Anthony Reid1 and Louise Baida2
1 Geological Survey of South Australia, Department for Energy and Mining
2 Department for Energy and Mining
Download this article as a PDF (440 KB); cite as MESA Journal 93, pages 54–55
Published December 2020
The Geological Survey of South Australia’s (GSSA) Discovery Day 2020 took place on 26 November 2020 with the theme of ‘Reducing the risk through geoscience and innovation’. When the theme was set, little did we realise how much ‘reducing the risk’ would be a theme for the entire year. The challenges of COVID-19 meant that Discovery Day 2020 needed to be different – no in-person audience, no field trips and, in the end, no live event.
The event was released as a Discovery Day 2020 playlist on the Energy and Mining SA YouTube channel. Although the networking and camaraderie that comes with attending the conference in-person was definitely missed, this new style of event gave us and, we hope, our viewers other benefits.
The first 8 videos follow the traditional Discovery Day style providing updates on GSSA projects and highlighting how they will impact exploration in the future. The Director of the GSSA, Rohan Cobcroft, spoke on the achievements of the GSSA and its collaborators looking at major projects and then looking forward to future work programs and what they will deliver to open the state for new mineral discoveries.
Rohan said, ‘Like many organisations this year, we've had to look at how we communicate our work and outputs to our stakeholders.’
This has led to the launch of tutorial videos on the SARIG open file data platform, technical videos introducing and sharing insights from current geological projects and work, and a short video series explaining geoscience in everyday language and the role that a government plays.
Rohan went on to speak about ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge. He said, ‘The level of engagement from across the globe has shed new light on the potential value of the survey’s data and the ability to reach out beyond normal collaborators to establish a global community of geologists, data scientists and data analysts.’
Crucial to the success of this program has been legacy data capture projects as well as value adding to newly acquired data such as the world-leading Gawler Craton Airborne Survey.
In closing, Rohan said, ’The GSSA’s role is to stimulate mineral exploration in the state by providing industry with new data and new ideas on the geological framework and mineral prospectivity in greenfield regions. We are making changes into what the survey focuses on, how we acquire new information and how we share this newfound knowledge.’
Rohan’s session was followed by:
- A review of the geology and prospectivity of the western Gawler Craton in light of recent nickel-bearing massive sulfides in exploration drilling by Anthony Reid.
- New insights into the Delamerian Orogen based on new magnetotelluric data by Kate Robertson.
- A preview of the Delamerian drilling program with MinEx CRC and recent data products by Tom Wise.
- Details on the Accelerated Discovery Initiative by Executive Director, Alex Blood.
- A panel discussion on the outcomes of the ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge with GSSA’s Stephan Thiel and Christie Gerrard talking with Holly Bridgwater of Unearthed.
The remaining videos are a little different for Discovery Day. Being a completely digital event, we had the opportunity to change the way we presented some of our content, and bring in topics and people who don’t normally appear at Discovery Day. Most of these videos are presented as discussions and interviews, rather than the traditional individual presentation format, meaning we can bring you different perspectives on each topic.
The diverse topics include how education in the earth sciences has been impacted by COVID-19, discussions on GSSA’s latest research partnerships with MinEx CRC and CSIRO, the Accelerated Discovery Initiative, ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge and national initiatives with Geoscience Australia.
A major benefit of hosting a virtual event was that we were able to open up the content to so many more people around the globe. Figure 1 includes a snapshot of the numbers associated with Discovery Day 2020. More than 390 people registered for the event from over 30 countries including Australia, Canada, China, UK and Brazil. All aspects of the sector were represented – academia, industry and government. Mid December 2020 the playlist videos had received over 4,000 views and this will only increase as time goes on.
Work is already underway to bring next year’s festival of geoscience that is Discovery Day. We really hope to be back face-to-face in 2021. Keep the date free – Thursday 25 November 2021.
In tandem with this, the pivot towards video production this year by GSSA, including the recent Beneath Our Feet video series, opens up the possibility that geoscience communications from GSSA can continue to evolve to respond to the needs of our stakeholders.
Discover Hallett Cove
The hotly anticipated field trip to Hallett Cove sold out within a few days of being made available and highlights the desire people have to see geology in association with the technical day. Although it was another casualty of COVID-19 restrictions, here are 3 great ways to discover more about this unique site:
- Watch GSSA’s Carmen Krapf, walk you through its geological features in Beneath Our Feet – The Wonder of South Australia’s Geology.
- View the Hallett Cove Geological Trail on SARIG’s Discovery Trails.
- Read about the new geological map of Hallett Cove described in MESA Journal 91.