AuScope enabled petrophysics laboratory goes mobile
Recently, CSIRO launched the AuScope enabled Mobile Petrophysics Laboratory (MPL). This containerised mobile geo-analytical system allows geoscientists to measure geological core samples across the Australian continent. Learn more about the MPL. Image: AuScope/CSIRO/John Burraco
The Mobile Petrophysics Laboratory (MPL) has found its groove and is rolling across the country. The first stop for this NCRIS-enabled facility is the Geological Survey of South Australia where it will help scientists take a deep dive into the physical and chemical properties of rock core. Could the MPL conveniently come to you next?
A lab on wheels
Inside a shipping container, sits the GeoTek multi-sensor core logger (MSCL), a petrophysical logging system that provides multiple sensors that gather geochemical and physical properties of geological material. Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, University of Melbourne, AuScope and NCRIS have all helped get the wheels turning on the MPL. And now, it has commenced scanning at GSSA’s Core Library.
“The excitement, amongst all partners involved in the development of the MPL, is tangible, as we look forward to growing the opportunities for application of the technology and the comprehensive datasets it captures.”
— Dr David Belton, The University of Melbourne
MPL and the CSIRO team: Tim Keeping (Dept. of Energy & Mining, GSSA), Shane Mulè (CSIRO), Cericia Martinez (CSIRO) with Dave Belton (UniMelb) from the AuScope’s subsurface observatory. Image: David Belton, The University of Melbourne
Capturing national-scale datasets
Over the next two years, the MPL will facilitate the collection of petrophysical data on a national scale. This data acquisition will help researchers and industry explore, analyse and discover new critical minerals and other resource deposits. The collated data will provide constraints to geophysical modelling and improve current understanding of rock properties across the continent.
Tim Keeping (Dept. of Energy & Mining, GSSA) and Shane Mulè (CSIRO) prepare core in the MPL. Images: David Belton, The University of Melbourne
Focus on discovery
The data acquired through the MPL will support Australia’s discovery of critical minerals by characterising rock properties on a standardised national platform that will facilitate and improve existing understanding of geological systems, mineral deposits, and prospectivity. Through their work, the MPL team hopes to:
“Normalise the acquisition and use of petrophysical data within mineral exploration to improve the success of exploration under cover in unexplored and under-explored domains.”
The MSCL is able to measure density, magnetic susceptibility, acoustic velocity, chemostratigraphy, electrical resistivity and natural gamma. Image: CSIRO
What are Critical Minerals and why does Australia need to find them?
Ore containing copper, cobalt and nickel at the Andover mine in Western Australia. Image: Paul-Alain Hunt
Discovering critical minerals is essential for our ability to respond to climate change, energy and national security. The recently released National Research Infrastructure Roadmap recognises Australia's position as a ‘global resources leader stemming from our rich natural resource endowments’, yet, this is only the case if we can find these undercover resources. This situation has been outlined in Australia’s 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy. The ability to take petrophysical equipment to various locations, particularly the vast stores of core already gathered by government surveys, will improve petrophysics, geology, and exploration outcomes.
“The most significant challenge facing mineral explorers is discovering new deposits where they are obscured by shallow cover. The cheapest way to explore through cover is using various geophysical imaging techniques but without petrophysical constraints from the rocks they are imaging these are just pretty pictures.
The MPL will provide the data that turns the pictures into models, and leads to discovery.”
— Dr Tim Rawling, AuScope CEO
To find out more about the MPL, visit CSIRO or check out Where is the MPL Now?
AUTHOR
Philomena Manifold (AuScope)
FURTHER READING
Learn more about the MPL
Apply to access the MPL
Access data from the MPL via the AuScope Discovery Portal
Learn more about AuScope’s Subsurface Observatory Program from which the MPL was born.