Exploration and Resource Geology

What skills will I practise and develop?

Knowledge & Understanding:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• The ability to acquire, integrate and synthesise information to address complex problems in earth sciences
• Critical understanding of the structure of the Earth, its materials, lifeforms and resources and the processes that shape it at present and through geological time.
• Ability to compile, assess and model information in order to predict where new natural resources may be discovered or how existing resources might be managed.
• Ability to explain and critically assess the role and impact of earth science in solving 21st century societal challenges such as the sustainable supply of water, energy and other natural resources to meet the needs of the world’s population.
• Rigorous appreciation and application of the scientific process, including the design and testing of hypotheses, and the formulation of new concepts.
• Formulation, design and use of appropriate laboratory, field, and/or computational methodologies relevant to a research project in exploration geology.

Intellectual Skills:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Comprehension and critical evaluation of science-based evidence to assess and formulate solutions to complex multi-component problems in earth sciences.
• The ability to assemble and critically evaluate information on a variety of scales (from microscopic to planetary) and generate and interpret datasets in 2D, 3D and 4D to formulate realistic conceptual earth models as a tool for resource exploration, extraction and The capability to evaluate and critically assess current research in applied and exploration geology, with commensurate appreciation of uncertainty and debate and limits to understanding.
• Ability to model and interpret exploration geology data to generate hypotheses that can be tested with additional data or observation
• The ability to solve complex scientific problems both creatively and independently.

Professional Practical Skills:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Ability to recognise and interpret rocks, minerals and fossils to determine the geological relationships and reconstruct the history of any particular sample/outcrop/region under study.
• Understanding and application of the methods used to acquire geospatial data and represent such data in 2D and 3D using maps, GIS and proprietary mining and exploration software.
• Analysis and portrayal of numerical data in earth sciences, including using appropriate software.
• Problem solving involving integration and analysis of diverse and often incomplete exploration data and using appropriate qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
• The ability to design, implement and safely carry out a programme of field- or laboratory-based research in an applied setting and report the findings effectively in writing in a dissertation.
• Ability to model complex numerical exploration geology data and draw realistic conclusions from such modelling
• An ability to independently plan a complex exploration geology project at the frontier of a research topic.

Transferable/Key Skills:

On successful completion of the entire Programme students will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Ability to design, implement and manage a project through to completion.
• The ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Application of the scientific method, numerical and spatial skills including visualization to the understanding of 3D (and 4D) data sets and their interpolation in space (and time).
• Ability to communicate information and concepts effectively and clearly through oral, written and visual means to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• An understanding of the benefits of employment networking and continuing professional development.
• Commitment to lifelong learning through engaging in the process of personal development planning and ownership of own learning.
• Problem solving, reliability, loyalty, social conduct, tact, attitude to learning and research, leadership, resilience, decision-making and reasoning.
• Effective time management and organisation commensurate with successful delivery of an extended research project.