A 2D look under the surface

With almost 100 years of operation, Mount Isa Mines continues to look for new opportunities with a largescale 2D seismic survey.

Throughout October and early November an extensive 2D seismic survey was carried out across Mount Isa Mines and adjacent exploration permits.

As a business, we continually seek to improve our understanding of our geological environment to ensure we exhaust all opportunities in and around our mining footprint.

Results from the 2D seismic survey will be used to identify whether there are untapped and viable copper and zinc-lead-silver ore resources which could be economically mined and processed in years to come.

Conducted in collaboration with North Queensland Resource Development and Exploration, and in partnership with sector leading service provider HiSeis, the 2D survey was completed over 36 days and covered around 60 line kilometres of measurements.

The techniques involved using a large quantity of geophones, which are ultra-sensitive microphones and controlled vibration sources known as vibe trucks. The geophones pick up the vibrations as they move through the ground and reflect off various geological features such as faults and rock type changes.

Using complex algorithms and extensive computing power, this data can help visualise the geometry of these features, down to far greater depths than any other geophysical technique allows.

Glencore's Senior Geologist – Regional Exploration, Alex Brown, says the survey is aimed at providing information of the geologic framework in which our mine sits, at a resolution and depth that cannot be achieved with other techniques.

"We surveyed a 60 line kilometre area spanning from Mica Creek to Spear Creek, which afforded us good coverage over the mine environment, as well as adjacent exploration permits," Alex says.

"Combined with widespread exploration drilling completed over the last 60 years, the survey will help us improve our knowledge and modelling of important geological features, particularly in areas without many deep drill holes."

"As the survey covered an extensive area, our team had to collaborate with a number of internal and external stakeholders to ensure appropriate hazard identification and guarantee project impacts on the operations were minimal."

The data processing phase takes around two months to complete with results from the 2D survey expected in the New Year. These results will be used to guide future business decisions, including whether a more comprehensive 3D survey is warranted.

3D surveying provides significantly more information than its 2D counterpart, however, it is a more involved, challenging and costly project to execute.