Welcoming Pieter Botha to the MinAssist team

We would like to welcome Pieter Botha to the MinAssist team.  I worked closely with Pieter at Intellection on development of the QEMSCAN system.  He brings a deep knowledge of automated mineralogy applications and will be a really valuable addition to our team.  Many of you will know Pieter so don’t hesitate to get in touch and say hi.

Pieter holds a BSc (Hons) degree in geology, a Masters degree in igneous petrology, and he recently completed his PhD at the Department of Applied Mathematics in the Research School of Physics and Engineering at The Australian National University. From 2006-2012 Pieter worked in industry where he gained extensive experience in commercially driven consulting and research. His work focussed on the use of mineralogy and geochemistry data such as SEM-EDS (QEMSCAN), XRD, and XRF for geometallurgy and process mineralogy applications in mining, and reservoir characterisation in the oil and gas industry. He has a particularly strong background in the operation of automated mineralogy systems, data analysis, and application-specific interpretation. Some of you may remember Pieter from his days at Intellection and FEI where he was instrumental in conducting consulting services, providing customer support, applications development, and system training for new QEMSCAN users. Pieter’s recent PhD work at The ANU in Canberra was based on small scale 3D micro-CT images of core samples to develop a statistical method of predicting flow properties in large scale CT images, which capture more heterogeneity, however, because of insufficient image resolution, prevents the direct computation of fluid flow properties. The predicted flow data is ideally suited to inform larger scale geological models of reservoirs and aquifers. Apart from earth sciences Pieter enjoys running with his dog, mountain biking, graphic design, and most recently woodworking.

In his new role at MinAssist Pieter will be involved in a range of projects including data analysis and product development. We are keen to engage more with the automated mineralogy and geosciences community and Pieter will be in contact soon to give you more information on how you can become involved.