The number of places available is limited for the following events.
Preference will be given to SEG 2015 Conference registrants.
Date: September 26-27, 2015
Location: University of Tasmania | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Jean Cline
Presenters: Jean Cline, John Muntean
The Carlin-type gold deposits in northeastern Nevada, USA, comprise one of the most productive gold districts in the world, with gold production now ~135 million ounces. Mining and research since initial deposit discovery in the 1960s have generated detailed descriptions of deposit geology, including recognition of features that are common to deposits across northern Nevada. Studies over the past 20 years have determined the age of formation of the Nevada district, leading to an understanding of tectonic setting and related structural development and magmatic and hydrothermal activity coincident with deposit formation. In spite of this understanding, no similarly productive trends or districts have been discovered in other parts of the world, and no widely acceptable genetic model has evolved.
This two-day course will begin with an overview of general characteristics that define the type deposits in Nevada and will include a section on the "Carlin-type" deposits in southwestern China. The short course will focus on 1) the geologic evolution of northeastern Nevada that produced an ideal geologic architecture for the deposits, 2) geologic processes in the late Eocene that were critical to deposit formation, and 3) exploration, presented as a systems approach that links processes to targeting criteria at all scales. Course presentations will include detailed descriptions of deposit geology, including structure, lithology, ore-stage and late-ore stage mineralogy, and related hydrothermal alteration minerals and mineral zoning. Samples characteristic of the deposits will be examined, as will polished sections of ore minerals and ore and alteration mineral textures, which define these deposits. Presentations and discussions will provide a framework to interpret observations in the field, along with implications for exploration and research. The course will conclude with a discussion of genetic deposit models, including a model recently published in Nature Geoscience by the presenters who have over 40 years combined experience conducting research on and exploration for Carlin-type gold deposits.
Attendee Maximum: 40
Date: September 26-27, 2015
Location: Wrest Point Hotel | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: David Thomas
Presenters: David Thomas, Gerard Zaluski, Penny Large, Tom Kotzer, Andrew Fitzpatrick
This two-day course will cover a wide range of topics from a historical overview of uranium exploration and development, through a systematic review of uranium ore deposit systems to the current nuclear industry cycle. The course will provide an introduction to the fundamentals of uranium geochemistry and mineralogy as well as the physics of radioactivity and to its application in exploration and resource evaluation. An important part of the course will be a detailed description of the principal uranium deposit model types; their geological settings, alteration characteristics and mineralization controls as well as descriptions of best-in-class examples. The course will also discuss unique mining methods and extractive technologies used to exploit several uranium deposit types.
Attendee Maximum: 40
Date: September 26-27, 2015
Location: University of Tasmania | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Ross Large
Presenters: Ross Large, Kurt Konhauser, Peter McGoldrick, John Long, Valeriy Maslennikov, James Farquhar, Tim Lyons
This short course will investigate the relationships between ore deposit cycles, ocean chemistry, atmosphere oxygenation cycles and the evolution of life on Earth. Several international specialists will provide a new framework for understanding ocean trace elements and bio-nutrients, ore deposit evolution through time, and how this may inform exploration strategies for gold, copper, zinc, iron, and manganese in sedimentary basins.
Attendee Maximum: 60
Date: September 26-27, 2015
Location: University of Tasmania | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: John Thompson
Presenters: John Thompson, Anne Thompson, Bruce Gemmell, Jim Lang, Andrew Davies
This two-day course will provide an overview of alteration mineralogy in relation to ore systems and the use of alteration in exploration. The course will include extensive hands-on sessions with large rock suites and case studies, an introduction to field-portable tools, and reviews of ore deposit-exploration models principally focussed on gold, silver, copper and zinc deposits. The use of alteration mineralogy in assessing potential and developing targets will be emphasized and the potential application of alteration mineralogy to geometallurgy will also be discussed. The course is designed for young professionals, students with some exploration experience, and more senior professional who are interested in developing new skills and being updated on emerging methods and approaches.
Attendee Maximum: 50
Date: September 27, 2015
Location: Wrest Point Hotel | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Zhaoshan Chang
Presenters: Zhaoshan Chang, Larry Meinert
Skarn deposits are some of the largest ore deposits in the world but can be complicated in the field. This one-day short course is designed to help explorers understand skarn deposits with common sense exploration concepts and easy to apply mineralogical guides. We will clarify the basic concepts and terminology, explain the current understanding of skarn-forming processes, and summarize the general characteristics of major skarn types. The focus will be on the zonation patterns in skarns that are useful in exploration with a discussion of how the zonation pattern varies in different environments. The short course will cover the following topics: 1) Introduction, definition and mineralogy; 2) Classification and terminology; 3) Skarn-forming processes and evolutionary stages; 4) General characteristics of major skarn types (Au, Cu, W, Sn, Pb-Zn, Fe, Mo, and others); 5) Zonation in skarn systems; 6) Factors affecting the formation of skarns and zonation patterns; and 7) Skarn exploration techniques.
Attendee Maximum: 40
Date: October 1, 2015
Location: University of Tasmania | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Julie Hunt
Presenters: Julie Hunt, Ron Berry, Michael Roach
This course is designed for those interested in learning how to create geometallurgical domains within an orebody and is intended to provide sufficient practical experience to allow participants to begin applying the techniques in their work place. The focus will be on the use of tools to create domains for throughput and/or recovery. A range of (new) tools and methodologies are now available that allow sufficient density of data to be collected in a timely and cost effective manner to permit domain definition relatively easily and inexpensively. Once defined, domains can be included in geometallurgical models of ore deposits where they can be applied to mine planning and optimisation.
Attendee Maximum: 40
Date: October 1-2, 2015
Location: Wrest Point Hotel | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Rick Sibson
Presenter: Rick Sibson
This course is designed for explorationists working from outcrop-scale through mine-development to regional exploration. It discusses brittle fault-fracture mechanics in different tectonic regimes and at different crustal levels, with a special focus on fundamental issues such as the creation of void space, the structural controls that focus high-flux flow, and identifying the stress regime prevailing during mineralization. Particular attention is paid to the interpretation of small-scale structures as a guide to what is happening on a larger scale.
Attendee Maximum: 40
Date: October 1-2, 2015
Location: Wrest Point Hotel | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Kim Cook
Presenter: Kim Cook
Discovery and delineation of new ore deposits is becoming increasingly difficult with opportunity for outcropping mineralisation in both mature and emerging terranes decreasing rapidly. The ability to create quality geological and structural representations in areas of limited outcrop using remotely sensed data is paramount for regional target generation, ground selection, and also for more discrete mapping and targeting at a prospect scale. Interpretation of aeromagnetic data to produce solid geology and structural maps is not an exact science, however, a systematic approach using enhanced processing and imagery that incorporates all existing outcrop or other geological inputs can result in a high quality map. This Interpretation Workshop introduces the participant to magnetic, gravity and radiometric theory, with a focus on issues that affect the interpretability of the data, such as:
The workshop takes a "hands-on" approach, which at the end of two days will see each participant producing at least one detailed solid geology map, targets, and possibly cross-sections. If participants wish, they can bring their own data to interpret.
Attendee Maximum: 30
Date: October 1, 2015
Location: Wrest Point Hotel | Hobart, TAS, Australia
Organizer: Brian Krzys
Presenter: Brian Krzys
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), or just Open Source, is an idea that seems like it shouldn't work yet it drives some of the largest organizations in the world and is strongly supported by a passionate, well-organized community. Beyond software the ideas behind Open Source are contributing to a wide spectrum of projects ranging from Wikipedia to Open Source Governance. This course will provide an introduction to the varied Open Source toolset applicable to the minerals industry via a series of practical exercises in Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA). The exercises will be hands-on and participants are encouraged to bring their own dataset to work with or use freely available data that will be distributed as part of the course.
Attendee Maximum: 40
