West African exploration Initiative Working together to explore West Africa 1 of 29
African Minerals Geoscience Landscape Networking Training GeoData Management and Delivery AMV AMDC Research & Data Acquisition Artisanal Mining and Community Relations 2 of 29
African Minerals Geoscience Landscape Networking: WAXI GIRAF ANESI GSAfr OAGS Training: AusAID IM4DC, WAXI AEGOS, ANESI, AMSI GeoData Management and Delivery: WAXI, AEGOS OneGeology GGIM, SERVIR AMV AMDC Artisanal Mining and Community Relations: AMA CASM NGOs Research & Data Acquisition: WAXI, AFREF AARSE, EIS-Africa RCMRD, SEAMIC AEON 3 of 29
The WAXI project fulfils several of the activities described in the African Mining Vision Action Plan Training Reinforce professional development via short courses Diversify the sources of funding of training initiatives to include the private sector Research Improve collaboration between R & D centres Develop new institutional relationships associating the mining industry and research organizations 4 of 29
West African exploration Initiative (WAXI) Key Features of WAXI: 1. Public-Private Partnership co-funded by industry and governments coordinated by AMIRA International 2. Provides a powerful networking forum that includes major stakeholders in West African mining sector: Industry Geological Surveys and Ministries of Mines Universities Aid agencies (AusAid) 5 of 29
West African exploration Initiative (WAXI) A network of 50 African and international organisations Phase 1 2006-2008 Phase 2 2009-2013 Phase 3 2014-2018 Bilingual English-French Consortium Finance: 2/3 industry & 1/3 Australian government Current funding >$6 M Craton scale analysis of Tectonics, Metallogeny Regolith evolution Data Integration and Management A major capacity building program 6 of 29
Sponsors in kind (Geological Surveys) Project Broker& Coordinator Liberia Mali Niger Mauritania Guinea Burkina Faso Research Partners Senegal Ghana Togo Sponsors: Research Program Sponsor: Capacity Building 7 of 29
Geochronology 100 new Zircon Ages 550 Zircon Ages database 8 of 29
3D Interpretation of geophysical and geological data from the base of the mantle to the lateritised surface 9 of 29
Magnetotelluric and gravity profile in 2013 Burkina Faso Ghana Côte-d'Ivoire 10 of 29
250,000km 2 of new geophysically-constrained mapping: NW Ghana (Bole-Nangondo Belt and Wa-Lawra Belts) SW Ghana (Ashanti Belt) SW Burkina Faso (Boromo, Houndé and Banfora Belts) NE Burkina Faso (Oudalan-Gorouol & Markoye regions) SW Mali (Bougouni region) 11 of 29
New geophysicallyconstrained mapping SW Burkina New mapping extends seamlessly across southern Mali, SW Burkina Faso and NW Ghana 60 new U/Pb zircon ages Georeferenced database of over 500 zircon ages Metelka et al. 2011 Baratoux et al. 2011 12 of 29
Ore Deposits 426 Deposits to be built into an Atlas of West African Mineral Deposits, 30 studied in detail 13 of 29
Field studies integrating regional and mine-scale observations 14 of 29
Regolith and landform analysis 15 of 29
How -- GeoData is managed and disseminated? WAXI GIS: available to all partners Online and disk-based access as MapInfo & ArcGIS layers Coverage at three scales: o West Africa o Africa o Global 5 Themes: o Geography o Geology o Geophysics o Mineralisation o Tectonics 250 GB of Data and Meta-data 128 Data layers, 50 Exclusive to WAXI 12 Meta-data Layers Central Africa GIS http://opendata.im4dc.org 16 of 29
Capacity Building the underpinning theme of WAXI Mark Jessell (IRD) & Kim Ncube-Hein (Wits) 17 of 29
Short Term- Short Courses Available to all partners 14 courses between 3 and 5 days over last 3 years, including 5 field courses More than 300 participants Regolith Mapping Research Management Exploration Geochemistry TTGEO Mine Geology Field Structural Geology Exploration Targeting Structural Geophysics 18 of 29
Long Term - Postgraduate Research 10 degrees already completed, 20 underway (MSc, PhD, Postdoc) 50% African Masters PhD Postdoc 19 of 29
Engagement with Universities WAXI and the IRD have supported the founding or renovation of three laboratories in West African Universities during the life of the project: Petrophysics Laboratory Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Kappabridge MFK-1A JR6 Laboratoire de Pétrologie, UCAD, Dakar LDA3-AMU Lithothèque, Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 20 of 29
Impacts: What geological surveys have learned from WAXI to date and how they used this information? Skills learned through the WAXI research and training programs: are being taught at the National University by our staff. These skills are also being applied during our regular monitoring exercises of Mineral Exploration companies. has allowed us to better plan and define our future research plans, in particular in terms of the genesis of a number of deposit types and the application of integrated geological and geophysical targeting. provided the necessary skills to write the terms of reference for our upcoming countrywide government-funded airborne geophysical survey. have resulted in us starting to assemble a database of company field reports and to update our 200k mapsheets. have resulted in us starting to incorporate geophysical data, especially magnetic data during routine field mapping exercise; we are encouraging collaboration and teamwork among various geoscience professionals during routine field mapping exercises; and we are ensuring that all geoscientists develop some GIS competence 21 of 29
New initiatives in West Africa Program to recover lost geological data, rebuild the datasets of the Liberian Geological Survey (LGS) & grow capacity in the mineral sector. Program initiated by the LGS. Improve the relationship between the Government of Liberia & mineral exploration companies working in the country to facilitate the development of the country. Develop a mining & exploration code, similar to that of the JORC code of Australia or SAMREC code of South Africa that will legitimately regulate exploration and mining in Liberia. Boiyan Kpabolo (LGS), Leon Bagas (UWA), Kim Ncube-Hein (Wits) Promoting Mineral Investment by introducing New Recovery Methods to local miners 22 of 29
WAXI 3 4 Years: 1 June 2014-31 May 2018 Research themes defined by current and future industry partners Continued focus on the Metallogeny, craton-scale structure and surfaces processes of West African Craton New Craton-scale geophysics theme Long-term Capacity Building strategy 23 of 29
WAXI 3- New Research Directions A) Broadening of Focus to Archean and Neoproterozoic Terrains: Liberia, Côte d Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Mauritania B) Cratonic architecture: Geophysics: MT, Gravity, (Seismic Tomography) Geochemistry/Geochronology in Archean 1:250 000 map of Birrimian based on field and geophysical data C) Craton wide analysis of stratigraphic and volcanogenic systems D) In situ geochemistry and mineralogy of E) You tell us 24 of 29
Potential Traverse Locations for WAXI-3 25 of 29
WAXI-3 Capacity Building Activities (ranked by demand) 1. Short term activities: 2014 2018 (Training & support) a) WAXI Geophysics Resources b) Intra-African Collaborative Research Grants c) Student Scholarships and Research Support d) Research and Language Training Courses e) Exploration Excellence Summer Schools f) Access to Data Metallogenica g) Annual Transfer of Knowledge Workshop and Survey Forum h) Project management courses (institutional development) 2. Medium term activities: 2016 2018 (Steering committee charged with search for longer-term funding) 3. Long term activities: 2019 (Funding through a not-for-profit foundation for all kind of activities related to geosciences and resource management in West Africa) 26 of 29
Operational structure of WAXI-3 Capacity Building Theme. 27 of 29
Sponsorship Model: WAXI 3 Industry: Late entry premium: 5% per year West African Surveys as before West African Universities as Adjunct Research Partners Research Partners Aid Agencies Annual sponsorship US$ Number Leverage Existing major 67,000 12 17 Existing minor 45,000 0 26 Existing junior 20,000 5 58 New major 84,000 2 14 New minor 56,000 1 21 New junior 25,000 1 46 21 $4 612 000 28 of 29
Questions? waxi2.org joe.cucuzza@amirainternational.com campbell.mccuaig@uwa.edu.au kim.ncube-hein@wits.ac.za mark.jessell@ird.fr 29 of 29