ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES USED FOR PROSPECTING OF MINERALS – BOTH TERRESTRIAL AND SEA BASED A presentation made to Symposium: “Our Mineral Resources – the Most Neglected Sector”, held by Pakistan Academy of Engineering, at Mövenpick Hotel, Karachi on 27 October 2018 By FUZAIL SIDDIQUI PhD, P. Geo. Consulting Geoscientist and CEO, SIDMIN Consulting International (SMC-Pvt.) Ltd.
THIS TALK LISTS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES USED FOR MINERAL PROSPECTING/EXPLORATION AND SUMMARIZES THE PRINCIPLE OF EACH TECHNOLOGY; AND MAKES A CASE FOR ADAPTING THESE TO MINERAL EXPLORATION PRACTICES IN PAKISTAN, IF NOT DONE SO ALREADY
WHO IS SPEAKING? • FUZAIL SIDDIQUI PhD, P.Geo. IS AN 80 YEAR YOUNG GEOSCIENTIST. THIS IS THE 58 TH YEAR OF HIS CAREER • HE HAS THE HONOUR OF BEING THE FIRST PhD IN A GEOLOGICAL SUBJECT FROM AMONG ALL THE ALUMNI OF PAKISTANI UNIVERSITIES (KINGS COLLEGE, LONDON 1964) • HE SERVED FOR 13 YEARS IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH AT PUNJAB UNIVERSITY • HE WORKED FOR 25 YEARS IN OPERATING MINES AND METALLURGICAL PLANTS IN THE COPPERBELT OF ZAMBIA, FROM INITIAL APPOINTMENT AS A PROCESS MINERALOGIST, TO PROGRESSIVELY MORE IMPORTANT POSITIONS, ACHIEVING THE HIGHEST GEOLOGICAL POSITION IN THE 55000 EMPLOYEE MINING CONGLOMERATE – ZCCM • HE IS A PRACTICING MINING GEOSCIENTIFIC CONSULTANT, ALTERNATING HIS TIME BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND CANADA
CONTENTS • 1. THE FIVE STAGES OF MINING CYCLE & COST ESTIMATES • 2. PROSPECTING AND EXPLORATION TARGET GENERATION • 3. GENERAL ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES USED BUT NOT SPECIFIC TO PROSPECTING AND EXPLORATION • 4. ADVANCES IN GEOLOGICAL METHODS • 5. ADVANCES IN GEOCHEMICAL METHODS • 6. ADVANCES IN REMOTE SENSING • 7. ADVANCES IN DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
THE 5 STAGES OF MINING CYCLE & COST ESTIMATES 1. PROSPECTING AND EXPLORATION TARGET SELECTION FOR POTENTIALLY PROFITABLE VALUE MINERAL CONCENTRATIONS ($1.75 m per year) 2. ADVANCED EXPLORATION & RESOURCE ASSESSMENT ($5 m per project year) 3. SUBJECT TO COMMERCIAL FEASIBILITY , MINING DEVELOPMENT AND PLANT CONSTRUCTION ($ 1.5 billion) 4. ROCK EXCAVATION, ORE PRODUCTION, PROCESSING AND REVENUE GENERATION (Profit making stage) 5. CLOSURE AND RECLAMATION ($ 150 million) Note 1: This presentation is concerned with advanced technologies in the first two stages only. Note 2: Dollar estimates are for Canadian NW territory and therefore extremely high; these may be much less in Pakistan Note 3: Estimates of prospects located versus those that progress to production vary from 1:3000 to 1:10,000. Note 4: The 5 components overlap. After ore production & processing starts, near mine exploration continues side by side
PROSPECTING AND EXPLORATION TARGET GENERATION • ‘PROSPECTING’ AND ‘EXPLORATION’ ARE TERMS OFTEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY. • FOR THIS PRESENTATION ‘PROSPECTING’ IS EVIDENCE OF VALUE MINERAL/S LOCATION • EVIDENCE CAN MAINLY BE: i) MINERAL SPECIMENS FROM CURIOUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ii) RECORDED IN REGIONAL SURVEYS AND iii) IN ARCHEOLOGICAL REPORTS e.g. ANCIENT SLAG DUMPS • RESEARCH INTO ALL ABOVE EVIDENCES LEADS TO “EXPLORATION TARGET GENERATION’ AND SUBSEQUENT ‘RESOURCE ASSESSMENT’.
GENERAL ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES USED BUT NOT SPECIFIC TO PROSPECTING AND EXPLORATION • INCREASINGLY POWERFUL COMPUTER COMPUTIC AND GRAPHICS FUNCTIONALITY • INTERNET AND POWERFUL SEARCH ENGINES BECOMING PUBLICLY AVAILABE SINCE THE 90s. • THE GPS BECAME AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC IN 1980s. NEW GPS DEVICES, TO BE RELEASED IN 2018 ARE EXPECTED TO BE ACCURATE TO 30 cm. • REMOTE SENSING INCLUDING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, SATELLITE IMAGERY & SPECTROSCOPY AND LATELY - DRONE TECHNOLOGY
ADVANCES IN GEOLOGICAL METHODS (WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO METALLIC DEPOSITS ) • IT HAS BEEN UNDERSTOOD THAT MOST DEPOSITS FORMED BY INTERACTION OF AQUEOUS FLUIDS AND HOST ROCKS • THERE HAS BEEN GREAT INCREASE IN UNDERSTANDING THE SOURCES & PROCESSES OF ORE FORMATION • MANY ORE DEPOSIT MODELS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. ONCE THE MODEL, A DISCOVERY BELONGS TO, IS UNDESTOOD, IT GREATLY HELPS EXPLORATION (E.G. COPPER PORPHYRY) • LATEST DEVELOPMENT IS IN AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. SO, DEPOSITS WHICH HAVE MINIMAL IMPACT ARE SOUGHT AFTER (E.G. TANJIL) • GREATER INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT AND ACADEMIA COORDINATION, TO ADDRESS COMMON PROBLEMS JOINTLY • STANDARDIZATION OF CONDUCT AND REPORTING OF EXPLORATION PROJECTS (E.G. NI43-101, JORC ETC.)
ADVANCES IN GEOCHEMICAL METHODS • MUSHROOMING IN VARIETY AND QUALITY OF CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS EQUIPMENT • EXCITATION ENERGY SOURCES INCLUDE FLAME, XRAYS, ELECTRONS, PLASMA AND LATELY LASER. • MULTI-ELEMENT QUANTITATIVE GEOCHEMISTRY GREATLY REDUCES COST PER ELEMENT AND TURN ROUND TIME • MINIATURIZATION HAS ENABLED PRODUCTION OF HANDHELD XRF AND XRD ANALYZER TO HELP FIELD WORK • RESEARCH ON THE BORDERLINE BETWEEN ESTABLISHED DISCIPLINES E.G GEOBOTANY AND GEOBIOLOGY IS FERTILE GROUND FOR INNOVATION IN MINERAL EXPLORATION • REMOTE SENSING SPECTROSCOPY IS GETTING A BOOST FOR EXPLORATION IN SPACE; CHEMICAL & MINERALOGICAL
ADVANCES IN GEOPHYSICAL METHODS • R&D IN GEOPHYSICS GOING ON SINCE WW II • AIRBORNE SURVEYS BOOSTED BY DRONE TECHNOLOGY • SEISMIC EXPLORATION, USED A LOT IN O&G EXPLORATION, NOT USED MUCH IN MINERAL EXPLORATION • NEAR SURFACE SEISMIC IMAGING, WITH RAPID COMPUTER PROCESSING AVAILABLE BUT EXPENSIVE • CROSS BOREHOLE SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY CAN HELP IN DEDUCING STRUCTURE AND CHANGE IN ROCK PROPERTIES (PROMISING FOR GEMSONE EXPLORATION)
ADVANCES IN REMOTE SENSING • RECORDING OF SPECTRAL DATA OF VISIBLE TO INFRA-RED AND ULTRAVIOLET FROM PLANETARY SURFACES, USING SATELLITES OR HIGH ALTITUDE AIROPLANES, IS AN AREA OF FASTEST DEVELOMENT IN RECENT TIMES • RADAR REFLECTIONS ARE USED IN TOPOGRAPHIC AND STRUCTURAL MAPPING EVEN IN CLOUD COVERED AND/OR VEGETATION COVERED TERRAINS. • THE ADVANCED SPACEBORNE AND THERMAL REFLECTION (ASTER) PROVIDES MULTIBAND THERMAL DATA THAT GREATLY HELPS REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL MAPPING • HYPERSPECTRAL TECHNIQUE PROVIDES SPECTRAL DATA FROM HUNDREDS OF SPECTRAL BANDS, WHICH WHEN INTEGRATED AT PIXEL LEVEL, ENABLES DETERMINATION OF DOMINANT MINERALOGY OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE FOR ALTERATION AND CONTAMINATION MAPPING.
ADVANCES IN DRILLING TECHNOLOGY • “HAS THE DRILL BIT SEEN IT”? – THE ULTIMATE PROOF • TECHNOLOGY OF DRILLING FOR O&G FAR ADVANCED COMPARED TO THAT OF MINERAL EXPLORATION • MINIATURIZATION OF DRILLING EQUIPMENT GROWING, NOT ONLY FOR DRILLING ON EARTH BUT ALSO IN SPACE • MANUFACTURERS IN CANADA HAVE DEVELOPED LIGHT WEIGHT RIGS THAT CAN BE DISMANTLED INTO MAN - PORTABLE COMPONENTS FOR USE IN HIGH RELIEF AREAS • MININDRILLS, SUCH AS WINKIE AND SHAWTOOL, CAN HELP CHECK CONTINUITY OF SURFACE MINERALIZATION AT SHALLOW DEPTHS (TYPICALLY 20 TO 100 m); AND ALSO PROVIDE FRESH SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS • MINIATURIZED DOWNHOLE SURVEY AND GEOPHYSICAL LOGGING EQUIPMENT HAVE BECOME AVAILABLE
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES IN SEA BASED PROPSPECTING AND EXPLORATION (1) – What mineral Resources exist undersea? 1. MANGANESE NODULES 2. MASSIVE SULPHIDE DEPOSITS 3. PLACER DIAMONDS 4. RARE EARTH DEPOSITS 5. ALLUVIAL METAL MINING
MAY BE THERE IS INDEED A POT OF GOLD AT THE END
THE BEGINNING
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