Exploration technologies and methodologies
As mineral explorers delve deeper into complex regolith terrains and undercover targets, the need for geochemical techniques that offer both precision and sensitivity has never been greater.
At this year’s AusIMM Mineral Resource Estimation Conference (MREC2025) in Perth, one presentation stood out not just for its rigour, but for its challenge to long-standing assumptions in resource modelling.
In the ever-evolving field of mineral exploration, the challenge of interpreting surface geochemical data in complex terrains has long limited early-stage targeting success.
In a bold shift from business-as-usual block modelling, a team of geologists has turned their attention to the part of the orebody most often ignored — waste — and what they’ve uncovered could reshape how mining operations plan for ESG risk.
What if resource estimation wasn’t just updated, but completely reimagined? At the AusIMM 2025 Mineral Resource Estimation Conference in Perth, two respected voices in the field—Jacqui Coombes and Paul Hodkiewicz—stepped away from PowerPoint slides and into a candid, thought-provoking dialogue that challenged the mining industry to rethink its most foundational assumptions.
At a time when the mining industry is grappling with increasingly complex ore bodies, evolving digital toolsets, and growing demand for speed and precision, one standout case study is helping reshape how we think about resource modelling.
A new report from the Geological Survey of Western Australia shines a spotlight on some of Australia’s most underexplored frontiers—Neoproterozoic basins with the potential to reshape the future of clean energy and critical gases.
Western Australian gold explorer Hamelin Gold is taking a data-driven approach to cracking some of the state's most prospective but underexplored terrains, blending geoscience and tech in the hunt for multi-million-ounce deposits.
Southern Cross Gold is rapidly redefining the prospectivity of Victoria’s goldfields, with its flagship Sunday Creek project now recognised as one of the highest-grade, undeveloped gold-antimony deposits globally.
Waratah Minerals has struck a chord with the exploration community following its compelling update at the RIU Sydney Resources Round-up in early May, where managing director Peter Duerden unveiled a genuine gold-copper discovery story unfolding at the company’s Spur Project—just kilometres from one of Australia’s premier porphyry operations, Cadia Valley.
