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Foundation programme

Exploration Methods for Ore Minerals: Fundamentals

How an exploration programme narrows a region to a target, and a target to a drill hole.

Duration
5 days
Level
Foundation
Next date
2 to 6 November 2026
Fee from
US$995live online

Read the programme brochure

ClassroomLive onlineIn house

Overview

Exploration is a sequence of filters, each more expensive than the last, and the skill is knowing when to stop. This week covers that sequence: regional targeting from geological reasoning, geochemical and geophysical surveys, how each dataset is interpreted and where each misleads, and the drilling that eventually tests a target. It closes on the decision discipline of killing a project early, which saves more money than any single technique.

It runs 7 times over the published calendar, in 6 cities and live online. Every date is the same programme with the same content and the same certificate.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a targeting rationale from deposit model and regional geology.
  • Design geochemical sampling suited to the terrain.
  • Select geophysical methods matched to the target's properties.
  • Integrate datasets without forcing agreement between them.
  • Plan drilling that tests the target rather than confirms the hope.

Who should attend

Exploration geologists and technicians, project geologists and managers, and investors or analysts assessing exploration programmes.

Is the level right for you?

This is a foundation level programme. It assumes you are working in or moving into the area it covers, and it is built around your own material rather than a case study. If you are unsure, ask an advisor before registering rather than after.

Ask an advisor

How it is taught

Short input, then work. Across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each, the balance sits deliberately with the second: a programme where the trainer talks for six hours produces notes rather than capability.

  • Your own material

    Exercises run on situations delegates bring, not on a case study written for a different organisation in a different decade.

  • A capped cohort

    Small enough that everybody is asked something. Executive programmes are capped tighter still.

  • Practice under scrutiny

    The difficult conversation, the challenged assumption, the decision defended out loud. Judgement is not built by watching.

  • Something to take back

    Each day ends with a thing you can use on Monday rather than a slide deck you will not reopen.

The programme, day by day

Day 1Targeting

Targeting

  • Deposit models, and their proper use
  • Regional datasets and prospectivity
  • Ground selection and tenure
Day 2Geochemistry

Geochemistry

  • Soil, stream sediment and rock chip sampling
  • Pathfinder elements
  • Analysis, detection limits and quality control
Day 3Geophysics

Geophysics

  • Magnetics, gravity, electrical and electromagnetic methods
  • Matching a method to a physical property contrast
  • Depth, resolution and ambiguity
Day 4Integration

Integration

  • Layering datasets honestly
  • Ranking targets
  • Confirmation bias, and how a programme acquires it
Day 5Testing

Testing

  • Drill method selection
  • Hole placement and orientation
  • Deciding to continue, and deciding to stop

What you leave with

  • A targeting rationale for a real area.
  • A survey design with sample spacing and methods justified.
  • A drill programme with stated success and failure criteria.

The certificate

A GATI certificate recording what you attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended.

Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record, which is what makes it worth holding. It records participation. This site will not imply one it does not have.

Questions

Who is Exploration Methods for Ore Minerals: Fundamentals for?
Exploration geologists and technicians, project geologists and managers, and investors or analysts assessing exploration programmes. It runs at foundation level within Mining Engineering, so it assumes you are working in or moving into that area rather than meeting it for the first time. If you are unsure whether the level fits, ask an advisor before registering rather than after.
How long is it, and what does a day look like?
5 days, running to roughly 6 teaching hours a day. Sessions are built around your own material rather than a case study, so a day alternates between short input and working on something you brought. The full outline is on this page, day by day.
What does it cost, and what is included?
The next published date is Live online at US$995 per delegate. The fee covers tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Fees vary by city, and every published date shows its own.
Can it be delivered for my organisation only?
Yes. Any published programme can run as a private cohort, on dates that suit you, in your city or online, built around your own material. That is a different conversation from registering an individual, and it starts with what capability you are trying to build rather than with a course title.
What certificate do I get?
A GATI certificate recording what you attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
Is the online version the same programme?
Yes. The same faculty, the same material, the same cohort cap and the same certificate. It is not a recording and it is not a reduced version. It exists because travel budgets and visa timelines rule people out of a room they should be in. The classroom version runs in Cairo, Port Louis, Gaborone, Lagos.

Want to take this further?

Register on a published date, or tell an advisor what you need and they will come back with something specific rather than a brochure.

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