MINING GEOLOGY/Exploration 621 Figure Exploration success! The geologists are standing around the drill hole that discovered the high grade Cannington silver lead zinc orebody in western Queensland, Australia A drill rig can be seen on the skyline, where drilling is being done further along the same orebody The deposit was brought into production and quickly became the world’s largest producer of silver Figure A helicopter being used to move a diamond drilling rig in the Kimberley region of Western Australia The helicopter allows the drill to be positioned with minimal disturbance and environmental damage exploration By contrast, it is sometimes in the interests of major mining companies to play down expectations from their exploration, and their successes often go unmentioned, or are announced only in a low-key way Too much publicity can increase the level of competition for ground near the discovery, and overly enthusiastic expectations may mean shareholders are ultimately disappointed if a technical discovery does not turn into a commercial success The most important justification for exploration is that it supplies society with the mineral products it needs This benefit, however, is realized only if the value of the products is greater than the cost of discovery and production Real success in exploration and mining must therefore be judged in commercial, not technical, terms In this respect, the role of the large exploration and mining companies has particular importance They have financial and technical