Cowan & Hobbs (2025) Ballarat East video

Описание: 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗝𝘂𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘀 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱)

This video will be published in the 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝟮𝟰 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 in the next few months. It's my analysis of the 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁, and is featured in a paper co-authored with Bruce Hobbs and will be included in the supplementary materials.

The full details will have to wait until publication, but in short, I break down the structural anatomy of this famous gold deposit using only drill-sampled grade data.

Using my proprietary analytical method, I summarise 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 and plot this information just like structural data.

No other data is involved, 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱.

This allows me to define the local gold foliation (S_Au) and gold lineation (L_Au) directly from raw grade data, a game-changer for both exploration and mineral resource estimation.

No need to interpolate and squint to interpret "LeapBlobs" or try out your skills of tea leaf reading on multiple 1D variograms just to obtain information on local grade continuities.

I compare these quantitative gold foliation and lineation values with the wireframes already modelled by Ballarat East mine geologists, and as you see, these datasets compare well with each other. One can also validate this grade orientation data with measurements of structural data collected from the field.

In Cowan & Hobbs [𝘩𝘮𝘮𝘮, 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱], I take a deep dive into Ballarat East along with 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 other gold deposits from around the world.

Bruce then works his magic, running 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗖 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 to explain the recurring mineralisation patterns across all these deposits.

Our paper is the 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 and similarities between all these deposits is discussed.

This approach will be a game-changer for exploration companies and miners.

At last, we can determine the structural controls of any historical deposit and generate exploration targets—even if the drill cores are long gone, the mine is flooded with no rock exposures to examine, or the grade data was lost in some forgotten company filing cabinet and never digitised.

This method will revive old data, and who knows what new opportunities it might reveal?!

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗲!

𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺.

#economicgeology #mineralexploration #structuralgeology #mining #mineralresourceestimation #geostatistics #geology #gold #GOLD24