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mINING seRVICes

High five for Curtin

nitially, getting testimonials from mining HiSeis was established in 2009 and blue-chip mining houses, which had also
Ipeople backing the effectiveness of Curtin since then the seismic survey methods enhanced Perth’s standing as a mining ser-
University’s innovative seismic survey meth- have helped mining companies fast-track vices hub.
ods was a hard task. Now, praise for Curtin’s mineral discoveries, reduce exploration “Curtin has sold down its interest in the
work comes from the highest offices in gold and mining costs and allow for improved company and the new set of shareholders
mining in Australia. mine planning and safety. have come in, many of whom are experi-
“We’re a huge advocate of that technolo- The increasing demand for commercial enced mining executives, who really have
gy and so is the gold sector across Austral- seismic imaging in the minerals industry the capability and knowledge to take it to
ia,” Northern Star Resources Ltd chairman has extended beyond the shores of Aus- the next level and they are looking at inter-
Bill Beament told Paydirt’s sister publica- tralia and now HiSeis is looking to broaden national expansion,” McDougall said.
tion GMJ last year. its horizons. “Over our history we have done a number
At that time, Beament said that 3D seis- As of last year, Curtin sold down its inter- of jobs around the world and they are now
mic data from HiSeis Pty Ltd, created by looking at setting up a more serious base
Curtin University, was giving the compa- in regions like Africa. There has been a
ny hope of re-opening its Paulsens gold lot of work done in Europe, they’re also
mine in the future, while he credited seis- looking at the potential to extend services
mic for the discovery of the Zodiac sys- that a company might offer a mining com-
tem at Jundee. pany using seismic and potentially other
Recognition of the value of using seis- techniques to give them a better under-
mic techniques is growing by the day standing and definition of their orebody.”
across industry and another feather in McDougall said the company’s growth
the cap for Curtin’s innovation came last strategy would also include potential
month as the West Australian university partnerships, particularly as it sets out for
received the Knowledge Commercialisa- exposure to international markets.
tion Australasia (KCA) Research Com- “There are always people out there will-
mercialisation Award at its annual confer- ing to try new things. I think there’s people
ence in Sydney. who are still reasonably conservative, but
Through HiSeis, Curtin commercial- if you can demonstrate value and show
ised its innovative minerals exploration results from an application like seismic
technique which uses sound waves to people will eventually adopt it. Some are
create a detailed 3D image of under- quicker than others and we found early
ground ore deposits. on that we were able to collaborate with
Although seismic reflection has proven a number of people willing to take the risk
to be effective in the oil and gas industry, on investment in seismic and we got the
the technique had not been applied to benefits from that,” McDougall said.
hard rock exploration until lead researcher Bill Beament “There are a lot of jobs in the pipeline,
Associate Professor Milovan Urosevic particularly in the Australian gold industry.
from Curtin’s Western Australian School of est in HiSeis, with the new owners elevating Northern Star has been a leader [in the use
Mines and team, including Professor An- the company’s position to expand. of seismic]; they have used it to good effect
ton Kepic, developed and adapted existing Nevertheless, HiSeis maintains a re- and had good outcomes and have been a
seismic imaging technology so that it could search relationship with Curtin and contin- supportive partner along the way.”
be applied to the hard rock environment. ues to tap into the university’s graduates.
The concept and technology took a num- Curtin University commercialisation – Mark Andrews
ber of years to develop, but through many director Rohan McDougall told Paydirt
field trials and successes along the way, HiSeis’ reputation was growing around
industry acceptance has escalated. the world through the work it was doing for

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 107