pace copper early results: towards new discoveries to...
TRANSCRIPT
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Dr Steve Hill
Chief Government Geologist / Director
Geological Survey of South Australia
Department of the Premier and Cabinet, South Australia
PACE COPPER EARLY RESULTS:
Towards New Discoveries to Build South
Australia’s Copper Production
Presentation for Copper to the World Conference, 27 June 2017
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This Presentation…
1. The Challenge
• Increasing copper production and efficiency through
new resource DISCOVERY
2. What are we doing about it?
• PACE Copper and Geological Survey of South
Australia workflow towards DISCOVERY
3. Where to from here?
• UNCOVER new DISCOVERIES through improved
exploration (especially drilling)
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1. The Challenge…
White Clay Bay near Hillside Cu Prospect, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
(Photo: Steve Hill)
Mineralisation
Cover
Coastal Environment
Farmland
CalcreteRogue Fm
Throoka Silt
Muloowurtie Fm
Saprolite
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1. The Challenge
Aim to accelerate production value of copper products from commercial ore
bodies and to drive global competitiveness…
• Exploration
• Mine Development
• Mining
• Processing
• BUT…..
• needs DISCOVERY of new high-quality resources!
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1. The Discovery Challenge
New High Quality Mineral Discoveries…
• Maintain or increase Economic Production Capacity (replace reserve
depletion)
• Maintain or increase resource quality and thereby efficiency
• Provide opportunity to re-invigorate with new development and
processes for mining and processing
• Provide key learnings to stimulate new exploration search space, further
exploration and further discoveries
• Demonstrate success
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1. The Discovery ChallengeSome technical considerations to transform exploration into
discovery:
• Prospectivity (is there something to find?)
• Search Space (where to best look?)
• Detection (Search technique and strategy?)
• Scale (How much or hard do we need to search?)
• Collaboration (what help do you need?) ….
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Geoscience initiatives / strategies in support of future mineral
discoveries in Australia
http://www.uncoverminerals.org.au/
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UNCOVER
Within 10 years, facilitate discovery of new
major economic mineral deposits in
Australia beneath post-mineralisation cover
rocks
Within 20 years, discovery performance in
the concealed search space will be at least
comparable to modern-era, first-pass
surface exploration
Improve exploration performance under post-mineralisation cover
UNCOVER Roadmap Phase 1 Sponsors
http://www.uncoverminerals.org.au/
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UNCOVER
Broad themes utilising a Mineral Systems approach:
Theme 1. Characterising the cover: New knowledge to confidently explore beneath the cover
Theme 2. Investigating Australia’s lithospheric architecture: A whole-of-lithosphere architectural framework for mineral systems exploration
Theme 3. Resolving the 4D geodynamic and metallogenicevolution of Australia:
Understanding ore deposit origins for better prediction
Theme 4. Characterising and detecting the distal footprints of ore deposits: Towards a toolkit for minerals exploration
http://www.uncoverminerals.org.au/
Confidentiality-I#-A# Moon Plain, Stuart Shelf, SA (Photo S.Hill)
1. The DISCOVERY challenge…The covered minerals search space across 80% of South Australia
Need to UNCOVER South Australia!
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2. What are we doing?...
South Australia Drill Core Reference Library
(Photo: Steve Hill)
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2. What are we doing?
Geological Survey of South Australia
• Attract and deliver a geoscience framework to assist mineral
explorers to make mineral discoveries in South Australia
• World-class geoscience towards a better understanding of
South Australia’s geological framework and prospectivity
• Delivering geoscience information and advice to Minister,
government, mineral explorers and community
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2. What are we doing?
PACE (Plan for Accelerating Exploration)
Since 2004, for a government investment of ~$70 million, PACE has:
• Delivered an additional >$700 million in private mineral exploration;
• Leveraged a return of investment of 20:1 on public geoscience expenditure;
• Directly led to discovery at Carrapateena and indirectly contributed to many others;
• Yielded an additional increase in State mineral production value of >$2.4 billion; and,
• Provided a benchmark that other jurisdictions have emulated for pre-competitive and collaborative geoscience initiatives
The current initiative program, PACE Copper, provides $20M over 18 months for transformational pre-competitive and collaborative geoscience with a copper focus in South Australia
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2. What are we doing?Regional Pre-competitive - Industry Geoscience Workflow
Characterising Covere.g. Thickness, age, type, geochemical
response
Lithospheric Architecturee.g. MT, seismic, potential fields, isotopes
4D Geodynamic and
Metalogenic Evolution e.g. “transient events”; field mapping;
solid geology interp.; geochronology
Mineral System FootprintsAlteration, geochem; spectral mineralogy
Regional
ModelsExploration
TargetingDISCOVERY
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2. What are we doing?Pre-competitive Geoscience Workflow / scale reduction
From Robbie Rowe,
UNCOVER Roadmap
minerals.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/geoscience/drill_core_reference_library
South Australian Drill Core Reference Library
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South Australian Drill Core Reference Library operations
Woodall Laboratory Holloway Geoscience TheatreNelson Discovery Hall
https://map.sarig.sa.gov.a
u
New: South Australian Resources Information Gateway
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2. What are we doing?Gawler Craton (especially Olympic Domain)
Well established copper prospectivity…
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2. What are we doing?
20
• Increase the size of the target
• Predict where you are within the mineral system
• IOCG deposits - large alteration systems
Adrian Fabris et al, DET CRC
Gawler Craton• IOCG Hyper-
spectral mineral
system mapping
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• IOCG index(commercialisation with Reflex for ioGAS 5.2 release)
2. What are we
doing? Gawler Craton
• IOCG geochemical
mineral system
mapping
Adrian Fabris et al, DET CRC
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SA Mineral Systems Drilling Program
A unique collaboration• $2.5m + $0.65m + in-kind = $8m
• 14 cored holes, 7868m, ~ 8 months
• 100 South Australian based suppliers
• Uncovering:• New Mineral provinces
• New Technologies required to explore
beneath barren cover
• Building collaboration between junior
explorers, METS sector, government
and research organisations in South
Australia
CarriewerlooPeltabinna
Mt Double
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A 1590 Ma crustal section for South Australia?
/ ISCG
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DET CRC – cheaper, faster drilling, rapid data
collection
Challenge - collecting sufficient data in covered terranes
MSDP – support the pull through of new technology
Wireless SubAutoSonde
Lab-at-Rig
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DET CRC – Coiled tubing drill rig
• Cheaper and faster drilling!
• 1st comprehensive field trial of RoXplorer®
• Initial trials at Brukunga
• Field test utilised drill pad of cored hole MSDP02
(Photos: Courtesy of Deep Exploration Technologies Cooperative Research Centre
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SA Mineral Systems Drilling Program
Want to know more?
• MSDP webpage – 10 part video series
• Core now available for inspection!
• DET CRC Website
minerals.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/msdp
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2. What are we doing?
Coompana region
• Previously not under tenement
• Covered Proterozoic basement
under the Nullarbor
• Precompetitive data initiative
to support discovery,
geoscience
• Now attracted uptake of 7
new tenements by
OzMinerals (Mithril JV)
through competitive
application process (ERA)New Coompana airborne magnetics
PACE Copper Western Gawler Craton / Coompana
targeted geoscience program
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Lithospheric Architecture
• Deep crustal seismic and MT
• Reveal lithospheric architecture
Report Book 2015/00029
2. What are we doing?PACE Copper Western Gawler Craton / Coompana
targeted geoscience program
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Gravity Survey
• 250,000 line kilometres; airborne magnetic and radiometric survey
• >13,000 new gravity observations
Before After
2. What are we doing?PACE Copper Western Gawler Craton / Coompana
targeted geoscience program
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Coompana Drilling• $3M collaborative program
between GSSA and GA
• Up to 18 drillholes
• Targeting different geophysical domains
• Boart Longyear selected as drilling service provider
• Drilling commenced 9th
April 2017 for ~ 5 month program
2. What are we doing?PACE Copper Western Gawler Craton / Coompana
targeted geoscience program
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Coompana DrillingCDP001
• First core sample
from the SA
Coompana
Province in 30
years
• Basement at 346m
• Currently 164m
HQ3 core
• Mixture of foliated
dioritic gneiss and
undeformed
granites
2. What are we doing?PACE Copper Western Gawler Craton / Coompana
targeted geoscience program
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3. Where to from here?...
MSDP, Carriewerloo Station (Photo: S.Hill)
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3. Where to from here?
National Drilling Initiative (NDI)
The next major step change for Australian pre-competitive geoscience?
MinEx CRC: Research Activities
Australian National
Drilling Initiative (NDI)
Geoscience Australia
State Surveys
Research Organisations
• data compilation for the NDI
• depth of cover and interfaces
• basement mapping with drill rig
• geochemical background
• corridor 3D seismic surveys
• petrophysical vectoring
• auto 3D geology modelling
• turbocoring
Drilling for Definition
of Mineral Deposits
Industry Partners
Research Organisations
• coiled tubing drilling (CTD) for
definition of mineral deposits
• trialling CTD in Chile
• composites for CTD
• petrophysical logging for CTD
• real-time downbhole assay
• borehole seismic inversion
Optimising
Conventional Drilling
Industry Partners
Research Organisations
• drilling automation
• rock properties from drilling
data
• reverse circulation (RC) drilling
Area of
Research
Partners
CRC
Activities
Significant greenfields CT drilling in NDI pulls through existing technology and
provides ideal platform for development of CT for brownfield and drill-out operations
Eastern Gawler (Olympic Domain)
0 100 200
kilometres
Nominal Drill Pattern
Task 1: Drilling and resampling program to identify and
map key aspects of the mineral systems under cover
10 x 10 km
Max DTB 1000 m
Previous Drilling
337 holesSource: SARIG
HyLogger Drill holes
Known Mineralisation
Geophysical
Extent
3. Where to from
here?National Drilling
Initiative (NDI)
10 x 10 km pattern with
depth to basement 1000 m
416 holes
203,200 m
$10.2M @ $50/m
41,600 km2
e.g.
Eastern Gawler (Olympic Domain)
3. Where to from
here?
National Drilling Initiative (NDI)• Geological surveys access ‘new hammer’ for mapping under cover
• Step-change in geological survey work required to write the prospectus for
exploration under cover
• Leveraged cash from CRC Program to support analysis of NDI and related
data
• Experience gained by, and success of previous collaborative drilling
programmes such as SA MSDP
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Finally: Some of our International Collaborations
and Partnerships
Sernageomin, Chile
China
National
Nuclear
Corporation
China Geological Survey
Saskatchewan Geological Survey
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National Exploration Undercover School (NExUS)• Over 30 registrants from industry, government and academia around Australia
• Presenters from industry, government and academia
(>10 GSSA presenters and Week 1 lectures at Tonsley)
• 3 week emphasis on engaging “next generation” on UNCOVER challenges
2016 NExUS at White Clay Bay,
Yorke Peninsula (Photo: Richard
Lilly, UoA)nexus.org.au
7th December
2017