UNSW Sydney has inked a partnership agreement with the Mineral Exploration Cooperative Research Centre (MinEx CRC) to find the next generation of mineral deposits.
Bringing together 46 industry, government and research organisations, the CRC is the world’s largest mineral exploration collaboration with total funding of $220 million.
The funding, which includes $91 million in cash from the CRC program, industry and geological surveys, aims to further Australia’s understanding of geology, mineral deposits and groundwater resources in areas where rocks aren’t exposed at Earth’s surface.
“UNSW has a long tradition of research and teaching in economic geology and mineral exploration. Our participation in the MinEx CRC will build on that history and expertise,” said Professor David Cohen at UNSW Science, the lead investigator for the University.
According to Prof. Cohen, minerals account for two-thirds of Australia’s export revenue, and the mining sector provides over $200 billion in revenue, or 10.5% of GDP, giving much-needed jobs to remote areas.
“The transition to a future low-carbon and high-tech economy is underpinned by the supply of critical minerals. That supply won’t materialise unless we find new deposits,” he said.
MinEx CRC CEO Andrew Bailey welcomed the UNSW as a partner.
“Among other projects, UNSW is currently undertaking research to determine the effectiveness of pine needle geochemistry to detect underlying mineralisation in the Cobar Basin – and companies are showing strong interest,” Mr Bailey said.
PhD candidate Joe Schifano of the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences is working on the MinEx CRC-funded research project dubbed ‘Biogeochemical mapping of the Cobar Basin’ (BEES).
Mr Schifano discovered that the gold content of cypress pine needles is a good indicator of nearby gold deposits in the Cobar region, with some of the highest gold concentrations ever detected in pine needles.
MinEx is developing the highly unique coiled tube drilling technique as part of its various research initiatives, which will result in more productive, safer, and environmentally friendly drilling in the discovery and evaluation of mineral resources.
The development of techniques that can ‘see through’ thick sediment cover to locate mineral resources trapped within the underlying basement rocks is a key problem for the exploration sector. These methods will aid and encourage additional exploration in broad parts of Australia where such cover dominates the landscape.
“The MinEx CRC brings together the core Earth science disciplines – geologists, geochemists and geophysicists – and puts them in the same room as engineers, physicists and IT specialists to develop more efficient mineral exploration methods,” said MinEx Chief Scientific Officer Dr David Giles.
