Cutting edge technology to put Broken Hill back on exploration map

A seismic survey of the Broken Hill area, trialling new cutting-edge technology, could reveal vital information about the earth’s crust, which may lead to new discoveries of silver, zinc and lead.

The survey will provide information about geological formations two to three kilometres below the earth’s surface in the Broken Hill area.

Since 1883, Broken Hill has produced approximately $80 billion worth of silver, zinc and lead, but in recent years exploration success has been limited.

The preliminary results of this four-day survey, which will be available in the next few months, could reveal significant new information about the 3D geometry of the Broken Hill geology, putting the town back on the exploration map.

Previous seismic surveys have focused on depths beyond two to three kilometres, leaving the crust of the earth a potentially untapped resource of valuable minerals.

Over $4 million dollars is spent each year by mining companies on mineral exploration in the Broken Hill area, bringing major flow-on benefits to all sectors of the community. The industry employs 400 to 500 people locally.

As part of the survey, seismic measurements were taken by two large vibroseis trucks fitted with new highly sophisticated computer software.

The trucks, large hydraulic vibrators mounted on buggies about the size of a standard drilling rig, stamp in unison and stop at intervals of about 100 metres to do their work.

The seismic survey works a bit like an ultrasound. The technique sends sound waves - generated by the vibroseis trucks - into the ground and captures them as they bounce back. This process allows scientists to take images of the earth’s crust.

The project, which has just been completed, is being jointly funded by the NSW Government’s Exploration NSW Initiative, a seven-year $30-million program to accelerate mineral and petroleum exploration investment in the State, and Geoscience Australia under the auspices of the Broken Hill Exploration Initiative. The NSW Department of Primary Industries has contributed $35,000 towards the project.

The Broken Hill area is a world-class mineral province and the NSW Government, under the Exploration NSW Initiative, is committed to promoting mineral exploration opportunities in the Broken Hill area through the application of the latest appropriate technologies.

Perilya is the largest ore-producing mine in Broken Hill today, managing 1,024 square kilometres of prospective terrain, and mining and processing about 2 million tonnes of ore each year.

Three years ago it was forecast that the last working mine in Broken Hill would close in 2006, and that Australia’s biggest mining town would no longer have a mine.

Perilya Limited took over the lease of the Broken Hill Mine in 2002, one of the largest and most renowned zinc, lead and silver mines in the world. It’s now estimated there’s enough ore to be dug at commercial rates to keep going, at least until 2011.