code) has been 

prepared by the VALMIN Committee, a joint commi tee of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Meta lurgy (AusIMM) and the 

Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), with the participation of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) and other key stakeholder 

representatives. 

There have been three previous versions of the VALMIN Code, the first applicable from 1 July, 1995, the second applicable from 1 

April, 1998 and the third applicable from 29 April 2005. The Minerals Industry Consultants Association (MICA) was a member of the 

joint committee and a major contributor to earlier Codes. 

The VALMIN Code provides a set of fundamental principles (Competence, Materiality and Transparency), mandatory requirements 

and supporting recommendations accepted as representing good professional practice to assist in the preparation of relevant Public 

Reports on any Technical Assessment or Valuation of Mineral Assets. It is a companion to the Australasian Code for Reporting of 

Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). The VALMIN Code provides guidance on ma ters that may 

be subjec to Australian regulations, other provisions of law and the published policies and guidance of the Australian Securities and 

Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) or of other relevant securities 

exchanges. 

The VALMIN Code is wri ten from a Minerals perspective and uses terminology consistent with the JORC Code. 

AUSTRALASIAN CODE FOR PUBLIC REPORTING 

OF TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS AND VALUATIONS 

OF MINERAL ASSETS 

Terminology 

Definitions of introductory terms are listed at the end of the VALMIN Code. Definitions that are associated with the VALMIN Code’s 

fundamental principles and minimum requirements are incorporated in the text and are printed in bold text. 

The word ‘must’ denotes a VALMIN Code requirement that is mandatory. 

The words ‘should’ and ‘may’ indicate that discretion can be used depending on the particular circumstances of a Public Report and 

providing that the VALMIN Code’s fundamental principles are not transgressed. 

Defined terms are capitalised. 

Guidelines are in italics. 

The singular includes the plural and vice versa. 

THE VALMIN CODE 

Petroleum 

The VALMIN Code is suggested as a guide to good practice for Public Reporting of technical assessments and valuations of 

Petroleum Assets. The reader is referred to Chapter 5 of the ASX Listing Rules fo requirements on reporting of Petroleum assets in 

Australia. 

Disclaimer 

2015 EDITION 

The VALMIN Code does not constitute legal advice and may not consider a l ma ters relevan to the preparation of a Public Report. It 

is the responsibility of Practitioners to determine their legal obligations in relation to the preparation of a Public Report and to seek 

legal advice when necessary. 

Note: Procedural and mandatory items are in normal typeface, with the word ‘must’ in bold; 

guideline items are in boxes and italics and those definitions incorporated in the text of the Code are in bold. 

Effective 30 January 2016 

Mandatory for AusIMM and AIG members from 1 July 2016 

Prepared by The VALMIN Committee, a joint committee of the Australasian 

Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists 

Institute News 

• what do you look for when seeking to employ a graduate 

geoscientist? 

• what advice can you offer to those wanting to survive 

the ‘busts’ and thrive in the ‘booms’? 

• what are some of the most useful things you learnt 

during your time at university studying geoscience? 

• what have you loved most about your career and what 

job during that journey has been the highlight and why? 

www.valmin.org/docs/VALMIN_Code_2015_final.pdf 

The VALMIN Code (2015 Edition) will be effective from 30 January 

2016 and becomes mandatory for AusIMM and AIG members from 1 

July 2016. 

During the transition period of 30 January to 30 June 2016, 

Public Reports are able to be published in accordance with either the 

2005 or new 2015 Edition of the VALMIN Code –all Public Reports 

published in this period should clearly state which version of the Code 

has been applied. 

Survey contributions will be used to shape the National Graduate 

Committee’s work and AIG’s mentoring programme. The survey 

is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R9BX77J 

To read more, please refer to the full article here 

www.aig.org.au/valmin-code-2015-edition-released 


PACE 

Copper 

The time is right 

for South Australia 

to deliver a 

new precompetitive 

geoscientific initiative 

NEW 

DISCOVERIES 

4th ARGA Conference 

a great success 

Ken McQueen, IAE, University of Canberra 

The Australian Regolith 

Geoscientists Association 

recently held the 4th 

ARGA Conference at 

Thredbo in the Snowy 

Mountains from the 

7-11 February. ARGA 

was formed in 2009 as 

a legacy outcome of the 

Co-operative Research 

Centre for Landscape 

Environment and Mineral 

Exploration (CRC LEME). 

The Association holds 

$ 

20 

MILLION 

INITIATIVE 

$ 

400 

MILLION 

PRIVATE MINERAL 

EXPLORATION 

biennial conferences with themes related 

to regolith science (including geochemistry and mineral exploration), 

landscape evolution, soils, surficial geology and the environment. 

The 2016 conference attracted 28 participants from across Australia 

and was a very successful, boutique, user friendly scientific meeting. 

204744 

$ 

20 

MILLION 

INVESTMENT 

20:1 

INVESTMENT 

RETURNS 

1000 

JOBS 

DIRECT & 

INDIRECT 

FUTURE 

and 

EMPLOYMENT 

COPPER 

RESOURCES 

WORLD’S LARGEST 

GEOPHYSICAL 

PROGRAM 

COLLABORATIVE 

DRILLING 

WORLD-CLASS DATA 

www.minerals.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/geoscience/pace 

Activities included a 1 day pre-conference field trip to parts of the 

Monaro lava field led by Ian Roach and Jonathon Clarke. This trip 

examined volcanic features, weathering profiles, as well as gullying 

processes analogous to those discovered on Mars. There were two 

days of oral and poster presentations and the award of the Keith Scott 

Memorial Student Prize. A mid-conference field trip, led by Leah Moore 

highlighted glacial and peri-glacial features around the Kosciuszko 

track. Leah also led a one day post-conference field trip to Charlottes 

Pass and Blue Lake. The proceedings of the Conference can be 

downloaded from the ARGA website at http://regolith.org.au/ 

Anyone with an interest in regolith-related science or landscape 

evolution is welcome to join ARGA. Membership fees are very 

reasonable at $1 and anyone who attends the biennial conference gets 

free membership! Contact secretary@regolith.org or check the 

ARGA website. 

For the latest news, 

updates & events 

aig.org.au 


Making a Difference in 

Geoscience Education 

Earth Science Western Australia is making 

a difference to the teaching of Earth and 

Environmental Science in Western Australia. 

In 2015, 1957 educators, 442 schools, 7304 

students engaged with ESWA (this includes 

requested repeat visits). 

Visit http://tinyurl.com/zuh52cy to view 

ESWA’s latest newsletter featuring articles on: 

• Enthusiasm for Earth and Environmental 

Science! 

• Primary Australian Literacy Mathematics 

& Science Program 

• Woodside Australian Science Project 

• Reports from the Field – Bunbury 

Catholic College in Kalgoorlie and 

Rossmoyne SHS Heads to Fremantle 

Roy Woodall named AGC’s Inaugural 

National Geoscience Champion 

Australian Geoscience Council recognises Roy Woodall with inaugural National Geoscience 

Champion award. 

In recognition of his contribution to geoscience in Australia, Roy Woodall AO FAusIMM 

has been unanimously elected as the inaugural National Geoscience Champion by the 

Australian Geoscience Council (AGC). 

Roy Woodall’s scientific approach to exploration contributed to many significant ore 

discoveries in Australia. Discoveries include the Kambalda nickel field (1966), uranium at 

Yeelirrie (1971), the Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit (1975), the St Ives gold field 

(1980), the East Spar oil-condensate field (1993), plus contributions to many others. 

Roy set high scientific standards for the recording of scientific data, using the best 

equipment and analytical facilities available at the time, leaving a significant legacy of 

scientific methodologies and successes. Roy’s standard of training and mentorship of other 

geoscientists has advanced the capabilities of Australia’s mining and exploration industries 

and the development of our nation. 

Recognition of Roy Woodall AO FAusIMM as a National Geoscience Champion is 

made by the AGC on behalf of its eight member organisations, representing over 8,000 

geoscientists in Australia. This prestigious honour will be accorded to living geoscientists 

for contributions to the science, craft and art of geoscience by way of their technical, 

leadership, mentoring and collegial endeavours. 



NSW 

NSW Branch Report 

Verity Borthwick 


The NSW Branch of the AIG is active in 

organising events during the year. These 

include one day seminars, student information 

nights and the fabulous bi-annual Mines and 

Wines Conference, as well as joint events with 

other societies. 

The NSW Branch of the AIG, in collaboration 

with the local state branches of the GSA and 

the ASEG, is co-sponsoring a course entitled 

Geophysics for the Mineral Exploration 

Geoscientist, presented by UWA Professor 

Mike Dentith. The course is based on the 

recently published award-winning textbook 

of the same name, written by Professor 

Dentith and well known minerals consultant 

Roger Smyth-King and Kim Stanton-Cook 

Steve Mudge, and will be held at the Rugby 

Club in the Sydney CBD from 16 and 

17 February 2016. Fees are especially 

attractive for members who are unemployed/ 

underemployed, postgraduate students and 

early career geoscientists. 

This short course provides a state-of-the art 

overview of geophysical exploration methods 

without recourse to complex mathematical 

descriptions. It includes descriptions of all the 

main geophysical methods used in mineral 

exploration, including gravity, magnetic, 

electrical, electromagnetic methods. Course 

participants are guided through the basic 

physical phenomena, the acquisition and 

processing of geophysical data, to the 

creation of subsurface models and their 

geological interpretation, with many local and 

international case studies. 

The NSW branch also has a number of 

other workshops in the pipeline including 

career support for geoscientists looking for 

a job and a core logging course that will be 

held at the Londonderry Drillcore Library most 

probably in the 2nd quarter of 2016. 

We also take a leading role in organising 

Mines and Wines Conference every two years. 

The latest Mines and Wines conference was 

held in September last year, in Queanbeyan 

and was a fantastic event with the theme 

‘Uncorking the Tasmanides’. Planning for the 

next conference will begin this year, with the 

first committee meeting set for February. 

For those who couldn’t make it to the 

conference, the presentations are up on the 

SMEDG website (see below). So make sure to 

check them out! 

AIG NSW has a close association with 

SMEDG. SMEDG meetings are held on the 

last Thursday of the month at the Rugby Club. 

Gatherings are very informal with a free bar 

at the beginning, an interesting speaker and 

often dinner afterwards. For more details go 

to the SMEDG web site www.smedg.org.au 

and scroll down to “Join the SMEDG mailing 

list” to register for your free membership. 

You will then receive an email once a month 

reminding you of the meeting and the topic. 

If you’re interested in giving a talk about 

mineral exploration please get in touch with 

the committee members (you can find their 

details on the SMEDG web site). 

SMEDG also hosts harbour cruises twice 

a year, which are always great events and 

an excellent opportunity to catch up with old 

10 


“ 

SMEDG meetings 

are held on the last 

Thursday of the month 

at the Rugby Club.” 

friends and network. The 2015 Christmas 

cruise held on the 18th of December was 

SMEDGers catching some sun out on the deck.” Rupert Osborn and Neil Rutherford 

Limited funding is available to provide 

NSW-based AIG members with opportunities 

i 


another great day out on the harbour, the 

weather was beautiful, the drinks were 

flowing, conversation was excellent and a 

good time was had by all. 

NSW AIG provides funding support for 

young and for unemployed geoscientists. 

to participate in professionally organised 

geological field trips, conferences and courses 

(see the AIG web site under the Education tab, 

NSW AIG Support Fund). 

The branch committee continues 

to assist in the assessment of 

applicants from NSW, seeking 

Registered Professional Geoscientist 

status with the AIG. 

The NSW branch committee meets 

every two months in Sydney – 

visitors, guests, members and 

potential committee members 

are always welcome. If anyone is 

interested in joining the committee, 

or helping in any capacity they should 

contact any NSW branch committee 

member or email nsw@aig.org.au. 

In particular we are looking for young 

professionals and graduates who 

might be interested in joining. 

Russell Meares and Dan Cronin 


TAS 

Tasmania Branch Report 

Dr Alistair Reed 

Chairman 


Dear all, 

New Year’s Greetings from the AIGs newest 

branch. 

It was a busy final quarter to 2015. With 

the end of year fast approaching, an initial 

group of members met, subsequently formed 

a committee and over the next two months, 

outlined out what we hope will be the starting 

Dr Robert Findlay, Ben Jones, Shelley Greener, Dr Alistair Reed. 

point of a dynamic and productive state branch. 

The Tasmanian branch of the AIG aims to 

be a voice for members working or living in 

Tasmania. The committee are only too aware 

that residing in Tasmania is often seen as 

a hindrance by perspective employers. We 

will aim to try and reduce this view and to 

encourage more companies and persons to 

look at Tasmania (and its geologists) to see 

the opportunities and benefits that they have. 

In line with this aim, one of the larger 

items of committee business has been the 

establishment of a timely and appropriate 

social calendar, suitable and reachable 

for our members. This would not only 

include a chance for members to catch up 

and network but also raise any issues. In 

time, the committee also plan to include 

Tasmanian hosted geoscience conferences 

and importantly, training and education 

opportunities for Tasmanian based geologists 

within the state, when and where the 

opportunities can be found. 

With this in mind and the 2016 year 

rapidly gaining pace, to kick-off the social 

calendar the committee warmly invite all of its 

Tasmanian members (and anyone else who 

might be interested) to attend the first of our 

events, the March ‘Geo Pub’ at the Shipwright 

Arms in Battery Point, Hobart on Thursday 

March 3rd from 5pm. Geo Pub is an informal 

atmosphere, where members can take a break, 

enjoy a beer and perhaps a spin a story or two. 

If you can’t make this one, Geo Pub will be 

held on the first Thursday of every month at 

the same time and venue. The committee are 

very keen to meet our members and importantly 

hear their views and gain their support. 

All events will be advertised on the AIG 

state branch Tasmanian webpage and you 

can contact the committee by emailing 

tas@aig.org.au. 

Yours faithfully 

Dr Alistair Reed - Chairman 

Corporate Mining 

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david@pennock.com.au 

12 


EDU 

Education Report 

Kaylene Camuti 

Chair, AIG Education Committee 

This year’s AIG Student Bursary Program is underway and application 

forms will be distributed to students and universities in a few weeks. 

This year we will again be offering bursaries to third year, honours and 

postgraduate geoscience students enrolled at Australian universities. 

A reminder that this year, as in previous years, the AIG is offering 

bursaries to students working in all geoscience field, and is also 

offering a number of sponsored bursaries to students working in 

specific fields of geoscience or geological terrains, or enrolled at 

specific universities. These bursaries on offer include: 

• The AIG Third Year, Honours and Postgraduate Bursaries: 

offered to geoscience students working in all fields of geoscience 

(sponsored by the AIG State Branches and Federal Council). 

• The Macquarie Arc Conference-GSNSW – AIG Bursary: offered to 

geoscience students working on mapping-based honours projects 

in the Lachlan Orogen, in or around the Macquarie Arc. 

• The SMEDG – AIG Bursaries: offered to NSW geoscience 

students working on projects related to mineral exploration. 

• The Davis – AIG Bursaries: offered to geoscience students enrolled 

at JCU or UWA to assist with costs associated with field work. 

If you know any current geoscience students eligible for a bursary, 

please let them know about the AIG Bursary Program and encourage 

them to apply for a 2016 bursary. 

AIG Bursary Sponsors – 

February 2016 

The AIG wishes to than the following individuals and 

organisations for their support of the 

Geoscience Student Bursary Program 

DIAMOND 

• CHRIS BONWICK 

Sponsoring the Bonwick-AIG Geoscience 

Student Bursaries 

• GEOFF DAVIS 

Sponsoring the Davis-AIG Geoscience Student Bursaries 

• MACQUARIE ARC CONFERENCE – GEOLOGICAL 

SURVEY NSW 

Sponsoring the Macquarie Arc Conference-AIG 

Geoscience Student Bursaries 

• SYDNEY MINERAL EXPLORATION DISCUSSION GROUP 

Sponsoring the SMEDG-AIG Geoscience 

Student Bursaries 

PLATINUM 

• AIG STATE BRANCHES 

• ALEXANDER RESEARCH – JONATHAN BELL 

Sponsoring the Alexander Research-AIG Geoscience 

Student Bursary 

• SA DEPARTMENT OF STATE DEVELOPMENT (DSD) 

Sponsoring the DSD-AIG Geoscience Student Bursary 

GOLD 

• GNOMIC EXPLORATION SERVICES PTY LTD 

• TERRA SEARCH PTY LTD 

SILVER 

• CRYPTODOME PTY LTD 


BRONZE 

• DOUG YOUNG 

For more information on the Student Bursary Programme visit 

www.aig.org.au/education-training/student-bursary-programme 


Membership Update 

A warm welcome to AIG’s new members 

New/Upgrades NOVEMBER 2015 

New/Upgrades FEBRUARY 2016 

RPGeo Applications 

Membership Updates 

Students 

Allan Rebecca Kate • Balis James • Cox Morgan • 

Cichosz Jacob Przemyslaw • Dempsey Dan • 

Dormer Ben • Elsley Matthew Stephen • 

Fitch Alex • Godfrey Jessica • Gray Kelly • 

Griffin Elliot • Kearney Lisa • Latta Marcus • 

Linkert Amy • Marosz Gabrielle • McWhirter Kirsten 

• Miller Michael • Morgan Zoe • Payten Bailey James 

• Potter Larissa Carmel • Potter Tamara • 

Pretorius Sion • Schmidt Olivia • Tobin Joanna • 

Vasconcelos Gomes Igor • Waddy Garricle • 

Whiting Timothy Michael 

Students 

Boateng Asamoah Obeng • Crepin Julia Ruby • 

Darvell Jade Alana • Fox Jack Thomas • 

Gregson Gail • Halloran Landon J.S. • 

Harmsworth Lewis • Hopkins Hayley-Jane • 

Jackson Jim • Lamsal Bijay • Madhoji Sunny • 

Mckelvey Sarah • Mclellan Brennan • Pereira Craig 

• Saxvik Alec Anthony 

GRADUATE 

Ageneau Mathieu Puthenpurayil • Beltan Mete • 

Garner Brendan • Greentree James • 

CANDIDATES APPROVED BY AIG 

COUNCIL IN NOVEMBER, 2015 

Mr Ganzurkh Chuluunbaatar of 

Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, in Coal. 

Mr Garry Straughton of St Leonards, 

NSW, in Hydrogeology. 

Mr Troy Crozier of Mt Colah, NSW, in 

Geotechnical and Engineering. 

Dr Mark Pirlo of Brisbane, Queensland, 

in Geochemistry. 

GRADUATE 

Harris Michael • Hetherington Michael • 

Jumeau Anthony • Klein Thomas Ian • Mackay- 

Mr Peter Caristo of The Gap, Queensland, 

in Mineral Exploration. 

Booth Jessica • Hill Richard Andrew • 

Scollay Ben • Oehlman Adam Alexander • 

Mr Scott McManus of Port Macquarie, 

McDonagh Genna Beth • Pugh Richard Tomos • 

Paul Matthew David • Primmer Matthew Wayne • 

NSW, in the further field of Mining. 

Thomas Matthew Charles • Wesby Tom Frederick 

Stokes Natalie Derek Reid • Tait Douglas Corinne 

MEMBERS 

MEMBER 

New Candidates Published 

for Peer Review by 

AIG Members 

Anderson Heath Clark • Azad Hemant • Bateman Jane 

Bax Danique • Begg Graham Selina Michelle • 

• Bilyarski Stoimen Dimitrov • Bramall Emma Louise • 

Du Jumin • Freeman David Francis • Garbuzov Ilya • 

Halford Derek Daniel • Harris Catherine Morag • 

Besir Deniz Cameron • Bremner Genevieve • 

Cairns Benjamin • Chapman Robert • Chubb Andrew 

• Davidson Mark • Diemar Glen • Doyle Christopher 

Ms Lauren Helm of Brisbane, Queensland, 

is seeking registration in the field of 

Hydrogeology. 

Hope David Gregory • Jansen Nicholas Herbert • 

Johnson Benjamin Nigel • Littlewood Nathan Matthew 

• Lower Chantelle Suzanne • Mullan Darrena • 

Nigel • Durnev Pavel • Fraser Hamish Aaron • 

Froud Jason • Garrett Craig Andrew • 

Groves Lara Cheryl • Harvey Jane • Helm Lauren Cree 

Mr Kim Boundy of Narrabeen, New South 

Wales, is seeking registration in the field of 

Mineral Exploration. 

Pariana Gina Ulpa • Park Julie Anna • Sinnott John 

• Huisman Danny • Ignacio Allan Maglaya • 

Mr Christopher Chamberlain of Mount 

Kenneth • Stannard David Linton • Thom James David 

• Toni David A • Walker Ricky Johnathan • 

Williams Jed • Wilton Dean Theodore • Yavi Robert M 

Jafarov Fizuli • Kabilo Pascal Lachlan • 

Latorre Alfonso • MacDonald Grant • Moore Leah 

Robert • Morgan Graeme • Mortimer Russell Neil • 

Cotton, Queensland, is seeking registration in 

the fields of Geotechnical and Engineering and 

Structural Geology. 

FELLOW 

Elliott Stanley Mark 

Morton Tracey Helen • Oonnunny John McRae • 

Paterson Andrew • Saganyuk Vladimir Bogdanovich • 

Sparrow Robert George • Stacpoole John • 

Uemoto Takeshi George • Usher Brent • Walker 

Mr John Stacpoole of Freshwater, 

Queensland, is seeking registration in the field 

of Geotechnical & Engineering. 

Robert McRae • West Simon • Winternitz Michael 

RETIRED 

Mutton Andrew • Turner Richard 

FELLOW 

Glacken Ian Martin 

14 


Geoscientist Employment in 

Australia Continues its Slide 

Andrew Waltho 

AIG Councillor, Australian Institute of Geoscientists 

Employment prospects for Australia’s 

professional geoscientists declined 

further in the last quarter of 2015 

according to the results of the latest, 

quarterly survey by the Australian Institute of 

Geoscientists (AIG). At 31 December 2015, 

the unemployment rate amongst Australian 

Latest Employment Survey 

geoscientists was 18.7% and the underemployment 

rate was 23.4%. The combined 

unemployment and under-employment rate of 

42.1% was the highest recorded since the AIG 

surveys commenced in mid-2009. 

Less than 50% of self-employed 

geoscientists were able to secure more than 

one quarter of their desired workload, pointing 

to a real unemployment rate of 31.1%, also 

the highest rate recorded by the AIG surveys 

to date and more than 10% higher than at the 

peak of the global financial crisis of 2009. 

Geoscientist employment declined in 

every state, except NSW where it remained 

static, and Victoria where unemployment 

actually fell but under-employment increased. 

The greatest increase in unemployment 

was observed in Queensland, where 

unemployment and underemployment rates 

were more than 15% higher than those 

observed in September 2015, followed by 

South Australia. 

© ingimage.com 

Geoscientist unemployment and 

under-employment in Australia 

June 2009 – December 2015 



Geoscientist unemployment and underemployment by State 

Changes in geoscientist employment since the previous survey in 

September 2015 

“ 

Almost 70% were 

not confident of regaining 

employment within the 

next 12 months ... ” 

Well over 40% of unemployed and 

underemployed geoscientists have been out 

of work, or unable to secure their desired level 

of work for more than 12 months, pointing 

to a growing pool of long-term unemployed 

in Australian geoscience. Almost 70% were 

not confident of regaining employment within 

the next 12 months and more than one in 20 

indicated that they were turning their backs 

on their chosen profession due to the dire 

situation that has surrounded geoscientist 

employment in Australia for more than two 

and a half years. 

Sentiment amongst geoscientists currently 

in employment varied. Some 36% expressed 

confidence in maintaining their employment 

for the next 12 months, but 17% were not 

confident of retaining employment beyond the 

first quarter of 2016. 

The survey questionnaire was changed 

for the most recent survey to collect 

information on employment conditions 

and how unemployed and under-employed 

geoscientists were coping with the extended 

downturn in employment opportunities facing 

their profession. 

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16 



Unemployed and under-employed 

geoscientists were asked how they were 

coping with their current situation. 

Responses in the “Other” category included: 

• establishing new businesses to take 

advantage of an eventual upturn in 

Australia’s resource industries; 

• becoming a stay at home parent while 

their spouse worked; 

• living on superannuation or other 

savings; 

• reluctantly accepting early retirement; 

• working for free to maintain 

qualifications and broaden their 

experience; 

• leaving Australia to pursue opportunities 

overseas; and, 

• drafting case studies and papers for 

publication based on their experience. 

The employment crisis has also had an 

impact on the fields in which Australian 

geoscientists are employed, with mineral 

exploration feeling the greatest impact. 

More than 87% of Australia’s geoscientists 

currently in employment work as full-time 

employees. Survey respondents were asked 

whether their conditions of employment, in 

terms of salary, associated benefits, hours 

of work etc., had improved, remained the 

same or deteriorated since September 2014. 

Some 16% of respondents considered their 

employment conditions to have improved, 

59% thought their conditions had remained 

the same, while the remainder reported that 

their conditions had deteriorated. These 

results are considered encouraging from the 

point of view that the majority of employers 

are not seeking to use the difficult conditions 

facing Australia’s resource industries to 

reduce working conditions for their staff. 

The survey received just over 800 

responses, considered to be an excellent 

result that both provides a statistically robust 

sample of employment conditions and 

highlights the commitment of geoscientists to 

supporting their peers and profession. 

How Australia’s geoscientists are coping with unemployment and under-employment 



“ 

It’s profoundly troubling to see 

so many highly qualified, experienced, 

committed professionals unable to 

apply their skills to contributing to 

Australia’s economic security” 

AIG President, Wayne Spilsbury, expressed 

disappointment but no surprise in the latest 

survey results. “It’s profoundly troubling to 

see so many highly qualified, experienced, 

committed professionals unable to apply their 

skills to contributing to Australia’s economic 

security” Mr Spilsbury said. “The situation 

in mineral and energy resource exploration 

is particularly troubling as the prolonged 

downturn in the sector is damaging Australia’s 

exploration project pipeline”. “The low levels 

of geoscientist employment reflect low levels 

of exploration activity, which means that 

we are not making discoveries to maintain 

Australia’s resource inventory which now has 

potential to create gaps in critical mineral 

supplies in coming years” Mr Spilsbury said. 

“Discoveries do not turn into mines 

overnight”. “We’re not exploring now and 

the industry cannot be switched back on 

overnight, so we’re facing a real prospect 

of reduced development of new projects to 

support Australia’s economy and standard of 

living into the latter half of the next decade”. 

“Its also very concerning that both the 

Federal and State governments are failing to 

act on important issues to enhance Australia’s 

ability to attract investment in exploration; 

most notably the time and expense of 

securing access to land for exploration” Mr 

Spilsbury said. 

18 



“There are a couple of cold, hard facts we 

Changes in fields of employment for Australian geoscientists 2014-2015 

need to recognise and deal with” Mr Spilsbury 

said. “When we talk about a geologist or 

geophysicist being unemployed in the 

exploration sector, we’re also talking about 

three or four other Australians not having a 

job”. “We also cannot escape the fact that 

minerals are essential to our daily life, from 

generation of electricity by any means, to 

providing raw materials used to ensure our 

future economic and social well-being”. 

“Australian geoscientists working in 

exploration and mining are demonstrably the 

best in the world when it comes to optimising 

resource utilisation and ensuring that 

production proceeds in an environmentally 

sustainable and responsible manner” M

Mining professionals in today’s market 

Geologists in the age of 

commodity turmoil 

Erik Ronald 

(Modified after originally published on LinkedIn on 19 Jan 16) 

Being a mining geologist, whether with 

a junior explorer, major producer, midtier 

or a private consultant, tends to 

be a challenge even when the global economy 

is firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately, the 

bad news keeps rolling in these days with the 

you stop and think about it, geologists should 

be one of the key roles kept in tight times as 

they have the unique skill set to truly add value 

to the company or operation. It’s the Mining 

Geologist’s role to help a business when 

prices plunge by optimising mining areas and 

professional geologists at the executive level 

in mid- to major mining companies resulting 

in a de-emphasis of orebody knowledge 

in decision making and lack of mentoring 

opportunities for company geoscientists. 

On the first point, when browsing university 

recent article on Mining.com stating the U.S. 

is experiencing its worst year for mining since 

1986 (http://www.mining.com/2015-oneof-the-worst-year-ever-for-us-mining-jobs/) 

and the AusIMM publishing their annual 

employment survey stating 20% of exploration 

geologists in Australia are currently 

unemployed (http://www.ausimm.com.au/ 

Content/docs/policy/pep2015/emploment_ 

survey_2015_full_report_20151007.pdf). So 

the facts are: jobs are scarce, commodities 

are in over-supply and investment is nonexistent. 

It’s certainly not a pretty picture for 

mining in 2016. 

Not to be too pessimistic, but geologists, 

especially exploration geologists, tend to be 

the first staff let go when times get tough. If 

grade to maximise NPV. It’s the Exploration 

Geologist’s role to ensure successful 

discovery and generate a robust project 

pipeline for future business development. 

It’s the Resource Geologist’s role to ensure 

grades, tonnages, and Mineral Resources are 

sound to allow for optimisation of the mine 

plan. So with that said, why are geologists the 

first to get the boot? 

There are likely some conspiracy theories 

out there (personally, I like The Brotherhood 

of Evil Mine Engineers theory) but the reality 

appears to come down to a few items: 1) 

Geologists are not trained to think in business 

terms, 2) they rarely have a true appreciation 

of how they contribute to the mining 

value-chain, and 3) there are not enough 

curriculum for a Bachelor’s or even Master’s 

in Geology, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an 

economics or management course. This is 

in stark contrast to most Mining Engineering 

programs let alone Business schools. Some 

may argue that Geology is a science therefore 

the courses need to be focused on the maths, 

chemistry, physics and upper-level geology 

courses, which is certainly true. Unfortunately 

as a result of the pure science requirements, 

there are a lot of very bright young geologists 

in industry who honestly don’t have a clue 

about business drivers, capital management, 

macro- and micro-economics nor a clear 

understanding of how a geologist directly 

impacts a company’s bottom line. 

To my second point, I find it the unfortunate 

exception when a mine geologist understands 

exactly how the geology of an ore deposit 

impacts saleable product and how it affects 

customers’ processes or end-products. This 

is true for coal, industrial minerals, iron ore 

and even in the base and precious metals 

world. Understanding and communicating 

the downstream impacts geology has on the 

value-chain can make or break a business 

when commodity prices fall and margins 

tighten. A base metals example would be 

the geologic understanding of a porphyry 

20 


copper deposit in which small increases in 

anhydrite/gypsum or talc can have major 

detrimental effects on concentrate processing 

and flotation recoveries (added cost per unit). 

Additionally, the distribution of fluorine and 

arsenic in the orebody is critical in smelting as 

law and operations all hold equal voices in 

board-level discussions. 

In summary, I encourage all the mining 

and exploration geologists out there to 

continue to excel in mineralogy, mapping, 

modelling, ore control and reporting, and 

appreciate this is your expertise and why 

you were hired. But, without sound business 

understanding, market context and the ability 

to communicate the value you bring to your 

company, we’ll likely see a growing number of 

geologists left on the sidelines until the next 

boom when the industry comes screaming 

for more discoveries. So go spend time at the 

mill with your Mets, talk to the accountants, 

visit your sales department, befriend your 

References cited: 

AusIMM, 2016, “The AusIMM Professional 

Employment Survey Report 2015 – An Analysis 

of Professional Employment in the Mineral 

Sector”, AusIMM, Oct., 2015. 

Mining professionals in today’s market 

concentrations above a set threshold will yield 

business analyst, challenge management and 

Els, F., 2016, “The Worst year for mining in the 

incremental penalties (lost revenue) or product 

most importantly understand your business. 

U.S. since 1986”, Mining.com, Jan. 2016 

rejection (more lost revenue and unhappy 

Hopefully we can help change this trend for 

Waltho, A. 2016, “Geoscientist Employment in 

customers). These deposit attributes can 

the better and come out the other side of this 

Australia Continues its Slide”, Australian Institute 

and should be clearly understood at the 

downturn a little wiser this time around. 

of Geoscientists (AIG) News, Feb. 2016. 

exploration and evaluation stage, not first 

realised after the ore enters the mill. 

Lastly, the lack of geoscientists at upper 

management levels across the industry is 

worrying to say the least. During the past 

boom, we witnessed numerous operational 

issues and acquisition errors that were likely 

understood by on-the-ground geologists but 

not effectively communicated to the ultimate 

decision-makers at the executive level. The 

lack of geological understanding at the 

executive and board-levels has resulted in the 

de-emphasis of geology in mining along with 

creation of a “chicken and the egg” scenario 

for future leaders. An increase in executivelevel 

mentors could assist junior or midcareer 

geologists navigate into management 

and potentially help balance the engineers 

and finance personnel which traditionally 

dominate leadership roles due to their better 

understanding of the business. I believe 

success in the mining game is achieved 

when a diverse set of experiences including 

geoscience, engineering, finance, corporate 


Upcoming events 

Upcoming Events 

8-9 March 2016 

Adelaide, South Australia 

Project 

Evaluation 

2016 

Value From Exploration Geology 

Adelaide 

Wednesday 2 March, 12pm 

Historian Hotel, 18 Coromandel Pl 

ADELAIDE, SA 

Register Here 

Melbourne 

Thursday 3 March, 12pm 

CQ Melbourne, 113 Queen St 

MELBOURNE, VIC 

Register Here 

The AusIMM Geoscience Society and 

Special guest: Dr Julian Vearncombe 

AIG invite you to attend the Distinguished 

Adelaide Bendigo 

Wednesday 2 Thursday March, 312pm 

March, 7:00pm 

Historian Hotel, To 18 be confirmed Coromandel Pl 

BENDIGO, VIC 

ADELAIDE, SARegister Here 

Register Here 

Brisbane 

Monday 7 March, 4:15 for 4:30pm 

Melbourne 

Royal on the Park, 152 Alice St 

Thursday 3 March, BRISBANE, 12pm QLD 

CQ Melbourne, Register 113 Queen Here St 

MELBOURNE, VIC 

Townsville 

Register HereTuesday 8 March, 5:45 for 6pm 

Townsville Yacht Club, 1 Plume St 

TOWNSVILLE, QLD 

Bendigo 

Register Here 

Thursday 3 March, 7:00pm 

To be confirmed Cairns 

BENDIGO, VICThursday 10 March, 5:30pm 

Cairns Sheridan Hotel, 295 Sheridan St 

Register HereCAIRNS, QLD 

Brisbane 

Monday 7 March, 4:15 for 4:30pm 

Royal on the Park, 152 Alice St 

BRISBANE, QLD 

Register Here 

Lecture Series featuring guest speaker 

Dr Julian Vearncombe who will be 

Value from Exploration Geology 

Two things impact value, (1) the fundamentals of supply and demand, and (2) 

sentiment. Whilst messages given and received are not exactly the same as 

sentiment they feed off each other. This thought provoking one-hour talk will 

examine some of the messages geologists send, and those that the exploration 

industry gives and receives. Discussion topics will include: 

presenting Value from Exploration Geology. 

The AusIMM’s Project Evaluation 2016 conference is presenting a 

• Brownfields gold cannot be Special distinguished guest: from green-fields Dr Julian gold. Vearncombe 

conference built around a theme of ‘Good Practice and Communication’. 

Two things impact value, • (1) Unrealistically the fundamentals large exploration targets of are supply doomed to and fail! 

This theme is intended to stimulate discussion around the importance of 

demand, and (2) sentiment. 

• Value As 

Whilst 

an industry from messages 

we Exploration need to cease the 

given 

habit Geology 

of 

and 

assessing 

received 

(gold) exploration as 

value-less. 

good practice for decision makers as either developers of, or investors in, 

Register Here 

are not exactly the same • as Two We sentiment must things increase impact the they intellectual value, feed (1) effort the off in fundamentals exploration each other. of supply and demand, a 

mineral projects. 

Orange 

sentiment. Whilst messages given and received are not exactly the sam 

Monday 14 March, 7:00pm for 7:30pm 

Parkview Hotel, This 281 Summer thought St provoking one sentiment - hour they talk feed will off examine each other. some This thought of provoking one-hour tal 

ORANGE, NSW 

Dr Julian Vearncombe is the Principal Consultant at SJS Resource 

Register Here 

Management. examine Julian some has of athe record messages of highly successful geologists exploration send, for and base those and that the exp 

www.projectevaluation2016.ausimm.com.au 

the messages geologists precious send, metals, and with those emphasis that the on quality exploration 

management decisions, target 

Cobar 

industry gives and receives. Discussion topics will include: 

i 

Townsville Wednesday 16 March, 6:30 for 7:pm 

generation, field structural geology, resource to reserve conversion, mine 

Cobar Bowling and Golf Club, Bloxham St 

Tuesday 8 March, 5:45 industry for 6pm gives and receives. geology and training. Julian brings expertise in executive and strategic 

COBAR, NSW 

management, • Brownfields public listing gold experience, cannot be capital distinguished raising, the identification from green-fields of key gold. 

Townsville Yacht Register Club, Here 1 Plume St 

TOWNSVILLE, QLD 

projects, technically-focused mineral exploration and resource evaluation. Julian 

Tullah • Adelaide | Wednesday has world-leading 2 March, expertise 12pm 

Register Here 

in the process and application of structural geology 

Monday 21 March 

• Unrealistically large exploration targets are doomed to fail! 

to mineral exploration. His experience encompasses all continents except 

TULLAH, TAS 

Cairns Registrations will open shortly. Historian Hotel, 18 Antarctica, Coromandel most commodity Pl types , ADELAIDE, and geological settings. SA 

Thursday 10 March, 5:30pm 

• As an industry we need to cease the habit of assessing (gold) explo 

Cairns Sheridan Hotel, 295 Sheridan St 

• Melbourne | Thursday value-less. 3 March, 12pm 

CAIRNS, QLD 

Register Here 

CQ Melbourne, 113 • Queen We must St, increase MELBOURNE, the intellectual VICeffort in exploration 

Orange 

Monday 14 March, 7:00pm for 7:30pm 

Proudly • supported Bendigo by: | Thursday 3 March, 7:00pm 

Parkview Hotel, 281 Summer St 

ORANGE, NSW 

Dr Julian Vearncombe is the Principal Consultant at SJS 

Register Here To be confirmed, BENDIGO, Management. VICJulian has a record of highly successful exploration for 

Silver Sponsor of the 

precious metals, with an emphasis on quality management decision 

Cobar 

• Brisbane | Monday generation, 7 March, field 4:30pm 

Wednesday 16 March, 6:30 for 7:pm 

structural geology, resource to reserve conversi 

AIG Education Endowment 

Cobar Bowling and Golf Club, Bloxham St 

geology and training. Julian brings expertise in executive and 

COBAR, NSW Royal on the Park, 152 management, Alice St, public BRISBANE, listing experience, QLD capital raising, the identificatio 

Register Here 

Foundation 

projects, technically-focused mineral exploration and resource evaluatio 

• Townsville | Tuesday 8 March, 6pm 

Tullah 

has world-leading expertise in the process and application of structura 

Monday 21 March 

Townsville Yacht Club, 

to mineral 

1 Plume 

exploration. 

St, TOWNSVILLE, 

His experience 

QLD 

encompasses all continent 

TULLAH, TAS 

Registrations will open shortly. 

Antarctica, most commodity types and geological settings. 

• Cairns | Thursday 10 March, 5:30pm 

Cairns Sheridan Hotel, 295 Sheridan St, CAIRNS, QLD 

Proudly supported by: 

• Orange | Monday 14 March, 7:30pm 

Parkview Hotel, 281 Summer St, ORANGE, NSW 

• Cobar | Wednesday 16 March, 7pm 

Cobar Bowling and Golf Club, Bloxham St, COBAR, NSW 

• Tullah | Monday 21 March 

To be advised, TULLAH, TAS 

For more information or to book visit 

www.aig.org.au/events 

22 


Keep up to date with AIG and other geoscientific events at www.aig.org.au/events 

ADAPTING FOR BETTER! 

PERFORMANCE! 

Careers, Discovery and Personal Transitions! 

Monday 14 th March 2016! 

CSIRO ARRC Auditorium, ! 

26 Dick Perry Avenue, 

Kensington! 

IOCG and Other Mineral Systems in the 

World-Class Cloncurry District: 

New Advances in Exploration and 

Deposit Understanding 

March 16-18, 2016 | Cloncurry, Cloncurry QLD 

Upcoming Events 

What will Mining and Resources in Australia look 

like towards 2025? 

What are the sector, company, and geoscientist – level strategies 

to success? 

For more information visit 

How do businesses and individuals anticipate and plan for change? 

www.aig.org.au/events/adapting-for-better-performance 

What are the educational and research priorities to sustain a pipeline of 

adaptable people, innovative governance, and data and technology 

developments? 

This is a follow-up to the highly successful workshop “IOCG Deposits: 

The Cloncurry Experience” held in Cloncurry in March 2015. 

Course Convenors: Assoc. Prof. Zhaoshan Chang, Dr Richard Lilly 

For full details visit www.aig.org.au/events 

The Day! 

! 

Join us for a boutique event to hear and debate how geoscientists can proactively manage 

likely professional transitions in cyclical downturns, while looking ahead to consider how 

we work, and how innovation in the sector will shape our changing job descriptions. 

A forward looking, one day workshop, motivated by the need for new discoveries and 

better ways of working will consist of three sessions, with time in-between for breakout 

group discussions. We will reconvene together at the end of the day for a group discussion, 

before retiring for sundowner drinks, lovingly provided by local brewers Gage Roads and 

winemakers Wine by Brad.! 

Keynote Speaker 

Register online: 

geosymposia.com.au 

This course may assist 

with CPD compliance 

for AIG Registered 

Members 

Professor Lyn Beazley AO FTSE, West Australian of the year, 2015 & Former Chief 

Scientist of WA 

Looking Forward in WA 

We are delighted to have Professor Lyn Beazley join us for the Keynote presentation. Lyn will present on 

looking forward in Western Australia, focusing on areas of Data & Technology, Deposits of the Future, 

Culture, Companies & Talent. 

Delegate Fees 

(Including GST) 

Student/Unemployed $40 

Grad AIG $50 

Member AIG $60 

Non AIG Member $70 

(Maximum attendance: 90) 


Student report: Mill 

Sequence Stratigraphic 

Analysis of the Epsilon 

Formation, 

Merrimelia Ridge, 

Cooper Basin – 

South Australia 

Jordan Mill, University of Adelaide 

2015 DSD – AIG Honours Bursary Recipient 

The majority of successful gas 

fields within the Cooper Basin have 

historically been associated with fourway 

dip, intra-basin highs. This conventional 

model will have to be challenged in order for 

future exploration and field development to 

continue to be successful within the Cooper 

Basin. 

The mid-Permian fluvio-deltaic Epsilon 

Formation has complex geomorphologies 

and is largely considered to be transgressive. 

This study integrated a wide variety of 

datasets including; seismic, wireline, core 

and image logs that identified two sequences 

(described as Tu95 and Tu35) within 

the Epsilon Formation. Their associated 

sequence boundaries and systems tracts 

were interpreted onto 26 wells covering 5 

traverses over the study area. Image logs 

and core confirmed typical lowstand and 

highstand lithofacies assemblages supporting 

the wireline sequence and electrofacies 

interpretations. Two paleogeographic maps 

that related to the two LST conditions of the 

Tu95 and Tu35 sequences were constructed. 

The dominant paleoflow direction was 

approximately south-east. Previous empirical 

studies, analogue field calculations and 

measurements from Google Earth found 

channel belt widths of up to approximately 

2500m. These results highlighted the potential 

of LST sandstones as hydrocarbon reservoirs. 

Tu95 and Tu35 LST has the best chance of 

lateral reservoir connectivity because of the 

increased sediment dispersion and limited 

accommodation space that allows fluvial 

sand sheets with high interconnectivity to be 

deposited. 

The Tu95 LST could be considered to be a 

forced regressive deposit (FRD) as it displayed 

an extremely sharp log signature at its base 

out of the HST. Intra-formational systems 

tract thickness variations over the study area, 

along with the absence of Roseneath Shale in 

the NW, could also be evidence of basin tilting 

towards the SE. A period of a renewed tectonic 

compression, just prior to the Daralingie uplift 

event, may have caused additional sub-aerial 

exposure and basin tilting. This would support 

the weakly positive gradient assumed to be 

leading into the Nappamerri Trough at the 

time of deposition, which could have resulted 

in a substantially faster lowstand lake level 

retreat and FRD’s. The Tu35 SB appears to 

vary in time according to local subsidence and 

uplift rates due to the diachronous nature of 

systems tracts. 

24 


Detailed seismic mapping of the Epsilon 

Formation identified eight ‘sub-horizons’ 

that generally relate to separate onlapping 

transgression events. As a result it was 

RFT and production perforation data found 

that the Tc90 and Tc20 Epsilon Sands within 

the Swan Lake field area were potentially 

isolated, whereas the Tc90 sands in the 

determined that an onlap fairway, represented 

by the Epsi_00 sub-horizon, could hold 

potential for stratigraphic trapping. Seismic 

onlap versus truncation geometries also 

suggested a combination of non-deposition 

and post-depositional erosion is the likely 

reason for the lack of Epsilon Formation that 

is observed on the GMI structural lineaments 

Meranji field were possibly connected. 

Shoreface, mouthbar and distributary channel 

facies were found to have the highest φ and k. 

After considering all the factors of 

the sequence stratigraphic architecture, 

paleogeography, reservoir connectivity and 

reservoir quality; the fluvial-deltaic LST sands 

associated with the Tu95 LST were identified 

Student report: Mill 

today. 

to be the most prospective and hold the 

greatest chance of technical success. 

Resource Industry Consultants 

CSA Global 

For expertise and services from project 

generation through to mine production, 

CSA Global cover all stages of the 

exploration and mining cycle. 

Our broad experience and integrated approach results in high quality 

solutions for our clients in areas such as: 

EXPLORATION - RESOURCES - MINING - DATA - CORPORATE 

Perth • Brisbane • Darwin • Adelaide • Horsham • Jakarta • Johannesburg • Vancouver • Moscow 

Head Office 

Level 2, 3 Ord Street, West Perth 

Western Australia 6005 

T +61 8 9355 1677 

E csaaus@csaglobal.com 


Student report: Pang 

Origin of ladder dykes and associated 

rocks, Ravenswood: Implication of 

Magmatic Evolution 

Cheng Pang, James Cook University 

2015 Davis – AIG Honours Bursary Recipient 

Many large granitic plutons 

preserve little evidence of 

how the magmatic structures 

during construction of this mafic plutonic 

body. I use detail field mapping and field 

observations of metre-scale “ladder dykes” 

formed. In a few localities worldwide, granite 

pluton preserve magmatic layering features 

known as “ladder dykes”. The origin of these 

structures are seldom described however 

they may be fundamental to improving our 

understanding of magma chamber dynamics. 

These structures could be related to magma 

flow structures developed during magma 

crystallization and magma emplacement. 

A gabbro unit exposed near the town 

of Ravenswood in North Queensland 

contains complex magmatic structures 

that can be considered to be ladder dykes. 

The structure may provide a wealth of 

information of magma flow and evolution 

near Ravenswood, together with petrography 

studies and quantitative chemical analyses of 

minerals to demonstrate that these features 

are developed from multiple pulses of crystal 

mush intrusion while the host rock was 

largely crystalized. The exposed outcrop in 

Ravenswood provide plan view and cross 

section view of these structures, which allows 

a three dimensional perspective view of how 

these dykes were formed. Ladder dykes from 

Ravenswood, contains multiple wispy, and 

curved to concentric or ellipsoid banding 

with leucocratic plagioclase rich bands and 

melanocratic ferromagnesian mineral rich 

bands. 

26 


The host rock and ladder dyke have 

Quantitative chemical analyses of minerals 

Orthogonal brittle fractures and curved ductile 

a similar mineralogy comprised of 50% 

show plagioclase in the ladder dykes have 

deformation structures coexist at the same 

plagioclase, 30% pyroxene, and 20% 

reverse zoning from An27 to An85, with a 

outcrop suggest the host rock was probably 

amphibole. Petrographic studies show that 

distinct core with high albite component. 

largely crystallised. This caused sudden 

there are two main crystal orientations relative 

Ferromagnesian minerals (clinopyroxene, 

undercooling of this crystal free melt allowed 

to the banding of the dykes (1) elongation of 

orthopyroxene, hornblende) have Mg# 

comb layering formation in the centimetres 

the plagioclase crystals parallel to the banding 

in the ladder dyke (2) comb layering - crystals 

growth perpendicular to the layering and the 

boundary of the dyke. Crystals in the ladder 

dykes are oriented parallel to the banding. 

Comb layering occurs at the contact between 

the ladder dyke and host rock as acicular 

plagioclase and clinopyroxene crystal growth 

perpendicular to the margin. This can be 

varies from Mg66 to Mg81. Reverse zoned 

plagioclase shows three separate population 

of crystal growth with no oscillatory zoning. 

Sodic core to calcic rim plagioclase in both 

host rock and ladder dykes suggest magma 

mixing occurred prior to the intrusion. The 

initial magma was felsic in composition then 

later intruded by more mafic magma. 

The formation of the ladder dyke is 

width dyke. A later crystal rich melt (mush) 

reactivated and fractured the comb layering 

structure dyke in the middle. This is evidenced 

by comb layering occurs on the margin of 

the ladder dyke. This crystal rich melt is 

plagioclase rich and developed flow banding 

structure hence the ladder dyke. 

Student report: Pang 

explained by sudden undercooling which leads 

postulated to be an early crystal free melt 

to high crystal growth with low nucleation 

fractured the largely crystallised Ravenswood 

rates in the crystal free magma pulse. 

host rock gabbro in brittle-ductile fashion. 

SYDNEY MINERAL EXPLORATION 

DISCUSSION GROUP 

bringing 

geoscientists 

together 

SMEDG has been a part of the Mineral Exploration 

industry in NSW since 1972. Set up as a group of 

enthusiastic geoscientists to discuss techniques and 

concepts of mineral exploration on an informal basis 

Come along to our 

monthly meetings 

to enjoy great talks 

and network with 

like minded people 

UP-COMING EVENTS ! 

Meetings 

Mid-year Cruise 

(last Thursday of month) 

Mines & Wines 2017 

(Friday 8th July) 

Christmas Cruise (to be advised) 

(to be advised) 

Stay in-touch at 

www.smedg.org.au for up-coming events 


Fluid inclusion and trace element 

study of stockwork quartz at the Red 

Mountain porphyry copper deposit 

Student report: Philippa 

Elizabeth Philippa, Australian National University 

2015 AIG Honours Bursary Recipient 

Porphyry copper deposits (PCD) are 

complex hydrothermal-magmatic 

systems which provide a large source 

of base and precious metals. Debate exists 

over the fluid responsible for mineralisation 

as a direct proxy for 

temperature in PCD. 

The stockwork quartz 

was deposited by a fluid 

with a strong magmatic 

and the mechanism for precipitation leading 

to the formation of PCD. This study presents 

new evidence for the formation of PCD and 

explores the possibility of a single-phase 

magmatic fluid as the ore-forming fluid. 

Temperatures found using the (Thomas 

et al., 2010) calibration of the Ti-in-quartz 

thermobarometer (TitaniQ) range between 

~417°C to ~850°C in the stockwork quartz. 

These temperatures correlate strongly with 

cathodoluminescence brightness and trace Ti 

content in the quartz. 

Veins hosting sulfides exhibit temperatures 

in the range ~420°C to ~660°C, suggesting 

sulfide precipitation may occur at 

temperatures greater than previously thought. 

The direct link found in this study between 

Ti content, CL brightness and temperature 

delivers the prospect of using CL brightness 

signature, as found 

through oxygen isotopes 

ranging between +8.9‰ 

to +12.6‰. This range 

discounts the potential 

input of meteoric 

water, and its use as a 

mechanism for ore deposition. 

Fluid inclusions found in the stockwork 

show both immiscible fluids (vapors and 

brines) and single-phase supercritical fluids. 

LA-ICP-MS analysis of fluid inclusions reveal 

a potential mineralising intermediate-density 

fluid enriched in metals and semi-metals, 

similar to those found being released from 

current arc volcanoes. 

The findings in this study support recent 

porphyry copper deposit formation models 

proposed by Blundy et al., (2015) and 

Henley et al., (2015) in that a single-phase 

supercritical ‘gas’ is likely responsible for the 

deposition of ore in mineralised porphyry 

systems. The high temperatures found using 

TitaniQ, the magmatic isotopic composition 

of the stockwork quartz and the identification 

of an intermediate-density, enriched fluid 

contradict several facets of conventional PCD 

formation models, and provide support for 

alternatives. 

Kim Frankcombe 

Senior Consulting Geophysicist 

Phone +61 (0) 8 6201 7719 

E-mail kim@exploregeo.com.au 

GEOPHYSICAL CONSULTANTS TO EXPLORERS 

Riaan Mouton 

Consulting Geophysicist 

Phone +61 (0) 8 6201 0715 

E-mail riaan@exploregeo.com.au 

www.exploregeo.com.au 

PO Box 1191 Wangara WA 6947 Australia 

Unit 6, 10 O’Connor Way, Wangara WA 6065 Australia 

PETROLOGICAL (CONSULTING) SERVICES 

Roger G Taylor (PhD, DIC, MAIG) 

Descriptive and overview interpretation of:-‐ 

• Ore Textures 

• Breccias 

• Alteration 

• Paragenetic sequencing 

• Gossans-‐leached outcrops/supergene enrichment 

Porphyry copper, IOCG, Skarn, Carbonate replacement, Tin-‐Tungsten 

Epithermal and Granite related gold systems 

roger-‐taylor@bigpond.com 

Mobile 0417621273 Phone 0363265562 

28 


NORTHERN TERRITORY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

AGES2016 



15–16 March 2016, Alice Springs Convention Centre, Northern Territory 

ALICE SPRINGS SEMINAR 

The Territory’s premier 

exploration event 

The Territory continues to offer outstanding opportunities for 

both minerals and petroleum explorers. Major investment in new 

geoscience data from the Northern Territory Geological Survey 

and its partners under the Creating Opportunities for Resource 

Exploration (CORE) initiative, is providing exciting insights into 

the untapped potential of under-explored areas in the Territory. 

Join us in Alice Springs on 15–16th March 2016 for the 17th Annual 

Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES), where a mix of NTGS and 

industry presentations will showcase the rich minerals and petroleum 

potential of the Northern Territory. AGES is a technical conference 

that presents a unique opportunity for you to access the latest in fresh 

exploration ideas and geoscientific data from the Territory and to 

network with colleagues who share an interest in the discovery and 

development of the Territory’s minerals and oil and gas resources. 

Around 220 people attended the event in 2015. 

Seminar highlights 

• first release of interpreted seismic data across the 

Tennant Creek mineral field 

• the latest information on new geoscience and 

exploration success for shale gas in the Beetaloo 

Sub-basin 

• technical updates on successful exploration programs 

and new discoveries from across the Territory for 

copper, zinc, gold, oil and gas and more 

• new concepts on stratigraphy, basin architecture and 

mineral fertility of the Amadeus Basin 

• dedicated session on the McArthur Basin including 

the release of new geoscience and shale geochemistry 

datasets, discussion of geophysical techniques for 

exploration, and release of an expanded 3D model that 

includes the McArthur Group and equivalents 

• results of recent mapping and copper mineral systems 

studies in the Arunta Region 

• practical information to assist you with issues such as 

land access, titles and accessing geoscience data 

• the AGES dinner – the premier networking and social 

event for the NT exploration industry 

For more 

information 

Visit www.ages.nt.gov.au; 

phone (08) 8999 5313 

or email ages@nt.gov.au 

Hosted by the 

NT Geological Survey 

Department of Mines and Energy 

Supported by 

Department of Business 

AGES also incorporates the Mining Services Expo – a showcase 

of Northern Territory businesses and their capabilities to support your 

exploration and mining ventures. 

AIG NEWS Issue 123 · February 2016 

29

IAH Seven Wonders 

Seven Wonders of 

the Hydrogeological 

World (in Australia) 

In an effort to raise the national profile 

of hydrogeology, the Australian branch 

of the International Association of 

Hydrogeologists (IAH Australia) 

launched a competition in 2010, 

challenging interested parties to 

nominate Seven Wonders of the 

Hydrogeological World (in Australia). 

4: Seven Wonders of the 

Hydrogeological World - 

Iconic Blue Lake 

Jeff Lawson 

SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation 

Reproduced with thanks to the International Association of Hydrogeologists, 

Australia National Chapter 

With a $1000 cash prize on offer 

for the best submission, entries were 

impressive, varied and reflective of the 

diverse and abundant hydrogeological 

wonders Australia has to offer. 

Submissions were assessed on the 

basis of scientifc merit, interest to 

scientific media, visual amenity, quality 

of submission and public interest. Of 

the wonders nominated, there were 

seven clear standouts. 

Over coming issues of the AIG 

News, we will be featuring each 

of these wonders, continuing with 

number 4: The Blue Lake. 

The Blue Lake is located on the edge of 

a city named after the local volcano 

and should be considered as one 

of Australia most unique hydrogeological 

wonders. 

Hydrogeological Wonder 

The hydrogeological wonder that is the Blue 

Lake has many unique features. It is a window 

into the unconfined aquifer of the region, has 

storage of about 30,000 megalitres and has 

the most brilliant unique colour change twice 

a year. 

Through the winter months the lake is a dull 

grey colour, but as soon as the weather starts 

to warm, it undergoes a spectacular change 

to vivid cobalt blue and holds this until the air 

temperature begins to cool again in April. 

While many Blue Lakes exist in the world, 

this lake stands out because of the unique 

colour change which for many years kept 

many people theorising as too what may be 

the cause. Some of these theories are quite 

humorous. Science has now explained the 

change mechanism; however the local tourist 

bodies would rather explain how the colour 

change is still a mystery. 

Legend also held that the lake was about 

200 metres deep after some original rope 

depthing in the late 1800’s. 

30 


The Peoples Hydrogeological Wonder 

Geological Wonder 

Research Wonder 

The Blue Lake along with the volcanic crater 

As a geological wonder the Blue Lake: 

Studying the lake has provided gainful 

has had a human connection since its 

employment to at least two PhD students, 

formation, as it has been part of the local 

Buandig (also known as Boandik) Aboriginal 

dream time legend. 

This lake plays a wonderful part in 

thousands of people’s lives. Firstly for such 

a unique geological structure, it is on the 

doorstep of a city of about 30,000 people. 

Other Blue Lakes in the world, whilst very 

• Is one of Australia’s most recently 

formed volcanoes with an age of about 

28,000 years. 

• Formed during Australia’s last ice age 

and the lake was originally dry as the 

water levels were 100 to 150 metres 

lower than today. 

• Formed on a fault upon which the 

along with CSIRO and government 

researchers. But still it refuses to give up all its 

secrets 

Water Supply Wonder 

The Lake is the municipal water supply to 

the people of Mount Gambier. It provides on 

average about 3,700 million litres of water 

IAH Seven Wonders 

beautiful are quite often removed from 

volcanic pressure exited through. 

each years from a reservoir of about 30,000 

population centres and do not play unique 

• The lake has a maximum depth of 

million litres. It recharges its volume from 

roles in peoples lives. 

72 metres, a circumference of 3.75 

groundwater storage about every 8 years. 

This lake has a walking path which sees 

kilometres and a water surface area of 

hundreds of people walk or jog around it every 

about 60 hectares. 

day as part of fitness routines. Additionally it 

• It has a unique colour change related to 

has a strong social function with many of the 

temperature and water purity. 

morning walker’s stopping at the tourist centre 

• It has different water qualities to the 

for a coffee after the walk. These walks/ runs 

surrounding unconfined aquifer, of which 

are very relaxing as at so many parts around 

it is a part. 

the lake the beauty of the whole crater is 

• A little known fact is that it may have 

viewed. 

originally been a dual crater. 

Tourist Hydrogeological Wonder 

The lake is appreciated by so many people in 

Australia but it also receives many thousands 

of international visitors. As part of the 

Kanawinka Geopark it forms part of Australia’s 

first geopark and because it is a part of the 

global network, it is promoted internationally 

both in Europe and Asia. It has appeared on 

many television shows related to tourism and 

children’s education. 


Industry – Academic Research Projects 

Industry – 

Academic 

Research 

Projects: The 

Good, The Bad 

and The Ugly 


Richard Lilly 

Mount Isa Mines Embedded Research Fellow, University of Adelaide 

Industry-Academic research projects should 

be a win-win; the company gets access to 

a knowledgeable specialist team who are 

able to dedicate valuable time and resources 

to a range of geological questions, and the 

academics get funding to generate new data 

and progress their research careers. As a 

bonus, any students involved get invaluable 

hands-on industry experience. What could go 

wrong? Why are there not more collaborative 

projects happening all the time? What can we 

do to make these projects work? 

Over the last 15 years I have been fortunate 

to have been involved in over 25 collaborative 

research projects with 6 different companies 

and 8 research institutions on projects all 

around the world including Australia, Sweden, 

Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Oman. 

Most have been good, some have been bad 

and a couple have been ugly. The following 

is a personal viewpoint from someone who 

is still very passionate about trying to use 

applied research to assist the full spectrum 

of economic geology from exploration to 

production. 

Getting past stereotypes 

Being an industry-academic research-fellow/ 

liaison is certainly not an easy job; after years 

in exploration I don’t think I grasped how 

many hours academics actually work. There 

is no clock-on and clock-off; it’s certainly a 

lifestyle rather than a job. I also quickly found 

out that academics have completely different 

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and that 

the success of a research project is not 

measured in metres drilled, tonnes hoisted 

or targets tested (although it would be nice if 

that was the end-result of some research!). 

In fact, in the first few months of my current 

role, rather than feel like an industry-academic 

boundary-spanner, it was like I was slipping 

through the crack between both worlds. This 

made me wonder: is this why there are so 

few embedded researchers? Is the role itself 

doomed to sit in neither camp? Why is this? 

One of the most consistent barriers for 

effective industry-academic research projects 

is stereotyping. Ask just about anyone in the 

industry about academics and you will be 

treated to tales of boffins and their projects 

that become ‘too academic to be useful’, and 

academics who are ’only thinking about where 

their next research grant is coming from’. Or 

(as happened to me last year) when at the end 

of a research project meeting the industry geo 

says: ‘Right, I’d better get on with some real 

work now’. This example clearly demonstrates 

the lack of value that industry often places on 

geological knowledge and understanding. 

However, stereotyping works both ways and 

I have heard frustrations from the academic 

side of the fence referring to their industry 

partners’ ‘short-term goals’ and the recipients 

of the research who ‘don’t understand the 

results’ and ‘probably won’t read it anyway’. 

The high turnover of staff during the boom 

years is also a hindrance; it is common for 

the company geo who initiated the research 

project to have moved on by the time the 

research has been completed. Likewise, 

industry priorities change with the market and 

a three year study may find itself high and dry 

32 


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if the topic and/or outcomes are not business 

relevant by the delivery date. Because of 

this, it is important for all industry-academic 

research projects to try to retain flexibility 

where possible. 

Other speed bumps that can get in the way 

of collaborative research include industry 

pricing cashing in on the good years (‘let’s just 

add some more to the budget; the company 

can afford it’). Confidentiality agreements can 

be stifling (and often unnecessary) and hobble 

academics’ ability to publish their results. 

This alone would be enough to prevent many 

promising early career researchers from 

ever getting into collaborative economic 

geology studies because their career path is 

essentially publish-or-perish. 

Appropriate fieldwork is also a key hurdle; 

nothing can replace time spent in the field 

and face-time at the operation/camp. An old 

stereotype is where the academic has flown 

in, looked at one drill-hole, and solved all the 

problems in an afternoon of arm-waving and 

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then spends the next 6 months writing it 

up. This is fine until you go around the next 

corner, or drill the next hole and the model 

doesn’t fit and the project has now finished 

(or the academic is unwilling to change their 

mind!). This point also highlights the value 

of long-standing working relationships; 

companies are not so fond of fair-weather 

friends who arrive when times are good and 

are not to be seen when the research money 

starts to dry up (or the individual academics 

personal interest has been quenched). In 

some cases this may be unavoidable as 

academics can only take on limited projects, 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 

The Good collaborative project represents 

the majority, by far; most projects achieve 

their target and build geological knowledge. 

Outcomes from short- to mid-term (Hons, 

PhD and Post-Doctoral) projects can provide 

geological constraints for specific targets, 

prospects and systems and can assist 

companies to make business decisions 

based on sound geological understanding. 

Good projects lead directly to more projects, 

which can build knowledge quickly. This is 

especially true if they are coordinated by a 

‘research champion’ within the company; 

not necessarily a senior figure, but someone 

to get a job or go onto further study (PhD). 

As well as research outcomes, the Honours 

process also allows companies’ access 

to these potentially high-calibre future 

employees. 

The Bad isn’t that bad. Some projects do 

not achieve what was originally intended. 

Students can go off the rails and research can 

go off at a tangent. Often this comes down to 

how much mentoring the student had from 

supervisors and whether key deliverables have 

been requested. This kind of project should 

have a learning outcome for both industry and 

but it does support a ‘baby-steps’ approach. I 

with a keen drive to progress geological 

academic supervisors. In most cases though, 

like to think of projects as Lego bricks; maybe 

understanding. The students involved in 

the cost of the project was minimal and the 

individually each study is not breathtaking, but 

these projects are normally self-starters and 

data generated will be of use to aid geological 

once several are joined together you can start 

interested in geology. Many gain enough 

understanding. 

to build something substantial. 

industry experience through their project 

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commenced a 12 month contract designed to add sigificant further historical 

Geological and Geochemical Data to the over 450,000 data points already 

captured by Terra Search during the 1st MSISTAP in 2002-2005. 

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• A new metallogenic database of the Charters Towers Region, GIS data package 

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• Metallogenic model documenting genetic types & spatial controls in Charters 

Towers region 

• Revision and update of the geology of the Charters Towers District 

• Templates of geophysical & geochemical signatures of deposit styles 

This study is a part of a North QLD research initiative in collaboration with local 

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Terra Search Pty. Ltd. 

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BATHURST 

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E: richard.lesh@bigpond.com 

34 


© ingimage.com © ingimage.com 


THE GOOD COLLABORATIONS 

THE BAD COLLABORATIONS 

Case Study Examples 

• Student does a great project - gets directly offered a job 

• Student does a great project - industry experience helps 

them get a job with another company 

• Student does a great project - continues research 

with PhD 

• Company get a detailed Honours project on a 

previously undescribed style of mineralisation. 

• Geological data allows company to avoid paying many 

millions to stay in joint venture project. 

• Another company spends many hundreds of 

thousands on the project and concludes finding based 

on original (Honours) project was correct. 

• Data from project allows company to explore more 

effectively for buried mineralisation; discovery is made. 

• Newly described style of mineralisation allows more 

efficient exploration and leads to buy-in from other 

companies also interested in research. 

• Additional exploration benefits state economy. 

Recommendations 

• Build interrelated projects up like Lego blocks. 

Case Study Examples 

• Student goes off the rails and Honours Project 

doesn’t get submitted 

• Data still relevant and supervisor writes up technical 

report and project still adds value 

• Research goes off on a tangent and final project 

doesn’t address primary aim 

• May be due to lack of supervision from both 

academic and industry supervisors 

• Academic arrives on site in Hawaiian shirt and thongs 

with a hastily put-together presentation (which 

includes basic spelling errors). 

• Academics reputation doesn’t carry across to 

industry. 


• Have at least one industry ‘research champion’ who 

has responsibility for project. 

• Mentor students and emphasise the need for 

appropriate behaviour while on-site. 

• Maintain a professional approach: relaxed working 

relationships can be enjoyable and productive, but a 

careless attitude does not promote confidence in the 

project. 



“ 

Any failure of large-scale projects 

can damage the reputations of the 

institutions and can make companies 

think twice about where (and how much) 

research funding they make available.” 

The Ugly. Well, there have been a few cases 

over the years of large-scale (high budget), 

all-singing and all-dancing paradigm-changing 

projects that just fizzled out. Big words can 

be used in the proposal, big names can be 

THE UGLY COLLABORATIONS 

Case Study Example 

• Six-figure PA spend from company matched by ARC 

linkage. 

• Ambitious ‘industry leading’ project with ‘paradigm 

changing’ aims. 

• Poor communication from start, field visits quickly became 

fewer as project progressed. 

• Late delivery of reports with basic errors. 

• Break-down of trust. Project funding cancelled after 2 

years. 


involved and big outcomes can be promised, 

only for the projects to underachieve. Any 

failure of large-scale projects can damage the 

reputations of the institutions and can make 

companies think twice about where (and how 

much) research funding they make available. 

There can, of course, be many reasons for 

this outcome, but key among them may be a 

lack of open and transparent communication: 

without mutual trust and respect there will be 

no ‘true’ collaboration and this is especially 

pertinent for projects with higher budgets and 

more participants. 

• Communicate: be open and transparent and, if things go 

wrong, don’t try to hide it. 

• Maintain a professional approach: a collaborative research 

project is a contractual relationship with the expectation 

that key deliverables will be provided as specified and on 

time. 

• Regular field visits are essential to provide updates and 

communicate results to industry partners. 

• Try to maintain project flexibility to be able to adjust to 

business needs. 

36 


Some Final Thoughts 

The topic of industry-academic research 

projects is a large one and there are some 

fundamental issues with the way the 

academic system is funded (e.g. the reliance 

on citations as a measure of an academics’ 

worth). However, it would seem from recent 

activities by the current government there may 

be some changes on the horizon 

(and, as much as I welcome those changes, I 

won’t be holding my breath). I have some final 

personal tips on maximising the chances of 

a collaborative industry-academic research 

project succeeding; 

• Maintain open and transparent 

communication; building trust and 

effective communication of results 

is vital. 

• For the academics: try to keep technical 

jargon to a minimum (nobody likes 

Finally: one of the most positive and 

undervalued outcomes of any research project 

is the training and experience that it gives 

the student(s). The bigger picture of applied 

research is that even if this project didn’t kick 

all the goals it aimed for, the next one might 

surprise us. Adding geological understanding 

and constraints to exploration campaigns 

and learning more about the ore body you 

are mining is fundamental to progressing the 

Australian minerals industry and tackling the 

UNCOVER challenge of finding the ore bodies 

of tomorrow. 


Note about the Author 

Richard Lilly completed his PhD at Cardiff 

University in the UK on ophiolite geochemistry 

in collaboration with the British Geological 

Survey and a short structurally-focussed 

post-doc working with Chevron in Morocco. He 

then worked for 8 years for Mount Isa Mines 

based in Mount Isa, Queensland and was Senior 

Geologist for Cloncurry Projects, specialising 

in exploration geochemistry for IOCG and 

related targets in covered terrain. Richard has a 

passion for using applied research to improve 

our understanding of mineral systems to 

benefit exploration and is currently the Mount 

Isa Mines funded Embedded Research Fellow 

at the University of Adelaide conducting and 

coordinating a wide range of applied research 

projects. 


reading an overly wordy technical report 

when a couple of PowerPoint slides 

could suffice). 

• Establish key deliverables and to deliver 

them on time: if plans and timelines 

change, be open about it. 

• There are no substitutes for fieldwork 

and relationship building. 

• Maintain project flexibility where 

possible. 

Glenn Coianiz 

MAIG RPGeo 

M: 0412 409 760 

glenn@exploris.com.au 

www.exploris.com.au 

Need maps produced but don’t have time, skills 

or staff. ExplorIS can do that for you. 

1 hour minimum charge out. 


Valmin Code Changes 

VALMIN CODE 

2015: What has 

changed and why? 

Jonathan Bell and Louis Rozman 

Disclaimer: The content of this article contains the personal views of two individuals and does not 

constitute advice nor represent the official view of the VALMIN Committee. For details on specific 

issues refer to the VALMIN Code 2015 or contact the VALMIN Committee. 

Members of the Australian Institute 

of Geoscientists (AIG) and 

Australasian Institute of Mining 

and Metallurgy (AusIMM) are bound to three 

codes, namely the Code of Ethics, JORC Code 

and VALMIN Code. On 13 January 2016, the 

VALMIN Code (2015 Edition) was officially 

released and on 30 January 2016, it became 

effective. The VALMIN Code (2005 Edition) 

remains in effect until 30 June 2016, and 

until 30 June 2016 either the VALMIN Code 

(2005 Edition) or the VALMIN Code (2015 

Edition) can be used. From 1 July 2016 it will 

be mandatory to use the VALMIN Code (2015 

Edition). This article outlines the extensive 

review process and highlights key changes to 

the new VALMIN Code (2015 Edition). 

The VALMIN Code is a companion to 

the JORC Code which addresses both the 

technical assessment and valuation of 

mineral assets. The VALMIN Code also 

provides guidance for assessment and 

valuation of petroleum assets. The VALMIN 

Code’s first incarnation was in July 1995, with 

updates released in April 1998, April 2005 

and now, January 2016. The most notable 

changes in the latest version of the Code are 

that: 

1 it no longer mandates the principle of 

Independence. This brings the Code 

into alignment with the three principles 

of the JORC Code, namely Competence, 

Materiality and Transparency; 

2 the requirements of Technical 

Assessments are separated from the 

requirements of Valuation Reports; this 

allows for a more succinct document 

that reflects its dual purpose; 

3 the terms and definitions are in greater 

alignment to those of the JORC Code, 

Australian Securities and Investments 

Commission (ASIC) and the International 

Valuation Standards (IVS); 

4 it provides guidance on additional 

reporting requirements, such as the 

Peter Komyshan BSc (HonS), MAuSIMM, MAIG 

Consultant GeoloG ist 

▲ Corporate Advice 

▲ Project and Target Generation 

▲ Project Management 

Omap Pty Ltd (ACN 154 607 977) 

Perth Western Australia 

Mobile (+61) 414 918 515 ▲ Telephone (+61) 8 9447 1142 

Email: omap@iinet.net.au 

Corporations Act, ASIC’s regulatory 

guidelines, the Australian Securities 

Exchange (ASX) listing rules; and 

5 petroleum technical assessments and 

valuations can use the VALMIN Code as 

guidance, but it is not mandatory. 

38 


“ 

Arguably the biggest change to the VALMIN Code 

is the removal of the principle of Independence.” 

The changing Australian regulatory 

new committee member, with each working 

framework surrounding the VALMIN 

group focussed on a set section of the draft 

Code necessitated additional stakeholder code. The intent of this process was to share 

consultation and resulted in delays to the knowledge and provide fresh perspectives 



These changes are the result of a review 

process that began in 2010 with the VALMIN 

Committee undertaking an extensive 

stakeholder consultation process. Initially, 

this involved interviews with a cross-section 

of stakeholders to determine what were 

issues that needed to be addressed and 

improvements that could be made. Having 

gained an insight into stakeholder perceptions, 

seminars were run in Perth in October 2011 

and a second seminar held in Brisbane in 

April 2012. These seminars served to raise 

the awareness of the VALMIN Code’s review 

process and gain additional feedback. The 

VALMIN review process coincided with a 

period when a number of significant changes 

in regulatory reporting had also come into 

effect, such as: 

• ASIC Regulatory Guide 111 (Content 

of Expert Reports) and 112 RG112 

(Independence of Experts) which were 

released on 1 March 2011; and 

• Finalisation of the draft edition of the 

2012 edition of the JORC Code and 

the corresponding ASX Listing Rules 

(Chapter 5). 

process. The initial draft was circulated 

in November 2013 to key stakeholders 

comprising of AIG, AusIMM, MCA , ASX, 

ASIC, PESA and key industry practitioners. 

Extensive suggestions and comments on 

this draft were received by April 2014, but 

unfortunately it took until late 2014 to get the 

necessary feedback from all the stakeholders. 

Having incorporated the comments from 

the regulators, a public exposure draft was 

released for comment in April 2015. 

To assist in putting the proposed changes to 

the VALMIN Code into context and to collate 

further feedback, an exposure draft webinar 

was held in June 2015 prior to the closure 

of the public consultation process on 

17 July 2015. 

In recognition of the increasing workload 

due to the public submissions and subsequent 

marketing, the VALMIN Committee was 

expanded from seven to twelve members. In 

selecting the new members, an emphasis was 

placed on diversifying the skill and experience 

base of the committee. This expansion 

allowed the VALMIN Committee to benefit 

from insights from regulatory, legal, JORC 

Code and international perspectives. 

The public consultation submissions 

were allocated to small working groups 

comprised of at least one existing and one 

on the code. In December 2015 following 

engagement with the regulators on the 

penultimate draft, the AIG and AusIMM 

parent bodies of the VALMIN Code gave their 

approval and the finalised document was 

publicly released on 13 January 2016. 

A side-by-side comparison between the 

VALMIN Code (2005 Edition) and VALMIN 

Code (2015 Edition) is difficult due to the 

reorganisation of the document. The VALMIN 

Code now separates technical assessments 

and valuations into distinct sections. This 

structure makes the document more 

readable, easier to follow and more concise 

for practitioners only wanting to read the 

requirements of a technical assessment. 

Arguably the biggest change to the 

VALMIN Code is the removal of the principle 

of Independence. This former requirement 

resulted in the VALMIN Code becoming 

a code that was exclusively applied to 

consultants. The effect of removing the 

Independence principles is that it allows 

the author of a report to be an employee 

of the commissioning entity, as is the case 

with the JORC Code. The author(s) are still 

required to be reasonable and objective, and 

the Corporations Act, as discussed in ASIC 

RG111, outlines when there is a need to be 

independent. 


A less obvious, but important change to 

accounting firm; in comparison, the VALMIN 

The divergence in terminology between 

the VALMIN Code was to the definitions. With 

Code (2005 Edition) definition of expert 

the JORC Code and the PRMS guidelines 

some pre-existing terms within the VALMIN 

largely refers to mining sector expertise. It is 

combined with the requirements of the ASX 

Code (2005 Edition) being inconsistent with 

common for a VALMIN Report to be part of 

Listing Rules led to compromises for both 

definitions already defined by Australian 

an overarching document published by an 

sectors using VALMIN Code. Recognising the 

and International regulatory language. This 

AFSL holder, leading to a situation where all 

mineral-centric nature of the VALMIN Code, 


included inconsistencies with the JORC 

Code and ASX listing rules, as well as other 

international terms. For example, the VALMIN 

2005 Code’s term Fair Market Value was 

changed to Market Value, the definition of 

which is similar to that published in the IVS 

Glossary. The definition of Technical Value 

was aligned with the IVSC term Investment 

Value. Another area of misaligned terms 

authors were describing themselves as ‘the 

expert’ in a report that leads to a Valuation of 

Securities. To provide clear guidance and to 

reduce any ambiguity or misinterpretation of 

broader regulations, the VALMIN Code (2015 

Edition) adopted the term Specialist, a term 

which is consistent with what is described 

in the ASIC definitions. By updating the 

definitions and terms in this manner, VALMIN 

the wording around petroleum is changed 

from ‘mandatory’ to ‘guidance’. This change 

allows for the general concepts and good 

practice outlined in VALMIN (2015 Edition) to 

be applied in the Reporting and Valuation of 

petroleum assets without running the risk of 

incorrectly attributing a ‘must’ statement to 

a similar sounding, but significantly different 

petroleum term. Counterintuitively, this 

concerned ‘who is the expert?’. In the ASIC 

Code (2015) is clear and consistent, providing 

strengthens the VALMIN Code in relation to 

regulatory guides, the expert is typically the 

a better framework that interdisciplinary 

petroleum, as it gives disciplinary panels and 

entity that holds an Australian Financial 

teams can understand and with less risk of 

regulators more latitude to make a case while 

Services Licence (AFSL), such as an 

misinterpretation. 

minimising the risk of a potential loophole 

being exploited. 

The VALMIN Code is part of a complex 

regulatory framework with a wide range 

of stakeholders within Australia and 

internationally. This framework includes 

government regulations, security exchange 

listing rules and financial standards relating to 

the mineral and petroleum industry. Changes 

to the regulatory environment occurring 

immediately before and during the VALMIN 

review process, necessitated a significant 

restructure and realignment of the Code. 

While containing many common elements, 

the VALMIN Code (2015 Edition) has a new 

structure and feel to its predecessor. The 

result is a new Code which is clear, concise 

and more effective in communicating 

international good practice in Public Reporting 

and Valuation in the mineral and petroleum 

Industries. 

40 


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AIG NEWS Issue 123 · February 2016 

41

The Fold Experiment - Geologists Bias 

Geologists Are Highly Biased — 

How to take Business Advantage of this Bias 

Jun Cowan 

Recently I wrote a post about how a 

90% mineral resource downgrade 

could easily occur as a result of bias 

in the form of habitual behaviour. People 

often do not fully realise how extreme or 

entrenched human bias can be, nor the 

implications it has with regard to our scientific 

and business decisions. The purpose of this 

post is to illustrate a simple geological bias 

that can be demonstrated by anyone. As is 

the nature of any bias, this particular bias is 

virtually unknown in the geological profession. 

We’ll examine the origin of this bias, and then I 

will share how I take advantage of widespread 

bias in my own business as a mining industry 

consultant. 

My epiphany 

Around 1990 when I was studying for my 

PhD at the University of Toronto, I learned 

something that was to change the way I 

viewed fellow geologists. It was nothing to 

do with my research, but a single sentence 

that I overheard at a student-faculty party that 

stopped me in my tracks and changed the 

way I thought. That sentence? 

“Did you know that most geologists will 

draw an antiform, as opposed to a synform, if 

you ask them to draw a fold?” 

The person who made the statement 

couldn’t tell me the source of this claim, but 

it was the implication of this statement that 

really fascinated me. After all, if asked to draw 

a fold profile, I would instinctively draw an 

antiform too. 

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42 


“ 

Could geologists be 

this biased?” I wondered. 

This claim bothered me for years, so I set 

up an experiment to test this hypothesis. I 

want to share the experiment with you in this 

post, as well as its outcome and implications, 

because the result of this simple experiment 

unexpectedly shaped my career direction 

in the mining industry. It might shift your 

perspective as well. 

Figure 1. 

Non-geologists who 

choose between 

synform or antiform 

produce results similar 

to the computer 

results (Figure 2). 


The Fold Experiment 

Eight years later I was in Perth working 

as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the 

University of Western Australia (UWA) and I 

decided to test this hypothesis. I devised a 

simple experiment, but first let me explain 

what I was testing. 

If you ask someone to choose between 

black or white, there’s a 0.5 probability for 

Figure 2. 

each of black or white to be selected. If you 

repeat this experiment many times by asking 

a population of people, approximately 50% 

will choose white, and the other 50%, black. 

This is a binary choice experiment, and the 

outcome is very predictable. 

With the fold experiment, instead of a 

choice between black or white, the choice 

is based on a geological choice, and the 

question is: 

“Imagine a single fold profile. Do you see a 

synform or an antiform?” 

The choice between an antiform and a 

synform each has a 0.5 probability, so it’s 

identical to a choice between black or white. 

If you get a computer to randomly select 

between a synform and an antiform and do 

this experiment many times, the probability 

curve of the antiform bias would look like 

Figure 1. The peak of the bell curve sits right 

in between the synform and antiform options. 

The results in Figure 2 are based on a 

random survey of 32 people I conducted on 

UWA arts and commerce students who had 

no prior exposure to geology. I just walked 

up to a student at the UWA campus and my 

first screening question was “Do you know 

anything about geology?” If a student hadn’t 

studied geology or wasn’t exposed in any 

way to geology, then they became part of the 

control group. 

The students had to complete the activity 

sheet shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 shows a 

completed example. 

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Ian Glacken – Director of Geology 

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iglacken@optiro.com 

Level 1, 16 Ord St, West Perth 6005 

T: +61 8 9215 0000 




Figure 3. 

Figure 4. A completed 

activity sheet. The 

question about the circle 

was to see if there 

was a relationship 

between the type of 

fold drawn and the 

way people drew 

circles. There was no 

statistical relationship 

between the two. 

Geologists are not like computers 

So, given that I knew the control group of nongeologists 

acted pretty much like a random 

choice, it was time to find out how geologists 

responded to the same question. 

The result is illustrated in Figure 5. The 

pink bell curve shows a very strong antiform 

bias, and is the result of my 1998 experiment 

at UWA with 32 geology students and staff 

using the same activity shown in Figure 3. 

The statement I heard at that party almost a 

decade before was thus proven correct with 

this simple experiment. 

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Semper Sursum 

44 


“ 

The bell curve 

indicates that 9 out of 10 

geologists, if asked the 

question of what fold they 

are imagining, will answer 

antiform in preference to 

synform.” 

In fact, the results between the geologists 

and non-geologists are so different they 

can be considered two completely different 

Figure 5. 

I haven’t had the opportunity to conduct a 

similarly large-scale control experiment using 

a large number of non-geologists.) 

What I have found from experience is that 

what ought to be a 0.5 probability outcome, is 

a 0.9 to 0.95 probability in favour of antiforms 


populations. 

For the larger crowds I have not used the 

if you ask the fold question of a geologist. 

The overlap of the probability curves is 

worksheet from Figure 3, but instead have 

Several people have told me that they 

so minimal that we are likely to get a biased 

asked the participants to imagine a “profile of 

conducted their own experiments in their work 

result from geologists, no matter how many 

a fold.” I then asked them to raise their hand 

environments and, predictably, the results 

geologists we ask. 

if they imagined a synform, and followed with 

were the same as mine. 

The bell curve indicates that 9 out of 10 

asking for a show of hands if they imagined 

Try it now on an unsuspecting geologist 

geologists, if asked the question of what fold 

an antiform. Figure 6 shows a typical result in 

colleague who shares your office, or phone a 

they are imagining, will answer antiform in 

a classroom setting Figure 6. 

geologist and ask the question. Repeat this 

preference to synform. 

During a 3D modelling course at University 

ten times and see whether you get the same 

of Tasmania, 21 MSc geology students 

9/10 result that I got every time. 

Testing on a larger population 

were asked to participate in the fold test. 

In his bestselling book The Signal and the 

These results were so striking that I wanted 

10 students did not vote, but out of the 

Noise, Nate Silver discusses how professional 

to repeat this experiment at a much larger 

11 students that did vote, 11 imagined an 

gamblers take advantage of the very small 

gathering of geologists. I finally got around 

antiform. No one imagined a synform. 

percentages in their favour to make a living 

to doing this at two large geoscience 

conferences more than a decade after 

my original experiment. The conferences 

were the 2011 AusIMM Mining Geology 

conference (Queenstown), and the 2012 AIG 

Structural Geology and Resources conference 

(Kalgoorlie). At both conferences, about 

300 people were in each of the auditoriums 

when I asked the fold question. In each case 

about 15 people put up their hands in favour 

of synform, while the majority of the crowd 

favoured antiform, thus providing proof 

and confidence that the results of my 1998 

experiment can be scaled. (Unfortunately 


from gambling. In the case of geologists 


and the question about synforms and 

antiforms, there’s a 9 out of 10 certainty 

that you can predict their answer—not 5 out 

of 10! This is a remarkable contrast and is 

probably unprecedented for such a simple 

binary choice experiment. View the pictures 

of the roulette wheel that represents how 

a computer sees this antiform (black) vs 

synform (red) draw (Figure 7), as opposed to 

how the geological community sees antiform 

vs synform (Figure 8), and you’ll realise the 

startling difference. 

But why this highly skewed result? 

The result of these fold experiments are quite 

remarkable. 

It’s a bit like discovering a group of people 

somewhere in the world who, when given 

a free choice between black and white, 

Figure 7: 

A computer’s 

antiform vs synform 

pick shown as a 

roulette wheel 

(50% red, 50% black). 

Figure 8: The 

geologists’ antiform 

(black) vs synform 

(red) pick shown as a 

roulette wheel. 

consistently pick one colour 9 out of 10 times. 

This is remarkable, of course, but what is truly 

remarkable is most geologists are completely 

unaware of this bias. 

While geologists are curious about this 

result, they are often not shocked by it. 

Astonishingly, most geologists think this result 

is natural and quite normal, and I have found 

that they’ve often come up with imaginative 

reasons why geologists behave this way. 

But there is nothing normal about this 

asymmetry and departure from what should 

be a coin-toss probability, so the next obvious 

question is: Why is the outcome so skewed? 

Well, I don’t exactly know why, and I will 

speculate here, but I did search for research 

papers on the psychology of geological 

interpretations. However, there’s very little and 

although I’ve not done an exhaustive search, 

I speculate that fewer than 20 papers have 

been written on the subject since the 1970s. 

I could only find one experimental study 

that was anything like my experiment and 

that was conducted by structural geologist 

Peter K. Chadwick who published his result 

in the journal Nature in 1975. The conclusion 

Chadwick reached was that humans were 

hardwired to see antiforms over synforms 

(Chadwick, 1975, 1982). This conclusion was 

based on eye tracking experiments performed 

on 20 geologists and 20 non-geologists. The 

eyes of both groups of people preferentially 

looked at antiformal closures. 

However, the results of my experiment are 

not consistent with Chadwick’s conclusion— 

my control group of 32 non-geologists 

showed a completely different result 

compared to 32 geologists. When I chose 

my test candidates from the UWA campus 

in 1998, I made sure that the students in 

the control sample did not have any prior 

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exposure to geology. I deliberately chose 

those who had no idea about geology, so if 

a student asked “What’s geology?” then they 

were the perfect candidate for my experiment. 

My guess is that the antiform bias seen in 

the results from the geological community 

is due to subliminal conditioning caused by 

the geological education process. The only 

difference between a non-geologist and a 

geologist is their education. If you think back 

46 



Figure 9. Most geology text books show pictures of antiforms when they 

introduce the concept of folding. 

to your undergraduate years, you may recall 

that when you were first introduced to folding, 

you were most likely shown a picture of an 

anticline, not a syncline. If you examine any 

number of geological text books, you will 

notice that this pattern of biased illustration of 

antiforms over synforms is repeated (Figure 9). 

Implications of the ‘Fold test’ 

I’m suggesting that the antiform bias that 

we geologists have is a consequence of 

unintentional brainwashing, and a sure 

sign of brainwashing is that those who are 

brainwashed have no idea that they were 

brainwashed. Perhaps there is a bias in the way 

academic geologists preferentially illustrate 

antiforms in textbooks, as Chadwick (1975) 

had speculated, but I think this effect is further 

amplified by geology students who absorb 

and then repeat this pattern without thinking. 

If this extreme bias that we see in our 

geological community is due to passive and 

unintended brainwashing, then consider the 

outcome if a message is pounded into us 

intentionally and repeatedly by an enthusiastic 

and charismatic academic or industry leader. 

These ideas could be mineralisation models 

(eg Shear-Zone Hosted Gold, SEDEX, VMS), or 

some geological theory (eg Plate Tectonics, 

Expanding Earth), or they may be a habitual 

analytical process, as I’ve addressed recently 

about mineral resource estimation downgrades. 

This brainwashing is no different to that 

used in product advertisements—after a while 

you become oblivious to what you are told 

repeatedly, and eventually it just becomes 

part of your language and even thinking. You 

don’t question it, but simply accept it, and the 

ideas are interwoven with your beliefs, without 

you ever realising that you were brainwashed 

in the first place. Any ideas that are counter 

to what you are told are rejected without any 

rigorous testing. Everyone else exposed to the 

same brainwashing messages is in the same 

boat and everyone agrees with each other. 

But what if the message you were told for 

decades was actually wrong? What if the 

exploration model that your company uses 

is incorrect and cannot represent nature, 

yet everyone around you is brainwashed 

to believe it? This could be costing your 

company a lot of money, perhaps millions of 

dollars every year. 

It would be a difficult job to turn your 

thinking around because you’ve been told the 

message over and over again. It just becomes 

part of you so you vigorously defend it, even if 

it was an idea invented by someone else. It’s 

been in your system for so long that it simply 

becomes part of your thinking. In fact, it 

becomes part of the community so when the 

bias is pointed out (such as the fold bias), you 

don’t quite grasp the extreme (9/10!) nature of it. 

With this sort of bias and entrenched 

thinking, it’s not surprising that major 

scientific breakthroughs don’t happen very 

often. 

This is the scary implication of the fold 

bias if extrapolated to other parts of our 

professional lives, but how can we learn and 

make practical use of the realisation that such 

biases exist? 



I became a contrarian because of that 

simple statement I overheard at a party when 

I was a grad student nearly 30 years ago. A 

contrarian consciously determines what the 

majority are doing or thinking (this is not as 

easy as it sounds), and then thinks exactly the 

opposite to seek out untapped opportunities. 

Fifteen years ago, I came up with the 

Leapfrog software concept, which is now 

regarded as mainstream mining/exploration 

software, but back in 2001 I was completely 

alone in thinking that 3D interpolation could 

replace traditional sectional digitisation. In 

my mind, I could visualise this happening. 

However, most geologists, including many of 

way herds behave. Herds rarely head off in 

a direction unprompted, unless they see a 

substantial number of animals heading that 

way. Herds are not easily led by a delusional 

lone animal. 

But as a contrarian thinker, I soon realised 

that actively thinking the opposite can present 

untapped business opportunities because of the 

complete lack of competition. A lone sheep can 

come across vast green pastures where there 

are no other sheep to compete with. 

However, profound changes that go against 

the herd mentality do not happen overnight—it 

took many years for the mining industry to see 

the value of Leapfrog software, and even now, 

my experiment and ask an unsuspecting 

geologist the fold question: 

“Imagine a single fold profile. Do you see a 

synform or an antiform?” 

This post (modified from the original The 

System), and many more like this, can be 

found on the Orefind website. Dr Jun Cowan 

is a structural geologist and a co-director of 

Orefind along with fellow structural geologist 

Dr Brett Davis. Orefind’s mission is to make 

a material difference to mining operations, 

exploration companies and to investors. 

We achieve this through the investigation 

of structural geology at all scales and in the 

quickest possible time. 

my work colleagues, and, without exception, 

most geologists who use it don’t realise how 

all the mining software companies I talked to, 

powerful it is. 

thought the idea was a bit loopy. The hardest 

There are many untapped business 

sell was to mining consulting companies, and 

opportunities in the mining industry that are 

in the early years I never achieved long-term 

the direct consequence of human bias (which 

sales to any of the consulting companies. 

I will cover in future posts), but before you can 

It is ironic to see consultants who rejected 

see these opportunities, you must become 

the software back then are now singing the 

aware that geologists are highly biased. If 

praises of Leapfrog software, but that is the 

you don’t believe me, I dare you to try out 

Acknowledgement 

Dr Stefan Revets for discussions and help with the statistics in the original 1998 UWA study. 

References 

Chadwick, P.K., 1975, A psychological analysis of observation in geology. Nature 256, p. 570-573. 

Chadwick, P.K., 1982, “Earth-boundness” in geological observation. Geology Teaching – Journal of the Association of Teachers of Geology, 7(1), p. 16-22. 

Sliver, N., 2012, The Signal and the Noise: The Art and Science of Prediction. Penguin Books, London. 

48 


Events calendar 

Keep up to date with upcoming AIG and Geological events at www.aig.org.au/events 

March 2016 

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Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Review 

2015 VALMIN Code Roadshow: Sydney 

- AGES 2016 

Workshop 

May 3, 2016 

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March 30, 2016 

To be advised, Sydney NSW 

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Understanding 

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Deposits 

March 30, 2016 

Woolnough Lecture Theatre, 1.07, Geography 

and Geology Building, University of Western 

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Hyperspectral Analysis for Exploration and 

Mining - A silver bullet? 

May 9, 2016 

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Kensington WA 

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Management 

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Ashurst, Brisbane QLD 

Mining Regulations 

April 15, 2016 

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Management of Petroleum Hydrocarbon 

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Value From Exploration Geology: Tullah 

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James Cook University, Townsville QLD 

Brownfields Exploration: Deep and 

To be advised, Tullah TAS 

Meaningful 

2015 VALMIN Code Roadshow: Melbourne 

July 30, 2016 

A.K. Denmead Memorial Lecture 

April 18, 2016 

WMC Conference Centre, Kalgoorlie WA 

March 22, 2016 

The Theodore Club, Brisbane QLD 

To be advised, Melbourne VIC 

August 2016 

2015 VALMIN Code Roadshow: Brisbane 

Management of Petroleum Hydrocarbon 

April 26, 2016 

ASEG-PESA-AIG 2016: 25th International 

Groundwater Contamination 

To be advised, Brisbane QLD 

Geophysical Conference and Exhibition 

March 23, 2016 

August 21-24, 2016 

Maddocks, Sydney NSW 

Terroir of Heathcote Wine Region Study Tour 

Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide SA 

April 30, 2016 

Heathcote Wine Region, Heathcote VIC 


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