Session Convenors
Data in Geoscience
Mark Rattenbury, GNS Science New Zealand
Mark Jessell, CET
Geoscience data are fundamental for successful mineral exploration and efficient mining. These data may be mineral, geochemical, geophysical, geological, 2D and/or 3D, processed through inversion methods or as 3D models, packaged as pre-competitive datasets, analysed with machine learning or data analytics technologies and developed into conceptual mineralisation models, prospectivity models, resource estimations or drilling targets. This session aims to cover contributions on best-practise geoscience data provision, innovative geoscience data use and successful geoscience data application in a mineral industry context, particularly in a Pacific Rim setting.
Porphyry Deposits
David Cooke, CODES, University of Tasmania
Aysha Ahmed, CODES, University of Tasmania
Porphyry deposits are the world’s major resources of copper and molybdenum, and a significant source of gold. As they commonly form in convergent plate margin settings, they are a signature ore deposit that characterises mineralisation on the Pacific Rim. This session will provide an update on the porphyry deposits of the circum-Pacific region, addressing aspects of porphyry exploration, mining, mineral processing and ore formation.
Orogenic Au
Dave Craw, University of Otago
Rich Goldfarb
Advances in exploration techniques
Terry Hoschke, Alterrex
Multi-scale characterisation: atoms to continents
Mark Pearce, CSIRO
Michael Gazley, RSC Mining and Mineral Exploration
Multi-scale characterisation is key to understanding the geology of mineral deposits. This session focusses on studies that examine mineral deposits of the Pacific Rim across several orders of magnitude: whether at the thin-section to atom-scale or hand-sample to deposit-scale data integration across scales is important.
Sediment hosted/Carlin deposits
David Rhys
Shaun Barker, University of Tasmania
What makes an economic sediment hosted gold deposit: different metal sources or common metal traps?
Sediment hosted disseminated gold deposits, which are hosted by mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentary sequences, have been classified as distal intrusion related, epithermal, carbonate replacement and Carlin-type deposits. This session will initially review the current understanding of the Carlin deposits in western North America to compare to other districts globally which are of similar style, but which are constrained by geological relationships and settings to imply differing genetic origins. The invited talks are intended to compare deposit scale characteristics between districts, highlighting the variations in setting and relationships. Objectives are to address whether it is the common host rock controls which can generate deposits of similar style from different fluid sources, and to better clarify the characteristics and genetic models for these deposits which could be considered in their exploration.
Mineral systems and exploration targeting
Yulia Uvarova, CSIRO
Sandra Occhipinti (UWA)
Mineral system concept and analysis are important drivers in successful exploration targeting. The mineral systems approach considers the formation and preservation of mineral deposits in the context of a range of drivers including geodynamics, the formation and reactivation of deep lithospheric scale structures, fertility, and the formation and presence of depositional sites be they geological units with favourable geochemistry or structural traps. Therefore, mineral systems analysis uses critical elements delineated from known ore bodies in a wider context of earth processes taking place at various geological times, scales and conditions. Understanding of these processes allows further insight on how and why ore bodies form, hence aiding successful exploration for undiscovered mineral deposits. This session aims to discuss new developments in mineral system analysis and novel approaches to exploration targeting.
Geometallurgy of PACRIM deposits
Anita Parbhakar-Fox
ARC TMVC Research Hub, University of Tasmania
Geometallurgy is the integration and utilisation of geological, metallurgical, environmental and economic information to maximise the value of an ore body, while minimising technical and operational risk. Through a holistic approach, it identifies attributes that contribute to the realised value of a resource, and enables ore variability to be factored into the flowsheet, infrastructure design, and the production and quality forecasts over the life-of-mine. This includes traditional attributes, such as grade, as well as less traditional factors such as hardness (crushability, grindability), mineral species and abundance, mineral liberation, metallurgical recovery, concentration of deleterious elements, acid generating and neutralising potential. This session aims to showcase geometallurgical developments at PACRIM deposits with papers exploring the applications of new technologies particularly encouraged.
IOCG and related deposits
Nick Oliver, HCOV Global
Roger Skirrow, Geoscience Australia
Epithermal Systems
Bruce Gemmell, UTAS
Stuart Simmons, Hot Solutions
