An EGRU conference with a session in honour of Dr Roger Taylor
24 – 28 June 2019
Tinaroo Lake Resort,
Tinaroo, Atherton Tablelands, north Queensland, Australia
Registration for the conference is now open. Information regarding delegate registration, the field trip and the accommodation options is available on our conference website
The conference will address advances and breakthroughs in understanding the setting, genesis and characteristics of magmatic systems related to Sn-W-Critical Metal mineralisation, including rare metal pegmatites.
The program will feature presentations from world-class researchers in the field, including:
EGRU warmly welcomes academic, industry and government colleagues, including students and young professionals, to join us at the conference and take part in discussions while enjoying the glorious setting of the Atherton Tablelands in tropical far north Queensland.
Delegate numbers will be limited by the venue capacity.
Visit the conference web page or contact a conference convener for more information.
Places for the EGRU professional geologist short courses being offered during February in Townsville are filling fast.
Details for all the 2019 courses are available here
Course flyers are available here.
AIG extends sincere congratulations to Professor Ross Large AO, recognised for his distinguished service to education, and to scientific research, in the field of economic geology, and to professional societies on this years’ Australia Day Honours.
Professor Large is Distinguished Professor and Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Tasmania.
Professor Large has shaped economic geology teaching and research at University of Tasmania, through a number of roles including:
Professor Large is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and served as the society’s President, 2004-2005, an Executive Committee Member, 2003-2005. Vice President, Australasia, 1993-1996. He was the society’s Distinguished Lecturer, 1998.
Awards and recognition received by Professor Large include:
The theme for the 2019 conference is “Data to Discovery”. The AEGC technical program committee has a focus on Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry and how these are applied in exploration for both Petroleum and Mineral systems in Australasia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
The conference has major sub-themes encompassing but not limited to:
The Organising Committee for the 2nd Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference invites you to submit an abstract for presentation at the Conference, to be held at Crown Perth on 2 – 5 September 2019. The extended abstract is a short paper summarizing your presentation (oral or poster). It should include figures and references. It will be published in the conference digital proceedings and given to all conference attendees. Extended abstracts will be reviewed for technical content and selection purposes.
Full papers for the West Australian Basins Symposium (WABS) will also be accepted. Authors submitting for this should e-mail the WABS editorsdirect.
Presentations focusing on other Australian basins or Other basins Internationally should submit an extended abstract.
The theme for the 2019 conference is “Data to Discovery”. The AEGC technical program committee has a focus on Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry and how these are applied in exploration for both Petroleum and Mineral systems in Australasia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
View the full list of conference themes.
Woodside is an Australian company operating 6% of global LNG supply, with more than 60 years of experience.We are recognised for our world-class capabilities – as an explorer, a developer, a producer and a supplier of energy. We continue to expand our capabilities in marketing, trading and shipping and have enduring relationships that span more than 25 years with foundation customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region. We recognise that long-term, meaningful relationships with communities are fundamental to maintaining our licence to operate. We help create stronger communities through programs that improve knowledge, build resilience and create shared opportunities.
Congratulations to Dr Jon Hronsky on being awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours for services to the mining sector.
Dr Hronsky, an AIG member, has almost 30 years experience in the mining and mineral exploration industry. He is a Principal of Western Mining Services (WMS), a consultancy group with offices in Perth and Denver that provides strategic-level services to the global mineral exploration industry, and a Director of Encounter Resources, a Western Australian focused base-metals explorer.
Dr Hronsky received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mining Geology from the West Australian School of Mines in Kalgoorlie in 1983 and completed a PhD at UWA under Professor David Groves in 1994. He was awarded the Gibb Maitland Medal in 2005, the highest award of the WA Division of the Geological Society of Australia and was the 2009 Society of Economic Geology Distinguished Lecturer. He is also on the board for the Centre for Exploration Targeting at UWA and an Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney.
Dr Hronsky’s contributions to exploration and mining include:
The AIG Council extends congratulations to Dr Hronsky the formal recognition of his contribution to exploration and mining in Australia.
The latest edition of AIG News, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists member newsletter is now available in full colour and digital format and best of all FREE for all readers!
Now all AIG Members and Non Members can enjoy our FREE AIG Newsletter in digital format, including all previous editions. Please click here to see our archive of AIG News.
Download the latest copy of AIG News 134 below:
For web: AIG News 134: Download as Single Pages PDF
For web: AIG News 134: Download as Double Page Spread PDF
For print: AIG News 134: Download as Single Pages PDF
For print: AIG News 134: Download as Double Page Spread PDF
Inside this latest issue…
From Your President; Institute News; Snippets; NSW Branch News; Education News; Membership Updates; Introducing the Papua New Guinea Geoscience Network; Remembering Fifty Years ago 1968-A Watershed Year; Plate Tectonics and Seismic Hazard in Peru: Revisiting the May, 1970 Earthquake; Australian Geoscientist Employment Survey; Australian Geoscience Today; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rescinds Guide 7; Ok Tedi Celebrates 50 Years Since Discovery; SMEDG Awards Dinner; Victoria Mineral Round-up – 2018; The geological relationship between Kanmantoo Cu-Au deposit mineralisation, hydrothermal metasomatism and igneous intrusives; The Making and Unmaking of a Rare Earth Element Deposit: Using Carbonate Melts to Process Phosphate-Hosted REE Ore; Paleobotany and paleoenvironments of the Latrobe Group brown coals, Gippsland Basin; Unravelling the thermal character of Earth’s earliest subduction systems; National Rock Garden Update; Victorian Mentoring Program 2018; Acquire releases GIM Suite 4 for smarter, streamlined geoscience data in the mining industry; Events Calendar and more…
AIG News is optimised to be read with Adobe Reader. Versions are available for printing (with Adobe Reader version 4.1.3 or later) or either reading on-line or downloading for reading off-line with your laptop or tablet (with Adobe Reader version 6.1.5 or later). Both versions have been tested and are compatible with Apple Preview and iBooks for Mac and iPad users.
If you experience any difficulty accessing and reading AIG News using the Adobe Reader versions listed here technical support is available.
We hope that you enjoy the latest AIG News and welcome your feedback.
Greg Corbett and Stuart Hayward are presenting their popular epithermal Au-Ag and Porphyry Cu-Au Exploration short course, 14-16 May 2019.
May 14 & 15, Chatswood Club, 11 Help Chatswood, NSW (5 mins walk from Chatswood train station) lunch, morning and afternoon teas provided. Two days of PowerPoint lectures focus upon mineral exploration for epithermal and porphyry ore deposits derived from Dr Corbett’s 40 years field experience, including earlier short courses provided with the late Terry Leach from the early 1990’s. Exploration and mining examples from over 40 countries are used to delineate the characteristics of different epithermal and porphyry ore types, and controls to mineralisation, using tools such as alteration, structure and breccias. A final section considers geological features recognised in exploration marginal to ore bodies. Participants will be provided with a current draft of the new short course notes. Drafts of the first few chapters are available here.
May 16 – A practical exercise held at the W B Clarke Geoscience Centre, Londonderry, uses diamond drill core referred to in the lectures (above) and a set of teaching specimens to provide hands on training in ore and alteration mineralogy and the use of geological models. Greg is helped by and Stuart Hayward, who has over 30 years experience in epithermal-porphyry ore deposit exploration and mining. Return bus from Chatswood and lunch provided.
Registration includes handouts, lunch, morning and afternoon teas and transport to and from Londonderry. Minimum of 20 participants required and limited to a maximum of 40.
Students from $150 + GST but if you need assistance contact Greg Corbett
Unemployed geologists from $400 + GST
Employed geologists from $1500 + GST
Follow the link to download the short course registration form.
Updated regulations to allow U.S. mining and exploration companies to report mineral resources resources. Competent person requirements also feature in the new rules for the first time.
In October, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a final rule that overhauls its existing disclosure requirements for mining company issuers. This represents the first major change since Guide 7 was adopted almost 30 years ago and brings the U.S. into line with countries following CRIRSCO reporting codes. U.S. companies will be required to begin to comply with the new rules in its first fiscal year beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2021.
Under the current SEC reporting rules, mining companies are not permitted to disclose mineral resources. In Canada, Australia, South Africa and other countries, companies have been required to disclose resources where it would be material information for investors.
Dual listed companies will benefit from decreased compliance costs. Previously, companies listed in the U.S.A. and a country following the CRIRSCO convention for mineral resource and ore reserve reporting were compelled to produce different annual reports and other public disclosure documents dealing with resources and reserves for different markets. U.S. exploration companies should find that the new rules assist with raising funds for exploration in the U.S.A. rather than having to resort to listing on overseas markets, including the TSX, TSX.V and ASX.
U.S. companies that are only subject to the SEC rules, may experience increased compliance costs because of the new requirement to disclose mineral resources and have statements of resources and reserves prepared by a qualified person. Canadian companies that are dual-listed in the US and Canada, have been allowed to comply with Canadian rules (NI 43-101) so are unlikely to be affected by the change.
The SEC announcement included some important provisions.
Geothermal energy is specifically excluded from the new rules.
A principles-based definition of materiality, consistent with Securities Act Rule 405 and Exchange Act Rule 12b-2, was adopted by the commission, whereby a matter is material if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would attach importance to it in determining whether to buy or sell securities. The commission also proposed that a company should follow an approach requiring aggregation of all mining properties, regardless of size or type of commodity produced, when assessing the materiality of a registrant’s mining operations.
The commission also adopted a definition of mining operations that includes operations on all mining properties that:
The commission also requires that companies materially disclose the basis for setting forward prices for commodities which form an essential component of asset valuation and, therefore, asset materiality. Companies may not exceed the average price for the preceding 24 months. Beyond this, however, qualified persons may use any reasonable and justifiable price, with transparent justification.
The new rules permit a mineral resources to be disclosed inclusive of mineral reserves, as long as mineral resources exclusive of reserves are also stated. This rule is more specific than current requirements of some other reporting codes, including the JORC Code (2012).
Inferred resources are also able to be used in economic analysis, as long as certain conditions are met.
The new rules adhere to the CRIRSCO convention where a public report about a company’s exploration results, mineral resources, and mineral reserves must be based on and fairly reflect information and supporting documentation prepared by a “competent” or “qualified person.” This is the first time that the commission has defined a role for competent persons which may be both individuals, or companies employing individuals responsible for preparing reports.
A “qualified person” is defined as a “mineral industry professional with at least five years of relevant experience in the type of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and in the specific type of activity that person is undertaking”. Additionally, qualified persons must be “an eligible member or licensee in good standing of a recognised professional organisation at the time the technical report is prepared”. These requirements effectively mirror those of the JORC Code (2012).
The new rules allow multiple qualified persons to prepare a technical report provided the sections of the report for which individuals are responsible are clearly specified, signed dated and consented to by each individual.
Reports must include a consent statement from the qualified person, state whether the qualified person is an employee of the company and, if not an employee, what relationship or interests the qualified person may have in the company.
The rules specifically indemnify the qualified person from findings and conclusions regarding certain aspects of modifying factors discussed in technical reports that the qualified person specifically states were based on information provided by the company – another first and an important legal protection for individuals or groups acting as qualified persons.
A “recognised professional organisation” would have to be either recognised within the mining industry as a reputable professional association, or be a board authorised by U.S. federal, state or foreign statute to regulate professionals in the mining, geoscience, or related field.
Furthermore, the organization must:
The commission has elected, however, to adopt a principles-based approach to professional organisation recognition rather than the approach adopted by existing CRIRSCO codes of publishing a list of Recognised Overseas Professional Organisations (ROPO) updated by organisations responsible for reporting standards in individual countries from time to time. AIG is considered to fully meet the commissions requirements of a recognised professional organisation, supported by it being recognised in all current jurisdictions where CRIRSCO template reporting codes are in use.
AIG welcomes the SEC announcement which brings the U.S.A. closer to countries with effective, transparent and material codes for exploration result, mineral resource and ore reserve reporting that provide informed investors with a basis for sound mineral asset investment decisions. The new rules also provide an opportunity for Australian geoscientists, experienced in the application of the JORC Code and Canada’s National Instrument NI 43-101, to share their knowledge and experience with their U.S. counterparts.
The SEC release announcing the new rules is available here.
The latest Australian geoscientist employment survey is open for contributions. 2019 marks the tenth anniversary of this survey series.
This latest instalment in the survey series will provide data on trends in geoscientist employment in Australia during the final quarter (October, November, December) of 2018.
In the September quarter, the Australian geoscientists unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.3%, from 8.5% in the June quarter. This was the lowest level in several years but coincided with a widely held perception that industry activity and employment opportunities had improved significantly. The period covered by this survey is typically one of the busiest times in the Australian exploration field season, which makes the muted improvement in employment interesting.
The survey takes only two or three minutes to complete. You do not need to be an AIG member to contribute. No data that could personally identify respondents is collected.
Contributions to the survey are required from both employed and unemployed geoscientists to ensure the relevance of results. Your completing the survey really helps to make a difference to the standing and knowledge of our profession.
The survey will be open for contributions until 1st February 2019, to allow for the summer holiday season in Australia. Every contribution adds to the reliability of the survey results.
Thanks in advance for your support.
AIG’s Australian Geoscientist Employment Survey has been running for almost ten years, regularly collecting data on employment prospects for geoscientists, as well as demographic data that provide insight into how our profession is evolving.
Since the surveys commenced, unemployment amongst Australian geoscientists has been as low as 1.6% in September, 2011, and as high as 19.5% in March 2016. We’ve seen a small fall in the proportion of geoscientists in full-time employment, from 74% in June 2009 to 69% in the September 2018 survey. There has been a similar fall in part-time employment from 4.5% to 3.3% for the same period. Self-employment (geoscientists working as independent contractors and consultants) has risen from 21% in June 2009 to 28% in September 2018.
Where are we today?
In September 2019, 89% of survey respondents were working, or seeking work as a geoscientist in Australia. 7% of respondents were not seeking work, 2% were retired but staying in touch with their former profession, and the remainder of respondents were working or seeking work in fields other than geoscience.
Mineral exploration, metalliferous mining geology and energy resource exploration and production employ 85.4 % of survey respondents, only slightly less than the peak of 87.4 % observed in December 2014.
This is vastly different to the situation in Europe and the USA, where environmental services, government agencies and academia are the greatest sources of employment for geoscientists. Fields of employment including diamond exploration, engineering geology, industrial minerals production, groundwater resource management, environmental geoscience, government geoscience and other fields are relatively small contributors of employment opportunities.
More than half of the geoscientists working in Australia are Western Australia based. More than ten percent of Australian-based or educated geoscientists work overseas.
Almost 75% of Australian geoscientists have a Bachelors Degree with Honours (requiring a minimum of four years full time study at most Australian universities). Almost 42% have a Masters degree or PhD. Almost 80% received their highest degree in Australia, while more than 90% earned their highest qualification in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Canada or the United States of America.
Our profession appears to be ageing. Almost one third of Australia’s geoscientists have been involved in the profession for more than 30 years. Assuming a new graduate enters the workforce at 22-23 years of age, 30 years experience points to one third of Australia’s geoscientists being in their mid-fifties. The proportion of young geoscientists, with five or less years of experience stands out in these figures as being low, at less than 6%. This could be due to geoscience failing to attract students, or to early career geoscientists not seeing value in professional association membership. Geoscientists, for example, cannot act as Competent Persons in compliance with the JORC Code until they have at least five years relevant experience. Not being engaged with their peers through professional association membership could simply reduce awareness of surveys like the ones on which this article is based. Should the former proposition be true, however, our profession has a major problem that requires a concerted effort to attract more talented students to geoscience studies and careers.
Diversity was a hot topic in scientific circles throughout 2018. Overall, 85% of Australian geoscientists are men. The ratio of men to women geoscientists varies considerably, however, with years of experience. The greatest proportion of women in geoscience is amongst early career geoscientists, with less than five years experience, followed by mid-career geoscientists with 10 to 15 years experience. The proportion of women entering the profession of just under 30% demonstrates that more needs to be done to attract and retain women by Australian geoscience if greater gender balance is to be achieved. The goal of gender balance in the profession will only be achieved by a sustained effort over several decades.
The proportion of women with an honours degree or higher is 82%, greater than men with 74%.
Participation on different industry sectors varies considerably. Relatively few women work in mineral exploration, leading to greater participation in mining, energy resource exploration and production, government geoscience, engineering geology, industrial minerals and environmental geoscience.
In conclusion, this review of some of the survey results over time yielded a few surprises. Despite the highly cyclical nature of mineral exploration, it remains the dominant form of employment for geoscientists working in Australia. Fields where employment opportunities have grown considerably in the USA and Europe, including groundwater management and environmental geoscience, continue to be only a small part of Australia’s geoscience scene. This is surprising, given pressures on land for development in major cities where remediation of old industrial sites is a major source of land for urban development and the reliance of cities and towns on groundwater for an increasing proportion of their water needs has increased over the past ten years.
Does this raise questions regarding Australia’s focus on environmental stewardship more generally if we are not seeing an increased focus on these fields?
Similarly, engineering geology remains a relatively small sector of the geoscience profession, again against a backdrop of development of more difficult land for housing, industry and commercial uses in our major cities.
The figures can certainly be interpreted to demonstrate the importance of Australia’s resource industries to our economy, with the discovery of new mineral resources and stewardship of existing ones remaining the principal source of demand for geoscience capabilities.
Our profession is arguably making progress towards becoming a more diverse employer in Australia, but gender balance isn’t going to be achieved overnight. Achieving this will require sustained effort over decades, requiring commitment from all sectors of our profession. This occurs alongside an overarching need to ensure talented students are attracted to geoscience careers, which may well prove to be a significant contributor to geoscience in Australia in many ways.
Andrew Waltho
