Course

Exploration and Mining 1

Faculty
Science & Technology
Department
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Course Code
EAES 2900
Credits
4.00
Semester Length
15 Weeks
Max Class Size
20
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Lab
Course Designation
None
Industry Designation
None
Typically Offered
Fall

Overview

Course Description
This course covers the various stages of the mineral exploration process, from reconnaissance to pre-development. Field trips may be required.
Course Content
  • Mineral economics and industry structure: types of companies, financial markets, commodities, economic cycles
  • Mineral deposits: economic minerals, alteration minerals and coal, deposit models (sedimentary, magmatic, hydrothermal, supergene)
  • Process of exploration: exploration phases, geological methods, remote sensing, geophysical methods, geochemical methods, drilling methods
  • Sampling media, methods and statistics
  • Exploration safety: risk assessment, planning, training, equipment, evacuation
  • Exploration tenure and access: mineral ownership, mineral claims, surface access, guidelines and regulations, interested parties
  • Mining methods
  • Maps and cross-sections showing exploration information, using GIS and other methods
Learning Activities

Lectures and labs. Occasional field trips may be required.

Means of Assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Evaluation Policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation will be based on the following: 

Assignments and labs 25 - 40%

Project(s) 10 - 25%

Quizzes 0-10%

Term tests 25%

Final exam 25%

Total 100%

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • discuss the economic and industrial factors that affect exploration and mining.
  • list major types of mineral deposits.
  • describe the stages of the exploration process, including the methods used to collect and assess information.
  • describe sampling methods, and use appropriate sampling methods to collect soil and rock samples.
  • identify exploration safety risks, and prepare an emergency response plan.
  • describe the process of gaining tenure and access to an exploration property, including identifying interested parties.
  • summarize the common methods of mining.
  • prepare maps and cross-sections to display exploration information.
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and materials are to be purchased by students. A list of required and textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example texts may include:

  • Stephens, R.; Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials;  Pakawau GeoManagement Inc, current edition or an equivalent text

Optional Textbooks:  

  • Moon, C.J, Whately, K.G., Evans, A.M.; Introduction to Mineral Exploration; Blackwell Publishing, current edition or an equivalent text
  • Coe, A.L.; Geological Field Techniques;  Wiley-Blackwell Publishing

Additional course materials: "Rite in the Rain" waterproof booklet or equivalent, rock hammer, hand lens, mineral identification kit, safety eyewear

Requisites

Prerequisites

EAES 1500

and

EAES 1900

and

CMNS (1105 or 1110 or 1111 or 1115 or 1118) or ENGL (any 1100 level course).

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see

Institution Transfer Details for EAES 2900
Athabasca University (AU) AU GEOL 3XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU SCEL 2XX (4)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR GEOL 2XX (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG GEOL 2XXX (3)
Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) No credit
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU GEOL 2XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) No credit
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO EESC_O 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC GEOG 2XX (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV GEOG 2XX (4)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC EOS 2XX (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) No credit
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC EVSC 2XXX (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU GEOL 2nd (4)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025