The Leading Edge; June 2003; v. 22; no. 6;
p. 558-561; DOI: 10.1190/1.1587678
© 2003 Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Geophysical developments and mine discoveries in the 20th century
Norman R. Paterson
Paterson, Grant & Watson Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Corresponding author: paterson@georgian.net
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In 1999, Colin Barnett reviewed the progress of geophysical developments in the 20th century. Undeniably, major advances have taken place and are still taking place in parameters measured, accuracy, speed and data volume, display, and analytical software. This leads to the question: "How has all this progress affected the rate and efficiency of discovering ore deposits?"
This subject has been addressed by others. Bob Horn, in a provocative paper in Pathways '98, concluded that although luck has contributed to the discovery of many of the world's important deposits, technology has indeed resulted in greater exploration success and efficiency. After examining the development of geophysical methods over the century, I also conclude that technology has impacted significantly on the pace of mine discoveries. But it is also apparent that the cost of discovering a new mine has increased almost 10-fold since 1975, in spite of improvements in technology. This paper shall attempt to explain, in part, why the rate of mine discoveries has fallen steadily over the past 20 years while exploration activity remains at record levels.
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Geophysical advances and exploration success
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The progression of geophysical developments in the 20th century, as graphically (and subjectively) portrayed in Figure 1, illustrates a shift from new and better methods to an improved use of the data they generate. According to this overview, data analysis, modeling, and integration are the only areas of significant development since 1985, and these have slowed in the past five years. It is my view that geologic input is needed at this stage to focus and exploit these three important fields of study. Most geophysicists agree that we are now collecting data faster (and with greater accuracy) than we can properly absorb it.
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Figure 1. Rate of development of geophysical methods.
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Figure 2 shows dollars spent on exploration annually in Canada, in five year increments, . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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