CQUniversity Unit Profile.

• Australia's natural resources
• Economic Geology
• Prospecting and exploration legislation in Australian mining
• Working and engaging with indigenous communities and
• Operating in sensitive ecological environments

Criteria that will be assessed for this assessment task will include:

• Critical Thinking
• Evidence to research appropriate material from the geological and mining literature, besides supplied reference material
• Ability to organize and structure work into a legible, professional looking document
• Effective written communication skills i.e. are clear, coherent and succinct that demonstrate an understanding of technical content
• Effective use of tables and figures, where deemed appropriate
• Well annotated and referenced maps, tables and figures
• Adequate review of peer-reviewed and published work
• Appropriate use of CQUniversity's Harvard Referencing system to correctly cite all sources of externally acquired material in-text and provide a consistent style for the assignment's reference list.

An assessment rubric is available in the unit's Moodle site along with technical exemplars. Weekly Zoom tutorials and forums will provide further assessment support

During your Residential School you will undertake a variety of assessable tasks that include:

• Exercises in the identification and description of some major ore minerals
• Exercises in economic geology and the interpretation of geological, geophysical and geochemical maps, spatial and digital databases
• Utilizing some of the geological tools and software used in exploration and economic geology
• Exercises in core logging and evaluation.

Some changes to tasks may need to be made on the day/s of the Residential School due to conditions beyond our control e.g. access to mine site/s where exercises are to be undertaken and use of equipment and resources from external parties.

You will be assessed on your ability to:

• Identify common ore minerals
• Conduct prospecting and exploration programs
• Effectively utilize a range of geological equipment and software used in Exploration and Economic Geology
• Analyze drill cores, input drill core data into geodatabases 
• Interpret geological databases (digital maps, geochemical and geophysical databases).

Further details and training will be provided during the weekly Zoom Tutorials, in Moodle Forums and whilst attending the Residential School. 

Your exploration team (Group Work) has been asked to prepare a program for finding a Greenfield Prospect and to geologically evaluate the deposit. You can choose any (one only) of the bulk mineral commodities, base metals, gems, precious metals, specialty metals, industrial minerals, industrial rocks or energy commodities as your focus.

The presentation (Group Work) should include:

1. a description of the geological setting/s

2. the type of background information you will need to acquire

3. a knowledge of environmental and cultural issues and constraints. Show how you would work towards obtaining culturally and environmentally sensitive outcomes

4. the geophysical method/s you will apply and the geochemical survey/s you will undertake.

5. the type of samples you would take and your QA/QC for the sampling

6. the type of geological model you have developed for the commodity being evaluated.

Class members will be assigned to groups during the first two weeks of undertaking this unit in Term 1. As group members you need to be able to allocate tasks within your group, to share/pool information and for the group to submit a cohesive, professional presentation to your peers. Decide amongst your group an equitable division of project tasks. It is recommended that you start to gather the preparatory information and communicate this to fellow group members at an early stage during the term via Zoom, Skype, group forums and email.

This assessment item will take the form of a Presentation. You will be required to present a live PowerPoint presentation to your client (your lecturer and other unit participants) via a Zoom session during week 12. The presentation will be ½ hour duration with 10 minutes of question time allocated. The mark awarded (for the group), besides being based on factual content and presentation skills, will also include how well you verbally answered the questions posed by the client and other participants. Note, you are required to submit your PowerPoint file to your lecturer A DAY PRIOR to your group's presentation.

Further support and information to assist you will be provided during the weekly Zoom tutorial sessions.

The assessment criteria for each group's presentation will be based on:

• Presentation and layout i.e. the general appearance and style of the PowerPoint presentation to provide a professional talk.
• Effective written and oral communication skills i.e. are clear, coherent and succinct that demonstrate an understanding of content
• Content. This includes the accuracy and relevance of answers, application of knowledge, language and grammar used in answering questions
• Evidence of sourcing and referencing relevant, peer reviewed material beyond that provided in the lecture material

Further support and information to assist you will be provided during the weekly Zoom tutorial sessions.

During the Residential School you will visit mine site/s that includes a mine tour and be shown the tasks that geological and mining professionals undertake onsite. A tour of a commercial laboratory will also be undertaken. Whilst on these tours you will make comprehensive notes of the topics presented by mine site and laboratory professionals.  An individual  geological report needs to be submitted that summarizes the activities you were shown.  Your report needs to include:

• A brief history and overview of the mine
• The geological setting and style of mineralization
• Descriptions of the major rock types present (lithologies), the stratigraphy and the minerals mined
• The geological techniques used in economic geology to explore, locate and sample minerals for later mining at the mine.
• The Grade and Value of the ore
• Quantification of current mineral reserves
• Details about sustainable mineral exploration practices and 
• Details of engagement with local indigenous communities during the exploration and mining phases. 
• An overview of the activities undertaken at the commercial laboratory and their relevance to mine operations. 

Further support and information to assist you will be provided during the Residential School by the mine site and laboratory professionals. These will be discussed further during weekly Zoom tutorial sessions and in Moodle Forums. 

Criteria that will be assessed for this task will include:

• Critical Thinking
• Evidence to research appropriate material from the literature, besides supplied reference material
• Ability to organize and structure work into a legible, professional looking document
• Effective written communication skills i.e. are clear, coherent and succinct that demonstrate an understanding of technical content
• Effective use of tables and figures, where deemed appropriate
• Well annotated and referenced maps, tables and figures
• Adequate review of peer-reviewed and published work, annual reports, company web site/s etc.
• Appropriate use of CQUniversity's Harvard Referencing system to correctly cite all sources of externally acquired material in-text and provide a consistent style for the assignment's reference list.

An assessment rubric is available in the unit's Moodle site. Weekly Zoom tutorials and forums will provide further assessment support

Some changes to tasks may need to be made on the day/s of the Residential School due to conditions beyond our control e.g. access to mine site/s and operational areas.