{"id":4723,"date":"2010-11-04T09:36:36","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T01:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/bigger-mine-than-super-pit-highly-likely\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:06:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T05:06:37","slug":"bigger-mine-than-super-pit-highly-likely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/bigger-mine-than-super-pit-highly-likely\/","title":{"rendered":"Bigger mine than Super Pit ‘highly likely’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The head of a Curtin spin-off company says that ground breaking technology he presented at this week\u2019s Univation<\/strong><\/a> event will probably detect a larger gold deposit than that at the gigantic Kalgoorlie Super Pit.<\/p>\n

HiSeis P\/L<\/strong><\/a> CEO Peter Williams said the company had landed more than $2.3 million of contracts since its launch just 15 months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverseas companies in particular have accepted the value proposition of what we\u2019ve got,\u201d Mr Williams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the technology we\u2019ve developed, we are now able to work with mining companies to give them a much better understanding of their mine site geology using 3D seismic imaging techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn particular, we aim to provide them with the quickest, highest resolution, continuous 3D image of the geology within their mining holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Williams said the technology would help companies fully appreciate, and strategically deploy, resources to best realise the assets in the ground over the lives of their mines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also need to simultaneously appreciate any geological obstacles that would impede the realisation of this value, due to such concerns as rock failure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we aim to provide a twin benefit of commercial optimisation and safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo mine manager likes to be surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

HiSeis has adapted high definition 3D seismic imaging techniques to hard rock mining, from such applications as petroleum engineering for offshore oil reservoirs.<\/p>\n

Mr Williams said there were big differences between using seismic imaging in, say, offshore engineering compared to in hard rock terrains where seismic imaging was once problematic.<\/p>\n

A $400,000 2D HiSeis seismic survey recently helped a major gold company identify subterranean faults and key elements such as structural traps for a mine planned in the US desert-state of Nevada.<\/p>\n

The features were clearly identified at depths greater than 1000m underground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company called us up after they had sponsored Curtin\u2019s Centre for High-Definition Geophysics<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d Mr Williams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter four days of seismic surveying in the field and processing\/imaging at night, they\u2019d received a level of definition of the key geological elements in their model that they did not think feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Arctic winter earlier this year, HiSeis helped mining company First Quantum produce a high definition 3D image of the geology of their open pit mine in Lapland.<\/p>\n

The economics were such that a change in pit angle of just one degree could affect the value of the project by US$50m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not too many companies in the world that have ever \u2018shot seismic\u2019 on land for mineral exploration in the middle of an Arctic winter,\u201d Mr Williams said.<\/p>\n

When integrated with more standard techniques and a database First Quantum had developed, the image gave a far greater appreciation of available resources in a fraction of the time taken with traditional drilling techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the best 3D image of the geology in the mine space is an invaluable strategic planning tool,\u201d Mr Williams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis technology can be used in a wide range of geological environments hosting different commodities \u2013 uranium, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, gold and even water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there will always be drilling but the most critical thing is we can help companies be smarter and quicker about where they drill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Williams said that finding a larger Australian gold deposit than that at the nation\u2019s biggest open cut mine, the Kalgoorlie Super Pit, was highly likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to increase our clients\u2019 chances of unearthing the next Mount Isa, Broken Hill or (Kalgoorlie) Golden Mile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll you need is the right eyes to be applied to the right place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 3D high definition seismic surveying imaging provides those eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Closer to home, HiSeis is helping the Water Corporation better identify liquid resources for WA\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been assisting in modelling the three-dimensional geometry of the Perth Aquifer, and where it gets recharged from, for the past couple of years now,\u201d Mr Williams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding the 3D geometry of aquifers and fault systems within aquifers is fundamental to effective planning of how to use the resource and how not to pollute it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater is fundamental to human life, and understanding how to better manage this resource is extremely important, especially in times of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Held on November 3 and 4, Univation<\/strong><\/a> showcased the brightest commercialisation prospects from WA\u2019s four public universities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Head of Curtin spin-off company says ground breaking technology presented at Univation likely to detect larger gold deposit than at gigantic Kalgoorlie mine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-4723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":false,"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":false,"author_meta":{"first_name":"Curtin","last_name":"University","display_name":"Curtin University"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 02:08:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4723"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=4723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}