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07-01-2008 |
Steve Enders, Newmont, TOPIC: Bridging the gaps in exploration & mining opportunities for research and development across the life cycle of an ore deposit
Bridging the Gaps in Exploration & Mining - Opportunities for Research and Development across the Life Cycle of an Ore Deposit.
M. Stephen Enders – Newmont Mining Corporation
Mine-related research offers a rich field of study for geoscientists. Unfortunately, many geoscience-related research projects are supposed to be useful for exploration, but most fall far short of achieving this objective. The new competitive space for collaborative research lies in the mining value chain particularly in the mining, processing and environmental areas, but not necessarily at the exclusion of exploration.
This conclusion is directly related to the big challenges currently facing the mining industry. First, there is a huge demand for metals and other natural resources at a time when new deposits are more difficult and certainly more expensive to discover. Second, all elements of the mining value chain have been hit by escalating operating and capital costs. Third, there is a dire need for talent and labor to support a vibrant workforce in the mining industry. Fourth, economic development associated with new and existing mining operations is seriously challenged by the new paradigms of social and environmental responsibility. So, it will be more important than ever to get more out of our existing mines than to make new discoveries going forward.
So, where do geoscientists fit into this new paradigm of technological challenges in the resource sector? Clearly, there are important opportunities for geoscientists to pursue that will help the front end of the mining life cycle in the exploration sector. But, the greatest value to society and the most interesting technical challenges lie in the solution of some of the key technological challenges in efficiently mining and extracting deeper, lower grade and more refractory ores from our existing deposits, and applying those lessons to the development of the next generation of discoveries.
The key issues that geoscientists can apply their knowledge and skill to include: better predictive models of where deposits form, what are their key exploration characteristics, and what are their key geometallurgical characteristics. From an exploration perspective, four-dimensional geological frameworks at a crustral-scale are highly valuable long-term planning tools. At the mine-scale, an understanding of the structure, fabric and mineralogy of how rocks break can be of tremendous value to mine operators as they look at better and more cost effective ways to improve fragmentation, cutting behavior, comminution and liberation. Economic geologists in particular need to apply our understanding of hydrothermal alteration and mineralization and models of fluid flow to hydrometallurgical problems, mitigation of acid rock drainage and metals sequestration, and finally to the many reclamation challenges.
Addressing these challenges is going to require better tools, new technology, and a different way of thinking. The number one tool that most geologists, engineers, and mine operators would like is a better drill with associated real-time data sensors, and down-hole or hole-hole remote sensing “into the face”. There are also a variety of initiatives in progress that are targeted on the fundamental challenges to more efficient extraction of lower grade and refractory ores. These two initiatives, in particular, require a new way of doing collaborative research and a new way of thinking because they are based on multidisciplinary approaches.
Take, for example, the emerging field of study in the biosciences called “biomimicry”. The slogan is “innovation inspired by nature” and the definition is the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. The broader definition needs no modifications to apply to a new field of study inspired by nature that I would like to term: geomimicry. By analogy, there must be great opportunity and competitive space in the mining industry for the study of geosciences to contribute innovative solutions to our key technological challenges, if only we begin thinking differently and collaborating with researchers from different fields with little to no geologic background. That is geomimicry and that is our future.
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Arizona Geological Society
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