The primary objectives of the exploration are to understand and achieve the following :
■ Understand the main geological features of the deposit area.
■ Provide reliable infomiation of the deposits quality and quantity.
■ Ensure steady supply of raw materials with regards to quality and quantity.
■ Ensure optimum utilization of resources with respect to lifetime, costs and waste.
■ Ensure that the mining plan is matching with the environmental assessment plan
Aerial Photogrammetry
Aerial images help obtain early regional information about the studied area.
Photo: image of a project area in Saudi Arabia.
Defining the occurrence and relation between different formations is part of the field study.
Photo: Marble deposit of a project in Saudi Arabia.
Preliminary Exploration
The main target of the preliminary exploration is to judge whether the deposit is promising or not and whether we can go further or look for other areas.
A team of expert geologists visit the proposed deposit area and record all geologic features. Representative samples are collected over a wide range in a way that reflects the situation of the deposit.
The surface weathered part of the deposit is removed or trenches are made to remove the surface weathered part and collect the desired samples.
Reveals to some extent the nature and homogeneity of the deposit, the lateral and vertical variation and hence the suitability for industrial needs.
Photo: Trench sampling during the preliminary exploration for a project in Iraq.
