Research Programs

RESEARCH STRUCTURE

CODES structure comprises six programs along with its training, education and outreach activities, better reflecting the future direction of our research interests and industry collaborations.

The research programs cover a wide spectrum of the geosciences that span fundamental to applied research pertaining to mineral resources and the environments in which they form.

The strategic focus of the Centre is based on an holistic, multidisciplinary, team-based approach that utilises advances in its fundamental and technology projects to drive innovative applied research linked with industry.

PROGRAM 1: Ore deposits and mineral exploration encompasses all of our research into the characteristics and genesis of ore deposits. It also includes our applied research that is strategically aligned with the mineral exploration industry’s major challenges across all scales of exploration. It fosters the training of the next generation of ore deposit and exploration specialists, by enabling students' and HDR candidates' projects to be undertaken in close collaboration with our industry partners.

PROGRAM 2: Geometallurgy, geoenvironment and mining aims to facilitate sustainable mining, mineral processing and waste management practices in the minerals industry. As a result of our research, transformations made to each phase of resource extraction and processing are achieved in collaboration with our industry partners. Our goals are to minimise the impacts and maximise the benefits of metallic mining in diverse environments, and to assist with remediation of legacy issues.

PROGRAM 3: Sedimentation, tectonics and Earth evolution activities aim to understand the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins, together with their histories of deformation and metamorphism. Basin development is placed within the broader context of geodynamic processes and Earth evolution through time. We aim to develop new and refined genetic and exploration models for sediment-hosted mineral systems.

PROGRAM 4: Magmatic and volcanic processes researches magma genesis and evolution, volcanology and the architecture of magmatic plumbing systems. Investigations of volcanic phenomena in subaerial and submarine settings provide the geological framework for understanding alteration and mineralisation in volcanic terrains. Geochemical insights into magma fertility and the roles of mantle and crustal processes provide an improved understanding of magmatic, volcanic-hosted and magmatic-hydrothermal mineral systems.

PROGRAM 5: Analytical research underpins much of our most innovative research across the fundamental to applied spectrum. New developments in analytical research provided by CODES' Analytical Laboratories provide the basis for CODES’ global leadership in microanalytical techniques specifically applied to mineral exploration, mineral processing, ore genesis and waste management. This program also provides analytical services to government, academia and industry.

PROGRAM 6: Geophysics and computational geosciences addresses challenges with handling, processing, visualising and interpreting big data in the minerals industry, from exploration, mining and mineral processing to waste management. Geophysical data acquisition, processing and interpretation are a core component of CODES' research and training activities. Computational geosciences are becoming increasingly important as technological advances drive a step-change in automated data acquisition and imaging methods across the geosciences.