Professional Development Training
2021 Courses
EGRU will offer the Exploration Geochemistry short course again in October 2021 and plans to offer most of its short course program again in 2022. As course details are confirmed the course information below will be updated.
If you would like further information about the short course program, if you're interested in running a short course in-house, or would like to be added to our mailing list to keep informed about upcoming EGRU short courses, please email judith.botting@jcu.edu.au
All fees are $AU and inclusive of GST.
The following courses are presented online or in the field.
This course will be offered again in early 2022.
Scenario & Strategic Planning in Uncertain Times, Option Development, and Structured Decision Making
An online workshop for Leaders and Managers, and their Teams who will implement the plan.
This course is relevant to all those involved with mineral exploration in the current uncertain times, including senior executives (and directors), exploration managers, and any other individuals who are keen to develop an agile, strategic mindset.
| Lecturers | Tim Craske -Thinker Events & Geowisdom Nick Franey - NJF Consulting |
Presentation | Via ZOOM |
Course Dates | Early 2022, dates TBA 2 x half day workshops |
| Time - both days | 10am - 3:30pm (AEST) |
| Course Fee AUD incl.GST | |
| EGRU Member | $440 |
| Non EGRU Member | $605 |
| AIG / GSSA Member | $515 |
| Student | $220 - places are limited |
| REGISTER for the COURSE HERE | A minimum number of registrants has to be confirmed by 04 June 2021 for this course to go ahead. Please register and make your course fee payment at the time of registration to confirm your attendance and secure your place. |
| Professional Development Hours - 9hrs for the full course Participation in this event may contribute to meeting Continued Professional Development (CPD) requirements of professional institutes. | |
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Course Outline & Information - Print
Learning Outcomes
Crises create uncertainty - which may lead to confusion and loss of competitiveness – but they can also lead to new opportunities.
This workshop will teach you how to address uncertainty, embrace change, identify opportunities and grow stronger – all in a structured framework which facilitates regular review.
Traditional strategic planning and analyses often fail us because we cannot predict the future well. Scenario planning overcomes that problem. But to generate plausible future scenarios, we have to be creative and use imagination. From any number of scenarios, we can develop multiple options for action, and the final step in the process is to prioritise the options and decide on a way forward (the strategic plan).
As well as learning how to develop your own strategic plan, this workshop will allow you to experience the actual process. Participants will engage with each other in two facilitated exploration-relevant exercises: for commodity selection and new country expansion. You will learn how:
- To turn fragilities into assets
- The “rules of the game” reduce uncertainties and limit options
- To understand the weakness of traditional strategic planning tools
- To use scenario planning to generate options for action
- To prioritise your options
- To decide quickly and effectively
- To avoid bias and bad decisions
This short course will be presented by a team of expert geophysicists with extensive experience in applying geophysics in exploration.
The course will provide an overview of the main geophysical methods used in mineral exploration and the application of these methods in an exploration program. Course participants will gain insight into basic theory, applications of the different methods to various geological settings, methods of data acquisition, processing and interpretation, and how to communicate with contractors.
| Lecturers | Steve Collins, Kim Cook, Bob White, Kate Hine, Katherine McKenna, Andrew Sloot |
| Location | Via ZOOM |
| Course Dates | (22, 23 & 24 March 2021) |
| Time - daily | 9.30am - 1.00pm (AEST) 3.5hr sessions each day (including breaks) |
Course Fees - AUD incl. GST | |
| EGRU Member | $130 |
| Non EGRU Member | $275 |
| AIG Member | $200 |
| Student | $ 88 A limited number of free places are available. Email judith.botting@jcu.edu.au to apply for a place and attach an image of your student ID. |
| Register Here | This course is confirmed as proceeding. Please register and make your course fee payment at the time of registration, to confirm your attendance and secure your place |
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 | Professional Development Hours - 7.5 hrs per module Participation in this event may contribute to meeting Continued Professional Development (CPD) requirements of professional institutes. |
Course Description |
Day 1 - 22 March Geophysics in Exploration: overview Steve Collins, Research and Development Geophysicist
Magnetics, Gravity and Radiometrics: theory and interpretation Kim Cook, consulting geophysicist, GeoMagik Introduction to magnetics, gravity and radiometrics
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Day 2 - 23 March Geophysics in Exploration: tricks of the trade Steve Collins
Electromagnetics in Mineral Exploration Kate Hine, Principal Geophysicist, Mitre Geophysics
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Day 3 - 24 March IP and Resistivity Bob White, Tooronga Resources
Ground Surveys Andrew Sloot, Fender Geophysics |
Case History - Application of a variety of techniques to a deposit discovery; Mallee Bull base metal discovery, Cobar NSW Steve Collins, Kate Hine |
This course is primarily aimed at geologists who have recently been appointed as an Exploration Manager, or anyone who aspires to become an Exploration Manager within the next few years. It will also serve as a useful introduction to the business of mineral exploration for any non-technical professionals who track the activities of mineral explorers in the market, or others who work in the industry.
The course is an abridged version of the one-week Management in Mineral Exploration course previously offered by EGRU. It is offered as three stand-alone modules of two half days each per week, over a three week period, to allow participants to attend with minimal interruption to their work day.
| Lecturer | Nick Franey, NJF Consulting |
| Location | Via ZOOM |
| Course Dates | 2 x 4 hr daily sessions per module (including a break) |
Module 1 | (completed April 2021) |
Module 2 | (completed April 2021) |
Module 3 | (completed April 2021) |
| Times - daily | 10.00am - 2.00pm (AEST) |
Fee per Module - $AU incl. GST | |
EGRU Member | $440 |
Non EGRU Member | $605 |
AIG/GSSA Member | $515 |
| This course is confirmed as proceeding. Please register and make your course fee payment at the time of registration, to confirm your attendance and secure your place. | |
|---|---|
| Professional Development Hours - 7 hrs per module Participation in this event may contribute to meeting Continued Professional Development (CPD) requirements of professional institutes. |
Course Description | |
Module 1 - 13-14 April Managing for Exploration Success
Day-to-Day Exploration Management
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Module 2 - 20-21 April Data Management and Advanced Projects
Managing the Non-Technical Aspects of the Business
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Module 3 - 27-28 April Mineral Economics and the Economic Evaluation of Projects
The Financial Analysis of Companies
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| Nick Franey is an exploration geologist with a broad range of experience, from grassroots to advanced project (feasibility study) and near-mine operations. He has explored for most types of gold and base metal deposits in a variety of geological terranes, in more than 20 countries, on three continents |
The course is now full. We will still accept registrations but you will automatically be added to the waitlist and we will advise you if a place becomes available.
| Lecturer | Dr Dennis Arne, Telemark Geoscience |
| Presentation | Via ZOOM |
| Module Dates | 2 x 4hr daily sessions per module |
| Module 1 | 14 - 15 October 2021 |
| Module 2 | 21 - 22 October 2021 |
| Module 3 | 28 - 29 October 2021 |
| Module Times | Daily session times (including a 30 minute break) by time zone:
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| Fee per Module - ($AU, incl. GST) | |
| EGRU Member | $440 |
| Non EGRU Member | $605 |
| AIG/GSSA Member | $515 |
| Student | $220 - Places are limited |
| Register Here | NOTE: Registration (Including payment) closes 24rs before each module commences. |
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| Professional Development Hours - 7hrs per module Participation in this event may contribute to meeting Continued Professional Development (CPD) requirements of professional institutes. |
| Course Description |
This comprehensive 3-module short course (presented as 6 x 3.5 hr teaching days) is designed for geology graduate students and mineral exploration professionals looking for continuing professional development in exploration and applied geochemistry. Module 1 of the course would also be suitable for database professionals wishing to know more about the collection of geochemical data and the assessment of its quality, as well as for more seasoned geologists wishing to review recent advances in the collection, analysis, QA/QC and management of data. The short courses involve Powerpoint lectures to introduce concepts but will be interspersed with short practical exercises to reinforce some of the strategies and methods. Examples will be drawn from publicly available data sources from Canada, Australia and Sudan, with detailed data sets from the central Victorian goldfields used for data integration exercises. The aim of the complete 3-day short course series is to equip the participants to confidently design, implement and interpret diverse data sets from geochemical exploration programs while ensuring “fit for purpose” data quality and data management. |
Module 1: 14 - 15 October Data Acquisition, Quality Assessment and Management
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Module 2: 21 - 22 October Exploratory Data Analysis using ioGAS
The first part of this module, will be immediately preceded by an optional one-hour session - Introduction to ioGAS - for those unfamiliar with the software. |
Module 3: 28 - 29 October Integration of Geochemical, Mineralogical and Geological Data
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| Dennis Arne has nearly 30 years experience in geology and applied geochemistry globally. He has overseen regional geochemical exploration programs in the Yukon, Nunavut and northern Quebec in Canada, the USA, eastern Australia, Suriname, Sudan and Laos. He was Managing Director and Principal Consultant - Geochemistry of CSA Global Canada until late 2017, General Manager and Principal Consultant – Geochemistry for Revelation Geoscience (purchased by CSA Global in 2012), Principal Consulting Geochemist with ioGlobal (now Reflex Geochemistry) and formerly Senior Geochemist with Geoscience Victoria (now Geological Survey of Victoria, Australia). Dennis is currently director and principal consulting geochemist at Telemark Geosciences. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, a Fellow and President of the Association of Applied Geochemists, is a Registered Professional Geoscientist (Geochemistry) in Australia and a registered Professional Geoscientist in British Columbia. |
Due to COVID-19 issues Advanced Field Training will not be available in 2021. It is now planned for mid 2022.
| Leaders | Prof. Paul Dirks and Dr Ioan Sanislav |
| Date (face to face teaching) | |
| Travel Dates | |
| Location | Mount Isa / Cloncurry Region NW Queensland (eastern Mt Isa Inlier) |
| Fee | |
| EGRU Member | |
| Non EGRU Member | |
This intensive 7-day course is designed to provide geoscientists with an introduction to the geology of Mt Isa Inlier, a world-class metallogenic province, and develop essential exploration-related field skills applicable in complexly deformed and altered terrains. Detailed ‘form surface’ mapping of The course will be based in the Eastern Mt Isa Block, which contains world class IOCG and Pb-Zn-Ag deposits as well as important U and REE mineralisation. The course is offered as professional development training to professional geoscientists and university students seeking to improve their field geology and mapping capabilities. The course will include (Subject to change):
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The following Courses are 'face to face' teaching on campus - James Cook University Townsville, Qld.
| Leader | Dr Gavin Clarke |
| Date | Dates for 2022 TBA |
| Location | Building 034, James Cook University Townsville, Bebegu Yumba |
| Fee | Register by |
| EGRU Member | $990 |
| Non-EGRU Member | $1650 |
| AIG Member | $1400 |
| Student | $330 |
| REGISTER HERE | |
This three-day course* covers the fundamentals of textural observation and interpretation in mineralised hydrothermal systems. The techniques used are simple, highly effective and require no specialised equipment for their implementation. The techniques are also extremely practical in that they generate numerous questions concerning the mineralisation being studied and commonly provide vectors toward mineralisation for drill testing. Critical evaluation factors considered during the course include:
Ore Textures & Breccias Information *This is a Level 4 course (Honours) suitable for early career geologists. Participants will be working alongside JCU geoscience honours students. The course also includes a 2 part assessment | |
| Leader | Prof. Paul Dirks |
| Date | Dates for 2022 TBA |
| Location | Building 034, James Cook University Townsville, Bebegu Yumba campus |
| Fee | Register by |
| EGRU Member | $660 |
| Non EGRU Member | $1100 |
| AIG Member | $935 |
| Student | $220 |
| REGISTER HERE | |
This two-day course* introduces the basic skills and methodology required to review and log geological core. Emphasis is placed on the recognition, description and acquisition of oriented data (bedding planes, faults, fractures, shear zones), and how this data relates to field observations. The course aims to familiarise participants with the key requirements of core logging, and how to interpret and integrate drill logs with geological models. The course will comprise short morning lectures introducing the principles of core logging on day one and, the integration of core logs into structural sections and geological models on day two, with substantive time each day spent undertaking practical group exercises. Day 1 - Logging at suitable scales to capture the required degree of information for a successful interpretation, and, importantly, present that data and interpretation to their peers. Day 2 - Construct cross sections from existing core logs, orientation data and geological maps. This will require careful consideration of how to connect critical markers to best reflect the geology of the area. Results will be discussed within the group at the end of the practical sessions. *This is a Level 4 course (Honours) suitable for early career geologists. Participants will be working alongside JCU geoscience honours students. The course also includes exercises for assessment. | |
| Leader | Prof. Paul Dirks |
| Date | Dates for 2022 TBA |
| Location | Building 034, James Cook University Townsville, Bebegu Yumba campus |
| Fee | Register by |
| EGRU Member | $1650 |
| Non EGRU Member | $2750 |
| AIG Member | $2335 |
| Students | $550 |
| REGISTER HERE | |
This course is designed for geologists who wish to advance their core geological skills and maximise the information they gather from fundamental geological data sets. The course will help participants enhance their understanding, interpretation, and modelling of geological systems. This 5-day practical course will develop skills in:
*This is a Level 4 course (Honours) suitable for early career geologists. Participants will be working alongside JCU geoscience honours students. The course also includes exercises for assessment. | |
| Face to Face & Online Course Cancellations |
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EGRU reserves the right to cancel a course if minimum numbers are not registered by the date we need to confirm the minimum number of registrants for a course to go ahead.
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If a registrant cancels their place on the course before date we need to confirm the minimum number of registrants for a course to go ahead, there will be a full refund of the registration fees. Fees for cancellations received on or after the date we need to confirm the minimum number of registrants for a course to go ahead, will not be refunded BUT a registration place can be transferred to another person. Cancellations will only be accepted by email to judith.botting@jcu.edu.au |
| Places on a course are not guaranteed if payment has not been processed before any course commences. |