Industry interaction

INDUSTRY INTERACTION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

CCFS has a strategic goal to interact closely with the mineral exploration industry at both the research and the teaching/training levels. The research results of the Centre’s work are transferred to industry and to the scientific community in several ways:

collaborative industry-supported Honours, MSc and PhD projects

short courses relevant to industry and government-sector users, designed to communicate and transfer new technologies, techniques and knowledge in the discipline areas relevant to CCFS

one-on-one research collaborations and shorter-term collaborative research on industry problems involving national and international partners

provision of high-quality geochemical analyses with value-added interpretations on a collaborative research basis with industry and government organisations, extending our industry interface

use of consultancies and collaborative industry projects (through the commercial arms of the national universities) which employ and disseminate the technological and conceptual developments carried out by the Centre

GLITTER, an on-line data-reduction program for Laser Ablation ICPMS analysis, developed by GEMOC and CSIRO/GEMOC participants, has been successfully commercialised and continues to be available from GEMOC through Access MQ (http://www.gemoc.mq.edu.au/); the software is continually upgraded.

collaborative relationships with technology manufacturers (more detail in the section on Technology Development )

The Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET) at UWA (http://www.cet.edu.au/industry-linkage) provides CCFS with a unique interface with a broad spectrum of mineral exploration companies and many CET activities (e.g. research projects, workshops and postgraduate short courses).

CCFS suports the national UNCOVER initiative: http://www.science.org.au/policy/uncover.html/

SUPPORT SOURCES

CCFS industry support includes:

direct funding of research programs
industry subscriptions (CET)
“in kind” funding including field support (Australia and overseas), access to proprietary databases, sample collections, digital datasets and support for GIS platforms
logistical support for fieldwork for postgraduate projects
collaborative research programs through ARC Linkage Projects and the University External Collaborative Grants (e.g. Macquarie’s Enterprise Grant Scheme) and PhD program support
assistance in the implementation of GIS technology in postgraduate programs
participation of industry colleagues as guest lecturers in undergraduate units
extended visits by industry personnel for interaction and research
ongoing informal provision of advice and formal input as members of the Advisory Board

ACTIVITIES IN 2014

	TerraneChron® studies (http://www.gemoc.mq.edu.au/TerraneChron.html) have enjoyed continued uptake by a significant segment of the global mineral exploration industry. This methodology, currently unique to CCFS/GEMOC, requires the integration of data from three instruments (electron microprobe, LAM-ICPMS and LAM-MC-ICPMS) and delivers fast, cost-effective information on the tectonic history of regional terranes (http://www.gemoc.mq.edu.au/TerraneChron.html). The unique extensive database (over 30,000 zircon U-Pb and Hf-isotope analyses) in the Macquarie laboratory allows unparalleled contextual information in the interpretations and reports provided to industry. Six major Industry Reports were completed for collaborative industry projects related to TerraneChron® at CCFS/GEMOC in 2014. This formally involved project collaboration with six industry partners.
	A new ARC Linkage Project was commenced in 2014, taking the total active projects to four (see below)
	The Distal Footprints of Giant Ore Systems: UNCOVER Australia, (supported by CSIRO ex Science & Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF), MERIWA and industry collaborators) continued. The project aims to develop a toolkit with a workflow to identify the distal footprints of the Giant Ore Systems in order to overcome the fundamental limitation in current exploration methodologies; Australia’s thick cover of weathered rock and sediment.
	The ARC Linkage Project titled “Global Lithosphere Architecture Mapping” (GLAM) was extended as the “LAMP” (Lithosphere Architecture Mapping in Phanerozoic orogens) project through a Macquarie University Enterprise Grant with Minerals Targeting International as the external industry partner. A sub-licencing agreement with Minerals Targeting International accommodates Dr Graham Begg’s role and access to GLAM IP (in relationship to Macquarie, BHP Billiton and the GLAM project) as Director of this company. Dr Begg (pictured below) spent significant research time at GEMOC through 2014 as part of the close collaborative working pattern for this project.
	On-going collaboration with BHP Billiton (Dr Kathy Ehrig) and University of Tasmania (Professor Vadim Kamenetsky) looking for evidence of younger magmatic events (e.g. Grenville-age events) in the magmatic evolution of the Gawler Craton, with a particular focus on the region around the giant Olympic Dam deposit.
	A new colaborative project funded by Rio Tinto Limited was commenced in 2014. Marco Fiorentini and Yongjun Lu (UWA)will investigate “The mineral chemistry of zircon as a pathfinder for magmatic-hydrothermal copper and gold systems”. The project aligns with the goals of Flagship project 2, Genesis, transfer and focus of fluids and metals and will run for two years.
	GEMOC’s development of a methodology for analysis of trace elements in diamond continued to open up potential further developments and applications relevant to industry, ranging from diamond fingerprinting for a range of purposes to improving the knowledge framework for diamond exploration. This work is continuing, with a focus on understanding the growth and chemical history of individual diamonds and diamond populations. It was supported in 2014 by CCFS Foundation Program 8 and Research Associate funding for Dr Dan Howell.
	The GEMOC technique for dating the intrusion of kimberlites and lamproites using LAM-ICPMS U-Pb analysis of groundmass perovskite continued. This rapid, low-cost application has proven very attractive to the diamond exploration industry, and has led to several collaborative projects.
	Geodynamic modelling capabilities have now been extended to industry-related projects. An ongoing collaboration between GEMOC and Granite Power Ltd has led to important data exchange, and to a paper ( CCFS publication #165 ) on the thermal and gravity structure of the Sydney Basin.
	A continuing collaborative relationship with New South Wales Geological Survey is applying TerraneChron® to investigations of the provenance of targeted sequences in the Paleozoic sedimentary terranes of eastern Australia, and the development of the Macquarie Arc and the Thompson Orogen.
	A collaborative research project continued in 2014 with the GSWA as a formal CCFS Foundation Program, in which GEMOC is carrying out in situ Hf-isotope analyses of previously SHRIMP-dated zircon grains from across the state. This is a part of the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.
	Following Professor Bill Griffin’s Noumea workshop on new approaches to exploration and minor-element exploitation in ophiolitic complexes, a collaborative project was established with Jervois Mining, involving a co-tutelle PhD student (Matthieu Chasse) jointly supervised by Professor George Callas, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France.
	CET held their annual “Corporate Members Day” on the 9^th of December 2014, to showcase its research to its Corporate Members. The day provided an audience of over 60 representatives from CET Member companies with the opportunity to discuss the innovative work of the CET, including its involvement in CCFS, and also gave the CCFS ECR and postgraduate students a chance to interact with industry (http://www.cet.edu.au/industry-linkage). Posters and poster presentations by CET staff and students showcased the width and breadth of research activities.
	Industry visitors spent varying periods at Macquarie, Curtin and UWA (CET) in 2014 to discuss our research and technology development (see visitor list, Appendix 7). This face-to-face interaction has proved highly effective both for CCFS researchers and industry colleagues.
	DIATREEM (an AccessMQ Project) continued to provide LAM-ICPMS analyses of garnets and chromites to the diamond-exploration industry on a collaborative basis.
	CCFS publications, preprints and non-proprietary reports are available on request for industry libraries.
	CCFS participants were prominent in delivering keynote and invited talks and workshop modules, and convening sessions relevant to mineral exploration at national and international industry peak conferences in 2014 (see Abstracts, Appendix 6 )

A full list of previous GEMOC publications is available here

CURRENT AND 2014 INDUSTRY-FUNDED COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

These are brief descriptions of 2014 and current CCFS projects that have direct cash support from industry, most with combinations from ARC, internal University or State Government support. Projects are both national and global. In addition to these formal projects, many shorter projects are directly funded by industry, and the results of these feed into our basic research databases (with varied confidentiality considerations). Such projects are administered by the commercial arms of the relevant universities (e.g. Access MQ Limited, at Macquarie).

CCFS industry collaborative projects are designed to develop the strategic and applied aspects of the basic research programs, and many are based on understanding the architecture of the lithosphere and the nature of Earth’s geodynamic processes that have controlled the evolution of the lithosphere and its important discontinuities. Basic research strands translated to strategic applications include the use of geochemical data integrated with tectonic analyses and large-scale datasets (including geophysical) to understand the relationship between lithosphere domains and large-scale mineralisation. The use of sulfides to date mantle events, and the characterisation of crustal terrane development using U-Pb dating and Hf isotopic compositions of zircons (TerraneChron® ) are being developed as a regional isotopic mapping tool for integration with geophysical modelling. TerraneChron^® is an important tool for characterising the tectonic history and crustal evolution of terranes on the scale of 10 - 100 km and delivers a cost-effective exploration tool to the mineral (and potentially petroleum) exploration industry.

CCFS PROJECTS FUNDED BY INDUSTRY (INCLUDING ARC LINKAGE)

Reducing 3D geological uncertainty via improved data interpretation methods

Linkage Project

Industry Collaborators: Western Mining Services Australia Pty Ltd, Geological Survey of Western Australia>

CIs: Jessell, Holden, Baddeley, Kovesi, Ailleres, Wedge, Lindsay, Gessner, Hronsky

Summary: The integrity of 3D geological models heavily relies on robust and consistent data interpretation. This project proposes an innovative workflow for 3D modelling to minimise geological uncertainty. Advanced visualisation and intelligent decision support methods will be combined to assist geological interpretation. Feedback on interpretation will be provided based on data evidence and consistency with expert knowledge and previous interpretations. The process can be considered as a spelling and grammar checker for geological interpretation. The outcome of this study aims to achieve an improved workflow that reduces model uncertainty, resulting in a broad and significant impact on the management of Australian mineral, energy and water resources.

Craton modification and growth: the east Albany-Fraser Orogen in three-dimensions

Linkage Project

Industry Collaborator: Geological Survey of Western Australia

CIs: Tkalcic, Kennett, Spaggiari, Gessner

Summary: The objective of this work is to achieve new, synergistic techniques for delineating the three-dimensional structure of the east Albany-Fraser Orogen in Western Australia, and the lithospheric structure below it. These methods will guide understanding of the potential for mineral resources in this region with little surface geological exposure.

Chronostratigraphic and tectonothermal history of the northern Capricorn Orogen: constructing a geological framework for understanding mineral systems

Linkage Project

Industry Collaborator: Geological Survey of Western Australia

CIs: Rasmussen, Dunkley, Muhling, Johnson, Thorne, Korhonen, Kirkland, Wingate

Summary: The application of innovative age dating techniques with field mapping and a new deep seismic survey across the Capricorn Orogen by this project will help construct a vastly improved geological framework for understanding large mineral systems. Outcomes of this project will reduce uncertainty and risk in exploration, thereby improving the discovery rate of natural resources.

Four-dimensional lithospheric evolution and controls on mineral system distribution in Neoarchaen to Paleoproterozoic terranes

Supported by ARC Linkage Project

Industry Collaborator: WA Department of Mines and Petroleum

CIs: McCuaig, Barley, Fiorentini, Kemp, Belousova, Jessell, Hein, Begg, Tunjic, Bagas, Said

Summary: This project will obtain a better understanding of the evolution, architecture and preservation of continents and their links to mineral deposits between 2.7 and 1.8 billion years ago (a period in Earth history that is endowed with mineral deposits and reflects a very important transition in the evolution of our planet and its biosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere). By producing and integrating new high quality geophysical and geochemical data and making a major contribution to training students and researchers, the project aims to develop a superior model to help understand Earth’s evolution and target areas of high prospectivity for important mineral deposits. The results will be applicable to exploration in Australia and world-wide.

The distal Footprints of giant ore systems: UNCOVER Australia

Supported by CSIRO ex Science & Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF)

Industry Collaborator: CSIRO, University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Geological Survey of Western Australia

CIs: Hough, Reddy, McCuaig, Tyler, Dentith, Shragge, Miller, Fiorentini, Aitken

Summary: Australia is an old continent with much of its remaining mineral wealth masked by a thick cover of weathered rock and sediments that pose a formidable challenge for future mineral exploration.

This project aims to develop a toolkit with a workflow to identify the distal footprints of the Giant Ore Systems to address a fundamental limitation in current exploration methodologies.

Lithospheric Architecture Mapping in Phanerozoic Orogens

Supported by MQ Funds

Industry Collaborator: Minerals Targeting International (PI G. Begg)

CIs: Griffin, O’Reilly, Pearson, Belousova, Natapov

Summary: The GEMOC Key Centre has developed the conceptual and technological tools required to map the architecture and evolution of the upper lithosphere (0-250 km depth) of cratons (the ancient nuclei of continents). Through two industry-funded programs we have mapped most of the world’s cratons, making up ca 70% of Earth’s surface. The remaining 30% consists of younger mobile belts, which hold many major ore deposits, but are much more complex and difficult to map. This pilot project is developing the additional tools required to map the mobile belts.

Multiscale dynamics of hydrothermal mineral systems

Supported by MERIWA

Industry Collaborators: Integra Mining, First Quantum Minerals, AngloGold Ashanti, SIPA Resources, GSWA, Newmont, Goldfields, Barrick Gold, OZ Minerals

CI’s: Ord, Gorczyk, Gessner, Hobbs, Micklethwaite

Summary: The project aims to produce an integrated framework for the origin of giant hydrothermal deposits. The study crosses all the length scales from lithospheric down to thin section. The goal is to define measurable parameters that control the size of such systems and that can be used as mineral exploration criteria. In particular the emphasis is on:

(i) criteria that distinguish a “successful” from a “failed” mineral system and

(ii) vectors to mineralisation within a successful system.

Hydrothermal footprints of magmatic nickel sulfide deposits

Supported by MERIWA, WA State Government (commenced 2011)

CI’s: Fiorentini, Barnes, Miller

Summary: (MERIWA M413) This study focuses on the mineralogical and lithogeochemical footprints around syngenetic magmatic nickel-sulfide deposits, which arise from the interaction of these deposits with later hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal footprints are in common use in gold and Cu-Zn exploration, but have so far received little attention from nickel explorers, mainly because the nature and the scale of the alteration halo are largely unconstrained. This study addresses this window of opportunity: The new knowledge acquired from this study will aid exploration for nickel-sulfide systems at multiple scales, and will be applied in the interpretation of isolated “orphan” drill holes under cover in greenfields terranes, as well as in more data-rich mine-scale environments.