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PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
APRIL 2016 • ISSUE 181
                                                                           ABN 71 000 876 040 ISSN 1443-2471
        Australian Society of
        Exploration Geophysicists

PREVIEW

NEWS AND COMMENTARY                            FEATURES
Canberra Observed: Minister Frydenberg sees    Lew Richardson: A pioneer of exploration
a bright future                                geophysics in Australia
Education Matters: STEM, CAPSTAN, ASEG RF,
Student projects completed in WA in 2015
Environmental Geophysics: Interpreting radar
data from the Bonar Glacier
Seismic Window: Wavelets, sandy beds
and spectral decomposition
Webwaves: The Agile approach
Data Trends: The 48 hour entrepreneur
PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
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PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
PREVIEW
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Alpha Geoscience . . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   42
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ASEG-PESA-AIG. . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   17       Editor’s Desk                                                                             2
CGG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                             .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   IFC      Letter to the Editor                                                                      3
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                                                                                                                                                                 ASEG News
                                                                                                                                                                 President’s Piece                                                                         4
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GEM Geophysics . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   21
                                                                                                                                                                 Executive Brief                                                                           7
Geophysical Software Solutions                                                                                      .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   42
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Geosensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                               .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   42
                                                                                                                                                                 Branch News                                                                               9
Geosensor Wireline . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   42
                                                                                                                                                                 National Calendar: technical meetings, courses and events                                11
Groundwater Imaging . . . . . .                                                                                     .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   42
Minty Geophysics . . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   42       News
Mira Geoscience . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   43       Conferences and Events                                                                   13
Systems Exploration. . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   43       • The opening of the new South Australian Drill Core Reference Library                   13
TechnoImaging. . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   37       • Drones in geophysics and geoDRONEology at SAGEEP 2016                                  14
Tensor Research . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   30, 43
                                                                                                                                                                 • Geophysics for the Mineral Exploration Geoscientist: Report
Thomson Aviation . . . . . . . . .                                                                                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   3
                                                                                                                                                                     on the Sydney short course                                                           14
Vortex Geophysics . . . . . . . . .                                                                                 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   19
                                                                                                                                                                 • ASEG-PESA-AIG 2016: Update from the Conference Organising Committee                    16
                                                                                                                                                                 • Near Surface Geophysics – Asia Pacific Conference 2017: Update
                                                                                                                                                                     from the organisers                                                                  18
2016 ASEG CORPORATE MEMBERS
                                                                                                                                                                 Geophysics in the Surveys
CORPORATE PLUS MEMBERS                                                                                                                                           • GA: Update on geophysical survey progress                                              20
Velseis Pty Ltd                                                                                                                                                  • MRT: MT surveys in progress                                                            22
                                                                                                                                                                 • GSSA: Update                                                                           23
CORPORATE MEMBERS                                                                                                                                                Canberra Observed
Beach Energy                                                                                                                                                     • Resources Minister Frydenberg sees a bright future for the
Geotech Ltd                                                                                                                                                          resource industries                                                                  24
Papuan Oil Search Limited                                                                                                                                        • CSIRO cuts environmental science                                                       25
Petrosys Pty Ltd
                                                                                                                                                                 Education Matters
Quantec Geoscience Pty Ltd                                                                                                                                       • Bringing real life science into the classroom fosters STEM education                   26
Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd                                                                                                                                    • CAPSTAN – a new initiative in marine geosciences                                       27
Santos Ltd                                                                                                                                                       • A record number of applications to the ASEG Research Foundation                        27
Seismic Asia Pacific Pty Ltd                                                                                                                                     • Student geophysical projects at Curtin University and the
Southern Geoscience Consultants Pty Ltd                                                                                                                              University of WA completed in 2015                                                   27
Terrex Seismic
                                                                                                                                                                 Environmental Geophysics
Wireline Services Group
                                                                                                                                                                 • Interpreting radar data from the Bonar Glacier, New Zealand –
Zonge Engineering
                                                                                                                                                                     where to from here?                                                                  31
                                                                                                                                                                 Seismic Window
                                                                                                                                                                 • Wavelets, sandy beds and spectral decomposition                                        33
                                                                                                                                                                 Webwaves
                                                                                                                                                                 • The Agile approach to web and software development                                     35
                                                                                                                                                                 Data Trends
                                                                                                                                                                 • The 48 hour entrepreneur                                                               37
                                                                                                                                                                 Feature
                                                                                                                                                                 • Lewis Albert Richardson: A pioneer of exploration geophysics in Australia              38
                                                                                                                                                                 Business Directory                                                                       42
                                                                                                                                                                 International Calendar of Events                                                         44

                                                                                                                                                                  Editor                                      ASEG Head Office & Secretariat
FRONT COVER                                                                                                                                                       Lisa Worrall                                Ben Williams
         Australian Society of
                                                                            APRIL 2016 • ISSUE 181
                                                                            ABN 71 000 876 040 ISSN 1443-2471

                                                                                                                Thomas Ostersen, a PhD                            Email: previeweditor@aseg.org.au            The Association Specialists Pty Ltd (TAS)
         Exploration Geophysicists

                                                                                                                                                                  Associate Editors                           Tel: (02) 9431 8622
 PREVIEW                                                                                                        student at the University
                                                                                                                of Tasmania, collecting                           Education: Michael Asten
                                                                                                                                                                  Email: michael.asten@monash.edu
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Email: secretary@aseg.org.au
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Website: www.aseg.org.au
                                                                                                                MT data. Tom’s project is
                                                                                                                co-sponsored by Mineral                           Government: David Denham
                                                                                                                                                                  Email: denham1@iinet.net.au                 Publisher
                                                                                                                Resources Tasmania and is
                                                                                                                                                                  Environmental Geophysics: Mike Hatch        CSIRO Publishing
                                                                                                                described in their report
                                                                                                                                                                  Email: michael.hatch@adelaide.edu.au
                                                                                                                (see Geophysics in the
                                                                                                                                                                  Minerals Geophysics: –                      Production Editor
 NEWS AND COMMENTARY                            FEATURES
                                                                                                                Surveys).
 Canberra Observed: Minister Frydenberg sees
 a bright future
 Education Matters: STEM, CAPSTAN, ASEG RF,
                                                Lew Richardson: A pioneer of exploration
                                                geophysics in Australia                                                                                           Email: –                                    Helen Pavlatos
 Student projects completed in WA in 2015
 Environmental Geophysics: Interpreting radar
 data from the Bonar Glacier
 Seismic Window: Wavelets, sandy beds
                                                                                                                                                                  Petroleum Geophysics: Michael Micenko       Tel: (03) 9545 8472
 and spectral decomposition
 Webwaves: The Agile approach
 Data Trends: The 48 hour entrepreneur                                                                                                                            Email: micenko@bigpond.com                  Email: helen.pavlatos@csiro.au
                                                                                                                                                                  Geophysical Data Management and Analysis:
Preview is available online at                                                                                                                                    Guy Holmes                                  Advertising
www.publish.csiro.au/journals/pv                                                                                                                                  Email: guy.holmes@spectrumdata.com.au       Doug Walters
ISSN: 1443-2471 eISSN: 1836-084X                                                                                                                                  Book Reviews: Ron Hackney                   Tel: (03) 9545 8505
                                                                                                                                                                  Email: ron.hackney@ga.gov.au                Email: doug.walters@csiro.au
PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
Editor’s Desk

                                              experience over qualifications. Lew did      concern to bureaucrats in some
                                              not have many formal qualifications but      institutions and they require that an
                                              he had a wealth of experience. He            ‘independent’ student advisor or mediator
                                              worked in remote areas under what were       accompanies students and their lecturers
                                              difficult, not to say dangerous,             on field trips.
                                              circumstances – as the photographs that
                                              accompany the article attest. The career     Once students graduate their options for
                                              of his son Robert (Bob) Richardson also      gaining that all important experience in
                                              suggests that experience is valued over      the field are currently quite limited. The
                                              formal qualifications in exploration as he   old BMR was once valued by the
                                              rose from being his father’s sidekick to     exploration industry as a training ground
                                              being, currently, the Chair of the Board     but that august institution has dwindled
                                              of Crossland Strategic Minerals Ltd.         into Geoscience Australia and fieldwork,
This issue of Preview is chock full of                                                     particularly fieldwork in remote areas, is
news and commentary. Michael Asten            The old adage that the best geologist is     strictly limited. The state surveys now
(Education Matters) has tracked down          the one who has seen the most rocks          seem to be most active in that regard and
some of the postgraduate students who         might be translated for exploration          I suspect that industry, once it sputters
missed out on the December 2015               geophysicists as the best exploration        back into life, will be mining the state
summary of student projects in                geophysicist is the one who has spent the    surveys for personnel.
geophysics in Australia. Mike Hatch           most time in the field – and who learnt
(Environmental Geophysics) invites            long ago never to go anywhere without a      In the interim there are some amazing
Members to assist with the interpretation     roll of duct tape!                           opportunities out there. Michael Asten
of radar data acquired over a glacier.                                                     (Education Matters) features one of these;
Mick Micenko (Seismic Window)                 Sadly it would seem that the younger         the Collaborative Australian Sea Training
considers wavelets, sandy beds and            members of our profession are missing        Alliance Network (CAPSTAN), which is
spectral decomposition and Ian James          out on field experience. I recently          a sea-based training programme for
(Webwaves) and Guy Holmes (Data               discovered – much to my astonishment         post-graduate students on-board
Trends) challenge our way of doing            – that it is possible to graduate with a     Australia’s principal research vessel, RV
business. We also feature the life of         degree in geology from a number of our       Investigator. Thirty positions are available
Lewis Albert (Lew) Richardson – a             biggest universities with only a week or     and if I was just starting out you would
pioneer of exploration geophysics in          two of experience in the field. It would     have to forcibly restrain me from
Australia.                                    seem that one of the biggest limiting        applying for one of them!
                                              factors in this regard is the cost of
One of the things that struck me as I read    complying with Occupational Health and       Lisa Worrall
through the account of Lew’s life was         Safety considerations. Even the              Preview Editor
that his clients obviously valued             psychological health of students is of       previeweditor@aseg.org.au

    Items donated to the ASEG historic
    instruments collection being moved into
    storage. Photographs of items in this
    collection will occasionally appear in
    Preview.

2    PREVIEW          APRIL 2016
PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Dear Lisa                                    1970 to study for a PhD in that               I will defer to Roger’s research that
                                             department under the supervision of Ken       Thirlaway first introduced the term
I commend Roger Henderson for all            Muirhead, together with eminent               ‘Forensic Seismology’ in 1961. Thirlaway
his research and writings on the history     Australian seismologist John Cleary (of       certainly authored a 1973 publication in
of exploration geophysics in Australia;      the Research School of Earth Sciences).       the Quarterly Journal of the Royal
very much appreciated by those of us         My project was to develop an automatic        Astronomical Society titled ‘Forensic
approaching 50 years of membership           processing system for processing the          Seismology’ (Vol. 14, 297–310). I had
of the ASEG! I particularly enjoyed          Warramunga array data. When I                 my own flirtation with semasiology (sic)
Roger’s piece (Preview February 2016)        completed my project early in 1974, I         when in 1977 Cleary and I submitted a
on Hal Thirlaway, the first lecturer in      was pleased to discover that Hal              letter to Nature titled ‘Seismological
Exploration Geophysics at the                Thirlaway was one of my two external          Solitaire’; sadly the letter never saw the
University of Sydney and in                  examiners (the other being the                presses.
Australia.                                   outstanding Norwegian seismologist
                                                                                           Following my PhD I went on to work on
The work by Thirlaway and his group led      Eystein Husebye). The examination was
                                                                                           forensic seismology at the large aperture
to the installation in the late 1960s of a   conducted at Blacknest, home of the
                                                                                           seismic array NORSAR, near
UKAEA-style 22 km aperture seismic           AWRE’s seismological unit, a fine old
                                                                                           Lillehammer in Norway, before returning
array at Warramunga, near Tennant            country house near the main UKAEA
                                                                                           to a research position in the Department
Creek in the Northern Territory. The         facility at Aldermaston. After my
                                                                                           of Geology and Geophysics at the
array was installed and operated under       (mercifully brief) oral examination was
                                                                                           University of Sydney in 1976. Australia
the direction of Professor Gordon            completed, Thirlaway invited Husebye
                                                                                           has still not got rid of me yet!
Newstead and Dr Ken Muirhead of the          and I to join him at the nearby pub ‘The
ANU’s Department of Engineering              Pineapple’ for a few refreshing beers. He     David King
Physics. I came to Australia early in        was a gentleman indeed!                       DK@kingseis.com.au

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                                                                                                       APRIL 2016     PREVIEW         3
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President’s Piece
                                                                                                                        ASEG News

Life full of surprises, Branch visits, volunteers needed for the Federal
Executive, geology vs geophysics

                                              next year’ (an epithet for the industry of    leave – but not before one last combined
                                              late?!).                                      International/Publications task, which is
                                                                                            to further expand Exploration Geophysics.
                                              As President I also undertook (personally)
                                              to visit as many Branches as I could, to      Recently my attention was caught by an
                                              meet the local Branch Executives and          article in the Weekend Australian
                                              Members. One of the reasons the ASEG          Magazine (12–13 March) on the Nobel
                                              is in a healthy financial position is that    laureate; Professor Brian Schmidt,
                                              many trips by FedEx Members are               becoming the next vice-chancellor of
                                              underwritten by the companies for whom        ANU. My interest was piqued not just
                                              the Members work, and this is a policy        because ANU is my alma mater, but
                                              that I support. First, in September, I        because I have met Brian. We were
                                              visited the WA Branch and later, in           getting name tags at a meeting and he
                                              October, I went to Adelaide. The              noticed that we had the same surname.
              Phil Schmidt
                                              Adelaide trip was for a face-to-face          Being the gregarious person he is, we
                                              FedEx meeting, not a Branch meeting,          ended up having a conversation about
                                              but I did get to meet some SA Members         how CSIRO and the universities were
When I agreed to stand for the role of
                                              for drinks afterwards. Last month I           about to lose even more funding, despite
President for 2015/16, close to three years
                                              visited the ACT and Victoria Branches,        protestations to the contrary in the
ago, I had no idea what the future held.
                                              before finally making it to Queensland at     lead-up to the last Federal election. I
The industry was going gang-busters,
                                              the beginning of March. All these visits      sincerely hope he can make a difference
I was entrenched as a post-retirement
                                              were thoroughly enjoyable and my              at ANU, and that other universities take
fellow at CSIRO and an adjunct professor
                                              company was happy to cover the costs          his lead, but the article did emphasise that
at Macquarie University and I had a flow
                                              despite the downturn in the industry          despite Brian’s personal generosity
of contracts and research papers to write
                                              (keeping me off the streets). Thanks to all   university funding is what it is and unless
that was going to keep me off the streets,
                                              involved, it was a privilege. I am sorry      he can learn to say ‘no’ straitened times
but then it started to unravel. While my
                                              my time and resources did not extend to       will continue. Many universities use the
CSIRO and Mac Uni relationships held
                                              NT and Tasmania, although I was in            previous year’s student intake to allocate
together, contracts dried up and,
                                              Tassie and visited UTAS to flog my            departmental funds. Without intervention
dangerously, I was ‘on the street’ with
                                              Qmeter at the end of 2014.                    at the vice-chancellor level this practice
time to kill. Then my wife began
                                                                                            does not bode well for the earth sciences
browsing certain websites, sniffing out       The next few months will see several          in coming years. In the same article Brian
opportunities to move closer to her           long-term Members of the FedEx step           is quoted as saying that he introduces
Queensland roots, and so it came to pass.     down. While I have another 12 months          himself as an astronomer if he is on for a
Remarkably swiftly I was led, somewhat        on the FedEx, as the Immediate Past-          chat, but as an astrophysicist if he wants
dumbfounded, to become a guava farmer         President, after my Presidency expires at     to be left alone. This reminded me of
just south of Newrybar, inland from           the AGM next month, some Members are          the times I say I’m a geologist versus
Byron Bay on the north coast of NSW.          reaching the point where other calls on       the times that I admit to being a
Newrybar is a delightful village close to     their time are more pressing. We              geophysicist – and wait for the inevitable
Bangalow, where one can drop into a           desperately need a Publications Chair, a      questions about what geophysicists do. It
cafe and find the likes of Kerry O’Brien,     role that Greg Street and I have been         is worse in the USA where being a
aka Red Kez, enjoying the local coffee.       sharing for the past year. The other key      geophysicist is usually taken to mean that
Apart from my wife, my first CSIRO            positions are pretty much covered for the     you are a seismologist and you have two
Chief, Ken McCracken, is also                 short term, but in another 12 months the      levels of explaining to do, after which
blameworthy. He inculcated in everyone        FedEx could be in dire straits unless we      you resolve that in future you will only
he could influence the idea that they         have an influx of new talent. Both the        confess to being a geologist or a guava
should change their career direction at       Honorary Treasurer, Theo Aravanis, and        farmer!
least once in their life. Ken was always      the Honorary Secretary, Barry
right – especially in his analysis of how     Drummond, will step down at the AGM,          Phil Schmidt
the last year went, ‘it was average, not as   and the irrepressible International Chair,    ASEG President
good as the previous year but better than     Koya Suto, has signalled his intentions to    president@aseg.org.au

4    PREVIEW        APRIL 2016
PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
New Members
ASEG News

Welcome to new Members

The ASEG extends a warm welcome to 31 new Members approved by the Federal Executive at its February and March meetings
(see table).

 First name   Last name                Organisation                                             State        Country       Membership type
 Sabry        Abdallah                 Hokkaido University                                                   Japan         Active
 Abid         Ali                      Kangwon National University                                           South Korea   Student
 Tim          Archer                   Reid Geophysics                                                       UK            Active
 Roman        Beloborodov              Curtin University                                        WA           Australia     Student
 Jack         Chanmala                 Rio Tinto                                                WA           Australia     Active
 Thomas       Davies                   Curtin University                                        WA           Australia     Student
 Steve        de Boer                  Gap Geophysics Australia Pty Limited                     QLD          Australia     Active
 Julia        Dos Santos Maia Correa   Curtin University                                        WA           Australia     Student
 Tom          Emelyanenko              Griffith University                                      QLD          Australia     Student
 Jonathan     Fitzgerald               Total Scan & Survey                                      WA           Australia     Corporate
 Jeremy       Fitzpatrick              Woodside                                                 WA           Australia     Active
 Elizabeth    Grange                   The University of Melbourne                              VIC          Australia     Student
 Aaron        Heugh                    University of Adelaide                                   SA           Australia     Student
 Afzal        Iqbal                    The University of Western Australia                      WA           Australia     Student
 Wenping      Jiang                    Geoscience Australia                                     ACT          Australia     Active
 Harrison     Jones                    Macquarie University                                     NSW          Australia     Student
 Dorte        Macrae                   Self employed                                            VIC          Australia     Active
 Mahyar       Madadi                   Curtin University (lecturer)                             WA           Australia     Associate
 Andrew       Mc Pherson               Geoscience Australia                                     ACT          Australia     Active
 Nazanin      Nourifard                Curtin University                                        WA           Australia     Student
 Jason        Nycz                     Hellas 470                                               ALB          Canada        Active
 Siddharth    Pandey                   UNSW Canberra, Space Department                          ACT          Australia     Student
 Declan       Radford                  University of Tasmania                                   TAS          Australia     Student
 Monica       Rasmussen                Ikon Science                                             SA           Australia     Associate
 Xiuyan       Ren                      Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University       VIC          Australia     Student
 Hamish       Stein                    University Of Melbourne                                  VIC          Australia     Student
 Bheni        Supriyanto               Lampung University                                       Supriyanto   Indonesia     Student
 Lisa         Tannock                  University of NSW                                        NSW          Australia     Student
 Tayallen     Velayatham               University of Adelaide                                   Selangor     Malaysia      Student
 Yu           Wu                       Institute Of Geology And Geophysics Chinese Academy Of                China         Student
                                       Sciences
 Sabin        Zahirovic                University of Sydney                                     NSW          Australia     Active

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                                                                                                             APRIL 2016     PREVIEW          5
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ASEG Officeholders
                                                                                                                                              ASEG News

    ASEG Federal Executive 2014–15
    Phil Schmidt: President (Honours and Awards Committee)                        Kim Frankcombe: Past President (AGC Representative, Conference
    Tel: 0410 456 495                                                             Advisory Committee and Technical Standards Committee)
    Email: president@aseg.org.au                                                  Tel: (08) 6201 7719
                                                                                  Email: kfrankcombe@iinet.net.au
    Katherine McKenna: President Elect (Membership Committee Chair)
    Tel: (08) 9477 5111                                                           Wendy Watkins (Education Committee Chair)
    Email: membership@aseg.org.au                                                 Tel: (02) 9921 2010
                                                                                  Email: continuingeducation@aseg.org.au
    Barry Drummond: Secretary
    Tel: (02) 6254 7680                                                           Tania Dhu (State Branch Representative, Specialist and Working Groups
    Email: fedsec@aseg.org.au                                                     Liaison)
                                                                                  Tel: 0422 091 025
    Theo Aravanis: Treasurer (Finance Committee Chair)                            Email: branch-rep@aseg.org.au
    Tel: (03) 9242 3327
                                                                                  David Annetts (Web Committee Chair)
    Email: treasurer@aseg.org.au
                                                                                  Tel: (08) 6436 8517
    Greg Street: Past President (Publications and History Committees)             Email: david.annetts@csiro.au
    Tel: (08) 9388 2839                                                           Marina Costelloe
    Email: pastpresident@aseg.org.au                                              Tel: (02) 6249 9347
    Koya Suto: Vice President (International Affairs Committee Chair,             Email: marina.costelloe@ga.gov.au
    Research Foundation)                                                          Danny Burns
    Tel: (07) 3876 3848                                                           Tel: (08) 8338 2833
    Email: vicepresident@aseg.org.au                                              Email: danny.burns@beachenergy.com.au

    Standing Committee Chairs
    Finance Committee Chair: Theo Aravanis               Honours and Awards Committee Chair:                International Affairs Committee Chair:
    Tel: (03) 9242 3327                                  Andrew Mutton                                      Koya Suto
    Email: treasurer@aseg.org.au                         Tel: (07) 3278 5733                                Tel: (07) 3876 3848
                                                         Email: awards@aseg.org.au                          Email: vicepresident@aseg.org.au
    Membership Committee Chair:
    Katherine McKenna                                    Publications Committee Chair: –                    Education Committee Chair: Wendy Watkins
    Tel: (08) 9477 5111                                  Tel: –                                             Tel: (02) 9921 2010
    Email: membership@aseg.org.au                        Email: publications@aseg.org.au                    Email: continuingeducation@aseg.org.au
    State Branch Representative: Tania Dhu               Technical Standards Committee Chair:               Web Committee Chair: David Annetts
    Tel: 0422 091 025                                    Tim Keeping                                        Tel: (08) 6436 8517
    Email: branch-rep@aseg.org.au                        Tel: (08) 8226 2376                                Email: david.annetts@csiro.au
                                                         Email: technical-standards@aseg.org.au
    Conference Advisory Committee Chair:                                                                    Research Foundation Chair: Philip Harman
    Michael Hatch                                        ASEG History Committee Chair:                      Tel: 0409 709 125
    Email: cac@aseg.org.au                               Roger Henderson                                    Email: research-foundation@aseg.org.au
                                                         Tel: 0408 284 580                                  Research Foundation – Donations: Peter Priest
                                                         Email: history@aseg.org.au                         Email: pwpriest@senet.com.au

    Specialist Groups
    Near Surface Geophysics Specialist Group                                      Early Career Geophysicists Specialist Group
    President: Greg Street                                                        President: Millie Crowe
    Tel: (08) 9388 2839                                                           Tel: (02) 6249 9846
    Email: gstreet@iinet.net.au                                                   Email: Millicent.Crowe@ga.gov.au

    ASEG Branches
    Australian Capital Territory                         South Australia & Northern Territory               Victoria
    President: Ned Stolz                                 President: Joshua Sage                             President: Seda Rouxel
    Tel: (02) 6144 4560                                  Tel: 0438 705 941                                  Tel: 0452 541 575
    Email: actpresident@aseg.org.au                      Email: sa-ntpresident@aseg.org.au                  Email: vicpresident@aseg.org.au
    Secretary: James Goodwin and Adam Kroll              Secretary: Michael Dello                           Secretary: Dorte Macrae
    Tel: (02) 6249 9705; (02) 6283 4800                  Tel: –                                             Tel: 0499 978 490
    Email: actsecretary@aseg.org.au                      Email: sa-ntsecretary@aseg.org.au                  Email: vicsecretary@aseg.org.au
                                                         NT Representative: Tania Dhu
    New South Wales                                                                                         Western Australia
                                                         Tel: 0422 091 025
    President: Mark Lackie                               Email: nt-rep@aseg.org.au                          President: Kathlene Oliver
    Tel: (02) 9850 8377                                                                                     Tel: 0411 046 104
    Email: nswpresident@aseg.org.au                      Tasmania                                           Email: wapresident@aseg.org.au
    Secretary: Sherwyn Lye                               President: Mark Duffett                            Secretary: David Farquhar-Smith
    Tel: (02) 8960 8417                                  Tel: (03) 6165 4720                                Tel: 0409 840 503
    Email: nswsecretary@aseg.org.au                      Email: taspresident@aseg.org.au                    Email: wasecretary@aseg.org.au
                                                         Secretary: Anya Reading
    Queensland                                                                                              The ASEG Secretariat
                                                         Tel: (03) 6226 2477
    President: Fiona Duncan                              Email: tassecretary@aseg.org.au                    Ben Williams
    Tel: (07) 3042 7502                                                                                     The Association Specialists Pty Ltd (TAS)
    Email: qldpresident@aseg.org.au                                                                         PO Box 576, Crows Nest, NSW 1585
    Secretary: Megan Nightingale                                                                            Tel: (02) 9431 8622
    Tel: (07) 3839 3490                                                                                     Fax: (02) 9431 8677
    Email: qldsecretary@aseg.org.au                                                                         Email: secretary@aseg.org.au

6       PREVIEW          APRIL 2016
PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
Executive Brief
ASEG News

Executive Brief

Since the last issue of Preview in            renewing. Those who have not renewed          programme. Negotiations continue
February, the Federal Executive has met       will soon receive individual follow up        principally with SEG, as the other major
twice, on 18 February and 17 March. The       emails reminding them to renew.               society jointly hosting the meeting, over
following is a brief summary of key                                                         the split of the other responsibilities.
issues discussed by the Federal Executive.    Membership numbers always increase
                                              during the year as old Members renew
                                              and new Members join. Figure 1                Education Programme
Society finances                              illustrates this point:
                                                                                            Details of the courses being offered under
The last issue of Executive Brief noted       WA remains the largest Branch, while          our Education programme are given
that the Society ended 2015 in a sound        our cohort of international Members is        elsewhere in this issue of Preview. At the
financial position. The accounts for 2015     larger than any Branch other than WA.         March meeting the Federal Executive had
have been audited and the audit report        Figure 2 illustrates the evolution of         quite a discussion about geophysics
has just been delivered. At the end of        Branch numbers over the last 4 years.         courses that was triggered by a request
2015 the Society had net equity of            The blue bars for 2016 are likely to get      for financial support, firstly to provide
$1 291 774. At the end of February, two       higher as the year progresses.                geophysics courses in Myanmar, and
months into the new financial year, which                                                   secondly for advice on how to establish
                                              The Membership Directory is developed
for the Society matches the calendar year,                                                  geophysics education and practice in
                                              from our database of financial Members,
the net assets were $1 370 308.04, mostly                                                   Myanmar. Although the need was clear
                                              so Members who did not renew their
reflecting membership renewals while                                                        and the cause was considered worthy, the
                                              membership and pay their membership
branch activities were still ramping up for                                                 proposal did not receive funding at this
                                              dues by the end of March should note
the new year. All Branches now have                                                         stage. In part this was because the initial
                                              that they will not be listed in the 2016
positive bank balances after the allocation                                                 proposal needed more development, but,
                                              Membership Directory as a consequence.
of capitation fees due to a decision by the                                                 of greater concern, was that this was one
Federal Executive in late 2015 to forgive                                                   of a number of requests of this nature
a long term deficit in the WA accounts.       Conferences                                   that the Society has received. Undertaking
Branches should therefore be able to offer                                                  this course could set a precedent for a
their Members a healthy technical             Planning is well underway for our 2016        whole programme of activities that might
programme in 2016.                            Conference and Technical Exhibition to        unbalance our overall education
                                              be held in Adelaide. The meeting is being     programme and potentially bring our tax
                                              held jointly with the Petroleum               free status into question, not necessarily
Membership                                    Exploration Society of Australia (PESA)       because of any financial gain but because
                                              and the Australian Institute of               our not-for-profit status is dependent on
Membership renewals were sent out at
                                              Geoscientists (AIG). We have held a           having the majority of our Members’
the end of 2015. At the time of the
                                              number of meetings with PESA but this         funds spent within Australia. The matter
March Federal Executive meeting, 913 or
                                              is our first meeting jointly with the AIG.    was referred to our Education Committee
76% of our 2015 Members had renewed
                                              AIG have confirmed that they will also        for across-the-board advice and policy
and 288 had not; this compares with a
                                              be joining us and PESA to run the 2018        development to provide a context in
figure at the same time last year of 62%
                                              meeting in Sydney.                            which we can assess our response to this
who had renewed. Why some Members
have not renewed at this time is not                                                        and future requests.
                                              Planning for the Asia-Pacific Near
known. Some may not have renewed              Surface 2017 meeting in Cairns is
because of the state of the exploration       underway. A team led by ASEG                  Research Foundation
industry, but others may simply be late in    Members is putting together the technical
                                                                                            The ASEG Research Foundation has
                                                                                            advised the Society that it has received

Figure 1. ASEG 2015/2016 Membership.                               Figure 2. ASEG Membership by State 2016.

                                                                                                          APRIL 2016   PREVIEW          7
PREVIEW - CSIRO Publishing
Executive Brief
                                                                                                                         ASEG News
17 grant proposals in the 2016 round. The     consider making a donation to the               studying or considering a career in
assessment of the applications is             Research Foundation by logging into             geophysics. A detailed schedule of
underway and should be completed by           https://aseg.org.au/research-foundation or      presentations is yet to be confirmed.
the end of April. The outcome will be         by using the donation facility provided         Koya joined the ASEG in 1975. He has
announced by the Research Foundation          next time they renew their Society              served the Society in a number of
subsequently. The ASEG Research               membership.                                     capacities, including as a long term
Foundation was established in 1989 and                                                        member of the Federal Executive and
remains largely funded by the ASEG but        Honour for Koya Suto                            as editor of the Membership Directory.
it operates independently of the ASEG as                                                      He was made an Honorary Member in
a condition of it tax free status as a        Koya has been honoured with his                 2010 and was Society President in
research foundation. Given the growing        selection by the Society of Exploration         2013.
number of applications each year, the         Geophysicists as their Pacific South
limited funds available, and the value that   Honorary Lecturer 2017. He will be              Barry Drummond
grass roots research provides to the          giving lectures in the region in the first      Honorary Secretary
science of our profession, Members might      half of 2017 that will focus on students        fedsec@aseg.org.au

Final call to nominate a colleague for an ASEG Honour or Award for 2016

    NOMINATIONS CLOSING 8 JUNE 2016
                                              • ASEG Gold Medal – For exceptional             Sands awards. Under exceptional
                                                and highly significant distinguished          circumstances, the other awards may be
                                                contributions to the science and practice     offered to a non-member of the ASEG
                                                of geophysics, resulting in wide              who has given appropriate service to the
                                                recognition within the geoscientific          ASEG or to the profession of geoscience,
                                                community.                                    and who has been duly nominated by the
                                              • Honorary Membership – For                     Federal Executive.
                                                distinguished contributions by a
                                                Member to the profession of
                                                exploration geophysics and to the             Nomination procedure
                                                ASEG over many years.
                                              • Grahame Sands Award – For                     Any Member of the Society may submit
                                                innovation in applied geophysics              nominations for an award. These
                                                through a significant practical               nominations are to be supported by a
                                                development in the field of                   seconder, and in the case of the Lindsay
                                                instrumentation, data acquisition,            Ingall Memorial Award by at least four
                                                interpretation or theory.                     geoscientists who are Members of an
                                              • Lindsay Ingall Memorial Award –               Australian geoscience body (e.g. ASEG,
                                                For the promotion of geophysics to the        GSA, AusIMM, AIG, PESA, or similar).
                                                wider community.                              Details of all award criteria and
                                              • Early Achievement Award – For                 nomination guidelines can be found on
                                                significant contributions to the profession   the ASEG website at: https://aseg.org.au/
The ASEG acknowledges the outstanding           by a Member under 36 years of age.            honours-and-awards. Proforma
contributions of its individual Members         Prior to 2016, the award was determined       nomination forms are available from the
both to the profession of geophysics and        solely on publications in Exploration         website or by contacting the Committee
to the ASEG, through the presentation of        Geophysics or similar reputable journals      Chair directly. Nominations including
the Society’s Honours and Awards across         by the nominee, but has now been              digital copies of all relevant supporting
a range of categories. The next Awards          expanded to include overall contributions     documentation are to be sent
are scheduled to be presented at ASEG-          to geophysics, ASEG Branch activities,        electronically to:
PESA 2016: 25th Geophysical                     Committees, or events.
Conference & Exhibition, 21–24 August         • ASEG Service Awards – For                     Nominations close Wednesday 8 June
2016 – Adelaide, South Australia.               distinguished service by a Member to          2016.
                                                the ASEG.
All ASEG Members, as well as State and                                                        Andrew Mutton
Federal executives, are invited to            ASEG Members are eligible for all award         ASEG Honours and Awards Committee
nominate those they consider deserving of     categories. Non-members also are eligible       Chair
these awards. The available awards are:       for the Lindsay Ingall and Grahame              awards@aseg.org.au

8     PREVIEW       APRIL 2016
Branch News
ASEG News

ASEG Branch news

South Australia & Northern Territory        Tasmania                                      at the Kelvin Club, accompanied by
                                                                                          drinks and nibbles.
The SA/NT Branch had a relatively           An invitation to attend Tasmanian
relaxed start to 2016 with only one event   Branch meetings is extended to all            Seda Rouxel
since taking a break after the Christmas    ASEG Members and interested parties.          (Victorian Branch President)
Party and Honours Student night that        Meetings are usually held in the CODES
rounded off 2015. We started the year       Conference Room, University of
with our AGM, where a new Committee         Tasmania, Hobart. Meeting notices,            Western Australia
was voted in to take the lead for 2016.     details about venues and relevant
                                                                                          The WA Branch commenced the year
Josh Sage will stay on as President,        contact details can be found on the
                                                                                          with a technical evening on February 10
Adam Davey will remain Treasurer for        Tasmanian Branch page on the ASEG
                                                                                          when Todd Mojesky presented a talk
another year, and the majority of last      website.
                                                                                          titled ‘A NWS 4D Time-lapse Case
year’s general Members have agreed to
                                            Interested Members and other parties          Study: Mixing Broadband and
continue as well as a few newcomers.
                                            should also keep an eye on the seminar        Conventional Streamer Data’. The talk
Thanks to all the people who have
                                            program of the University of Tasmania’s       was based on a paper co-authored with
volunteered to help out in 2016.
                                            School of Earth Sciences, which regularly     Fong Cheen Loh of CGG and Paul
Following our AGM we were joined by         delivers presentations of geophysical as      Bouloudas of Quadrant Energy Pty Ltd
Dr Stephan Thiel from the Geological        well as general earth science interest.       and titled ‘Full shot and receiver de-
Survey of South Australia, who              Contact Mark Duffett taspresident@aseg.       ghosting for Broadband and Conventional
presented results from some of his recent   org.au for further details.                   streamer 4D studies: How close can we
work. His excellent talk, entitled                                                        get?’
‘Magnetotellurics across scales: an         Mark Duffett
                                            (Tasmanian Branch President)                  A workshop for the oil and gas sector is
informed approach to mineral
                                                                                          scheduled for 15 March on the topic of
exploration,’ was very well received by a
                                                                                          ‘Rock physics and geomechanics of
very diverse audience. The update on the    Victoria                                      fluid-induced seismicity: hydraulic
progress of AusLAMP (The Australian
                                                                                          fracturing, stimulation of geothermal
Lithospheric Architecture                   The ASEG Victoria Branch started the
                                                                                          systems and hazard assessment’. The
Magnetotelluric Project) over the           year with our traditional ‘Joint ASEG/
                                                                                          course will be presented by Dr Serge A.
prospective edges of the Gawler Craton      PESA/SPE ‘Mid-Summer Social’ held on
                                                                                          Shapiro.
in South Australia was not only             Wednesday 10 February at the Henry and
fascinating in its scope and endeavour      Fox. The event was well attended and          On 18 March a technical session will be
but also thought provoking with a lively    gave Members the opportunity for some         delivered by Joe Dellinger, the SEG
Q&A session following.                      networking and catching up with familiar      Distinguished Lecturer, entitled ‘Forensic
                                            faces while enjoying a cold drink and a       data processing – revealing your data’s
Our technical meetings are made possible    bit of food.                                  hidden stories’.
by our very generous group of sponsors,
which in 2015 included Beach Energy,        On 18 February we had the pleasure of         The first event for April is on 13 April
the Department of State Development,        hosting a technical meeting with Dr Phil      when a technical session will be
Geokinetics, Minotaur Exploration,          Schmidt, owner of Magnetic Earth and          combined with the FEDEX AGM. The
Petrosys, Santos, Schlumberger, Borehole    the outgoing ASEG president, presenting       talk scheduled for this evening will be
Wireline and Zonge. We will be in touch     ‘Magnetic Exploration Projects in             presented by Mark Baigent on
shortly hoping they will return in 2016.    CSIRO from 1978 to Now’. This                 ‘Horizon Mapping and Fault detection
Of course, if you or your company are       interesting presentation was followed by      using Airborne Gravity Gradiometer
not in that list and would like to offer    quite a few questions and some                and magnetic data – Canning Basin
your support, please get in touch at the    comments on the evolution of HSE              Study’.
email below.                                regulations.
                                                                                          Prue Leeming
As usual, further technical meetings will   The technical meeting was preceded by         (WA Branch Preview correspondent)
be held monthly, at the Coopers Alehouse    the Victorian Branch AGM, where the
on Hurtle Square in the early evening.      Branch Committee was renewed. I would
We invite all Members, both SA/NT and       like to take this opportunity to give         Australian Capital Territory
interstate to attend, and, of course, any   Asbjorn Christensen, who stepped down
new Members or interested persons are       this year, a big thank you for all his hard   The ACT Branch kicked off 2016 with
also very welcome to join us. For any       work and dedication as President of the       the announcement of the ACT Branch
further information or event details,       ASEG Victoria Branch for the past seven       Travel Scholarship. This year’s recipient
please check the ASEG website under         years.                                        is Manon Dalaison, an honours student
SA/NT Branch events and please do not                                                     at the Australian National University. She
hesitate to get in touch at joshua.sage@    Our next technical meeting will be on 27      will be using her grant to attend the 2016
beachenergy.com.au or on 8338 2833.         April from 6 pm, with a presentation by       ASEG Conference. Keep an eye out for
                                            Peter Betts about ‘Structural Geophysics:     her poster. The ACT Branch Student
Josh Sage                                   Geological principles applied to              scholarship is still open and will close on
(SA/NT Branch President)                    geophysical data’. It will be held as usual   15 April.

                                                                                                      APRIL 2016     PREVIEW         9
Branch News
                                                                                                                             ASEG News
The ACT Branch had the honour of                   By the time this edition of Preview goes       enjoyed by all with much discussion
hosting the outgoing ASEG President                to press, we will have hosted the ASEG         ensuing.
Phil Schmidt in February. Phil spoke               One Day short course: Rock physics and
about ‘Magnetic Exploration Projects in            geomechanics of fluid-induced seismicity:      An invitation to attend NSW Branch
CSIRO 1978 to now’. About 20 ASEG                  hydraulic fracturing, stimulation of           meetings is extended to interstate and
Members attended the talk and a lucky              geothermal systems and hazard                  international visitors who happen to be in
few had Phil’s company over dinner                 assessment by Dr Serge Shapiro with            town at the time. Meetings are generally
where many good old time stories were              attendance expected to hit 20.                 held on the third Wednesday of each
shared. We thank Phil for taking time out                                                         month from 5:30 pm at the Rugby Club
of his busy schedule to travel to Canberra         We will have also had our AGM with a           in the Sydney CBD. Meeting notices,
to remind us of the importance of                  talk on the collaborative greenfields          addresses and relevant contact details can
magnetic exploration.                              pre-drilling geophysics program in the         be found on the NSW Branch website.
                                                   Southern Thomson presented by James
                                                   Goodwin.                                       Mark Lackie
                                                                                                  (NSW Branch President)
                                                   Marina Costelloe
                                                   (Outgoing ACT Branch President)
                                                                                                  Queensland
                                                                                                  The Queensland Branch held its first
                                                   New South Wales                                Branch meeting for the year on February
                                                   In February Mike Dentith from the              16. Mal Cattach, the Chief Geophysicist
                                                   University of Western Australia gave a         for the Gap Geo Group of companies
                                                   two day workshop entitled ‘Geophysics          based in Brisbane, talked on ‘Sub-Audio
                                                   for the Mineral Exploration Geoscientist’      Magnetics’; a proprietary rapid
                                                   based on the 2014 textbook of the same         acquisition geophysical method which
                                                   name. This was a joint initiative with the     provides high spatial definition and/or
                                                   GSA and AIG, with close to 30 attendees        deep penetration data related to both the
                                                   gaining a good solid introduction to           electrical and magnetic properties of the
                                                   geophysics (please refer to the larger         earth. It was a very interesting talk with
                                                   article in this issue). Mike then fronted up   some great examples shown, in particular
Phil Schmidt speaking to the ACT Branch in                                                        the results of a HeliSAM FLEM trial
February.
                                                   for our monthly meeting and gave a
                                                   presentation on ‘Assessing terrain-scale       over the Lalor VMS Deposit in Manitoba,
March saw significant innovative                   prospectivity using geophysical data:          Canada.
modifications to Geoscience Australia’s            lessons learned in Western Australia.’         At another minerals focused talk in
National Magnetic Calibration Facility at          Mike took us through various ways that         March, the outgoing ASEG President Dr
the Canberra Observatory by expert staff           prospectivity can be assessed using            Phil Schmidt spoke about ‘Magnetic
– some of who are ASEG Members.                    geophysical data. Mike’s talk was              Exploration in the CSIRO from 1978 to
                                                                                                  now’. It was another very informative
                                                                                                  talk that highlighted the invaluable
                                                                                                  contribution made to the scientific
                                                                                                  community by CSIRO scientists like Phil
                                                                                                  over the past 40 years.
                                                                                                  April’s meeting, to be held on 5 April,
                                                                                                  will also be the QLD AGM. Our very
                                                                                                  own Qld Branch Treasurer Mr Henk van
                                                                                                  Paridon will be presenting a talk entitled
                                                                                                  ‘Coal Seismic is Not Easy’. An invitation
                                                                                                  to attend Queensland’s Branch meetings
                                                                                                  is extended to all ASEG Members and
                                                                                                  interested parties.
                                                                                                  Details of upcoming events will be posted
                                                                                                  to the ASEG website.
                                                                                                  Megan Nightingale
                                                                                                  (QLD Branch Secretary)

Andrew Lewis, Bill Jones, Peter Crosthwaite, Marina Costelloe and Patrick Burke at Geoscience
Australia’s National Magnetic Calibration Facility.

10     PREVIEW          APRIL 2016
ASEG calendar
ASEG News
ASEG calendar: technical meetings, courses and events

 Date        Branch      Event                                                          Presenter           Time        Venue
 2016
 13 Apr      WA          2016 ASEG AGM and technical presentation on                    Various including   1730–2000   Minespace, 1292 Hay Street, West Perth
                         Horizon mapping and fault detection using Airborne             technical
                         Gravity Gradiometer and magnetic data in the                   presenter Mark
                         Canning Basin                                                  Baigent
 19 Apr      SA          Technical evening: Coal Seismic is Not Easy                    Henk van            1730        Coopers Alehouse, 316 Pulteney Street,
                                                                                        Paridon                         Adelaide
 27 Apr      VIC         Technical evening: Structural Geophysics: Geological           Peter Betts         1800        The Kelvin Club, 14–30 Melbourne Place
                         principles applied to geophysical data                                                         (off Russell Street), Melbourne
 28 Apr      SA          Student pizza night with presentations from industry           Various             1800        Sprigg Room, Mawson Laboratories, The
                         professionals on their careers and the opportunities                                           University of Adelaide
                         for geophysicists
 21 Aug      SA          SEG DISC: 3C Seismic and VSP: Converted Waves and              James Gaiser        TBA         TBA
                         Vector Wavefield Applications
 26 Aug      ACT         SEG DISC: 3C Seismic and VSP: Converted Waves and              James Gaiser        TBA         TBA
                         Vector Wavefield Applications
 29 Aug      WA          SEG DISC: 3C Seismic and VSP: Converted Waves and              James Gaiser        TBA         TBA
                         Vector Wavefield Applications
TBA, to be advised (please contact your state Branch Secretary for more information).

   A proton magnetometer sensor ‘bird’
   held in the ASEG historic instruments
   collection. This bird was commonly
   used in airborne magnetic surveys
   during the 1960s and 1970s. Associate
   instrumentation was located in the
   aircraft, which usually flew at 80 to
   100 m with the bird towed on the end
   of a 50–80 m line. Needless to say, the
   occasional bird was lost in trees, on
   the ground or, in at least one case, in
   a communications tower. Sampling of
   the magnetic field using these early
   proton magnetometers was around
   1 second, which translated to 60 to
   70 m along track. The bird position
   was not monitored and could vary
   significantly with wind and turbulence
   resulting in a reduction of data
   quality - something to remember when
   reviewing old magnetic survey data.
   Modern birds carry a caesium vapour
   or Overhauser sensor and the sample
   spacing is 1–5 m.

                                                                                                                                APRIL 2016     PREVIEW           11
See you in
                                                    Barcelona!
                                                             4-8 September 2016

                                         22nd          SECOND                    FIRST
                              EUROPEAN MEETING OF   APPLIED SHALLOW      CONFERENCE ON
                              ENVIRONMENTAL
                              AND ENGINEERING       MARINE               GEOPHYSICS
                                                                         FOR MINERAL
                              GEOPHYSICS            GEOPHYSICS           EXPLORATION
                                                    CONFERENCE           AND MINING

                         NEAR SURFACE GEOSCIENCE
                         CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

www.eage.org/event/environmental-engineering-2016
www.eage.org/event/mineral-exploration-2016                      4-8 September 2016, Barcelona, Spain
www.eage.org/event/shallow-marine-2016
Conferences and Events
News

The opening of the new South Australian Drill Core Reference Library

On 17 February 2016, the Honourable Jay                 conference area,
Weatherill, Premier of South Australia,                 including a board room
opened the new South Australia Drill                    (with a stunning view
Core Reference Library at Tonsley – a                   of the shelving),
short distance from the Adelaide CBD                    another kitchen, and
– in South Australia. The ASEG was                      several more break out
invited to a welcoming ceremony by                      rooms. A balcony looks
Minister Tom Koustantonis and enjoyed                   out over the core
an exclusive tour of the state-of-the-art               viewing area, and
facility.                                               following this around
                                                        leads to the 3D
The building is a prominent feature in the              visualisation room.
Tonsley Precinct. It stands out with
distinctive grey and red cladding. The                  The 3D visualisation
tiles are at an angle giving the impression             room is a classroom-
of a speeding train, but also honouring                 sized room with a large
the idea of a core tray. As we entered the              back-projected 3D
building we found ourselves in a neatly                 projector. As we
furnished foyer area, carpet underfoot,                 entered we were handed
and a sleek desk to the side. It put me in              3D glasses and were
mind of checking into a nice airport                    treated to a 3D view of
lounge or hotel.                                        Olympic Dam –
                                                        drillholes, seismic
Adjacent to the foyer area is a second,                 sections, hyperspectral
larger space where afternoon tea was                    information, landscape
being served. The large Copper sculpture                – all in one rotating
entitled ‘From The Hill’ stood in front of              spectacle.
the northern windowed wall. Through the
doors to the south is the core viewing                  Our tour guide then led
area: a large room with 12 conveyer belts               us out to the vast
– each designed to hold an entire pallets’              library section of the
worth of core.                                          building, by far the
                                                        largest portion of the
Next to this room – and behind the first                building. At 9 metres
foyer area – are the administration                     high, much of the
offices, including a kitchen, a lounge, and             shelves have already
several break-out rooms for computer                    been filled with pallets
work and meetings. Also here is Data                    full of core trays. We’re
Metalogenica: a collection of type                                                        The storage section of the facility will hold more than 7.5 million metres
                                                        told that this Core               of drill core samples (photo courtesy James Knowler: http://www.
sections from ore deposits around the                   Library will consolidate          theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/industries/mining-resources/hitech-drill-
world. Up the stairs (or the lift) leads to a           all the previous state            core-library-seeks-to-unearth-discoveries/

The Tonsley Drill Core Facility as seen from outside (photo courtesy Ursula Michael, GSSA).

                                                                                                                               APRIL 2016       PREVIEW           13
Conferences and Events
                                                                                                                                            News
                                                                                                        and the analysis room where the
                                                                                                        Hylogger™ is operated. The plan is to
                                                                                                        log the core as it arrives at the library
                                                                                                        before shelving it. The information from
                                                                                                        the Hylogger™ feeds directly into the 3D
                                                                                                        visualisation room.
                                                                                                        We were then led back to the afternoon
                                                                                                        tea area and chatted enthusiastically
                                                                                                        with our colleagues. Everyone agreed
                                                                                                        that the new facility is amazing. The
                                                                                                        place is beautifully furnished,
                                                                                                        professional looking, and designed in
                                                                                                        such a way to ensure the core view
                                                                                                        process runs smoothly, efficiently and
                                                                                                        safely. And best of all, viewing core
                                                                                                        will be free-of-charge (although you
                                                                                                        must book). This facility will be a real
                                                                                                        key for future discoveries in South
                                                                                                        Australia.
                                                                                                        The facility has been officially opened;
                                                                                                        however, it won’t open for business until
The drill core viewing area has space to hold 12 pallet-loads of core (photo courtesy Ursula Michael,
GSSA).
                                                                                                        a little later this year. Why not visit the
                                                                                                        facility while you’re in Adelaide for
                                                                                                        ASEG-PESA-AIG 2016?
core facilities (Glenside, Thebarton,                   to extend the building further southwards.
Whyalla, Moonta) into a single building.                We’re told that the area will fit more than     Philip Heath
It’ll still take another few months before              7.5 million metres of drill core sample.        SA/NT ASEG Branch Committee Member
everything is transferred, and even then                                                                Philip.Heath@sa.gov.au
the space won’t be filled. They expect at               We were given a demonstration of the
least 15 more years of core will fit in the             new forklift that can reach 9 metres high,
facility, and after that there will be room             and then went to visit the loading bays

Drones in geophysics and geoDRONEology at SAGEEP 2016

The use of drones for capturing LiDAR,                                                                  course registrants informally presented
hyperspectral, low altitude L-band, tensor                                                              talks about their utilisation of
VLF-EM, magnetic, and photogrammetric                                                                   orthorectified photo-images and digital
data were the topics of the Drones in                                                                   surface models derived from the imagery
Geophysics technical session at the 29th                                                                to create 3D models for analysing
Symposium on the Application of                                                                         formational units known to be oil and gas
Geophysics to Engineering and                                                                           reservoirs at depth, assessing landslides
Environmental Problems (SAGEEP), at                                                                     and other geotechnical hazards, and
the annual meeting of the Environmental                                                                 exploring for, as well as discovering, lode
and Engineering Geophysics Society                                                                      gold deposits. Several manufacturers of
(EEGS) held from 20 March to 24 March                                                                   multi-rotor and fixed wing drones as well
in Denver, CO. Although it is unlikely                                                                  as commercial UAS mission service
that drones will replace pilot-on-board                 Drones in action at SAGEEP 2016.                providers echoed the notion that the
aircraft anytime soon because of the                                                                    selection of a drone for geoscience should
regulatory constraints, the presenters                  The application of drone based                  be based primarily on the data need and
made it clear that it will happen                       photogrammetric methods to map surface          site conditions. It is highly probable that
eventually. Moreover, based on the                      geology was the fundamental theme of            as the utilisation of drones increases,
attendance in the session, it was evident               the one day short course titled                 companies will invest in fleets of drones
that there is an emerging and keen                      geoDRONEology©: integrating drones              and numerous sensors.
interest in the using drones for                        into the geoscientific and engineering
geoscientific mapping of surface as well                workflow. In addition to the material           Ron Bell
as the subsurface geology.                              presented by the course instructors, Ron        Aerobotic Geophysical Systems, LLC
                                                        Bell and Rene Perez, several of the short       rbell@igsdenver.com

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Conferences and Events
News

Geophysics for the Mineral Exploration Geoscientist:
report on the Sydney short course

This is a report on the short course jointly            electrical and electromagnetic methods.             information on the physical properties
sponsored jointly by the NSW Branch                     Lectures were followed by practical                 of rocks.
Committees of the ASEG, GSA and AIG                     exercises using real-world mineral               4. Emphasised extraction of maximum
and held in Sydney, 16–17 February                      exploration datasets. Course participants           geological information from
2016.                                                   were guided through the basic physical              geophysical data, providing
                                                        phenomena, the acquisition and                      explanations of data modelling, and
The short course entitled ‘Geophysics for               processing of geophysical data, the                 common interpretation pitfalls.
the Mineral Exploration Geoscientist’ was               creation of subsurface models and their          5. Provided examples from all the main
presented by Professor Mike Dentith,                    geological interpretation.                          types of mineral deposit around the
Centre for Exploration Targeting, School                                                                    world.
of Earth and Environment, The University                The course:
of Western Australia, and was based on                                                                   The course targeted practising
his 2014 book.                                          1. Explained the cutting-edge current            geoscientists with less than ten years of
                                                           practice in exploration and mining            experience who have had limited
The two day event provided a state-of-                     geophysics for the discovery of ‘blind’       exposure to formal education in the
the-art overview of geophysical                            mineral deposits.                             application of exploration geophysics, as
exploration methods without recourse to                 2. Gave a practical guide to data                well as unemployed/underemployed
complex mathematical descriptions. It                      acquisition, processing, and accurate         geoscientists and postgraduate students.
included descriptions of all the main                      interpretation of geophysical datasets.       The actual breakdown of the 30 attendees
geophysical methods used in mineral                     3. Included presentation and analysis of         was:
exploration; including gravity, magnetic,                  petrophysical data, giving key
                                                                                                         •   Early career (10 years)          7
                                                                                                         The NSW Branches of the AIG, the GSA
                                                                                                         and the ASEG underwrote the costs of
                                                                                                         the presenter’s travel costs, presenter’s
                                                                                                         fee and one copy of the book for each
                                                                                                         participant. There was no industry
                                                                                                         sponsorship of this event. The initial
                                                                                                         budget anticipated a net deficit for each
                                                                                                         participating society of $3267.
                                                                                                         The event income was boosted through
                                                                                                         the attendance by seven full fee paying
                                                                                                         delegates, for a net income of $3748.
                                                                                                         Costs for the event were slightly lower
                                                                                                         than budgeted and totalled $8643,
                                                                                                         resulting in a net deficit of $4895. This
                                                                                                         result meant an event deficit for each
                                                                                                         society of $1632 – a better than expected
                                                                                                         financial outcome!

                                                                                                         Mike Smith
                                                                                                         General Manager Exploration
Participants in the Geophysics for the mineral exploration geoscientist short course held in Sydney in   Austpac Resources, Sydney
February 2016 (the presenter Mike Dentith is standing at centre).                                        mike_rpgeo@optusnet.com.au

                                                                                                                      APRIL 2016    PREVIEW        15
Conferences and Events
                                                                                                                                    News

ASEG-PESA-AIG 2016: update from the Conference Organising Committee

With less than four months to go, most of          The early bird registration deadline has      The organisers have decided that the
the conference details are being finalised.        been extended to 30 April 2016. This will     programme and timetable news and
                                                   give authors the opportunity to register at   updates will be delivered through a mix
The Exhibition Hall is filling up. At the          early bird prices once their papers have      traditional format (pocket programme)
time of writing roughly three quarters of          been accepted. If your paper is accepted      and online through mediums like email,
the booths have been booked, so get in             as part of the conference, you have until     Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. There is
fast if your company is looking for                1 June to register for the conference to      still an opportunity for an App, however
promotion opportunities.                           ensure your place in the conference           this won’t eventuate unless digital content
We’re very pleased to announce that BP             programme.                                    sponsors can be found.
will be a silver sponsor of the conference.        Our team of paper reviewers are               We look forward to seeing you in
Welcome aboard BP!                                 ploughing through around 200 extended         Adelaide in August!
Our bronze sponsors are Austhai                    abstract submissions. By the time of this
                                                   publication the programme will be near        Philip Heath
Geophysical, CSIRO, and Velseis.                                                                 Co-chair Minerals
Borehole Wireline will be the Lanyard              completion.
                                                                                                 philip.heath@sa.gov.au
Sponsor, and we have some Happy Hour               Stay tuned to our social media channels.
sponsors lined up: stay tuned to Preview           Our Twitter and Facebook feeds are            Luke Gardiner
for further announcements. Sponsorship             updated most weekdays with news about         Co-chair Petroleum
opportunities are still available but will         geophysics from around the world, as          luke.gardiner@beachenergy.com.au
close as you read this. Please contact us          well as photos and news from Adelaide
directly and immediately if you’re                 and South Australia. LinkedIn continues
interested.                                        to post updates on important deadlines.

     The Scintrex IPR-8 held in the ASEG
     historic instrument collection. This
     instrument was extensively used
     throughout Australia in the 1970s and
     1980s. It was light, easy to use and fairly
     indestructible. Large areas of the west
     coast of Tasmania were surveyed using
     the IPR-8 by Scintrex using gradient array,
     pole dipole and dipole-dipole arrays
     between 1976 and 1983. However, the
     instrument was not waterproof. The high
     rainfall on the west coast meant that
     a hair dryer was an essential piece of
     equipment for every geophysical survey
     crew. The pictured instrument was one of
     those used in Tasmania on projects such
     as: gold in the Henty Fault Zone; copper
     in the Mount Lyell Field; lead/zinc around
     Zeehan; tin near Mount Heemskirk and
     for base metals around Roseberry and
     Mount Read.

16     PREVIEW           APRIL 2016
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