Exploration Geology: Keys to success

World-class deposits are becoming increasingly hard to discover, even with exploration expenditures having reached all-time highs in 2012. Industry performance has declined, fewer discoveries are turning into mines and their conversion is taking longer, and over the past decade the average cost of discovery has tripled (Schodde, 2017).

With the challenges of discovering deposits under cover and at depth, exploration success today depends on developing a strong understanding of a target area’s geology, structural architecture, geodynamics, and potential deposit preservation from factual observations, rather than relying solely on data and direct detection. This may include field observations of controlling structures and using fault geometry and kinematics to define the geometry of mineralisation (both in outcrop and drill core) or the geological interpretation of geophysical data based on geological principles. Even when using modern techniques for exploring, such as machine learning, the fundamental foundation remains geological understanding, and companies focusing heavily on this benefit from higher discovery rates.

Sadly, many exploration companies pay little attention to understanding the geology of their deposit or exploration area, which is one of the fundamental reasons for the overall decline in discovery. Instead, these companies often only pursue understanding of the geological controls on metal distribution once things go wrong.

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