Here’s a geological mystery. The impossible diamond drill hole - a drill hole drilled where no hole could possibly be drilled. I can offer no really satisfactory explanation, although there must of course be one. Perhaps readers can think of one for themselves. A few years ago I was […]
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The metals mining industry offers geologists two distinct career paths – the exploration geologist and the mining geologist. Between these roles there is an overlap of required knowledge and skills, but the job requirements are different and the personality which makes a good exploration geologist seldom makes […]
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Air photographs (along with other similar remote sensed products such as satellite and radar imagery) provide both a mapping base on which to record field observations and an integrated view of landscape on which map-scale patterns of lithology and structure can be directly observed or interpreted. Where […]
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The concept of the anomaly is one of the most basic ideas in exploration geology. It is understood in these terms - it is a truism to say that significant metal ore bodies are unusual: another word for unusual is anomalous.: therefore, if mineral explorers (explorationists) identify anomalous […]
Read more →Explorers for minerals work with maps. The scale of the map controls the detail of the information that can be shown. With geological, geophysical or geochemical information, State Surveys , typically, present their data at regional scales ranging from 1:250,000 down to 1:50,000 : these aim to […]
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The camera and the interrogator How odd it is that anyone should not see that all observations must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service. Charles Darwin, 1870 Speak to exploration geologists and you will find two views about what a […]
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Vergences and fractals Field geologists have long known that the style and relationships of structures seen in a hand specimen, outcrop or drill core can mimic the style and relationships of much larger structures that formed during the same deformation but occur at the scale of a geological […]
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Using Stereonets Cheap, versatile, reliable, compact, robust, ultra lightweight and does not need any batteries: there should be a stereonet in every geologist’s field kit. A stereonet is a tool (a type of nomogram[see footnote 1]) that allows the attitude of planes and lines in three-dimensional space […]
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This post is about the different techniques used by explorationists to collect samples for assay from exposed bedrock – a process known generically as rock chip sampling. Explorationists seek to find new ore bodies. Ore bodies that reach or approach the surface are the easiest to find, […]
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In the grey light of a tropical dawn on 6th July 1968, fifty men assembled at the government wharf, Sohano, on the south coast of Bougainville Island. They were members of the Royal Papua Nugini Constabulary, and they were armed with long wooden pick-axe handles. An […]
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