Exploration for a mineral deposit begins with generating prospects which can then be tested with a staged series of exploration programs that hopefully will lead to ore discovery and eventually a mine. Obviously not all prospects that are generated will make it through to a mine. In […]
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All metal deposits that have formed later than the rocks that host them (that is, epigenetic deposits) have got there by virtue of fluid transport along faults and their location, shape, size and attitude are largely determined by the strain states that existed within the fault […]
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The science of geology was born in the last few decades of the 18th and the first few decades of the 19th centuries. Its development was one of advancing ideas and knowledge, but the new knowledge above all was driven by the progressive improvement in geological method, and in […]
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Strike and dip is a convention for measuring the attitude of a planar structure, such as a bedding plane, fault, joint or vein, in terms of the angles which it makes with the geographic coordinates of the earth’s surface – north-south, east-west and up-down. You probably know […]
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Why make a geological map? Mapping epithermal gold veins along the coast of Sumbawa, Indonesia. It’s a hard life, but someone has to do it. A geological map is a graphical presentation of geological observations and interpretations on a horizontal plane[1]. A geological section is identical in […]
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Producing a geological map is a process of problem solving. One of the best ways to approach problem solving is known as the system of multiple working hypotheses. Something of a buzz phrase in all sciences nowadays, not many know that the idea was first formulated in […]
Read more →There are many, many times more prospectors and geologists exploring for mineral deposits than there are ore bodies to be found. It is entirely feasible for a competent explorationist to go through a career and never be able to claim sole credit for an economic mineral discovery. It […]
Read more →As little as ten years ago, before orienting drill core became routine, geologists hardly ever measured structures in their core. Much useful information relevant to understanding geology and hence finding and defining ore bodies was ignored. Now the tendency is to fill vast data bases with hundreds […]
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There are two ways of measuring structures in oriented diamond drill core. The first is to set up the core in a core frame (often called a “rocket launcher”) so that it lies in the same orientation as it did when it was in the ground; the […]
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In the semi-desert mulga and saltbush plains of far western New South Wales there is a low rocky range. The famous explorer Charles Sturt came here in 1844 and climbed a prominent ridge to gain a view to the North West where he hoped to find a […]
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