Fields of Research

Exploration geochemistry
Geophysics
Structural geology and tectonics
Geology
Mineral processing/beneficiation
Environmental management
Pattern recognition
Resource geoscience
Mineralogy and crystallography
Inorganic geochemistry
Image processing
Waste management, reduction, reuse and recycling
Geochemistry
Applied geophysics
Geomorphology and earth surface processes
Natural resource management
Geochronology
Geoinformatics
Electrical and electromagnetic methods in geophysics
Geoscience data visualisation
Fuzzy computation
Geomechanics and resources geotechnical engineering
Pollution and contamination
Surface water hydrology
Geodynamics
Igneous and metamorphic petrology
Professional education and training
Stochastic analysis and modelling

Research Objectives

Copper ore exploration
Mineral exploration
Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences
Precious (noble) metal ore exploration
Mining and extraction of copper ores
Environmentally sustainable mineral resource activities
Primary mining and extraction of minerals
Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems
Other mineral resources (excl. energy resources)
Mining and extraction of precious (noble) metal ores
Management of solid waste from mineral resource activities
Mining and extraction of energy resources
Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments
Other environmental management
Uranium exploration
Evaluation, allocation, and impacts of land use
Effects of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments (excl. social impacts)
Environmental education and awareness
Titanium minerals, zircon, and rare earth metal ore (e.g. monazite) exploration
Concentrating processes of base metal ores (excl. aluminium and iron ores)
Zinc ore exploration
Professional development and adult education

Career Best Publications

Geological mapping using remote sensing data: a comparison of five machine learning algorithms, their response to variations in the spatial distribution of training data and the use of explicit spatial information; Computers and Geosciences

Research Publications

345 - The Wilkes Land sector including the Aurora Basin, and its most probable subglacial geology; Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference 2020: Antarctic - Global Connections
3D heat source regression modelling; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 4
3D modelling of granite intrusions in northwest Tasmania using petrophysical and residual gravity data; Society of Exploration Geophysicists International Exposition and 86th Annual Meeting
A comparison of random forests and cluster analysis to identify ore deposits type using LA-ICPMS analysis of pyrite; 15th SGA Biennial Meeting
A speedy update on machine learning applied to bedrock mapping using geochemistry or geophysics: examples from the Pacific Rim (and nearby); Mineral Systems of the Pacific Rim Congress 2019 (PACRIM 2019)
Aitik deposit, Sweden: progress report; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 2
An Enduring Problem: A multidisciplinary approach to characterise acid and metalliferous drainage at Endurance Mine, NE Tasmania; Geological Society of Australia Earth Science Student Symposium 2020
An interdisciplinary approach to constructing models of the lithosphere across the Australia-Antarctica conjugate margin; Australian Earth Sciences Convention (AESC 2016)
An interdisciplinary approach to constructing models of the lithosphere and asthenosphere of Antarctica; EGU General Assembly 2015
An objective and repeatable method for the construction of Hydrogeological Landscape Units; Fourth Australian Regolith Geoscientists Association Conference
Annual report: South Australian pyrite, hematite and magnetite fingerprint database
Application of a technology driven approach to defining targets for Cu-Co deposits associated within the Neoproterozoic Tapley Hill formation, South Australia
Automated acid rock drainage indexing from drill core imagery; Minerals
Automated core logging technology for geotechnical assessment: a study on core from the Cadia East porphyry deposit; Economic Geology
Automated identification of sulphides from drill core imagery; Mineral Systems of the Pacific Rim Congress 2019 (PACRIM 2019)
Automated mineral classification from hyperspectral data through semantic segmentation; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3 (2)
Batu Hijau - green rock (epidote) vectors; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3(2)
Batu Hijau: green rock (epidote) vectors; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3
Big Data Techniques for Applied Geoscience: Compute and Communicate; 25th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition: Interpreting the Past, Discovering the Future
Catchment-based gold prospectivity analysis combining geochemical, geophysical and geological data across northern Australia; Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
Catchment-scale gold prospectivity analysis from the National Geochemical Survey of Australia; Goldschmidt 2016
Chlorite and zircon mineral chemistry from the Yerington district, USA
Chlorite Synthesis
Christmas, Arizona: epidote chemistry; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 4
Combining machine learning and geophysical inversion for applied geophysics; 24th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition
Comminution hardness forecasting from hyperspectral drill core image derived textural clusters; 6th International Symposium on Process Mineralogy
Construction and analysis of Hydrogeological Landscape units using Self-Organising Maps; Soil Research
Data Analytics
Data analytics (or the art of trusting computers); AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3
Data analytics: 3D heat source location estimation; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 2
Data analytics: epidote deposit classification; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 2
Data analytics: epidote deposit classification again?; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 2
Data Driven Knowledge Discovery for Earth Sciences: Aims and Actions; Australian Earth Sciences Convention
Data-driven tectonic regionalization of Antarctica: appreciate the similarity; Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2021 - 'Core to Cosmos'
Deep learning methods for pixel-based classification of hyperspectral data; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3
Determining the long-term impact of historic mining on water quality: a case study on Mt Lyell, Western Tasmania, Australia; Resources for Future Generations
Distinguishing ore deposit type and barren sedimentary pyrite using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry trace element data and statistical analysis of large data sets; Economic Geology
Efficient regional scale 3D potential field geophysical modelling to redefine the geometry of granite bodies beneath prospective, geologically complex, northwest Tasmania; Ore Geology Reviews
Element mobility and spatial zonation associated with the Archean Hamlet orogenic Au deposit, Western Australia: Implications for fluid pathways in shear zones; Chemical Geology
Epidote synthesis
Epidote Synthesis
Estimating bedding orientation from high-resolution digital elevation models; IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Expansion of landscape characterisation methods within the Hydrogeological Landscape Framework: application in the Australian Capital Territory; Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
Extending cluster derived LA-ICP-MS geochemical domains through optical microscopy image classification; Goldschmidt Virtual 2021
Fluid flow interpretation in fossilised hydrothermal systems using vein measurements from underground photography; SEG 2017 Ore Deposits of Asia: China and Beyond
Geochemical domains in pyrite LA-ICPMS maps; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3(2)
Geoelectric structure of Tasmania from multi-scale magnetotelluric data; Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2021
Geoenvironmental characterisation of the King River Delta: A combined geophysical, geochemical and mineralogical approach; 15th SGA Biennial Meeting
Geoenvironmental characterisation of the King River Delta: A combined geophysical, geochemical and mineralogical approach (Poster); Goldschmidt 2022
Geological characterization to identify upgrade potential and enhance mining efficiency; 16th SGA Biennial Meeting
Geological controls for pre-concentration in an intrusive related gold deposit; 16th SGA Biennial Meeting 2022
Geological knowledge discovery and minerals targeting from regolith using a machine learning approach; 24th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition
Geological mapping in Western Tasmania using radar and random forests; IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Geological mapping using remote sensing data: a comparison of five machine learning algorithms, their response to variations in the spatial distribution of training data and the use of explicit spatial information; Computers and Geosciences
Identification of intrusive lithologies in volcanic terrains in British Columbia by machine learning using random forests: the value of using a soft classifier; Geophysics
Identifying common protoliths for altered rocks using clustering and classification of geochemical data at the Minto Copper-Gold Mine, Yukon, Canada; Gold'17
Image texture quantification from Corescan mineral classifications; International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG)
Improved supervised classification of bedrock in areas of transported overburden: applying domain expertise at Kerkasha, Eritrea; Applied Computing and Geosciences
Insights and lessons from 3D geological and geophysical modeling of mineralized terranes in Tasmania; Minerals
Insights into the continental structure of southeast Australia and Tasmania from passive seismic and magnetic datasets; 24th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition
Interpreting and validating trans-lithospheric faults in the CentralAndes to investigate their control on the localisation of giantporphyry copper deposits; Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2021
Inverse modeling constrained by potential field data, petrophysics, and improved geologic mapping: A case study from prospective northwest Tasmania; Geophysics
Investigating the Moho beneath onshore and offshore Tasmania using the complete Bouguer anomaly; Australian Earth Sciences Convention
Linking protolith rocks to altered equivalents by combining unsupervised and supervised machine learning; Journal of Geochemical Exploration
Lithocap exploration tool: Alunite; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3
Lithocap exploration tool: alunite; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3 (2)
Lithologic mapping using Random Forests applied to geophysical and remote-sensing data: a demonstration study from the Eastern Goldfields of Australia; Geophysics
Lithological mapping in the Central African Copper Belt using Random Forests and clustering: Strategies for optimised results; Ore Geology Reviews
Lithological mapping via Random Forests: Information Entropy as a proxy for inaccuracy; 25th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition: Interpreting the Past, Discovering the Future
Lithospheric architecture of the central Andes and the localization of giant porphyry copper deposits during key geodynamic epochs; Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2021
LocatOre: a tool for modeling proximitor equations using multi-element mineral chemistry data; 16th SGA Biennial Meeting
Machine learning techniques applied to hyperspectral data; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 2
Machine-assisted ore deposit mass balance evaluations in 3D; Resources for Future Generations (RFG2018)
Mapping geology and volcanic-hosted massive sulfide alteration in the Hellyer–Mt Charter region, Tasmania, using Random Forests^TM and Self-Organising Maps; Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
Mica chemistry: challenges and opportunities; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 4
Module 1: Epidote from Batu Hijau, Indonesia; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3
Module 1: Epidote from Batu Hijau, Indonesia; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3 (2)
Multidisciplinary characterisation of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in legacy mine wastes, Endurance Mine, northeast Tasmania, Oral Presentation; Goldschmidt 2022
Multielement geochemical data missing value and below detection limit imputation; SEG 2019 Conference
Multilayer Perceptron for pixel-based classification of hyperspectral data; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3 (2)
Multiple influences on regolith characteristics from continental-scale geophysical and mineralogical remote sensing data using Self-Organizing Maps; Remote Sensing of Environment
Multivariate data analysis of epidote
National Virtual Core Library HyLogging data and Ni-Co laterites: a mineralogical model for resource exploration, extraction and remediation; Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
P1202 Module 1 green and white rocks program: introduction; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3 (2)
P1202 Module 1 Green Rocks Program: Introduction; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3
P1202 Module 2 lithocap program; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 4
P1202 module 2 lithocap program: an introduction; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 4
Phase 1 report of trace elements in titanite, hematitic sediments, magnetite and chlorite vectoring study
Potential for exploration vectoring and fertility assessments using epidote and stable isotopes at Las Bambas
Quantitative image textural analysis for copper flotation recovery; 16th SGA Biennial Meeting
Quantitative mineral mapping of drill core surfaces II: long-wave infrared mineral characterization using μXRF and machine learning; Economic Geology and the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists
Quantitative textural assessment for sample selection guided by drill core hyperspectral imagery; SEG 2019 Conference
Random Forest classification of pyrite trace element composition to identify ore deposit type in far-field exploration and vectoring; Society of Economic Geologists Conference 2017
Relating altered rocks to equivalent protoliths using clustering and classification of geochemical data at the Minto copper-gold mine, Yukon, Canada; SEG 2017 Ore Deposits of Asia: China and Beyond
Revealing the multi-stage ore-forming history of a mineral deposit using pyrite geochemistry and machine learning-based data interpretation; Ore Geology Reviews
Rock hardness and copper recovery prediction using textural clustering; Minerals Engineering: An International Journal Devoted to Innovation and Developments in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy
Sampling forest canopy arthropod biodiversity with three novel minimal-cost trap designs; Australian Journal of Entomology
Soil-sample geochemistry normalised by class membership from machine-learnt clusters of satellite and geophysics data; Ore Geology Reviews
Spatial-contextual supervised classifiers explored: a challenging example of lithostratigraphy classification; IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Structural and textural characterization of mineralization in the Waivaka Corridor, Namosi district, Fiji; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 2
Structural interpretation of high resolution Digital Elevation Models derived from LiDAR remote sensing; Riding The Wave: Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology
Summary and final report on pyrite, magnetite and hematite mineral geochemistry, South Australia
Summary report on South Australia pyrite and magnetite geochemistry studies (including Mineral Systems Drilling Program pyrite project)
Summary report on South Australia pyrite and magnetite geochemistry studies (including Mineral Systems Drilling Program pyrite project)
Supervised and unsupervised classification of near-mine soil Geochemistry and Geophysics data; 23rd International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition
Sweep by sweep data processing: ongoing analytical developments in CODES Analytical Research Program; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 3 (2)
Sweep-by-sweep epidote data from Batu Hijau: implications for epidote vectoring studies; AMIRA P1202 Sponsors Meeting 4
The upside of uncertainty: Identification of lithology contact zones from airborne geophysics and satellite data using random forests and support vector machines; Geophysics
The use of automated core logging technology to improve estimation of fracture mineralogy and weathering for geotechnical index calculations; AIG Drilling for Geology II
The utility of machine learning in identification of key geophysical and geochemical datasets: a case study in lithological mapping in the Central African copper belt; Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference 2018
Towards user friendly data-driven minerals exploration: lithological mapping in an orogenic gold setting; SEG 2015 Conference
Unsupervised clustering of continental-scale geophysical and geochemical data using Self-Organising Maps; 3rd Australian Regolith Geoscientists Association Conference
Unsupervised textural classification of rocks in large imagery datasets; Minerals Engineering
Uranium prospectivity mapping across the Australian continent via unsupervised cluster analysis of integrated remote sensing data; SEG 2015 Conference
Vectors to the blind Resolution porphyry Cu-Mo deposit, Superior district, Arizona
Vertical profile through the Tantahuatay lithocap
Yerington district, Nevada
Zircon O and Lu-Hf isotope evidence of mantle and supracrustal origins of Tasmanian Devonian granites; Gondwana Research

Research Projects

Building capacity in Regional Australia to enhance Australias Economy through research, training, and environmentally sustainable production of critical metals; Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE)
Identification and characterisation of geological domains for geometallurgical and geoenvironmental modelling; Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)
Ore deposits and tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen, SE Australia; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Exploring, characterising and optimising complex orebodies- upscaling orebody knowledge to add value across the Mining Value Chain (P1249)
Geochemical analysis of Ruby Lagoon and Blue Lake sediments at Endurance tailings site, north east Tasmania
Geoenvironmental & Geometallurgical Characterization of Weathered Polymetallic Wastes
Geophysical investigation of historic Aberfoyle tailings site, northeast Tasmania
Geophysical investigation of the Royal George tailings repository, northern Tasmania
Hydrogeological studies of acid mine drainage at Blue Lake, Endurance Mine, north east Tasmania
Identifying unique Resistate Indicator Mineral (RIM) chemistry as a guide in prospectivity for sediment-hosted copper mineralisation
Integrated Ore Deposit Knowledge: Optimising Mineralogical Characterisation through the Mining Value Chain
Iron oxide copper-gold deposits: Geochemistry and Geometallurgy
Multidisciplinary Characterisation of Dam Materials and Drivers of Pit Lake Water Quality: Scotia Mine, NE Tasmania
Ore deposits and Tectonics of SE Australia: Freeport-McMoRan
The geodynamic and tectonic influence on giant porphyry copper deposit architectural controls

Research Candidate Supervision