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WA Branch Technical night: Bill Peters

The following video was taken during meeting of the WA Branch on 18 October, 2017.

 

Talk description

Exploration for Ni-Cu sulphide deposits has been possibly the most significant factor in the development of modern minerals geophysical technology. The strong response of Ni-Cu sulphides to multiple geophysical methods has resulted in a heavy reliance on geophysics for exploration. This has, in turn, spurred researchers, instrument manufacturers and contractors to continually develop new and/or improved technology.

As discovery of outcropping and near-surface deposits is becoming rarer, the challenge is moving into covered areas and exploring deeper. Historical technology has proven effective in the 0-250m depth range; current technology has extended this to more than 500m; new developments are pushing this towards 1000m. This means that large prospective areas previously considered fully explored in the past have completely new potential.

This talk discusses:

  • The current state of the art in geophysical acquisition, power, resolution, sensitivity, inversion, visualisation, and modelling.
  • The physical properties of Ni-Cu sulphides, host rocks, and complicating non-economic geological features.
  • The key geophysical methods, their application, and global examples.
  • Regional targeting to identify settings containing prospective mafic -ultramafic rocks including the concepts of lithospheric structural control and intracrustal magma chambers. 

 

Presenter biography

Bill Peters is a 1972 geology & physics graduate of UWA.

During his 45 years as a geophysicist he has worked on projects in over 80 countries and visited over 60. These projects have included precious metals, base metals, diamonds, oil & gas, mineral sands, rare earths, uranium and water.

During the first thirteen years of his career he worked for McPhar Geophysics, Anglo American, De Beers, BHP, Teck, and DIGHEM in Southern Africa, Canada and Australia.

Bill is currently a Director and Consultant of Southern Geoscience Consultants which he co-founded in 1985. SGC has subsequently grown to be one of the largest minerals  geophysical consultancies globally.