Key Words:
Geophysics, exploration, mining, research, training, software.

EXPERIENCE:

Peter has over 20 years experience in base metal, precious metal, and petroleum exploration, and in metalliferous and coal mining geophysics. He worked for 12 years with WMC Exploration Division in Australia, including 3 years as Chief Geophysicist. He was the inaugural Chair of Borehole Geophysics at Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, in 1993-94, and served as team leader in 1995-96 for the CMTE/AMIRA P436 research project on Application of Geophysics to Mine Planning & Operations. Peter is an Adjunct Professor at the WH Bryan Mining Geology Research Centre, University of Queensland, and at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania.

Selected mining geophysics projects include:

  • Kambalda Nickel Mines - Instigated application of high resolution radar and seismic techniques for delineation of nickel shoots.
  • Sudbury Nickel - Copper Mines - Introduced radio imaging to Inco mines in the Sudbury Basin in 1994. Inco and Falconbridge investigations are on-going.
  • Grasberg Copper-Gold Mines - With Rio Tinto, investigated the application of TEM and borehole logging for near-mine exploration and in-mine ore characterisation at Freeport's Grasberg mine in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

Selected software developments include:

  • Automated borehole log interpretation - Peter is co-author of the LogTrans program, for rapid interpretation of wireline logs and other borehole data.
  • TEM conductivity-depth transformation - The Emax and EmaxAIR CDI programs transform ground and airborne transient electromagnetic time decays into conductivity-depth pseudo-sections.
  • Gravity, magnetic, and gravity gradient modelling and inversion - Program VPmg is ideal for geologically-constrained 3D potential field interpretation.

  • Geophysical tomography - Peter is co-author of the ImageWin program, for data reduction and image reconstruction of tomographic data.

  • 1D TEM inversion - Program AMITY performs layered earth inversion of airborne and ground transient electromagnetic (TEM) data.

  • Auto-picking of televiewer images - Program Sinepick interprets planar structures (sinusoids) and breakout features from acoustic and optical televiewer images