Editorial for Special Issue “Seismic Methods in Mineral Exploration”

Abstract

In many parts of the world, exploration for mineral deposits is moving progressively but persistently to greater depths, relying on knowledge gained from previous exploration campaigns and on new exploration tools and techniques used to guide deep and costly boreholes to most suitable targets [...]

Preface: State of the art in mineral exploration

“…Like many other exploration techniques, seismic imaging (seismic reflection in particular) applications were developed for the oil and gas industry, and their uses in resource exploration have been conventionally limited to the exploration for hydrocarbons or other types of reservoirs (Alcalde et al, 2013(Alcalde et al, , 2021Ikelle and Amundsen, 2018;Sena-Lozoya et al, 2020). However, the advances in data acquisition and processing achieved in the last two decades have improved their resolution power and reduced costs, making such approaches more affordable and able to address the challenges related to mineral exploration (Eaton et al, 2003;Malehmir et al, 2012;Bellefleur et al, 2019;Martinez et al, 2020;. Passive seismic exploration using ambient seismic noise is also creating a revolution in seismology, mainly thanks to its versatility and reduced cost compared to conventional active exploration (Boullenger et al, 2015;Romero and Schimmel, 2018;Sánchez-Pastor et al, 2019).…”