| Abstract |
The GOCAD Mining Suite is an advanced, geoscience software platform, originally developed for the oil & gas industry, which is used to build and analyze quantitative, multi-disciplinary 3D Earth models. High quality 3D Earth models, such as those made with GOCAD, form the basis for sound decision making to reduce drilling risk in geothermal exploration. Core capabilities of the GOCAD Mining Suite software include: precise structural modelling, surface (wireframe) construction, stratigraphic and regular block modelling, as well as geostatistical analysis. Various add-on software modules are available which provide several 3D geological modelling environments, natural connections to geologically-constrained geophysical forward modelling and inversion, multi-disciplinary 3D exploration targeting, exploratory and geochemical data analysis, and geotechnical hazard estimation and monitoring. A key tool in the GOCAD Mining Suite is 3D-GIS, an interpretive environment in which 3D spatial data can be queried, manipulated, and represented in a meaningful manner so as to provide insight into exploration problems. This paper will present an Integrated Interpretation Workflow which utilizes the GOCAD Mining Suite software. The Integrated Interpretation Workflow is a geologically-based approach to geophysical data interpretation which incorporates geophysical data, geological data, borehole and well data, seismic data, interpreted cross-sections, and other information as available. The approach utilizes forward and inverse geophysical modelling techniques to help build a geologically-constrained 3D Earth model. The output is a robust 3D model of the subsurface consistent with all geoscience datasets. Such a 3D model of the Earth augments understanding of the subsurface, increases confidence in the selection of drilling targets and, therefore, can add significant value to a geothermal exploration program. |