Mining Engineering
Exploration and Geology
MINING & MINERALS EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY (Sedimentary Geology)
Sedimentary systems and basin analysis, and the deposits that sit within them.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
A large share of the world's mineral and energy resources sits in sedimentary rocks, and finding them is a matter of understanding the environment that laid them down. This module covers sediment production and transport, facies and depositional environments, stratigraphy and correlation, and basin analysis. The deposit session covers placers, sediment hosted base metals, iron and manganese, phosphate, coal and evaporites, each tied back to the setting that produced it.
Who should attend
Exploration geologists working sedimentary terrain, coal and industrial minerals geologists, resource geologists, and geoscience students.
What you will be able to do
- Describe sediment production, transport and deposition.
- Identify depositional environments from facies associations.
- Apply stratigraphic principles and correlate sections.
- Interpret a basin's fill and history.
- Relate sediment hosted deposit styles to their settings.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
Sediments
- Weathering, provenance and transport
- Texture, sorting and maturity
- Diagenesis and compaction
Day 2
Environments
- Fluvial, deltaic, shallow and deep marine
- Aeolian, lacustrine and glacial
- Facies models, and their limits
Day 3
Stratigraphy
- Litho, bio and chronostratigraphy
- Sequence stratigraphy in outline
- Correlation, and the errors it invites
Day 4
Basins
- Basin types and subsidence
- Fill history and architecture
- Burial and thermal history
Day 5
Deposits
- Placers and heavy mineral sands
- Sediment hosted copper, lead and zinc
- Iron, manganese, phosphate and evaporites
- Coal measures
What you leave with
- A logged section with a facies interpretation.
- A correlation panel across several sections.
- A prospectivity note for one basin.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Maseru, Lesotho | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Gaborone, Botswana | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Nairobi, Kenya | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Classroom | US$1,500 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was 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.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.