Day 1 - How gold deposits form, Day 2 - Application of gold geology to exploration - South African focus; This is a two-day workshop primarily for geologists interested in gold. The philosophy of the workshop, and indeed of the presenter’s career, is that improved geology is strongly correlated with improved exploration and mining outcomes. Day 1 covers much of the descriptive and genetic aspects of gold geology to set the platform for successful exploration and mining globally. Day 2 is focussed on South Africa. Both days provide case histories of exploration success from Australia in which the presenter has first-hand knowledge (e.g. Yilgarn Craton of the 1980s with 170 Moz Au discovered since 1980), in specific greenstone belts (e.g. Yandal gold province with several multi-million ounce discoveries in a new belt) and the high-grade Fosterville goldfield in a Paleozoic metasedimentary sequence now producing over 0.5 Moz per year above 30 g/t Au. The emphasis of this workshop is on the use of gold geology to identify prospective greenstone belts and sedimentary successions to give the confidence to acquire ground, raise funds and proceed with exploration.
Bio of the presenter: Professor Neil Phillips OAM: Neil Phillips graduated in geoscience from the University of Melbourne (BSc), Monash University (BSc Hons, PhD), and from Harvard Business School (Advanced Management Program). His thesis was on the metamorphism and geochemistry around Broken Hill, NSW. As a postdoctoral fellow at University of Western Australia, he co-founded the Archaean Gold Group in 1980 with David Groves, as they developed the geological principles so successful there in gold exploration. As a lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg from 1984, he established research projects at all the operating Witwatersrand gold mines demonstrating the importance of regional metamorphism, gold-related alteration and auriferous fluids in all goldfields. He was subsequently made Professor of Economic Geology at James Cook University and developed the extended field programs in the Cloncurry – Mt Isa region. From 2001, he was Chief of the Division of Exploration and Mining during one of CSIRO’s transformational periods. As a consultant in Kalgoorlie for Minsaco Resources and then General Manager for Great Central Mines, he led the geological development of the Yandal gold province north of Kalgoorlie in a role that included teaching, research and mentoring with teams of mine and exploration geologists. He and Martin Hughes have had a long-term research project in the Victorian gold province identifying highest priority targets amongst the 7000 old mine workings: this work singled-out Fosterville goldfield – now producing at over 30 g/t Au. Honorary professorial appointments at University of Melbourne, Monash University, and Stellenbosch University in South Africa have involved collaborative research, and leadership of the Melbourne Geology of Gold course since 1995 and similar courses in South Africa. Recent collaborative topics have included Victorian gold placers of Victoria, Siberia and Nome Alaska, structural geology of gold deposits and provinces. Neil is Editor of the Australian Ore Deposit monograph, regularly publishes in scientific journals, and has written and edited several books on geoscience, cross-country navigation, and rogaining.