The Value of Seismics in Mineral Exploration and Mine Safety

Abstract

Summary The word “seismics” in the geoscience community is often used synonymously with “oil and gas”, despite its successes in other applications, for example, in mineral exploration, engineering application, mine planning and safety.Over the past few decades, the method has been developed and successfully used for mineral exploration, mine planning, and safety in “hard rock” metallogenic provinces worldwide (e.g., Australia, Europe, Canada, and South Africa), leading to the discovery of giant minerals and metal deposits.However, despite these successes, the method's capabilities in mining still remains less-known to many geoscientists and some mining companies are still reluctant to use it for “hard rock” exploration and mining.The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the reflection seismic method has been successfully used to explore and discover some of the world's largest mineral and metal deposits that are located deep underground - where exploration drilling is more costly and risky. A wide range of case studies from hard rock environments are covered, for example, from South Africa and Canada.