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Near surface passive seismic surveying for regolith and soft sediment cover thickness mapping, and shallow sedimentary basin mapping, for mineral exploration and mining projects, geotechnical and hydrogeology studies – Workshop

Tuesday 2nd May, 2017

Download the event flyer.

Near-surface passive seismic surveying methods, which survey above 1,000m depth, rely on ambient seismic vibrations within the earth to estimate depth and shear wave velocity of layers sitting above strong acoustic impedance contrasts, mainly the top of fresh bedrock and some layers above. This signal is recorded at single seismometer stations, or by using seismometer arrays, which are moved around in a survey area for subsurface mapping applications. The ambient source energy is mainly in the form of microseisms (0.1-1 Hz) produced by natural phenomena, such as large ocean waves rolling in along the coast, wind pressure and swaying vegetation, deeper micro-seismic events (faulting, volcanic/magmatic, geothermal, etc) and fracking, or in the form of microtremors (1-60 Hz) from near surface anthropogenic sources, such as vehicles, trains, earthworks, etc. Microseismic signal is constant, comes from all directions, and can travel across entire continents. Therefore, it can be detected by passive seismic surveying anywhere without the need for active seismic sources, especially during recording times of 10 minutes or more. The seismometer systems used for carrying out passive seismic surveys are becoming smaller and easier to deploy, software has become user friendly, and data processing results can be turned around within hours after data are collected; all at relatively low cost. Trial surveys by geologists, geophysicists, engineers, hydrologists and people without technical backgrounds are showing robust results in geological settings where there is strong acoustic impedance contrast at depth. This is starting to justify the use of passive seismic surveying for sub-surface mapping to target drilling, constraining geological layering between drill holes, and helping to reduce the amount drilling. For example, passive seismic surveying is beginning to be routinely used for mapping paleochannel geometry and thick-ness by a few explorers of Li and SOP brines, alluvial mineral placers, paleochannel uranium deposits, shallow coal deposits, groundwater supplies, building materials, etc. It is also being used for geotechnical site surveying, quarry studies, earthquake hazard mapping, and other kinds of environmental and engineering applications.

1. Passive seismic surveying background, methods and HVSR case studies
   Jayson Meyers, Resource Potentials
2. Fundamentals of recording seismic data
   Tim Dean (Research Fellow), Musab Al Hasani, Aidan Shem, Curtin University
3. Benchmarking passive seismic estimates of cover-thickness
   Alexei Gorbotov, K. Czarnota, and L. Davies, Geoscience Australia
4. Depth of cover mapping with HVSR (When do you need velocity control?)
   Chris Wijns, First Quantum
5. Passive seismic surveying for paleochannel mapping with an emphasis on SOP brines, secondary U deposits and alluvial gold deposits
   Matthew Owers, Resource Potentials
6. Passive seismic for drill-hole optimisation; from Cretaceous cover to tundra thickness
   Andrew Fitzpatrick and Clinton Keller, Cameco
7. Passive seismic for delineation of concealed channel iron deposits: Dream or reality?
   Kevin Stephens, Fortescue Metals
8. Passive seismic and other geophysical methods identify a young meteorite crater in Archaean greenstone of the Coolgardie Goldfield, WA
   Jayson Meyers, Resource Potentials
9. Shallow Level Passive Seismic at GSWA; surveys and storage
   Ruth Murdie, GSWA and Andreas Scheib, AJS Geoscience Consulting, Edinburgh
10. Crustal structure of the Capricorn Orogen inferred from passive source seismology
    Huaiyu Yuan, UWA
11. HVSR passive seismic surveying for estimating depth of weathering and cover thickness over Tanzanian graphite, Albany-Fraser Orogen REE and Paterson Orogen base metal deposits
    John Sinnott, Resource Potentials
12. Complementary gravity and passive seismic surveying in all kinds of terrain
    Grant Coopes, Atlas Geophysics
13. Integration of Passive Seismic and Gravity data at Mt Celia, Western Australia
    Karen Pittard, Intellex Geoscience
14. HVSR passive seismic surveying to complement ground magnetic surveys for fluvial/alluvial gold deposits of the South Island, NZ
    Sharna Riley, Resource Potentials
15. HVSR passive seismic surveying for coastal heavy mineral sand deposits and sand cover thickness mapping in the Eucla Basin, New Zealand, and Chile
    Nigel Cantwell, Resource Potentials
16. Refraction Microtremor for Assessing Liquefaction Potential at Proposed Tailings Storage Facility Wafi?Golpu, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
    Andrew Spyrou, GBGMAPS and Simon Williams, GBG Australia
17. HVSR passive seismic surveying for geotechnical, groundwater and structure studies
    Jayson Meyers, Resource Potentials