EarthByte Seminar Series: Caroline Tiddy - Video

EarthByte seminar series: Wednesday 1st June 2022

MinEx CRC: Who, what, where, why and how

Many of us are conscious of wanting (and needing) to live in a greener world where our energy needs are supplied by environmentally friendly, renewable technologies such as windfarms and photovoltaic cells. However, these technologies require metals such as copper, for which future supply rates are questionable. Concern around future metal supply is related to the global issue of declining rates of mineral deposit discovery coupled with declining world metal inventory.
This seminar provides an overview of research and development activities of the Mineral Exploration Cooperative Research Centre (MinEx CRC), whose mission is to decrease the risk and hence increase the success rate of metal exploration and discovery. MinEx CRC activities include development of the RoXplorer® coiled tubing drill rig that will see faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly methods for mineral exploration, and accompanying technologies such as sensors for rapid collection of geochemical data. Development of these technologies is being tested through MinEx CRC’s National Drilling Initiative, which is seeing world-first successes in coiled tubing drilling in hard rock terranes. These technologies also create opportunities for geoscientists to develop automated methods for interpretation of the voluminous datasets that may be produced and workflows for rapid recognition of potentially interesting target areas for mineral exploration. The methods and workflows have the potential to significantly and positively impact decision making during active mineral exploration drilling campaigns. Furthermore, MinEx CRC is an opportunity for research and development across broad disciplines by a range of people with diverse views. MinEx CRC is therefore dedicated to building an inclusive culture where every person feels safe, valued and supported, and is treated fairly with dignity and respect.