b'Presidents pieceASEG newsTechnical Standards Committee arecontribute to the developmentknown Kate for the last 14 months, and establishing a Best Practices Sub- of these Best Practices, which willit has been an absolute pleasure to work Committee that will report to the FEDEXsignificantly improve the use ofwith her and get to know her better. on a monthly basis. This committee, to begeophysics and the recognition ofKate tirelessly supported our Members, chaired by Tim Keeping, will be chargedits value in mineral exploration anddrove the business of the ASEG and with providing ASEG feedback into theestablish the ASEG as the society ofcreated a legacy that I can only hope to JORC review process, and for pro-activelychoice for geophysicists. repeat.establishing Best Practice Reporting Guides across a number of geophysicalAs I sign off, I would like to take aAs always, I am open to your thoughts, techniques. This will ensure that the ASEGmoment to acknowledge all thefeedback and suggestions, so please is the pre-eminent body for setting thePresidents of the ASEG who have led thisdont hesitate to reach out.quality and standards of geophysical data. organisation over the past 51 years. In particular, I would like to acknowledgeEmma Brand I would encourage you to activelythe special honour I have in beingASEG President participate in this review and topreceded by Dr Kate Brand. I have onlypresident@aseg.org.au Henderson byte: Mitigating the climate crisis with geophysics.There are many standard techniques in exploration geophysics that can now be usefully applied to mitigation of the climate crisis. These include techniques that are currently applied in conventional methods of exploration for minerals that are required for solar panels, wind farms and batteries. These techniques can also be applied to the location and characterising of storage sites for the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and also for mapping leakage plumes. The last two applications fall into the conventional categories of environmental and engineering geophysics. In all cases, the remote sensing and non-invasive characteristics of exploration geophysics are advantageous.The critical minerals required for solar and wind power generation are generally common metals such as copper, zinc, nickel, etc., which can be detected directly or indirectly, primarily by electrical and EM methods but also by magnetics, radiometrics and gravity methods. As for the much-in-demand minerals used in batteries, lithium is found either as Spodumene in some granites, or in brine deposits. The latter can be detected using standard techniques for mapping conductive strata. The battery mineral cobalt is generally associated with the above standard nickel and copper deposits, and the anodes of lithium batteries are natural graphite, which is very electrically conductive and can be detected with electrical and EM methods.Increased demand for lithium has led to its detection and extraction from the brines associated with geothermal fields. Some of these near zero CO 2 -emitting fields can be related to hot, permeable granites, which are detected by many standard methods including shallow seismic, radiometrics and magnetotellurics.The subterranean sites used for the storage of the greenhouse gases CO2and methane are classically treated in geophysical modelling and practice as voids. Initially high resolution seismic, electrical/EM, and gravity gradiometry may be applicable, especially if the cavities are air-filled for better contrast to the surroundings. Plumes resulting from the leakage of gases can also be mapped using standard environmental methods. Borehole surveys may also be appropriate.Conventional geophysical techniques such as high resolution 3-D seismic and side scan sonar are suitable for charting the bathymetry and sub floor structure of off-shore wind farms, and GPR and resistivity methods can be used for mapping the foundations of solar panel farms.In all cases where specific methods are suggested, an alternative may be more applicable in particular circumstances and a combination of different methods is often more effective.All modes of deployment of methods are available including, ground, airborne (fixed-wing, helicopter and drones), marine and borehole.While existing methods are applicable, on-going improvements to the theory and practice, including new inversions, will be of benefit in the future. In certain cases newly designed methods may be required, such as that proposed by Heagy et al (2022), and others. Heagy and her co-authors have redesigned geophysical inversion strategies to facilitate the capture of CO 2by carbon mineralisation. For example, the serpentinite in some ultramafic rocks will react with CO 2converting it to carbonated minerals. As serpentinised ultramafics have a lower density and higher magnetic susceptibility than fresh ultramafics, they can be detected by gravity and magnetics methods.ReferenceHeagy, L. J., et al, 2022. Geophysical inversions to delineate rocks with CO 2sequestration potential through carbon mineralisation. Fast TIMES. In Vol 26.4 Near-surface geophysics for renewables.Roger Henderson rogah@tpg.com.auJUNE 2022 PREVIEW 4'