From Play-based Exploration to Mineral System Workflows:

The Holistic Exploration Mindset

Companies prospecting to expand mineral portfolios increasingly need to look deeper and beyond known occurrences. New ways of thinking about exploration and, ultimately, production must be adopted. Working in collaboration with our mining industry clients, we are seeking to leverage applicable geological subsurface screening methods from the hydrocarbon industry and applying them within a broader mineral system approach to exploration.

For example, global plate tectonic models can be used to map out the location and duration of volcanic arc magmatism related to subduction zones. This can not only be used as a proxy for hydrothermal mineralization but also identify zones of lithospheric and crustal endowment exploited by younger events. However, changing mineral system to sedimentary hosted copper, can use a significantly larger integration and manipulation effort, of many differing geological datasets (from sources to sinks, tectonics and gross depositional environments).

From Play-based Exploration to Mineral System Workflows:

The Holistic Exploration Mindset

Companies prospecting to expand mineral portfolios increasingly need to look deeper and beyond known occurrences. New ways of thinking about exploration and, ultimately, production must be adopted. Working in collaboration with our mining industry clients, we are seeking to leverage applicable geological subsurface screening methods from the hydrocarbon industry and applying them within a broader mineral system approach to exploration.

For example, global plate tectonic models can be used to map out the location and duration of volcanic arc magmatism related to subduction zones. This can not only be used as a proxy for hydrothermal mineralization but also identify zones of lithospheric and crustal endowment exploited by younger events. However, changing mineral system to sedimentary hosted copper, can use a significantly larger integration and manipulation effort, of many differing geological datasets (from sources to sinks, tectonics and gross depositional environments).

These methods can be used as a global first-pass screening map for selected locations and time periods to guide explorationists in the right location and then apply higher resolution datasets at a more localized scale to further refine the spatial selection process. Exploration scales bear similarities between hydrocarbons and minerals but ultimately both involve an exercise in the reduction of scale. At each level, it is about getting yourself to that right area and narrowing focus, while never actually forgetting the wider geological context established.

An ongoing shift in exploration mindsets and a new era of collaboration are emerging. There are, however, differences in the scale at which some of the hydrocarbon and mineral exploration concepts can be implemented, as well as the terminology used, so these need to be considered to ensure the most effective transfer of expertise and knowledge between these sectors. This results in the ability to test more concepts, make better predictions and ultimately reduce the time to resource discovery through efficient subsurface decision making, which is key to meeting the mineral and metal needs of the energy transition.

These methods can be used as a global first-pass screening map for selected locations and time periods to guide explorationists in the right location and then apply higher resolution datasets at a more localized scale to further refine the spatial selection process. Exploration scales bear similarities between hydrocarbons and minerals but ultimately both involve an exercise in the reduction of scale. At each level, it is about getting yourself to that right area and narrowing focus, while never actually forgetting the wider geological context established.

An ongoing shift in exploration mindsets and a new era of collaboration are emerging. There are, however, differences in the scale at which some of the hydrocarbon and mineral exploration concepts can be implemented, as well as the terminology used, so these need to be considered to ensure the most effective transfer of expertise and knowledge between these sectors. This results in the ability to test more concepts, make better predictions and ultimately reduce the time to resource discovery through efficient subsurface decision making, which is key to meeting the mineral and metal needs of the energy transition.