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Stefaans du Plessis |
Stefaans du Plessis, geophysicist and specialist in applied geoscience, has been elected President of the prestigious Geophysical Association of South Africa (SAGA)* for the 2008/09 term.
Du Plessis is the applied geoscience research group leader in CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment. The group is part of the organisation's mining competency area in Johannesburg. Du Plessis was Vice President of the association during the 2007/08 term. In addition, he was the chairman for the 2007 SAGA biennial conference, and has again been appointed chairman for the planned SAGA 2009 Conference.
"Geophysics can be described as the science of subsurface site characterisation of the geology, geological structure, groundwater, contamination, and human artefacts beneath the Earth's surface," Du Plessis explains. "The technique is based on the lateral and vertical mapping of physical property variations that are remotely sensed using non-invasive technologies. Many of these technologies are traditionally used for exploration of economic materials such as groundwater, metals and hydrocarbons.
"Applied geoscience research aims to delineate the structure and grade of ore bodies and their host rocks to enable more productive and safer mining."
CSIR research in applied geoscience comprises numerous components of this area of science, such as borehole radar surveys, where the group is currently improving the logistical issues related to in-mine geophysical surveys. Other projects include the Coaltech collaborative, where an airborne magnetic survey was flown over the Waterberg coal field. These data are currently being interpreted. Another project involves ground penetrating radar projects for geotechnical investigations on platinum and gold mines.
Other significant projects of the CSIR's applied geoscience group include:
- Glass rock: This project is about imaging the subsurface as well as delineating orebodies in-mine. Tools are developed to assist in predicting what is ahead so that it can be mined more effectively. The tools may be geological, such as improved models of rock quality or geophysical, such as methods to determine the presence of faults. The intended impact of this work is better knowledge of the orebody, which would lead to direct operational benefits. The most important are lower dilution; better use of assets or reduced opportunity cost; more accurate valuations and improved safety
- Volcan Compania Minera in Peru, a project in which the
CSIR advised a mining company in that country on using geophysics in its mines and exploration projects.
*Founded in 1977, SAGA is the national body fostering and encouraging the development of geophysics in South Africa. It has 350 members worldwide. SAGA's members are employed in the exploration and mining industry, as well as the oil industry, research organisations and universities, geophysical consultancies and contracting companies. Member organisations typically design and provide ground and airborne geophysical services. Geophysicists are typically also involved in civil engineering, environmental and hydrogeological applications.
Enquiries: Stefaans du Plessis or CSIR Communications
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