The Large Open Pit (LOP) project is an international research and technology transfer project focused on the stability of large slopes associated with open pit mines. It is an industry-sponsored and -funded project that was initiated in 2005 and managed by Dr John Read under the auspices of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The project was renewed in 2014 under the leadership of Dr Marc Ruest and the University of Queensland. The sponsors have comprised a diverse group of multinational mining companies and joint venture partners including: Anglo American plc; AngloGold Ashanti Limited; Barrick Gold Corporation; BHP Billiton Innovation Pty Limited and BHP Chile; Corporación Nacional de Cobre Del Chile (Codelco); De Beers Group Services (Pty); Debswana Diamond Co.; Newcrest Mining Limited; Newmont USA and Newmont Australia Limited; Ok Tedi Mining Limited; Rio Tinto Group; Teck Resources Limited; and Vale S.A. <...>

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (The AusIMM) is the leading organisation representing technical minerals sector professionals in the Australasian Region.  Members are bound by a Code of Ethics, and continual improvement of professional and industry standards within the sector in which they work.

Applications of concepts and methods of physics and chemistry to geology resulted in the field of Isotope Geochemistry which has revolutionized our understanding of our Earth system and our environment. When isotope techniques applied to understanding environmental changes that have taken place in the anthropocene, the resultant field can be defined as Environmental Isotope Geochemistry.

The search for minerals can be traced back for millennia and the search for petroleum for more than a century. Despite this difference, the early days of both relied on clear surface manifestations of the commodities sought in the near-subsurface. Over the course of time, countless gossans and oil seeps have acted as the spur for the discovery of resources at depth.