Around the turn of the century, the Minerals
Council of Australia, through the Minerals
Tertiary Education Council, got together 3
of the leading economic geology research groups
around Australia, that being the Economic
Geology Research Unit at James Cook University
in Townsville, the Centre for Ore Deposit
Studies Codes at the University of Tasmania
and the then Centre for Global Metallogeny,
now Centre for Exploration Targeting here
at UWA, to provide a program that was specifically
for industry people to come back, up- skill
in geology applied to exploration, and then
take that knowledge back out into their companies.
I thought I was quite weak at structural geology
so when I saw this course I jumped at the
chance because I really want to increase my
knowledge in structural geology. Because I
know that where I work and most of the deposits
are controlled by structure so I really needed
to get more knowledgeon that. And the highlight
has definitely been the practical part of
the course, it's very applied, as opposed
to courses I've attended before which have
been more based on theory so it's very,
very good to actually do the practical side
of it and apply that theory. I think it's
going to give me the confidence to go out
and, you know use this information in the
field to interpret the structure of various
deposits and really help my company find new
deposits in the future.
With the Masters program I chose it because
I didn't have Honours and I wanted to do
some more study and just get my qualifications
up a little bit. The other really good thing
about this Masters program was that it was
in blocks so that I could still work full-time
and take two weeks off and do the blocks,
and do the field trips. I found it really
good that way because to do one online, or
to do one by distance, for me would have been
too difficult to fit it into life and work,
so being able to take two weeks at a time
I find really useful. Structural geology is
something that's really useful, but it's
something that often is a bit scary and you
get a bit scared off, or you don't think
you're going to apply it right. So going
back to what I learnt at university but kind
of having a refresher and how to apply it
in a real sense now that I'm looking at
rocks every day and applying it in a work
sense, I think is why I chose the Structural
course here at UWA. It's been really practical
and really hands on and they've taken the
focus away from the Physics and the Maths
and put it in real max and doing really practical
exercises. So you're really learning how
to apply what you know to any system you go
to in the future. So it's been really good.
Again because it's adding to my qualifications
and it's filling that spot because I didn't
do honours, so it's adding that postgraduate
letters after my degree which is good. it's
also giving me confidence to say yes I know
this stuff, I know how to apply it, giving
me confidence to take that back into the workplace.
It's really hands on, that you get to apply
the knowledge in real, in a real mapping sense
and putting it altogether. The other thing
that's really good about it is that it's
not all stereo nets, which is helpful. Because,
again, that's something that scares you
from your days doing structural as your undergrad,
it's all sitting down and doing stereo nets
and not getting the big picture of how to
apply it in, in a real field for exploration.
Over the last decade, what we've found is
that this course has marked a step change
in the careers of the participants. A very
high percentage of the participants on these
courses move on to senior decision making
positions within the industry, and, if you
look around the industry, and because this
industry is global, it's remarkable the
impact this program has had. You'll see
a number of our alumni as leaders of this
industry. So essentially what this course
is doing, is its training the future leaders
of industry, and there really is no equivalent
program elsewhere to do that.
I became a geologist because I've always
been interested in earthquakes and volcanoes.
And when I was growing up and went on family
holidays, I used to always go around picking
up rocks, so it was always in my blood. My
mum was actually always a geography teacher
so I hold her solely responsible. And we did
a bit of family research a few years ago and
we found out that on my mum's side her great,
great grandfather was actually a mining engineer.
I decided to do this course as part of my
Master's degree and I chose to do my Masters
because after 14 years in the industry I realised
it was time to go back and actually try and
understand some more academic, more applied
things rather than just focus on what I see
day to day, and look at the big picture controls
on mineralisation and different mineral systems,
different commodities.
Really taking what we can see on the small
scale and putting it right on, sort of, the
regional tectonics, almost sort of lithospheric
scale structural controls. in the past you
sort of focus on very much mine scale and
actually being able to take something you
can see in an out crop and infer something
that can control mineralisation on a very,
very large scale.
I guess when I go back to work I'm going
to be doing quite a lot of structural mapping.
Trying to understand all shoot controls within
a deposit. And then also hopefully being able
to use that to step out into sort of more
regional targeting, and identifying new prospects
as well as understanding the ones we have
today.
I was attracted to this course because I worked
in a structurally complex pit, and this course
gave me the opportunity to revisit and refresh
some of the skills I had learnt at university.
The best part of this course has been able
to spend two weeks with two intelligent, clever
structural geologists and they can refresh
my memory in the classroom and then actually
coming out to see some of the rocks I actually
work with and pick up some of these structures.
Going back to the work, hopefully I can take
some of these skills which I've revisited
and relearnt over the last two weeks and can
reapply them to my pit and, hopefully going
forward it will build into a better understanding
of geology and geological model at work.
What really attracted me to geology was in
second year I undertook my first field course,
which was a mapping course down in South East
Victoria and spending time outside looking
at different structures, different geological
features and really just being on the ground
and understanding the landforms and what's
around us. And from that, from that field
subject, basically my career was really taken
care of, I knew from then that geology was
a career path I wanted to follow and I went
on to do a major in Geology and then did an
honours course at Melbourne University, in
Sedimentology and really it's the field
work and being out amongst the rocks, that
is what I really love.
So I started in industry 18 months ago, and
I'm an Exploration Geologist working out
of Perth. A lot of the work is on a drill
rig, however we do a lot of exploration mapping
which is obviously part of looking at target
generation and finding out where new iron
ore and other targets are. And a course this
is a great way to really get back to fundamentals
and structural mapping, something that we
don't have the opportunity often to get
to do in exploration, like we do a lot of
mapping, but here I can be exposed to some
great outcrops and be, really be amongst like-minded
Geologists and Structural Geologists that
I can really learn a lot from.
The best part about this course has been having
the opportunity to spend time in a world class
gold province that I previously hadn't had
the opportunity to do so. And, to be amongst
professors who really know this terrain you
know, better than anyone and being able to
see some of the best outcrops around the area
and get a feel for the stratigraphy, and really
look through, work through the stratigraphy
from the base to the top of the stratigraphy
and relate that back to where you see mineralisation
and how that can relate back to the exploration,
exploration mapping and looking for new targets.
When I go back to work as an Exploration Geologist,
I can use what I've learnt during this course,
to apply it to finding new exploration targets
and understanding, having a better understanding
of what the structural controls are on mineralisation
and using the tools that I've gained through
the week to be able to look at an outcrop
and understand what the features are and take
the information and then apply that to making
models and understanding where exactly, - the
implications it has for, for looking for new
ore deposits.
The program is held in extremely high regard,
not only by the participants, the alumni of
the course, but by senior managers within
industry. They like to see their people going
back, up-skilling, putting their hand up for
personal development, and at the same time
they see the benefits flow back into the company
so it's really a very good program all out.
The program has been incredibly successful,
and it's a tremendous opportunity for students
to obtain skillsets that are directly relevant
to the minerals industry. I wish they had
the program when I was 
a student.
